AE7 The Story of Iriisii Dovahkiin

     Rigmor: "Oh...kay. Should I be worried?"

     Iriisii: "It has been worked out for all involved."

     Iriisii cocks her head, then mentally instructs the Custodian to close and withdraw the door.

     Iriisii: "Psy-Ops comes. Rigmor, do not lose it, whatever you do. Flow with it and all will be well."

     Iriisii then casts a misdirection glamor around Eliza, cautioning her to be silent. Then they settle down to wait for to see how Psy-Ops managed to get past the front desk without warning. A quick check by Tricia on her comm device shows a reply from their lawyers that they are enroute and not to converse with Psy-Ops until they arrive. It takes the Psy-Ops people more than a few minutes of time to find their way through the labyrinthian passages and hallways that seem to lead everywhere but where they want to go.

     As they walk through the door on the opposite side from everyone else, they spot Jean Claude and ignoring everyone else they march to a spot in front of him and begin waving papers that they claim gives them the right to look for some missing members of their organization that he is supposed to be holding against their will. He looks at them, barely hiding his disgust at their thinly veiled antics. Much as he would like to have his Harlequin forcefully shove them all out the front door in full view of the public, he ops to wait it out until his own lawyers show up.

     Meanwhile as the paper waving goes on, a few of them begin to take notice of the others standing around watching everything. As some of the bystanders begin to have names attached to their faces, and their identities become known it changes the landscape entirely and the lower ranking agents try their best to rein in the histrionics, without much success. Jean Claude's lawyers show up now and wade into the morass, sizing up the situation and seeing if the paper waving and histrionics can be turned to their client's advantage. Once it reaches a point just short of a physical altercation beginning, one of Jean Claude's lawyers sees a cue given and he gets the attention of Psy-Ops by offering to escort them wherever they would like to search for their missing comrades. They split up and each take a section, while everyone else who was already there prepares to wait it out. Rigmor uses sign to inquire of Iriisii.

     Rigmor: 'Are they looking for the ones we sent to the Krang?'

     Iriisii: 'Yes.'

     Rigmor: 'So they will not find a thing will they?'

     Iriisii: 'No. They will not. They will be angry. Keep cool and be ready.'

     Rigmor: 'Ready for what?'

     Iriisii: 'Anything. If they start something, they will die, otherwise let them go.'

     One by one the Psy-Ops agents come back after finding nothing and wait for the others. Ted tries using his 'good ole boy' routine to see if any of these will talk and let something slip. But they know his dossier too well and his efforts get nowhere, yet even then he learns from their reactions.

     When the last one shows up, he turns to Jean Claude and practically accuses him of killing the agents and disposing of the bodies. Before Jean Claude can react Tricia begins a tirade worthy of some Rigmor has pulled in the past. Then just before the Lead Agent is about to lose his temper, one of Jean Claude's lawyers steps in and deflects the Lead Agent by pointing out what the consequences of losing his temper would cost him in court. He really doesn't care about that, his concern is what his boss would do if he went back not only being unable to find a sign of the rogue agents, but the embarrassment to the department of losing it in front of the enemy. He turns and walks out the way they came, the others following. Jean Claude sends a few of the Harlequin to see they make it to the front door alive.

     Jean Claude: "I apologize for the scene, I did not expect them so soon."

     Ted: "That's all right, seems to me you handled that just right, kept them off balance the whole time, right until they get outside and realize they were played by a master of the game."

     Jean Claude nods his head at the compliment.

     Jean Claude: "Now before we were so rudely interrupted, may I ask the purpose of your visit?"

     Tricia: "They came at my invitation. There is a great deal more going on than we know and see. Every time I walk outside I feel the tension winding tighter and tighter. Events are building toward something, something very bad, and also powerful. If we can access the power and drain it off, perhaps we stand a better chance of surviving. If not, then we have a bolt hole to escape to."

     Jean Claude: "What bolt hole is big enough to take all the innocents that would otherwise be defenseless against what we would leave them to face? No, I will not do it!"

     Iriisii: "Do not worry about the innocent population, I can and will take care of them. I have done this before and now I have better resources."

     Tricia: "Believe her, I have seen her Krang, it is huge beyond belief and can take the whole population of many worlds without strain. She has already pledged to take all of the 'Were' Clans that wish to avail themselves of sanctuary."

     Ted: "All of them? That is more than I can count. No one truly knows how many there are."

     Iriisii: "I know, my Krang has them all marked, they can be teleported in an instant, at my command. But I still need to speak to the Vampire Council and the Fae. There are dire things coming and these people do not deserve to be helpless before them. That is in part why I am here. Also from what I have learned of Psy-Ops, what are the chances they have planted micro-bugs to listen in on careless speech within the back rooms and corridors of this place?"

     Jean Claude frowns and Tricia starts cursing.

     Jean Claude: "Thank you for bringing this up now before they can find out more than they may have already. Tricia, you know who to set up a 'sweep' with, please notify them immediately."

     Iriisii: "Please allow me to offer the services of my people. We have access to technology that is far beyond what Psy-Ops can reach for. We can also detect devices that use esoteric and exotic materials and forces, just on the chance they have acquired tech from outside sources."

     Jean Claude: "When can you do this?"

     Iriisii: "They can be here at your command."

     Jean Claude: "Then by all means please bring them, the sooner we have found everything, the sooner I will rest easy about this."

     Iriisii: "As you wish it."

