章 457: Be Careful What You Wish For
A/n: Double Chapter! Daily + Monthly Extra!
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(Part 1)
The next day, Jon opened his eyes under the same roof of the temple room, the only difference is… two beauties were snuggling on his left and right.
Figuring out that one was Miranda is basic but finding out that the other was Zara kept him thinking of what happened yesterday.
It started with him using the [Truth Inducement] power of the newly acquired sin [Lust] on Isha. After she spoke her heart out then slapped him, Mirren followed her and the two were angry at Jon realizing that he must have done something.
Miranda, being the sweet girl she is, brought a waterskin that was cooled by Magic to put on Jon's swelling face. Isha's slap, after all, was a slap from someone whose power defied sense.
This made Jon slightly regret passing down a version of his Magicka Training technique on her and the others. Isha found that training a good method to heal her first trauma and trained day and night for the past few months. Her piled up power and energy have gathered until she managed to gain an Astral Access and passed the first magic gathering stage.
Being in a level equal to the Dragon Frame stage, Isha's frame establishment stage in the peak of the Ironbone phase, a slap from her can twist normal people's heads.
[A/n: basically, this where I screwed up. I wanted to imitate the orthodox cultivation realms but I ended up tailoring it for Jon when I stuffed the word dragon between every word making it sound distasteful for the Non-Dragonborn people. What I did here was a little tweak based on the basics which (Magicka Gathering, Frame Establishment, Heart Formation, Oblivion Separation) while keeping the (Dragon Robbing, Dragon Frame, Dragon Heart and Dragon Rising) as Jon's unique method.]
Jon touched his face and sighed. He recovered fast but he still felt like an asshole for doing that to Isha. He waited for a day to talk to her but ended up drinking with Zara and Miranda all night under two full moons, the hype was strong and the three went at it.
Truthfully speaking, it was wonderful. Jon can't call himself a furry but Zara squeezed him like nothing he had ever experienced before. He used [Lust] on himself to morph into his Khajiit form and the potion on Miranda for a full-on Khajiit experience.
Now looking back at the present, he wasn't sure how the Moon Bishop would react when she wakes up so he kept acting asleep.
A few minutes later, she indeed woke up and caused a fuss. Moon Bishops were allowed to have relationships in the Khajiit Religion and she wasn't a virgin so it wasn't a big deal anyway. On the other hand, Miranda was dissatisfied.
"Do you prefer the real me or the Khajiit me?" She asked.
"The Khajiit you is the real you." Jon replied.
"Oh! I see what you are saying there… twisting my words on me."
"Well, I like the Altmer you more even if you fluff perfectly as a Khajiit."
Jon and Miranda stayed lazily in bed cuddling in peace silently. Jon was thinking about what to do from now on.
Isha is aware that Zain is her brother and Jon's current objective is to stop him by all means. Zain's aim was not known but answers can't be found here anymore. They are either to chase after Zain or to go look for clues in Hammerfell. Chasing him sounded more of a better plan at the moment but Jon is out of clues and Zain can be anywhere.
No, there was a clue yet Jon didn't want to be more of an asshole.
It was confusing. He wanted to be done with his Labours but his that he spent over a year with and battled with them back to back were family to him. If he needs to do something from now on, he must keep no more secrets.
"Sigh!"
"You are sighing a lot these days." Miranda remarked.
"It is just… I don't want to talk about it but it seems this is no longer an option." He replied.
"Not talking should be my thing." She said.
"Speaking of which, you were very talkative last night."
Last night as they were drinking, Miranda asked Jon to do whatever he did to Isha to her. Basically, she wanted him to use the [Truth Inducement] function on her.
Jon soon realized how dumb of a choice it was. Miranda, the very silent girl, turned out to be a very talkative big mouth under the Truth effect. She just kept complaining and talking and laughing. It was fun at first getting to know a part of her he never knew but it wasn't ending. This girl had many years worth of talking to let out.
"How about using [Lust] for our next play?" Jon asked.
"Sounds good to me… wait, you called it [Lust]?"
"Yes, it may not fit in at the moment but when it grows more, I foresaw a lot of potential." Jon said as he took out [Lust] and [Greed] together.
The Crystal Aether and the Shadow Aether moved in the shape of two fishes chasing one another in a circle.
"[Greed] has a very good combat potential, while of the same nature, [Lust] is more of a Magical nature on the Illusion side."
"Why do you give them such horrible names if they are this good artifacts?"
"Simple, these things contain parts of my soul and I intend to create seven of them. Each one will define my flaws and feed on it. When all the seven sins are fully matured, I will be able to face my… well, this is a little of a surprise even for myself as I don't know what to expect."
