Michael wasn't threatened as she began to make her way over. He knew what her magic could do, he knew what spells in Tamriel were capable of, and he knew what artifact she possesses. Even so, his usual caution was lost as the thought of what she might ask him manifested in his mind.
She finally reaches him, standing right in front of him while looking up at his face, her short stature making their height disparity look rather humorous, at least, in any other circumstance.
"I... I wanted to master magic... Learn to cook from Mother... Teach Illococoo to stop eating random things..." she mutters as tears drip from under her horned mask and past her neck. "Find love?"
Michael's chest feels heavy, though, no moisture gathers in his eyes... Not because he didn't want to cry, but because he'd been unable to for a while now.
She drops her staff on the floor and raises her hand to the mask, taking it off and revealing her pale, sunken, and sallow face that'd seen much sadness and misery. Tears streamed from her baggy eyes, pooling on her chin as they dripped to the floor.
He does nothing as she stands on her tiptoes and reaches up to his face, pulling him down into an abrupt kiss.
Michael was surprised, to say the least, he hadn't thought that Charlotte had any such intentions towards himself. Indeed, he'd suspected that she liked the other gender entirely.
The kiss was long, aggressive yet gentle... One belonged to a novice who was only trying it for the first time ever, but had some expectations regardless.
His mind was only just rebooting as Darth, the shadowy foot suddenly kicks Charlotte in the side, throwing the young girl a couple of meters as she rolls to a stop.
Michael was still dazed from the kiss, and his usual caution was lost. Primarily, he was worried about Tiffania's reaction to it when he undoubtedly told her... Something like kissing Charlotte before her death was not something to be kept secret... This is partly why he was so unprepared for the sound of a projectile heading his way.
He tilts his head to the side while activating Shadow Dance and Counter Spell, well aware that Cold Embrace would probably result in his death if it was as he suspected, a Daedric Prince breaking the rules and attacking him.
The object whizzes by, cutting the slightest scratch on the tip of his ear as it clatters to the ground not far away. No one had thrown it, but his expression quickly falls when he focuses on the ground where the thing had landed...
Mehrune's Razor, the thing that'd just scratched his ear...
His hand goes to the scratch that wasn't healing despite Shadow Dance being active, his eyes darting to Charlotte who was crying even more profusely than before.
"Charlotte... You..." he utters in disbelief, unable to summon any anger despite the absolute betrayal...
He could feel it. The sense of overwhelming dread one would feel when something bad was about to happen, the curse of Mehrune's Razor flooded from the wound, going through his body and gripping his heart.
With that, all goes black. Michael drops to his knees as he abruptly dies.
"I-I'm sorry. So sorry." Charlotte sobs as she looks at the corpse.
She stands, disregarding her broken hip bone and picks up Mehrune's Razor, intent to end herself... Only to lose control of her body at the last second as the dagger dissipates in her grasp, sent directly to Clavicus Vile.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Daedric Princes all watched this with various expressions, the most common of which is... Laughter.
"Ahahahahahahaha! What an emotional finale! Ahahahaha!" Clavicus clammers victoriously, unable to hide his glee at winning the competition, along with eliminating one of the ties that were binding his servant from reaching her full potential. Sure, he'd had to help her along a bit via the Chain of Arkmis, but regardless of the method, he only saw this as a win.
"Hmph, I have to say, I had not expected this." Hircine says, surprised that Michael had actually perished here. Not only that, he perished to Mehrune's Razor, meaning his soul now belonged to the Daedric Lord of Destruction.
"No one had expected to lose to the Imp." Vaermina sourly adds, less upset at the loss of her artifact than the fact that she'd lost the competition.
"THIS IS NO VICTORY! YOUR HALF-SIZED RAT SHOULD HAVE FALLEN! THE DOG'S CHAMPION WOULD HAVE BEEN FAR BETTER SUITED!" Dagon angrily shouts.
Clavicus snorts, "My 'Rat' gifted you the soul of the World-Hopper, shut up and be thankful you four-armed barbarian."
"MARK MY WORDS, IMP, THIS WILL NOT BE THE END OF IT!"
Clavicus nods, "You're right, it won't... Because it's time for me to state my terms, as is the right of the victory." he arrogantly says, causing the other Princes to groan. The losers all appear in their ephemeral forms and gather around Clavicus, waiting for whatever ridiculous claims he wishes to make.
"Heh, look at you all, waiting on my word like a bunch of money-grubbing prostitutes-" Clavicus starts but is cut off as the other Daedric Princes all begin berating him, unable to let his victory sit quietly.
It takes around half an hour of Hircine pacifying everyone, even though he himself wasn't all that happy with Clavicus' win.
"Now, I only have one request from all of you... Stay out of the lands I have set my eyes on... Elsweyr and Skyrim."
...
"You cannot be serious, Imp." Meridia retorts, she was well aware of the Vampire threat that was gaining strength in Skyrim, and knew that she'd be needed to render aid and power to those who'd end up fighting against it.
Clavicus nods, "I am completely serious, my dear. Plus, it's only these two small Provinces. It's not like I've forbidden you from acting in Cyrodil or Morrowind." he smirks towards Azura, "At least there you aren't powerless... I am not returning the moon, however."
...
Mephala lets out a respondent sigh, "Fine, no direct influence in either Province... But that doesn't block all avenues, Imp. Remember this." she states as her form fades, along with many others.
Sheogorath lets out a pitiful groan, "Poor Pinchy the Fourth, cut down in your prime, before you could even destroy the capital of Skyrim. The brightest always burn out first!" he says as he disappears.