     Iriisii creates a virtual screen to the Krang Control Deck. She sees Reaper is there, already working with Liselle.

     Iriisii: "Reaper."

     Reaper: "Mother, what can I do to please you?"

     Iriisii explains what she needs done.

     Reaper: "Allow me to do an initial scan to see what may be there. That way we can isolate anything found and remove it before it can send any data. Beginning scan now."

     Reaper initiates some commands at the central control board he is standing at, while all within the Hall stand, their gaze captured by what the interior of the Krang looks like.

     Reaper: "Sending a map with locations marked of existing spy devices. Most are primitive, this world's current technology, a few however are different in nature. They are completely passive, meant to avoid normal means of detection. Their data is collected from an external source access."

     Tricia: "What exactly does he mean?"

     Ted: "The devices are not powered within themselves. They merely collect and store the data passively. They are then powered and activated from outside and only then is the data sent to a local site, thus the power used is very small and likely will avoid detection. Very high tech, only the military and certain governmental agencies use this type."

     Tricia: "Holding out on me, Ted?"

     Ted: "Not at all, I only recently found out about these myself. I had no way to know Psy-Ops had access to this stuff. If the people that came up with this find out about that, some heads may roll in certain high offices and labs."

     Tricia: "See that the information gets to where it can do us the most good, if Psy-Ops has agents in these offices, it is best to identify them and get them out."

     Ted: "Eventually yes, for right now better to leave them be. If they are known, they can be watched, even used to send false flag information back to Psy-Ops. They will not be going anywhere, if they are discovered and sent packing, Psy-Ops will see that they disappear, then it will be even more difficult to find what they do next."

     Tricia: "You make a lot of sense. Ok, we will do that part your way. But they do not get a chance to run through here again without being searched for these 'bugs', and if we find any on them, they are to be escorted from the premises without fail. And I pray they give us reason to be rough."

     Iriisii using the map and taking some of Jean Claude's Harlequin along with the techs that work in the 'Circus', they move to all of the marked locations, search for the 'bugs', gather them up, and bring them to the main Hall to look them over. They run the gamut from ones you would expect to see in use by the government to others that defy description as to what function they are supposed to serve. These are the ones that grab Iriisii's attention the most. Reaper tells her that whoever put these in the hands of Psy-Ops is playing fast and loose with materials that could make a nuclear warhead look like a firecracker.

     Reaper: "Mother, even the Tar-Ayim outlawed the use of the materials used in these 'bugs' because in the wrong circumstances they could result in implosions great enough...well you have already seen some of the effects they could cause."

     Iriisii: "What do you mean?"

     Reaper: "When you and Dettlaff were caught up in that 'Grey Hole'. That world where its planetary rotation had stopped, the research station where you went in to investigate and came back out emptying your stomach."

     Iriisii: "The magmass event..."

     Reaper: "Yes."

     Tricia: "What is this 'magmass event' you speak of?"

     Iriisii: "Pray you never find out, that Psy-Ops could have possession of something that could cause that to reoccur if mishandled. That it was so abhorrent that even the Tar-Ayim outlawed its use, moves them higher in my opinion of them. But now I not only have to get what remains of this out of their hands, I have to know where and under what circumstances they got possession of it. Any who truly understand what this can do..."

     Tricia: "What...?"

     Iriisii: "It will require that I wipe their minds, destroy all memory of it from them."

     Tricia: "And if you cannot do that?"

     Iriisii: "I will have to utterly destroy them, mind, body, and soul, completely. You would have to see what I saw to understand, and once things like this are seen they can never be forgotten no matter how bad the nightmares are."

     Tricia: "That bad, hunh?"

     Iriisii: "What I saw of the remains of those caught up in it were bad enough. Bodies merged with the metal walls, floors, ceilings, equipment, that I could stand the sight of, bad as it was. But to realize those bodies were still alive..."

     Tricia: "Wait, you mean they were actually in that kind of state and still living?"

     Iriisii: "Yes, and the radiation was strong enough that it would have killed you in minutes if you were not shielded."

     Tricia: "All of that and still living...and someone has given Psy-Ops the keys to make things that if misused could bring such things about?"

     Iriisii: "You get a mere glimpse of what I saw, but I hope you see no more than that. Perhaps with what you now know you can understand the severity of what has to be done to safeguard all others from what could happen."

     Tricia: "Yes, I do. I will make certain that all those I know, will understand why Psy-Ops must be taken down. And those involved in these materials in any way face judgement."

     Later, Iriisii is working out in the guards training area with Dettlaff. There are more people standing and watching than there is even standing room. For this is a full contact training session, and the weapons being used are real and not blunted for training. Dettlaff is using an older Katana that Iriisii had forged, while Iriisii is testing a new blade she calls 'Gwynbleidd'. Made like the Witcher swords, but with a few differences. The metal is forged like that of a Katana, the blade is just a little longer, balanced for her specifically. Once it is in her hands, it feels like it is a part of her, she swears she can feel through it as Dettlaff parries her strikes.

     She then begins to increase the pace, striking from side to side, shifting overhead for a downstroke, twirling with blade slipping out as he backs up furiously, just at the last second getting his own in position to block. Her blade slides along his block and then rests against his throat. He drops the point of his Katana to the floor, as she retrieves her sword from his neck, and the crowd of guards show their applause and admiration, for if either had not fought with everything they had, someone would have been injured or killed. But it showed the degree of trust between them, that they would take that chance.

     Late that night, she takes Rigmor and Dettlaff up onto the roof, and she shows them the view of the city.

