Chapter 274:

Chapter 274:

"It's so pretty!" Kunou looked around in awe at the floating landmasses andthe myriad of colors that blanketed the sky. Her eyes practically sparkled as she ran to the edge and looked over, exclaiming at everything she could see.

"This is quite something." Yasaka shared a similar expression, if more reserved.

Artoria looked around too with clear interest.

"Auntie Meridia lives here?" Kunou asked.

"Not only does she live here, she created this place." I rubbed her head. "She's a Goddess, this is her realm."

"Oooh." Kunou's eyes widened.

Still a little young to understand the significance of that, but that's fine.

I'd been here several times before, not just her Realm, but this specific area. I looked at her Throne and had a little mischievous idea.

"How large is this realm?" Artoria asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I've never wandered around, but from what Meridia's said, she has many followers and subordinates living here." I answered her to the best of my ability.

"Does she know we're here?" Yasaka questioned.

"She should." I nodded, eyeing her throne. "She's more or less aware of every minute detail that happens here. You could even use words like omniscient and omnipotent when it comes to her in this place. To attack a Daedric Lord in their realm is suicide even for others of their kind."

"I see, so that's what she meant when she said she was....reduced." Yasaka mumbled.

Kunou let out a little giggle as I lifted her up. Both Artoria and Yasaka turned to me as I sat her in Meridia's throne.

"Is this something I should expect every time you come here?" Meridia's melodious voice reached my ears as I turned around seeing everyone else appearing.

I think you should know me well enough by now.

"Greet your new queen." I gestured towards Kunou

"Hi!" Kunou waived happily.

Any faux annoyance Meridia had practically shattered at that. "My new queen, is it?" She huffed cutely.

"She sits in the throne, thems the rules." I shrugged my shoulders helplessly.

"As a former King, that is in fact the rule." Artoria chuckled.

Merdia rolled her eyes, holding back a little smile herself. She walked towards Kunou and raised her hand up, creating a little tiara for her. "If those are the rules, I suppose I shall make it official."

And Meridia, the most reserved of my girls decided to play along.

"Mom, look!"

"I see it, my little fox." Yasaka smiled brightly. "Why don't you come down now."

"Mmkay." Kunou hopped off, running over to her mom to show off her new tiara.

We watched her for a moment before I turned towards Meridia. "Missed you." I quickly wrapped her up.

"You're too much." She pouted, sinking into my arms easily. "...I missed you as well."

She's always so cute. It made me not want to let her go.

"Master~" Raikou hurried over.

"Raikou." I smiled, taking her in as well.

"Wilhelm."

"Student."

Both Scáthach and Jinn joined, after I had the moment with Meridia.

I made sure to greet each of them appropriately, giving each a hug and kiss.

"Are you well, my Student?" Scáthach was the first to ask.

"I'm good." I smiled towards her. She wasn't usually so...gentle with her wording if asking about me. Well, she definitely knew about my meeting with Venelana, and I assumed she's asking about my feelings after the talk. "Really." I assured her. "I got some things off my chest and feel much better."

"That's not the only thing~" Jinn giggled.

"Yeah, yeah." You lewd genie.

"And I thought you were not as bad as Setanta." Scáthach snorted, a little laugh escaping from her. "Perhaps you are even worse than my old student. I'm fairly sure even he had not laid with his grandmother."

".....you're older than her."

Scáthach twitched.

I would probably pay for that later, but had I won this round. Besides, I'd love to spar with her again soon.

"Mou~ Your mother would take care of you if you needed." Raikou pouted cutely. I think she's just upset that it wasn't her, not that it was Venelana.

"I know, my Raikou's always here for me." I pulled her in for another quick hug, which she took the opportunity to push my head between her breasts like she tended to do. I had to pull myself away from her clutches, lest I never leave between her bosom.

"Shall I take Kunou and head out?" I finally offered.

"I wondered why you had come." Meridia stated. "....not that you are unwelcome..."

I wanted to tease her some more, she's makes it too easy. "I was just stopping by because I wanted to see you all, if only briefly." I smiled brightly at them. "I know you all are going to have your own girl's time, I didn't want to intrude. I'm actually going to take Kunou to see Thorum."

"I haven't seen Thorum since he came and asked about his Aura." Jinn floated next to me, looking reminiscent. "Check up on that for me, please?"

"Of course, I was going to even without you asking." I wanted to see if anything changed about that as it was a fairly interesting deviation.

"I should warn you." Meridia spoke up. "Akatosh and by extension the one you know as Talos are knowledgeable of your existence and have been watching you. We spoke briefly and they bare no ill will, but you should be aware."

"That's....concerning."

"They are reasonable compared to the....others." She crossed her arms. "Of which, you will not consort with." She made sure to add. "I care not for Akatosh and his extensions, you are already friendly with one of his children."

So protective.

"Why would I care about the others when I have you."

"O-of course." Meridia said proudly.

"My, he sure knows the right things to say, doesn't he?" Scáthach chuckled at us.