Jon said then walked out of the bed. He looked back at the naked Altmer looking up to him and exposing herself to seduce him back but he snorted and spanked her butt cheeks.
"We have things to do."
***
Outside the temple, Jon walked out and paid his respect to the Monks that allowed him to recover in. He was wearing loose long robes and letting his long hair flew behind him, his appearance reflected his mood being light and easygoing.
His direction where the shed on the small rocky hill overviewing the desert village and the oasis. Up there, he could see Isha resting her head on Mirren's lap.
"I hope you are feeling better than yesterday." He spoke after he snuck close enough.
The silent couple closed their eyes realizing this won't end well somehow. Isha was still pissed not particularly at Jon and Mirren was pissed specifically at Jon.
"Booze or sweets?" Jon asked as he joined the two and sat down.
"Too early for booze, to bitter for sweets." Mirren scolded.
"Fluff then, I can offer you to pat Nefertiti for a minute but I'll start charging you additional fees for extra pats." Jon said.
"You realize we are in Elsweyr?"
"Humph! I am aware that this is the land of Fluff but it is disappointing to see no therapy cats around. Therapy Cats… now that's a cure for cancer, global warming and racism all in one go!"
"What do you want, Jon?" Isha finally spoke.
Jon dipped his hand in his shadow and extracted Nefertiti by force.
"A peace offering." Jon said as he passed the struggling Nefertiti to Isha.
"Hooman, leave me out of it!"
Isha looked between Jon and Nefertiti then she took her from Jon. Nefertiti didn't resist Isha and just let herself be hugged.
"You feeling better today?" Jon asked.
"... Not really." Isha replied.
"I see… I am sorry about yesterday. It was rude of me."
"Whatever."
"Okay." Jon nodded and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again, "And now what?"
Isha stopped patting the cat and looked at Jon for a few seconds before looking away.
"I have no idea." She said.
"I see… I am going after him. He is involved in my Labour so… I just wanted to let you know." He said bluntly.
Isha didn't react or reply.
"What do you intend to do?" Mirren asked.
"Not sure. Most of the [Eye of the Moon Beast] Crystals were destroyed when the Orb exploded in the lake but I have one or two still intact and functioning. Last night, pointed to the west." Jon replied.
"... What's in the west?" Isha asked.
"The western half of Elsweyr and Valenwood." Mirren replied.
"First thing I wanted to ask is… are you willing to join me and go after him?" Jon asked Isha.
She thought for a while before replying.
"I don't know. What will you do once you find him?" She said.
"I don't know either. Your brother is strong but badly equipped. What I know about him is that he is a Labourer for a Daedric Prince on the other side. We killed Malacath's and Peryite's Labourers while Molag Bal and Mehrunes Dagon do not have Labourers. This leaves a Daedra we are not aware of to be sponsoring Zain. From what we saw, Zain's condition is abnormal as he ignored a spinal injury as if it was a bee sting. He is aggressive and his eyes are dull which may mean that he is not in his right mind. Also…"
"Jon!" Isha interrupted Jon then looked at him right in the eyes, "Don't give me hope. Don't give me hope or I'll hate you once it is shattered on my head all over again."
The tone she spoke reflected the pain she was in.
Her blood and flesh brother made an appearance after he was presumed dead for all that time. More to that, he tries to kill Isha on sight… this was a bit hard to endure.
Jon had to choose his next words rather carefully.
"I won't give you hope. I'll tell you something that I've been silent about. Something I should have told you from the beginning."
Isha looked at Jon without expressions. Miranda and Zara were coming under the shed and heard Jon speaking so they kept silent.
"My Seventh Labour is to follow you, Isha."
**********
(Part 2)
"What the fuck!" Mirren jumped from his place holding Jon from his collar.
A while ago, Jon dropped a bomb by revealing his Seventh Labour to his group.
Nine months ago; Mirren, Miranda and Isha finished their Labours in Morrowind while Jon had one more run to go. He was told about it but what he disclosed to his friends was that his Labour will be taking a while to be passed to him.
The three promised him support which was ironic as it involved Isha, the one who was by Jon's side from the start of the Sixth Labour. Now knowing that Isha is involved whether she liked it or not was felt like they all ate shit.
Just what is a Labour? A twisted Daedric Quest that anyone marked as its objective is someone with a kill spot on his/her back.
Whoever hears what Jon said will suspect him of harming Isha. Mirren turned violent, Miranda closed her eyes in shock and Zara held covered her mouth in disbelief.