     Iriisii: "I like to come here and look out over the skyline. Listen to the people go back and forth to wherever they feel led to. Down on the street, you can feel the tension growing, the presence that something is not right. But here we are above all of that. I can see farther and find pockets of calm. When I look up, the stars are so much like ours, but there, in that direction, farther than eyes can see. Even telescopes cannot see it, but we can feel it, feel the power flowing like a torrential river of fire, the Hellmouth is there."

     Rigmor: "What is it that draws your gaze to it?"

     Iriisii: "One of Wotan's ravens came to me and whispered in my ear. He told me of something in there, something being hidden by a river of power. Something I am destined to find and make mine. I think I know what it is, but I am still not certain of it."

     Dettlaff: "What do you think it is?"

     Iriisii: "The last Fortress of the Ageless Ones, the 'Fortress of Unending Power'."

     Rigmor: "That was not all he told you either, was it?"

     Iriisii: "No, it was not, but that is for later."

     Rigmor: "I saw someone standing next to you when I came through the door."

     Iriisii: "His name is Olav Trevorson. Think of him as a part of Wiley before his redemption, and a part of Letho before he followed me to Nirn. He has taken permanent service with me. It will take time to undo what was done to him in the past. But what he can become is worth the effort to bring him to redemption."

     Rigmor: "He is not to be a herald then?"

     Iriisii: "No, he will be the first of my 'Dragon Warriors', my elite force, each will be paired with one of my Dragon Children, and they will learn to fight as one, each to care for the other, to bind themselves together. They will be closer than the Dragonriders of old, sharing their lives as one, each extending the life of the other."

     Rigmor: "Now I see the purpose of your dragonlings, although you had no idea this was the direction you were going in when you brought them into this Existence?"

     Iriisii: "You are quite right. I took it in faith that their future would be entwined with mine, and I see that faith is not misplaced. But listen out there among the stars, what do your soul's ears tell you?"

     Rigmor stands still and quiet, letting her hearing soar out to the stars themselves, listening to whatever crosses her path. Soon she begins to understand what Iriisii wants her to hear. The cries, the lamentations, the whispers of souls lost and in despair. When she can take no more, she returns and looks pensively at Iriisii.

     Rigmor: "When are we going to help them?"

     Iriisii: "Soon, we require help to reach them. We will need to be able to offer them an alternative, once that is in place we can begin. But what has brought this into being is another thing as to why I was brought here to address."

     Rigmor: "I cannot argue with this, their pain drives straight to the heart. As they discover the faith they gave for all their lives only to find it abandoned, this is the worst that I feel."

     Iriisii: "We will, I promise. We will not leave them abandoned and alone."

     While still orbiting around Tuo, the 'AI' Overseer and his fleet receive a relayed message from one of the machine civilizations they interacted with on their journey to find Iriisii once they became aware of her survival in drawing the Ravenous Darkness into a wormhole. Its takes some time even as the other mortal lifeforms around calculate it, for them to decode and parse the complex algorithms into a form they can readily understand. Once this is done, they do something completely out of character for an 'AI'. They panic.

     They reach out to all around, asking if any have a channel of communications to her, that they have information of dire importance that they need to get into her hands. The word goes out among all of her supporters that if any know of whatever means of getting a message to her to contact the 'AI' Fleet around Tuo. Finally word reaches them from a race on the world of Silistra, directing them to contact a 'Fortress of the Ageless Ones' that exists within the Realm of Space they inhabit. That this Fortress can pass the information to its brother resting on her homeworld of Nirn, and 'he' can relay it to her through her Krang.

     The 'Overseer' does as the 'Timekeepers' of Silistra instruct. The message is passed from the Fortress near Silistra to the one currently on Nirn, and the Custodian passes it to the Krang, to give to Iriisii. Inside the 'Circus of the Damned', on Aearth, the Custodian contacts her to give her the message from the 'Overseer'. At this particular moment she is deeply involved in sharing her joy at reuniting with Rigmor. Who does not take kindly to the interruption.

     Rigmor: "What in the blazes is going on?! I cannot have any alone time with you unless some emergency somewhere is dragging you off to who knows where! It is just not fair!!"

     Iriisii: "I know, love, but this is from the AI Overseer around Tuo. He would not send such a message unless it was of the greatest importance that I get it. Let me get a look at it and see what the uproar is all about, then we can decide if it is something that needs to be addressed immediately."

     Rigmor: "Tuo?! But we settled that matter! What is going on now?!"

     Iriisii: "According to the beginning of this, they received information from another machine civilization that they had contact with after they escaped the Ravenous Darkness. It is what the other civilization sent them that is the cause of this madness. They say that they can only partially understand everything, that most of it is of too high an order for them to make sense of."

     Rigmor: "But they sure did not waste time getting it to you, did they?"

     Iriisii: "Hush a moment, this involves the discovery of a quantum event."

     Rigmor: "So what is going on now, another research station blowing itself into another dimension?"

     Iriisii: "I cannot tell right now, I will need to marshal some others to join with me in decoding this into something we can understand."

     Rigmor: "All right, who do we need? Let us get them here!"

     Iriisii: "No, I will use the Krang and the Fortresses to set up a virtual conference. We will need to link myself with my Ancestral Memories through the Krang and join with whoever we think could help us. I think I need to begin with the Child of Infinity, as well as the Krang itself. Then we can decide to bring in others as needed."