"Yes, it feels strange to be the spectator when it happens." Artoria walked up next to her, Yasaka and Kunou in tow. "Is this how he managed to successful woo us all together?"

"It looks oddly similar." Scáthach raised an eyebrow when I caught her gaze.

"Oh wow, look at the time." It seemed like now was a good time to skedaddle.

"So soon, and I thought this conversation would be of particular interest to you, my student." Scáthach snorted out a chuckle.

"Places to be, people to see." I ignored her little jabs.

"Yes, I'm sure." She stepped up, placing a quick kiss on my cheek. "Keep yourself well, my student." She said with a surprisingly gentle look on her face.

"We'll talk later." I gave her a genuine smile, sweeping my gaze around the area. It was meant for all of them as I knew there was important things we did need to talk about at some point. "But have fun."

It's rare for all of them to get together without some sort of external issue coming up.

"Kunou, sweetie." Yasaka placed a hand on her daughter's head. "Thank your Auntie for the tiara."

Kunou perked up, ran straight to Meridia and her a big hug. The goddess looked stunned at the sudden attack, almost frozen as she didn't know how to react. "Thank you, auntie."

Meridia hesitantly raised her hand, lightly placing it on the little fox's head. "....You're welcome, child." She said ever so softly.

"Kunou sweetie." Yasaka knelt down as Kunou came back. "Remember what we talked about. You have to listen to your Daddy, it's very important."

"I know, mamma." Kunou nodded.

"And" Yasaka booped her nose. "You know to keep where you came from a secret, right? You're a big girl so we're trusting you with this."

"Uh huh!"

"Don't wander off, don't talk to strangers. Don't take anything unless your Daddy says it's okay." Yasaka added, making sure Kunou listened intently to each one.

"I'll be good, I promise."

"I know, you're a good girl." Yasaka smiled brightly, pulling Kunou in for a kiss on the forehead. "So...have fun." She finished.

"I will be watching to make sure nothing untold happens." Meridia spoke up, giving the little fox a very protective look.

Looked like someone had become attached themselves.

"Thank you." Yasaka replied with no small amount of genuine thankfulness in her voice.

"Alright, I've bothered you all enough." I reached out and took Kunou's hand. "I'll let you get on with it." With a flick of my hand, a portal opened up to the house.

"Bye!" Kunou waived as we stepped through. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

[****]

"Daddy, where are we?" Kunou asked, looking around and saw the mountains in the distance.

"This is a realm called Skyrim." I answered. "It's where your uncle Thorum lives. There are several different races here, but Skyrim is mostly made up of Nords."

I was being....ambiguous with the information as Yasaka and I agreed on. So far, Kunou more or less thought this place was like one of the Norse's Nine Realms, outside of Earth but still attached. I hate that we couldn't be entirely truthful, but she's still to young to tell everything.

"It's cold." Her eyes perked up. "And I hear howling."

Holding her hand, I cast a simple warming spell I picked up on my first trip here. She visibly relaxed, but still looked a little...tense. Not something I could fault her for, she's not used to being away from Kyoto and especially in an unknown place without her mom.

"Don't worry, little fox." I squeezed her hand, giving her a tender smile. "Your Daddy's strong, nothings going to hurt you." With my free hand, I took out my hat and a certain Rabbit jumped out. "Do you want to hold Sir Wiggles?"

"Yes!" Kunou immediately let go, holding her arms out. My Familiar jumping right into them with a practiced ease.

That would calm her down. Not to mention Sir Wiggles was relatively strong by himself.

It was a brisk walk towards Whiterun, my house only being about a thirty minute walk outside the walls. It didn't take too long before we started seeing the farmland and the city walls coming into view.

It's been a few weeks since I'd been back, but it feels much longer.

And the people here were a hardy bunch, they'd bounced back relatively quickly. The ashen land was already plowed and cleaned, looking ready to start farming again. However, I doubted they were keen on planting again with the Dragons still threatening them. Foodstuffs were probably needing to be rationed and preserved as much as possible for when everything was finally over.

I should check up on that since I could easily access large quantities of grains and other foodstuffs and bring them over.

The Guards seemed to stiffen as we approached. There weren't many people coming or going at the moment, but it felt different than them just trying to appear professional.

"Red Dragon Emperor!?" One of them called out.

[Yesssssssssss!] Ddraig practically shouted in my soul. [I forgot about this, I love it here!]

I did too.

"Oh wow, those are some familiar faces." I noticed a trio of scars on the chin of one of them, and vaguely recalled that Guard as one that fought that first dragon along with Thorum. "How you guys been?" I assumed the other was a veteran of that particular conflict.

They both laughed, dropping their guard adopting a more easy going expression. "Tis a bright day when one of our heroes returns." The one with the scars slapped his breast plate in greeting.

"You're going to make me blush." I shared a chuckle. "Is Thorum and the Companions around?"

"Aye, they be at the Jorrvaskr." He replied, glancing down at Kunou. "And who is this little miss?"