"WE'LL SEE HOW LONG YOUR VICTORY LASTS, IMP!" Dagon says as his form fades.
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*SHIIING!*
A ray of light shines down from the sky in Mehrunes Dagon's realm, the Deadlands, illuminating the suddenly appearing form of Michael.
He sucks in air voraciously as he drops to his knees, patting himself all over as he erratically thinks about what just happened.
"I died..." he mutters through harried breaths, utterly confused and mildly horrified by the void-like blackness he'd experienced. The single timer in the corner of his vision was the only thing that'd stopped him from going insane from sensory deprivation, along with his abilities that strengthen his mind.
The abrupt flooding of sensations that he'd been hit with once the timer had ended had almost knocked him unconscious... It was like using a foghorn directly into someone's ear after they'd taken out earplugs.
Not only that, but he felt like he was burning alive from the air itself. His lungs felt like they were being cooked, and his skin was quickly turning red and blistering from the heat of wherever he was.
"Charlotte... You really killed me..." he mutters in disbelief, having trouble even processing the information.
Was the kiss a lie? Just a distraction to get a chance to end him? Was she even in control then, or was it Clavicus?
What would happen now that Clavicus had won the Hunt?
"This can't be fucking happening." he growls, punching the dark rocky ground and leaving an imprint of his fist in the scorched stone, the blood he leaves behind instantly sizzling from the heat terminating from it.
'How was he even still alive?' he finally thinks to himself as he forcefully pulls his thoughts away from the betrayal that was boring a hole through his chest.
Michael looks up and squints slightly as he looks up and catches a glimpse of the magma surrounding him and the small scorched island he was knelt upon.
"FINALLY NOTICED? YOU ARE A STRANGE SPECIMEN, WORLD-HOPPER. RECOVERING YOUR BODY FROM ONLY YOUR SOUL. ARE YOU A DENIZEN OF OBLIVION? OR SOMETHING ELSE?" the voice of Mehrunes Dagon says from behind him.
Michael gets to his feet and turns, ignoring his burning body. He has to force himself to keep his legs straight when he locks eyes with the god. Mehrunes Dagon stood hundreds of feet tall, with crimson skin, four arms, and a devilish horned visage.
Michael felt like he was face to face with Sargeras again, though, he wasn't feeling as oppressed... Was Sargeras simply more powerful than Mehrunes Dagon? Or was the being before him hiding his true abilities?
"What do you want? Why am I here?" Michael asks, inwardly patting himself on the back for the fact that he hadn't antagonized this Daedric Prince... Aside from finishing off his Champion of course...
The Daedric Prince gives a fanged grin as he stares down at Michael, "YOU LOST ME THAT FOOLS HUNT! SO, YOU WILL REPAY ME IN FULL, AND YOU WILL USE YOUR NEW BODY TO DO IT." he commands with his voice causing the volcanic lands around Michael to shudder and shake.
"Clavicus' Champion took your victory, not me." Michael retorts with as much strength as his voice could carry.
"CORRECT! BUT YOU ALSO PLAYED A PART. YOU ARE MINE NOW! AND YOU WILL OBEY!" the god of destruction commands.
...
When Michael doesn't immediately drop to his knees and start worshipping his feet, Mehrunes Dagon crooks a brow and scowls, "KNEEL AND OBEY ME, MORTAL! OR FACE ETERNAL TORTURE!"
"No." Michael answers. Lord or not, King or not, God or not, he refused to serve anyone ever again!
"OBEY ME OR ELSE, MORTAL!"
"NO, I REFUSE!" Michael exclaims, even while his throat and face burned from the rediculous ambient temperature.
The god growls, "THEN SUFFER!" he roars, throwing a single hand out and causing Michael to disappear.
Michael reappears under an ocean of lava, immediately letting out a muffled scream as the liquid rock scorches his body. He was lucky that his Ebonthread and Ebony robes were so durable, otherwise, they'd have been burned off instantly. They aren't saved completely however, as the ends of it are singed and scorched.
His body wasn't doing any better as the flesh melts from his bones at stupidly fast speeds. Were it not for his Pain Tolerance and Affinity to fire, he'd have gone insane or been rendered ashes already.
He's unable to Blink, unable to move, unable to do anything but suffer... Well, except... Pushing through his pain, he summons the Book of Legends and forces his mind into it despite being unable to see which Spirit's world he was headed into.
He blinks and his burned eyes are healed, the terrible feeling of burning being replaced with the slight chill of Auroth's cave.
"AAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!" he cries out and drops to his knees as the phantom pain of burning continues, despite having temporarily escaped it.
"M-Michael!? What's wrong!?" the Wyvern exclaims as it tumbles from the mountain of books under it and rushes to him.
"E-Everything!" is all he can get out as he continues to writhe in agony. The chill licking his skin was the only reprieve, but even that was fleeting.
Suddenly, he's locked in place and held in a block of ice, the Winter Wyvern had cast Cold Embrace onto him...
Thirty minutes later, Auroth lets Michael out from the block of ice, gently depositing him on the pile of books afterwards. "Will you explain to me what has happened, Michael?"
...
"I... Challenged an evil god, what you saw was the result." he admits, hands still trembling despite the torture only lasting a few seconds.
The Wyvern lets out a disturbed sigh as she drapes her wing around him in the dragon-version of a hug. "Forgive me, but that seems like a foolish thing to do."
He nods, "Yeah, I know. I knew it when I challenged him, but I did it anyway." he mutters.
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
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