     Rigmor: "Well there goes the rest of tonight, tomorrow, probably tomorrow night as well."

     Iriisii: "The sooner we get started, the sooner we get done."

     Rigmor: "All right, all right, what do you need me to do?"

     Iriisii: "Stand ready to join in, if I add you, Dettlaff, and maybe even Eliza, and meld all of our memories, we can all work together to assist in getting to the heart of this."

     Rigmor: "I will go and get them, you get everything started, then pull us in if you need to."

     Rigmor goes in search of the others, while Iriisii calls Reaper to link her into the Krang. While this is done she touches the Child of Infinity and brings her into the loop. As it grows, more and more of the message is parsed, and its meaning grows ever more complex, reaching into more and more esoteric fields of knowledge. She does finally draw in Rigmor, Dettlaff, and when Eliza is placed in the loop as well, a giant leap is taken.

     With all their resources put to work making sense out of the communication from the machine civilization, it slowly begins to take shape. And it is not a very pretty shape at all, but it does answer some very nagging questions that have been plaguing Iriisii about a number of issues. Issues that now are shown to have commonalities that before she would never have seen or suspected if not for this message. Speaking through the link, she points out some of these questions and their answers.

     Iriisii*: "Look here, this part, I know it looks like 'what does it have to do with anything we have gone through' but extrapolate it further, it allows everything else this message speaks of to occur, and ties them all to a single source. It also goes a long way toward explaining just where the 'Blind Dreamer' originally comes from and how 'he' arrived here, why it is he needs me to channel his power through to make it affect things here."

     Rigmor*: "What? This 'monopole' event?"

     Child of Infinity*: "Yes, it is the part where when it degrades into this second state, it can literally become a gate into the 'Antithesis' or in more scientific terms, a look into the 'antimatter world'."

     Rigmor*: "What does that mean though?"

     Iriisii*: "Start with this, if matter and antimatter come into physical contact, both forms are annihilated and convert into pure energy. But the message states that somehow a stable form of this degraded state has happened."

     Rigmor*: "So somewhere there is a stable gate linking both us and the anti-universe?"

     Iriisii*: "Anti-Existence, not just a single universe, but an entire mirror Existence. But travel from one into the other normally cannot exist because anything from one would be destroyed as soon as it touched anything in the other."

     Rigmor*: "But somehow it is happening, is it not? That is why all of the uproar is going on, right?"

     Iriisii*: "Partially, yes. Part of the problem is if that gate could be opened to allow uncontrolled mixing of the two. It would lead to the utter destruction of both sides. But something like this is not natural, it has to be made to happen and be stable."

     Rigmor*: 'Then someone on that other side is doing this?"

     Iriisii*" It looks that way. The big question is of course, why? Then we must ask can it be closed without further mishap, not to mention just how long has this been happening. I assume it has been going on for some time, but they could never get it to be stable, now they can. I have often wondered how did it come to be that our Existence could slide into chaos and destruction, what happened to cause the slide in the beginning. No one I have spoken to seems to know."

     Rigmor*: "But now we just might have a lead on that, right?"

     Iriisii*: "Yes, it does look that way. At some point, they opened a gate one time too many and either it affected something or something slipped through, something not physical and so it survived. There was something buried in this message that I thought was pointing in that direction. Yes, here it is, look at this again now with what we have put together and see if it changes anything."

     Rigmor*: "I cannot see anything but I may not realize what it is that I am looking for."

     Iriisii*: "I found it. And this could be very bad, I am not sure but I will likely need to consult with some others to determine what will have to be done about this. Also there is something I remember Desidarius mentioning, this may be the answer to what happened."

     Rigmor*: "What was it about?"

     Iriisii*: "A group of high level demonic lords, who went is search of something that was creating a great deal of havoc within their Realms. She said that they found and absorbed it into themselves to keep it away from anyone else, and that it changed their appearance into something truly horrendous, even beyond the ability of Demon Lords to tolerate."

     Rigmor*: "That must be pretty bad if they were ostracized by their own."

     Iriisii*: "I do not know for sure, she does because she has met them, and I have not known her to embellish, she speaks her mind and opinion, but she will not stray from what she can prove to be true."

     Child of Infinity*: "I know of what you speak. Soulfire is the physical manifestation of the 'Language of Creation' in this Existence. Thus there should be a 'Language of Creation' for this other mirror Existence, and as its physical materials will be destroyed when contacting materials in our Existence."

     Iriisii*: "Its 'Language of Creation' would act to destroy that which ours brought into being."

     Child of Infinity*: "Yes, used to create something in our existence, it would instead destroy. It is called Enunciation, and it is composed of separate syllables, that when chained into words, those words are very dangerous. Even to use just the syllables causes pain, distress, even death in mortals who even hear them spoken much less speak them. To those strong enough and learned enough to use them, they still experience deleterious effects upon their bodies."

     Iriisii*: "That would explain something I heard from Desidarius about some certain Demonic Lords having found something causing great uproar and unrest in their Realm. They absorbed it into their own bodies and so they became so hideously malformed that their own turned against them."

     Child of Infinity*: "Ah, so that is what happened to them. They are known as the 'Exalted Ones', at a time much earlier they were different from most of the Demonic Lords in that they actually cared about those they ruled over. When they were cast out, they did not turn and kill those who drove them out, they just went away and stayed in seclusion."

     Iriisii*: "I will need to track them down and find out what they know, but that can be done later. I need to deal with the situation here, and then find the Fortress of Unending Power."

