Chapitre 656: A New Sanctuary

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And so the Dark Brotherhood survived with more members than it was supposed to have. In the game, the worst-case scenario would only be Nazir and Babette surviving the massacre with Cicero being the third survivor in a best-case scenario.

Yet not only was it Babette, Nazir, and Cicero, but there were Festus Krex and Gabriella as well as Serana.

Jon even took the Black Door from Falkreath and stored it away before joining the rest of the members at the borders of Whiterun and Falkreath.

There, they dug a grave for both Astrid and Arnbjorn and laid their bodies with Nirn. As for Veezara, Jon looked for Nazir and instructed him…

"Take him to the Sleeping Tree Giants camp. There, you will find a unique tree known as the Sleeping Tree. It is a premature Hist Tree that somehow grew around there. It would be best to lay his body there. Once you're done, come to the Nightgate Village on the road where Winterhold, Eastmarch, and the Pale meet."

"Yes, Listener." Nazir obeyed Jon and took a horse carrying Veezara on its back.

As for the rest, Jon teleported them to the Nightgate Village and found a location not too far from Wayward Pass that leads to Saarthal.

There, he found a fitting place and took out the Black Door before installing it in a location hidden from view.

It didn't need much for the Black Door to install itself and fix a door frame around its location.

"How marvelous, Listener." Festus Krex applauded Jon, "I have never known such a thing would ever be possible."

"It is my first time seeing that as well." Babette followed up.

Installing a Black Door.

Realistically, it wasn't possible but Jon discovered that each Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary is a pocket dimension that was imported from the Void of Sithis.

The Void contains many realities, many possibilities, many forms of the future. It also contains fragments and clones of things that exist.

During his adventure to Hammerfell, Jon visited a place known as the Abyss which is a series of looping and repeating realities woven together by the Void. There, one can walk in a Nordic Crypt for example before finding himself in a Dwarven Ruin, a Goblin Cave, a Daedra Den, or an Undead Tomb in the next turn.

As for the Black Doors and the Sanctuaries, they would function the same. (A/n: my own Theory.)

Each Sanctuary comes from the Void by linking a Black Door to a suitable door frame. Most of the Black Doors were already placed in places that are impossible to construct anything behind.

For example, the Falkreath Sanctuary was built under a road with an interior that seemed very large on the inside compared to the space on the outside.

Another example is the Sanctuary of Dawnstar which is basically a building that was carved inside a mountain.

This doesn't mean that a sanctuary is completely isolated behind a Black Door. There were recorded cases of breaking into a Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary without going through a Black Door. Such cases were like the case of the Troll in Dawnstar's Sanctuary and accessing the Sanctuary through a well as it was in Cheydinhal.

All in all, a Black Door imports a space from the Void behind itself and integrates it into reality in order to create a hideout for the Assassins of the Brotherhood. That's why a Black Door was technically impenetrable without a password since you would be banging and ramming against a piece of stone leaning on a mountain.

But the Black Door can receive damage and the inside space may collapse from that as well.

The thing that gave off the most obvious clue was the existence of a water current that formed a small waterfall inside the Sanctuary of Falkreath while in fact there was no active waterway around that area.

But now it was time to witness what this newly established sanctuary will offer.

Jon approached the Black Door and touched it. The eyes glowed with red aura and spoke.

"What is Life's Greatest Sin?" The Black Door asked.

For such a question to pop up. A question about sins for the man who holds his sins in his hands.

Jon smiled and his smile kept growing wider.

"Audacity, my Brother." Jon replied

"Welcome… home!" The Black Door replied and became unlocked.

Jon pushed it slowly and noticed a stairway leading down and a well-built brick corridor.

"Let's go." Jon said.

As he walked in and the remaining Assassins followed, they all arrived at a hall with many pillars and a basin that had a fountain. The whole thing was built with mountain stone and resembles the old Falkreath Sanctuary in terms of layout.

It seemed that the Black Door had a layout that was somewhat constant but the theme would change depending on the location it is planted in.

Right now, it has taken a style somewhat similar to that of Windhelm and Winterhold.

"Alright. I'll give you a day to prepare and get this place running." Jon said, "Cicero, I'll leave some funds in your hand so go and make this place feel like home."

"Oh, Listener! You're giving Cicero money?" The Jester snatched the purse that Jon passed to him.

"Hmph! It's only for food and furniture. If I find out that you wasted my money, you will suffer the Thousand Claws of Annihilation." Jon said and Nefertiti extended her claws in front of Cicero.

"Of course!" Cicero waved his hands, "I was just thinking of buying something nice for our dear Mother."

"Get on with it." Jon said, "When Nazir gets back, he will handle the money and I will share the upcoming plan with you all. Rest for now."