"Wait!" Isha held Mirren by the shoulder, "He said his Labour was to follow me, not to kill me."
Her words made Mirren feel doubtful and looked between her and Jon. Whoever knows Jon's modes will know that he becomes expressionless when it is too serious and that was the case. Jon wasn't even blinking.
"Go on." Isha said.
"I wasn't told a lot. Azura's message wasn't a complicated poem or anything. I just had to follow you around and my Seventh Labour would be revealed. Ever since then, your brother turned out to be absent with the whole Citadel of Ebonarm believing he is dead. Things don't add up with what happened two days ago, which means that's a mystery to look in to. When I was in the Alik'r, I was led to the Dead Sand zone and later entered the Abyss to face the Cult of the Black Worm in the two places. Your brother showed up with the [Bloodworm Helm] on his head means the involvement of the Worm Cult is real. I first thought that he was another body the stole and turned into a Zombie but he was too strong and had a life signal." Jon briefed what he knows.
"The [Bloodworm Helm]? What is that?" Isha asked.
"It is an evil troll bone helmet created by Mannimarco, the King of Worms. An artifact with repulsive nature due to its necromantic powers."
"Does this mean… my brother is Labouring for Mannimarco?"
"No. Mannimarco is a CHIM (Royalty) but not a Daedric Prince. There is a Daedra on the other side we don't know of. Not all the Daedric Princes are involved so no one knows what are their goals."
Isha remained silent and didn't reply.
The situation remained like this until she cracked the silence once again. This time she was laughing. She laughed and laughed hard. Mirren looked at her with worried eyes but she kept laughing as if she lost her mind.
"So… so you're telling me that the Daedra are not done with me yet? Hahaha! This good… this is great!"
Isha kept laughing until she calmed down. It was then when her face returned serious.
"Jon." She called.
"Yes."
"You are a bastard for not telling me." She said and continued before he could reply, "Without explaining yourself, I understand your reasons. To tell the truth, I would have hated you if you told me back then. I just finished my Seven Labours in two years only to discover there is one more. This shit is unacceptable."
"Okay."
"I will not hold a grudge against you if you promised me something."
"Shoot."
"I will go and look for the truth, I want you to have my back and help me until I find the bastard who did it and understand what happened to my brother." She said.
"Without even asking." Jon agreed right away.
"Even if I died." She added.
"Excuse me?"
"Even if I died, I know you are a bastard who can do anything and divines know what are you fully capable of. If I died, bring me back even if you used your damn necromancy. I want to have the last laugh in this no matter what." She said with a determined look.
"Even though I am okay with summoning undead, I am not much into reanimating any." Jon tried to pull back.
"This is my choice." She said.
"This is no good way, Isha. Please think it over." Zara said.
"True, don't waste your soul." Mirren said holding her.
"You won't make it to Far Shores this way, Isha." Jon added.
"My brother is not in Far Shores. Who am I supposed to join in the afterlife if not my family?" She said.
Seeing her determined, Jon couldn't help but sigh and nod.
"I'll then make sure that you never get harmed."
"Good." Isha nodded, "Now, what should we do?"
"First, take this back." Jon took out the [Spear of Bitter Mercy] and handed it to her.
"... Why?"
"The Daedra referred to you as the Maid of Bitter Mercy. This means the spear still has a role to play."
Jon tossed it to her.
She held it with a dejected face. Even if it was the best Spear in the World, it wasn't a thing she wanted to hold anymore.
"You never told us how you acquired this spear." Jon said.
"... Not something I want to remember." Isha put the spear aside and refused to answer.
"Well, you know what they say… 'the devil is in the details'. In your case, this is quite literal." Jon said and looked closer to her.
Isha looked away avoiding to answer.
"I suggest you tell us what happened Isha. We know that you killed some important Cultists of Boethiah and so you were forced to Labour but you never told the full story." Jon said.
"Hey! She doesn't want to talk." Mirren said.
"Jon is right." Miranda spoke to her brother, "He may have kept an important thing but we understand that he didn't mean harm, rather, he was worried about Isha."
"Zara may have no much of a say but if things became a mess, one must follow the parts he didn't check." Zara said.
Despite all what was said, Isha remained silent. Jon and the others realized that there is no point in asking her things she doesn't want to answer.
"If you ever want to speak about it…" Jon was about to say something but she spoke.
"I killed a child." She said.
"""..."""
Her expression darkened after she said so. She looked down broken and weakened. For a warrior, killing the elderly, the women or the children is the greatest of all shame.
Honor was a big deal to warriors, Jon may say that he understands but he came from a world where honor meant nothing so he could only nod.