     Child of Infinity*: "Do you know where to look?"

     Iriisii*: "Somewhere near the Hellmouth I have been told."

     Child of Infinity*: "What will you do after find all five of them?"

     Iriisii*: "I do not know right now, but I am sure something will come to mind afterward. I have the feeling it will be something to turn eyes everywhere. For now though we have done all we can, I will allow the Krang and my Ancestral Memories to continue looking through the data and see what other connections can be made, perhaps there will be something in there that we can use. Until then, Rigmor and I were interrupted and I am certain she would like to revisit what we were engaged in."

     Child of Infinity*: "If they find anything I would like to know, that way I can look and see if anything similar is being attempted to breach my dimension."

     Iriisii*: "I will make certain you are given a copy of anything else they find."

     Child of Infinity*: "Thank you, I am glad to be able to help all that I can. Take care and speak if you need anything else."

     Iriisii*: "I will."

     As she feels the contact with the 'Child of Infinity' fade into the background, she instructs her Ancestral Memories and Reaper that they should continue going through the message data and see if any other connections can be made. Then she comes out of her meditation position and looks around for Rigmor, who she sees fast asleep, buried under the feather blanket. She sighs and carefully gets up to go look for something to eat. There are a few guards coming off shift in the kitchens, they gratefully make room for her to sit and eat with them. The topics of conversation are the usual, until the talk comes around to Olaf. One of the older guards asks Iriisii about him.

     Guard: "Sensei, we all respect your knowledge and decisions, but why have you taken Olaf into your service?"

     Iriisii looks at the guard and gives him a measured response.

     Iriisii: ""You speak as one who knows him well. I am certain you know much of what he shows to the world, but very little of what he keeps hidden. One thing I have learned above all else in my existence as both a mortal and an immortal is this. The Gods do their greatest works with the most broken of people. So think on this for a moment, if that is true and I offer my own life as testament to those words, what could Olaf become under the guidance of one who has experienced it personally?"

     The guard thinks for a bit before speaking.

     Guard: "It is difficult reconciling what I know of his deeds, with how you must have been in your past compared with who you are now by the words you spoke."

     Iriisii: "I can understand. Let me tell you a true story. I was just still what you call a teenager, being trained in the combat arts by my grandfather. One night, after having taken down a wild boar who had been tearing up the village's farmland. Just as we had finished with the boar as he was cooking over a spit. The people, my people, were wandering off back to their homes to sleep off a full belly. My grandfather and the village sage were talking by the dwindling fire, when an arrow flew out of the night, taking him in the throat. I wanted to drop down and take his dying body in my arms, to cry over him being taken from me too soon. But this is not what I did."

     Guard: "May I ask what you did?"

     Iriisii: "I rushed back to our home, my home then, and grabbed my twin blades. The very same blades I took down the boar with, and made my way up to the roof, through a place in need of patching that I had not gotten to repairing, crawled out and started looking for those who did this. They were everywhere, setting fire to the homes, burning whole families alive. And those that could get out, they hunted them down and killed them wherever they found them. I dropped from the roof on top of the closest one to me, driving my blades into him on either side of his neck, cutting both major vein and artery. He bled out in seconds as I went in search of more.

     I do not remember how many I killed that night. I did not care, for I did not expect to live beyond the night myself. I just wanted to send as many of them to hell as I could to serve me when I followed them. She who led them to my village, sat astride a horse watching the slaughter, both her peoples and my own. She was ecstatic over finding someone who showed talent enough to wade through the blood and bodies, not losing my footing, my blades always finding a body to pierce, a throat to slit, a belly to disembowel.

     I saw out of the corner of my eye, while surrounded by five of hers, something she tossed my way. I used one blade to strike it away from me. If I had known what would happen I would have done something different, but she was counting on my reacting as I did. The clay ball shattered when I hit it, dispersing Black Lotus pollen everywhere. I swallowed my breath to not breathe any in, but it was still absorbed through my skin. The five around me breathed it in and died, while I fell to the ground. I saw someone walk to me, someone she who brought fire and steel to my village was deathly afraid of.

     I knew who she was, and as I tried to speak her name, she asked me not to. Saying that only I deserved the right to give voice to her name. She said we would meet again, when I would ask something of her. I had no idea of what she meant and would not until years had passed. The last thing I heard before I blacked out, was her warning to the 'Mother' of the 'Sinister Seven' still atop her horse, that she would be watching my progress, and that it would be in her best interest that I not die.

     Thus began my training as an assassin. One whose name is still spoken of with fear and respect. As when one particular vampire, the daughter of the Daedric Lord Molag Bal would discover when she declared me the most dangerous killer walking the roads of Nirn. She would find out how dangerous I was later when we met inside Table Mountain, as I left her head separated from her body. When her father came through the Oblivion Gate into our Realm, his first words were of his disappointment with his daughter. He railed against Akatosh, declaring how he would drink from my skull, the skull of the Dragonborn, Hero of Akatosh.

     He found himself just as oblivious as his daughter, as I placed myself within the Oblivion Gate, bridging both Oblivion and Mundus, then I used the 'Eye of Boethiah' to summon her to battle against Molag Bal, while I took care of his minions. The battle raged on, until his attention was wholly fixed on Boethiah, and I then took the unholy mace called 'Scourge' and struck him with it, dispelling him back into the outer void. With Molag Bal no longer in Mundus, Boethiah also returned to Oblivion, and I made my way outside. About a week later the war for control of the Empire began. I had been at death's door for most of that time. Where I was, what I saw, I am not sure of to this day. But I know this much, it instilled in me the strength that I still have in me now. For when I awoke, I took command of the armies that joined with my Rigmor against the Emperor Ariel Sethius, and made the final push to the very gates of the Imperial City. The rest is history, history only a very few know all of what happened.