And like that, Jon established the new Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary outside the Nightgate Village just outside his doorstep in Winterhold. With that, he can start focusing on the plan to go on with the Emperor's Assassination plan.

***

By the next day, all the Assassins were gathered in the Sanctuary and they grouped around Jon who sat at a large chair in front of a stone table.

"As it is the first time you work for me, I would love to clarify a few things." Jon said, "I don't care what you do so long you don't break the Five Tenets."

This was the first introduction Jon gave for the Assassins. Cicero, Nazir, Babette, Festus, and Gabriella. They never worked with him before so they had to understand him through this brief conversation.

The Five Tenets were simple just as follows:-

• Tenet I. Never dishonor the Night Mother. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

• Tenet II. Never betray the Dark Brotherhood or its secrets. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

• Tenet III. Never disobey or refuse to carry out an order from a Dark Brotherhood superior. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

• Tenet IV. Never steal the possessions of a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

• Tenet V. Never kill a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

All in all, it was all about honoring the Night Mother, keeping the Brotherhood's secrets, obeying superiors, not robbing, or not killing other Assassins.

Thinking of Astrid and her reasons to abolish those five vital rules, the Assassins present understood that they surely waned and became unworthy.

Jon then continued the introduction.

"My identity will be kept from all of you because I want to keep it that way." He said, "My Speaker is and always has been Serana, a member of the Black Hand. So far, Serana will be the Speaker, Cicero will be the Keeper, and I am the Listener. The rest of you shall do the administrative affairs."

"Nazir the Redguard." Jon then called.

"Yes, Listener." Nazir replied.

"You will be in charge of finance. I want you to keep bringing outside hits and contracts outside the normal Black Sacrament jobs. Also, you need to make sure that you don't pick high profile targets and run the names with me once every month." Jon said.

"Yes, sir."

"Babette the Vampire." Jon called.

"Yes…" She replied.

"I have heard you have a talent for working with unusual creatures. Spiders, Trolls, and such." Jon said, "You will find an abundance of those things in the nearby caves. I want you to go and make some friends with the locals in this neighborhood."

"Yes, Listener."

"Festus the Mage and Gabriella the Alchemist." Jon called.

"Yes." "Yes, Listener." The two replied.

"You two are obviously my seniors and out of respect, I won't give you more than what you usually did in the past but I will call upon your expertise from time to time."

"Thank you greatly, Listener." Gabriella nodded.

"Yes, thank you, my Listener. At my age, it is hard to be overworked this way." Festus said and glanced over to Babette.

"Hey!" Babette slammed her hand on the table, "You want to laze around, don't you." She then turned to Jon, "Listener, he is just lazy. I am his senior and he just wants to lay down and watch me work."

"Haha! Listen to this little girl." Festus chuckled while looking down on Babette.

"You two." Nazir called in a stern time, "Show some respect. The Listener is not finished yet."

They all immediately noticed the look on Jon's face which was void of tolerance towards their actions. If he wants to, they would face some consequences they are not prepared for.

Currently, Jon was using the Chaos Infection to mask his identity by looking like a man with full black eyes and mystical black tattoos. His appearance was nightmare-inducing even for those old Assassins.

After all, they're under new management.

"Cicero, you will keep the Sanctuary in top condition." Jon said, continuing distributing the jobs.

"Oh! Thank you! Thank you greatly, Listener. Cicero, your loyal follower, will make sure not a speck of dust lingers in the sanctuary." Cicero replied with over-excitement.

"As for you, Serana, you and I will head out to finish this Emperor contract… together."

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Chapitre 657: Emperor Titus Mede II

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Titus Mede II, Current Emperor of the Third Empire, Vanquisher of the Aldmeri Dominion, Hero of the Culling, Savior of Cyrodiil, and the Man who Fooled the World.

The man has indeed ended the war and saved Humanity from the tyranny of the High Elves. Still, he knows that he didn't participate in the final Battle of the Red Ring and wasn't the one who stopped the Elves at the Tower during the Culling.

It was a friend he had never seen since then, a Forgotten Hero, Glymet.

But what weighed the old Emperor more was the fact that another friend of his can't still forgive him for the things that happened. Back in the day, if he stopped the dissolving of the Blades and saved Jonrad's family when they needed, things would have turned different between him and Jonrad Firemane, former Head of the Emperor's Security.

Moreover, he lost more than he gained as an Emperor. A threatened land, a fractured front, Hammerfell's Independence, Skyrim's Split, and Talos worship outlawed.

In his heart, the Great War was a defeat no matter how much the Imperial Historians tried to sugarcoat it.