He signaled for the other not to speak or react while keeping an eye on Isha. Mirren dejectedly remained silent as well.
"Every full moon, Zain wouldn't be able to resist the call of the beast. He would transform in the middle of the desert and we would keep an eye on him…" Isha started to tell her story.
Zain was cursed with Lycanthropy, those who bear the power of the beast never know rest and are always foul and angry. Zain was desperate for a cure as he became what he hated most and his desperation was transferred to his Wife and Sister.
The three looked everywhere for a cure but after one last trip to Hegathe, Zain was seriously tired and got bedridden. It was strange since Werewolves had a natural resistance to disease. Those who checked on him explained it as his mental state was affecting his physical state and his body was failing him.
Dying, Zain was in a strange state of peace as he promised his Wife and Sister that everything will be alright.
Isha wasn't aware of how Zain died as she seemed to have forgotten about the event but what she remembers was taking a horse and venturing across the Alik'r willing to make a pact with any Daedric Lord there is to save her brother.
She single-handedly raided and interrogated many Daedric cults but to no useful method. Almost losing all hope, a 'Being' came to her and told her that her wish can be granted for a price.
This 'Being' told her to go to a certain place and recover a spear then go to another place and kill every living thing in it by that spear.
Driven by the hope she found, Isha rushed to wherever she was pointed at, killed everything that stood in her place and recovered a spear. It was then when she killed a child in the process.
But that never came true, she couldn't find her brother no matter where she looked.
The story didn't add up to what the others know but it was then when Isha was confronted by Boethiah and her Prophet, Hafiz.
If she wants to meet her brother again, she was to Labour for the sin of killing the child that was being nurtured by Boethiah to create an unmatched champion. Isha was faced with no choice thinking that her brother was in the hands of Boethiah and agreed to Labour.
And that's how things started.
The story may not sound interesting but such as reality. Still, everyone could figure out the culprit that got Isha into the Labour… this thing she called 'Being'.
"What kind of being is it, Isha?" Jon asked.
"A being… I am not sure." She replied.
"Not sure?" Jon and the other exchanged weird looks.
"Why are you asking, it is not important…" She said but she herself could feel it is coming out strange.
"Not important? Any half-witted person can figure it out, Isha." Miranda was infuriated by Isha's dull behavior.
"Not… it is… it is really not important." Isha said faintly.
"Wait, sister." Mirren stopped Miranda and turned to Isha, "Love, if you are not suspecting whoever that is… if he or she were someone close or something…"
"No… it is just… I don't know." She said.
On the other hand, Jon and Zara were looking at Isha with narrowed eyes. The two figured out something.
"She is hypnotized." Jon said.
"What? No!" Mirren denied it.
"She is." Zara confirmed.
"Oh no." Miranda felt bad for yelling at Isha.
Isha herself looked like a lost child between Mirren's arms. Being told that what she knows is not true was harsh on her. She is already lost and can't afford to be more lost.
"What do you mean?" She asked faintly.
"To be honest, I never wanted to say this but it was all in front of us. Not remembering that your brother is dead, not knowing how he died and now not suspecting the being that implicated you into Labouring… it is all there." Jon said with pity.
Isha's eyes started tearing. She didn't cry but she was as pitiful as ever.
"You're saying… the truth… the truth is my head all along? And someone…. something messed with my head?" She asked in a shaken tone.
Jon nodded.
She took a minute of self-pity and crying. Mirren and Miranda kept close to her trying to calm her down. In the end, she looked at Jon with a broken spirit.
"Please… help me."
"I will." Jon didn't even think of leaving her like that.
He extended his hand for her and a Crystal appeared on his hand. This was [Lust].
"This thing has the power to induce the truth. Take my hand." Jon said.
She looked at his hand and slowly extended hers. They firmly locked hands and he let out a sigh.
"Isha." Jon spoke heavily, "What kind of a being was that thing that told you to recover the spear and kill the cultists?"
To the question, Isha's eyes stopped tearing and her face showed that she has arrived at some clarity.
"A dog." She said, "A talking dog. It came to me and offered me any wish I want… it called itself…"
"Barbas!" Jon continued.
The others around Jon felt his shock and questioned what the named meant in their heads. Isha, on the other hand, nodded slowly with wide eyes.
Jon's solid expressions meant a lot to those who know him.
"Do you know the origin of the saying 'be careful what you wish for'?" Jon asked.
The others listened to him silently.
"I know who is behind everything now. The Daedric Prince of Wishes and Bargains, Clavicus Vile."
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