     Anyone, individual, group, army, or nation, that stood in my way of reuniting my Empire, I strode through them like a 'bull in a china shop'. Wading through an ocean of blood, a mountain of bodies, the screams of the dying, the cries and lamentations of the survivors, what few of those there were. I lived up to the name I was given as an assassin, even as no one put that name and myself together."

     Guard: "What was the name you were given?"

     Iriisii: "When I completed my last test, as I was still standing over the dying body of my foe. The 'Mother' declared for me to forevermore be known as 'Darkstar'. And no, the 'Sinister Seven' no longer exist, for later I broke away from them and the Black Lotus, they followed me across to the other side of my world, where Desidarius had dropped me, the price I paid for her help was my memories from before that time. And one by one, first the minions they sent, then the 'Seven' themselves fell to my blades. And then I went in search of the 'Mother', and found her high up in the snowy mountains near Bloodlet Throne. I believe she wanted to die by my hand rather than try and rebuild all that I had destroyed. In the end, she wanted to die as she had lived, by the blade, fighting for her life. And this time by the one she had created to be the one to take her place."

     As Iriisii gets up from the table. She starts to turn away, stops, then finishes her story.

     Iriisii: "No, I do not intend to have Olaf do for me as I did for the 'Mother'. But rather another I took under my wing, the Witcher, Letho of Gullet. He took service with and followed me as Olaf will. On the battlefield against an overwhelming army of vampiric reptiles called Tsaesci, I gave into his care my greatest treasure, Rigmor of Bruma. With instructions to get her behind our lines to safety. This he did, even as it cost him his own love, Glorianna, who took a Tsaesci blade through her back.

     As I prepared to call down 'Starfire', our God of Magic, Magnus, through his apprentice, my Imperial Sorceress, Yennefer of Cyrodiil raised shields to protect our soldiers from the 'Starfire' spell. In the moment of time in which I cast it, the shields cracked but held, and Letho seeing a crack forming in front of Rigmor, placed himself between it and her. He gave his own life to save hers, after I had released him from his oath to serve me once he got her to safety.

     This is what I see deep inside Olaf Trevorson. This is why I have taken him into my service. This is what I intend to bring to the surface and forge it into his armor. I pray he never has to do what Letho did for me, but I see the same...undefinable thing in him that I saw in Letho. Letho has a place all his own, a place where his life and deeds are celebrated, remembered, and given a kind of immortality. For uncounted numbers of beings each day walk through his wing of the Hall of Remembrance, experience who and what he was, the good and the bad. And he will live within their memories forever. When the stars darken and die of old age, when all life fades from this Existence, he will still live. His life will still be told in the Hall of Remembrance, and the memories of his life will travel on with the last souls that leave this Existence and pass into the Great Beyond."

     Iriisii turns back and leaves the kitchens to go back to where Rigmor sleeps. She hears a mug beating the surface of a table, then another, and another, until all are beating in time, and she hears the name, Le...Tho, Le Tho, Le...Tho. And she hears another voice, calmly ask.

     Olaf: "All of that, is it true?"

     Iriisii: "The part that has happened, yes. As to the rest, I have seen in my deepest dreams that it too shall come to pass."

     She turns and looks Olaf in his eyes, "And if that future is one you would want, then it can be yours as well."

     She sees him think for a few seconds, then smile, "I think I would like that."

     Iriisii: "Then follow me, learn what I would teach you, live your life according to the 'Great Balance', and it will be as you make it to be, this I promise you."

     Olaf: "Then I will do as you say."

     Iriisii: "Good, I train with the guards at dawn, be there. Wait, there is more you should know. I intend for you to be the first of my elite Dragon Warriors. You will learn all that I can teach you, and then you will pair off with one of my dragon children. Together, you will learn to trust, take care of, fight with, alone and two as one. I will forge for you, with your help, weapons and armor such as you could never dream of having. And you will do things only a handful of warriors have ever accomplished. And then you will help train others, learn to forge them into a fighting force that will strike fear in any enemy they meet. That the enemy when seeing your battle standard before them will drop their weapons and flee the field. And yes, this is indeed possible, my Rigmor's father, 'Ragnar the Red' had such a force. He called them the 'Sons of Talos'.

     I wonder to this day if he somehow knew his daughter would wed the daughter of Talos. For Talos, the Ninth Divine of Mundus, is my Celestial Father. Also I have no intention of changing who you are at your core. For as I serve the Great Balance, I see the need for both Good and Evil, Light and Dark, and so I am at my greatest, deadliest, and most terrifying, when I am balanced within myself, and my outward actions are in balance with my innermost self. Now go and sleep, dream of what you could be, want to be, in your deepest and darkest dreams. And know I can show you how to make those dreams real."

     Olaf keeping her words in his mind, bows and seeks his quarters. To go and do as she has said, and dream. As Iriisii turns to the door to her quarters, Alessia comes up.

     Alessia: "You really know how to motivate the deep ones. I could never do with him as you say you will, but I have no doubt that you can indeed do what you say you will with him. That question about Ragnar is a very interesting one. I have never thought about it at all. When I return I will have to look him up and ask him about that. It does ring more than a coincidence does it not?"

