บท 657: Emperor Titus Mede II
A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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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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