Titus Mede II was crowned Emperor in the year 168 of the Fourth Era, inheriting a weakened Empire from his predecessor, consisting of Hammerfell, High Rock, Skyrim, and Cyrodiil, of which only the latter three remained peaceful and prosperous, as Hammerfell was in civil war. The Imperial military was also greatly weakened from many wars that the Empire had been involved in, and what remained of the Legion forces was scattered across the provinces.

With the Great War and its dreadful days, the Emperor no longer wanted wars and hoped to see peace and prosperity. He sacrificed a lot and achieved too little.

If not what divided the men was nothing but Greed, then the Imperial Coffers would have built cities of gold and silver for its people. But what set men apart was more than just Greed, Fear, or Hate. It is Love.

For a nation, Love is the engine of success on which the entire history is based. If this love is directed at ill-intended endeavors such as money, lust, and pleasures, the people will surely be spoiled and diverted from progress.

If a nation gets too strong and when its wealth overflows, it will crumble from the inside slowly until it falls with not a shred of grace. What falls apart first is Honor and Dignity. Those who are vermin to society will act like worms to spread their infestation and use their dark endeavors to soon inflict it upon the new generation.

Once the deviation starts, the vermin start to present their poison to society as new ideals, liberties, and trends. Those with weakness in their hearts, which are many in times of welfare, shall follow their lusts and desires, thoughtless and unconscious.

Little by little, the face of society would start to change and the vermin would spread their dirty stains to all branches of society. By then, the game of wording would have been lost under the fake symbols and the wordy sentences.

Like venom, the effects start to show beginning with fever. Those who resist the vermin will face scorn and hate. Society will crumble because the vermin struck its heart.

Families crumble apart, women disobey men, children taken from their parents, raised by wolves in the dens of cruelty to be the freaks of the new generation. And not a word is said since all has already been lost to the vermin.

Once the family unit is down in society, things escalate at a fast pace. With no faith, no bonds, no actual love in all these dark corners, the Fake Love turns out to be woven by the laughs of the vermin who brought down another society and spread their poison in the heart of a nation.

All that is left will be a dying Emperor on a crumbling throne watching in his last days what fate awaits his land.

But in a world of Divines and Daedra, wouldn't this give him a chance? Wouldn't a miracle be nothing too impossible?

After all, he had a meeting today and he would hate it if he was not prepared. He looked up and despite his prior knowledge of a man coming to end it all, he still couldn't help but be surprised.

Fate was cruel indeed for him to die to his good friend's lookalike.

***

Jon and Serana headed out of the Sanctuary and Jon sent Serana to pick up the new location of the Emperor from the Employer of the Dark Brotherhood, Amaund Motierre.

Jon already knew but the Night Mother informed him to meet with Amaund Motierre and so he did through Serana. Once it was over, Jon and Serana headed towards Solitude.

The Emperor wasn't on the mainland of solitude but preferred to remain in his ship at the mouth of the river. It was just too easy to walk in and avoid all security to reach the Emperor.

He was there in a room deep at the back of the ship just sitting behind his desk and writing. He raised his eyes, glanced over Jon with an eye of shock and sadness before finishing what he was writing and resting back.

The Emperor spoke.

"And once more, I prove Commander Maro the fool. I told him you can't stop the Dark Brotherhood. Never could. Come now, don't be shy. You haven't come this far just to stand there gawking."

"Your Highness." Jon spoke.

Serana walked past Jon and looked at Titus Mede, "You were expecting us?"

"But of course. You and I have a date with destiny. But so it is with Assassins and Emperors, hmm? Yes, I must die. And you must deliver the blow. It is simply the way it is. But I wonder… would you suffer an old man a few more words before the deed is done?"

Jon walked ahead and sat at the chair right in front of the Emperor. Serana copied Jon and walked to the other chair. From Jon's ring, a skull flew up and turned into a humanoid.

"Kill the fake Emperor, Dragonborn. It is you, who is rightful." Envy broke free and pleaded with Jon but as Jon waved his hand, Envy was captured and returned to the ring.

"Sorry about that."

"Dragonborn?" The Emperor narrowed his eyes before breaking into a smile, "So you had the world fooled, Son of Jonrad."

Jon smirked but his eyes displayed no cockiness like usual.

"Why?" Jon asked.

The Emperor tilted his head slightly with a distant smile.

"I am afraid your question is vague." The Emperor remarked.

"You hired us through a proxy to kill you." Jon said, causing the look in Serana's eyes to widen and turn around for traps.

"I see." The Emperor nodded, "Was it this obvious?"

"No." Jon shook his head but he then took an amulet out of his pocket and displayed it to the Emperor, "An Elder Council member wouldn't give that up unless he was promised something greater and only you can do so."