     Iriisii: "I have seen enough so far to make me consider if 'coincidences' are a fabrication to salve our consciences and allow us the illusion of free will."

     Alessia: "What makes you say that?"

     Iriisii: "Already I am higher than the 'Mother', and as I keep going higher, I keep finding others above that I had no inkling of their existence. I have thought on how high does the Celestial Ladder go, or if it even has an end. And then I go and discover that there are philosophers who have had much the same thoughts and questions I have had, but they couch theirs in civilizations rather than gods. Still the basic facts remain the same regardless. Where they went with theirs is quite frightening, simply because of its incomprehensibility."

     Alessia: "And the possibility that you may reach such a level yourself?"

     Iriisii: "You know me too well, mother."

     Alessia: "Nonsense, I do not know you half as well as I would like to. I still harbor some resentment toward Akatosh for what he did, even if he has been proven right in his choice."

     Iriisii: "That I can believe. Your ascension was never his idea, to be honest, it 'caught him between a rock and a hard place'."

     Alessia: "I will have to remember that saying, I like it, and it goes far to describe why we make some of the decisions that we do."

     Jean Claude sent word asking Iriisii to meet with him in the cafeteria between shifts. As she walks toward the area, she wonders what this is about, but more specifically why the cafeteria at a time when it will be almost empty. For whatever reason he wants an informal, mostly private place to speak to her about something. Something involving Tricia maybe? No way to know for certain, she will just find out when she gets there. She walks in and spots him off in a isolated corner.

     She makes her way between tables until she reaches him and sits across from him, waiting to see what the issue is. He is reading a single sheet of paper, and she sees the corner of his lips turn down into a frown.

     Iriisii: "Anything I can help with?"

     Jean Claude: "I am not certain, but please read this as it concerns you."

     Iriisii reads the words written on the paper, wishing for Blackwell to show up. This was the kind of legalese he is far more able to understand than she does.

     Iriisii: "I almost wish I understood more of the kind of mind that can understand this, but then I thank whatever lucky stars I was born under that is not the case."

     Jean Claude lets a chuckle slip through, "I am in complete agreement with you on that. The 'summons' does not concern me near as much as what they think they are going to gain from it. You are sovereign within your own right according to international law. And that is the closest body of law that can be stretched over this situation.

     There is no precedent concerning your obvious origins being not from this world, not even from this universe. And so I do not see any way they can enforce this. That is also the opinion of my lawyers, but they stand ready to defend you if given the chance. This would put them at the front of an entirely new body of legal lore. The way they looked at it when I showed it to them, they were almost salivating to be the ones to defend you. If not for the way they have defended myself, Tricia, and the 'Circus' itself, I would have turned and walked out."

     Iriisii: "I understand completely. When I was Empress, I had to do much that disgusted me. So much so that I would have been much more comfortable mucking out the stables than dealing with the 'politics' and the 'bureaucracy' of the Empire. Please do not get me wrong, I loved the people, and wanted the best I could do for them. That was the only reason I put up with it. That and I had a teacher better than any other I have ever met. He became my Lord Chancellor, and I asked my daughter Kintyra to keep him on when she ascended to the throne."

     Jean Claude: "He must be an exceptionally loyal man to have earned such praise from you."

     Iriisii: "If only you knew him as I did then and do now. I asked him to stay in his position because I could trust him as I could no other. He had earlier told me that his loyalty was to the throne itself, no matter whose royal behind sat upon it."

     Jean Claude erupts into laughter this time.

     Iriisii smiling: "So you see he has no loyalty to any particular person but rather to the office the throne stands for, and by extension the people who make up the Empire that throne represents. He and I saw 'eye to eye' on that so to speak and it led to a greater understanding between us. I could trust him to stand with me and my decisions, so long as they were for the 'Empire' and not for myself. It was in part why when he made his choice between myself or Rigmor to offer the throne to when I took the old Emperor's head, he chose me.

     According to his words, even though Rigmor had a strong claim through her father's line, mine was better. I was the 'Dragonborn of Akatosh', proven by my abilities, my actions, and being recognized by the Greybeards of High Hrothgar. For only one of the Dragonblood, anointed of Akatosh himself, could wield the power that I could. And from the time of Alessia, who founded the First Empire, Akatosh made a covenant with her that was represented by the Amulet of Kings that he forged for her. As long as a Dragonborn Emperor or Empress wore that Amulet, and sat upon that throne. The Dragonfires would remain lit in the Temple of the One, and the liminal barrier would stand with Mundus on one side and Aetherius and Oblivion on the other. Limiting the abilities of both from interfering with Nirn, as was done in the Dawn Times, and almost caused its destruction. So now Kintyra III, sits upon the throne, wearing the Amulet of Kings, reforged from the time of Martin Septim, who destroyed the previous amulet to allow himself the chance to take the form of a dragon, and become the Right Hand of Akatosh in battle against the Daedric Lord Mehrunes Dagon during the Oblivion Crises.

     Martin won, but at the cost of his own life, and without another Dragonborn and no Amulet of Kings, the Dragonfires cooled and expired. It is said that his sacrifice kept the liminal barrier standing, even though it was weakened. I tend to believe that line of thought, for there has never been another invasion from Oblivion, although there has been more activity from the Daedra. Now with Kintyra on the throne, she can strengthen the barrier once more and lessen the problems caused by the 'House of Troubles'."

     Jean Claude: "But if she does that, would it not act against you going back to Nirn?"

     Alessia: "Let me answer that. Normally it would, but for extenuating circumstances. Iriisii is now far more powerful and higher in Celestial rank than any other God or Goddess in Mundus, especially those that put the barrier in place the first time. Also she has one of the Fortresses of the Ageless Ones resting in the Great Forest close to the Imperial City. Since it is already there, the liminal barrier cannot, nor does it have the power to, banish it from Nirn. And since she is now a part of that Fortress, and it of her, she can go anywhere the Fortress can go. And since she ascended, she joined with the Gods of Eld and not with us in Aetherius, the barrier was attuned to Mundus, Aetherius, and Oblivion. No thought was given to those who exist beyond. So even if Kintyra totally blocked the Aedra and Daedra from interfering with Nirn, I doubt it would even try to stop Iriisii, because she is a part of Existence as a whole and not just the corner Mundus occupies."

     Iriisii: "This is your world, your city, what would you do in my place?"

     Alessia: "What is this about?"

     Jean Claude: "One of our higher courts has summoned her to appear and answer charges of being an 'Enemy of the State'."

     Alessia: "So this is a legal matter and not a religious one?"

     Jean Claude: "Mainly legal yes, as nearly always sometimes the lines between become blurred."

     Alessia: "I can agree with that, having seen it myself in my past. What do your lawyers say regarding this particular court that has issued the summons?"

     Jean Claude: "That it is one of the more level, balanced courts. There are five judges who sit on it, and for this case all five will hear it. It takes three of the five to agree and settle on a decision, but only two to say what cases they will hear."

     Alessia: "So this government was able to persuade two to hear their side and issue the summons?"

     Jean Claude: "Yes, but my lawyers say there are no true legal grounds for the charges to have been brought. This is meant to be a form of harassment and to start a series of legal battles to tie Iriisii up here fighting them."

     Alessia: "I agree, therefore do the unexpected. They expect her to fight and become entangled in their web of charges, likely they are playing for time. Time to do what is the question. So she should bring the fight to them in an unexpected manner."

     Jean Claude: "You are saying she should appear and answer the charges in the assigned court?"

     Alessia: "Yes, then they must defend their position with my daughter there to answer their charges by leveling some of her own. They have no idea of what they are involving themselves in, and someone should show them. Puppets like these always tend to overextend themselves, and so we can learn much of how great is their fear of her and what she can do."

     Court Bailiff: "Hear ye, hear ye, this session of the Appellate Court of Appeals for the Central District of the Unified Merican States is now in order. The full Court is in attendance. Chief Justice Morrow presiding."

     Chief Justice Morrow: "Before we get down to business, I would like to state for the record that there is no precise reasoning why this case should ever have been brought forward, much less our responsibility to hear it. But the forms have been followed, and we therefore have a responsibility to at least listen to both sides and go from there. Prosecution, are you ready to present your case?"

     Prosecution: "Yes, your honor."

     Chief Justice Morrow: "Defense, I understand you have motions of charges of your own to bring against this case and its merits?"

     Defense: "Indeed we do, your honor."

     Chief Justice Morrow: "Then we will hear your opening arguments, prosecution, if you will begin?"

     The prosecution team puts forward its opening argument in support of its assertion that Iriisii's actions present her as an 'Enemy of the State' and therefore brings its charges of such before the Court to be decided. The defense team does not appear to be worried in the least and are looking at this case to be breaking new ground on many fronts. At first they thought about arguing against any Court in the land having jurisdiction to 'try' her, but she insisted that they go through with it. When she presented them with her evidence of the government's malfeasance, they all came on board with a vengeance to make this case an example of a huge mistake on the governments decision to go forward with it. The prosecution finishes up and the defense stands to present their opening arguments.

     Defense: "Honorable Justices of this Court, let it be known that we first felt that there was no Court on this planet with the authority to 'try' our client. But she showed us things that changed our minds, things that otherwise would have no chance of being heard in an open forum. As much as they shocked us to our core, we agreed that the evidence should be brought out and heard, and that this Court would be the appropriate place for this to happen. We have provided transcripts of testimony for your perusal. Should you desire, we are willing to bring the persons themselves into this Courtroom to testify to their written words, with this caveat.

     Our client has given them 'Sanctuary and Asylum' according to the Celestial Laws that bind her. She wishes for it to be known that any attempt of the government to arrest or detain these individuals will cause her to enforce and defend her offering of 'Sanctuary and Asylum'. She feels and we agree that the Celestial Laws governing this supersede our terrestrial laws. The prosecution should know that if they disagree with this assertion, this case will have to be postponed until these supporting matters can be adjudicated."

     As the justices look toward the prosecution team, who are huddled around discussing how they intend to answer, they watch as the discussion although very quiet does grow heated at moments. The prosecution lawyers argue over how to answer the Sanctuary and Asylum question, for they think any witnesses she brings forth should be arrested as traitors. The lead lawyer overrules the argument, reminding them of the video that went world wide portraying the events that took place that are the underlying basis for the 'Enemy of the State' charges. If they challenge her motion it allows her team to bring the video as evidence and that would damage their case beyond repair.

     The others reply that it is likely to get in anyway, so why not go ahead? To which the lead answers that this is primarily a delaying tactic and they need to drag it out as far as they can. If they sabotage this then they can explain to Chief of Psy-Ops Hawkins why they did it. This brings about a complete reversal of opinion, for not one wants to bring down Hawkins wrath on themselves.