"True." The Emperor nodded, "But you, children of the Dread Father, have already accepted the contract. A sacrament was made."

"I can get rid of the Dark Brotherhood like turning my hand." Jon said, "You went through the pain of coming from Cyrodiil all the way here, you let your cousin be projected to danger, you brought along a body double, and…"

"Hahaha!" The Emperor laughed slowly, interrupting Jon. He then looked at the paper in front of his desk, picked up a quill, and wrote two words.

"What makes you laugh?" Jon asked.

"It is just… I feel like a fool now." Titus Mede replied, "A fool with a plan."

"And your death will set things in motion?" Jon asked.

"Fate sets things in motion, Jon Dare." The Emperor replied in an educating manner, "My Fate is to die."

"So I was right." Jon said, "You are damning your soul to Sithis just to cause change."

"It seems you have figured things out and no need for us to go in circles." The Emperor said and became serious.

"Wait!" At that point, Serana spoke, "I don't understand a thing."

Jon didn't turn to her but he replied.

"Tell me, Serana. What is Fate?" Jon asked.

"… Possibilities of the Future." She replied.

"Do you believe that these possibilities are infinite?" Jon asked.

"Not in the short run, no." Serana said, "The future and its impacts echo to a certain distance of possibilities that expand upon each other to branch out into an infinite series of more possibilities."

"Looks like your friend is not that knowledgeable." The Emperor spoke to Jon.

"Excuse her, she's just a 1000 years old vampire." Jon replied.

"Oh!" The Emperor nodded in understanding.

"What did I get wrong?" Serana asked.

"Using the word (infinite) to define something finite is a mistake people tend to make. The Future is always Limited." Jon said, "Time is running out and as everything has a beginning, it has an ending."

"Meaning?"

"That nothing is Infinite." Jon said, "Outside the Realm of our understanding, I mean. It is an extremely frustrating notion since no matter what we mortals try to accomplish, we always know that there is a limit to how much we can reach. The word Innumerable Possibilities is a good alternative when dealing with possible predictions you are too lazy to count."

"I understand the philosophy but what does this have to do with our job here?" Serana asked.

"As you can see, our Client here has run out of future possibilities." Jon said pointing at the Emperor, "He tried all the Innumerable Possibilities and Scenarios but it seemed that they have all turned out not what he wished for."

"Like… he wants something from us that he can't achieve on his own?" Serana asked.

"Close. He just wants to involve Sithis." Jon said, "As the Soul of Change, Sithis is a force that alters whatever it touches. The Emperor knew that the Fate of his Empire is bleak thus he chose to pass as a Hero who died to the blade of an Assassin. Think about it, with every involvement of the Dark Brotherhood, change is brought upon the world."

"And so a Dying Empire may find a chance." Serana nodded, "Quite drastic and too wishful if I may say so myself."

"A Dying Empire!" Jon sighed.

"It is already dead." The Emperor said.

"What?" Serana frowned.

"200 years ago with the disappearance of the last Septim Emperor and the end of the Dragonborn Emperors line, there was no need for an Empire anymore." Jon then asked, "Isn't that what you wish for?"

"Who knows?" The Emperor shook his shoulders.

"The First Empire was made by forging a pact with Akatosh. Now that pact is broken." Jon pieced it together, "So there is no need for an Empire."

Jon stared blankly and his eyes landed on the Emperor's Seal.

It looked exactly like the Elder Scrolls logo on the Game's Menu. A cracked and old symbol of the Dragon. One last hit and it is no longer useful.

One stab to the Emperor's chest and the Empire is no more.

Why?

Because there is no need for it to exist anymore.

Something new should rise.

Jon looked at the Elder Council Amulet in his hand and rubbed it with his fingers.

"So… the Future." Jon muttered.

"It is in your hands, young people." The Emperor said, "Though, I can use a favor."

"I am listening." Jon said.

"While there are many who would see me dead, there is one who set the machine in motion. This person, whomever he or she may be, must be punished for their treachery. Once you have been rewarded for my assassination, I want you to kill the very person who ordered it. Would you do me this kindness?" The Emperor said his final will, hoping for the death of his proxy.

"I will think about it." Jon showed acceptance.

"Thank you. Now, on to the business at hand I suppose…" The Emperor said and held the arms of his seat.

Even though he literally courted death, it is not a welcoming moment.

"Serana."

*Swoosh!*

Right to the Emperor's Heart.

And the Emperor's hands slowly let go of the chair as his head dangled lifelessly.

He was no longer the warring brute from a few days ago. He was a sad man dying alone to the cold blade of an assassin.

And to an empire reborn into something else, something new.

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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️

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