Kunou, cutely, sorta hid behind me from their gazes. "This is my beautiful daughter – Kunou." I rubbed her head. She was currently hiding her Fox Features, appearing nothing more than a human girl albeit in strange clothing by their standards. "Kunou, say hi to the nice guards." I ushered her.

I didn't want to force her or anything like that, but it's clear she's shy around people she doesn't know. I guess my girls were exceptions since they were introduced as extensions of her family.

"....hello." She said quietly.

The two guards just laughed, not pressing the issue. "Well met, young one." The one with the scars smiled warmly. "Reminds me of my niece, shy little thing she is."

"Just wait until she starts running around causing trouble." I smiled. "We've had to deal with burning buildings once already."

"Daddy!" Kunou puffed up with a little squeak, a hint of embarrassment on her face.

"Haaah." Thorum let out a long breath. "I know, Aela. But even still, Whiterun is my home, a man has to protect his home."

"What's the worse of it?"

"Food." Farkas crossed his arms. "It's not that we don't have enough right now, but a lot of farms had been hit. It's almost time for the next harvest and we're going to be looking at one of the worst in years, and there are going to be a lot of hungry mouths."

"Y-you can have this back." Kunou interrupted, pushing the remaining portion of her snack – over half of it – on the plate and towards them.

There was a moment of pause were everyone looked at her and realized what she was trying to say.

"Oh sweetie." I pulled her in for a hug.

"You have a good daughter." Farkas was oddly gentle in his expression.

"I can't take the credit. Yasaka – her mother – is amazing at what she does." Kunou is just the sweetest girl alive. "Don't worry, my little fox, daddy's going to help out." I reassured her, pushing it back into her reach.

"Really?"

"Really, really." I booped her nose.

Looking back up at the others, I switched back to what I was going on about. "So, food issues? I can help with that. My home isn't under such duress and I'm sure I can manage to bring a significant amount of goods here to alleviate some pressure."

"My friend, you don't know how much that would help." Thorum showed that big goofy smile again.

"We can work out the details later, let me just get a mental list going. What else do you all need? Potions, crafting materials, weapons?"

"All of the above." Aela didn't hold back. "Bandits are hitting supply routes, dragons are razing farms, and the College is overworked trying to compensate. I never though I'd say this, but you lot up there.....Talos bless you."

"Fair warning, if I bring in large supplies of weapons, they may be different than what you all are used to." I clarified.

"Arrows are the most important." Farkas interjected. "A good arrow isn't much different anywhere else."

"Fair." I nodded. "Spears?"

"Wouldn't hurt. mon folk have had to take up arms an embarrassing amount of time to ward off not just the rampaging beasts that're getting spooked cause of the flying bastards. Aela said it, too many bandits right now thinkin it's the perfect time to make some coin." The Companion grumbled, downing his ale. "We'd be on a job right now, but we just got back after completing seven in a row. We had to rest a couple days otherwise we'd fall over."

"Would manpower help?" I asked.

"Depends on the kind." He shrugged.

"I got a few....friends who can swing around Thorum's weight class at minimum." I took a sip of my ale, moderating myself since I was watching over Kunou. Speaking of, she seemed to quickly revert back to her happy pastry eating self.

"Aye, that'd help something fierce." Farkas looked surprised, but quickly regained his composure. "I haven't heard of any skilled warriors of mages like that, they come from.....your home?" He emphasized a bit.

"They do, but they aren't much different than everyone here." I nodded.

"Your friends will be my friends." Thorum didn't seem to care in the slightest. That's just the kind of guy he was. "Can they....handle a dragon if one appears?"

"Oh Thorum, they'd fight each other to see who gets to kill it."

"Hah!" Aela bellowed out a laugh. "This is the best news I've heard in awhile. Might let me catch up on some fu—" She caught herself, glancing at Kunou. "Some sleep."

Achilles, Kairi – probably Mordred, and Sasaki all expressed an interest in coming. Scáthach might want to wander around a bit and kill some dragons if they appeared. That would be a significant force, and Achilles might even convince Atalanta to come.

With my girls protecting Kyoto with Yasaka, and the others wandering around Skyrim. That should be able to handle everything for awhile if it all pans out.

"There might be a chance for this dragon menace to disappear then." Serana commented.

"I'll drink to that." Aela reached for another bottle.

"Well, you guys are getting along well." I grinned. "Thought it'd be like fire and ice."

They all exchanged silent looks before Thorum spoke up. "I promised before I did not speak a word."

"We believe you, Thorum. No one in the Companions thinks you a liar." Farkas reassured before turning back to me.

"I already pretty much knew and Serana kinda confirmed it previously." I shrugged. "But if you're worried – " I gestured to between myself and Kunou. "Be a bit hypocritical of me to say anything at this point."

"Aye, that's a fair point." Farkas admitted before letting out a sigh. "It's not a big secret any longer. The Companions all know. Thorum convinced us to at least tell our brothers and sisters the truth. Aela and I are werewolves."

"You're a werewolf?" Kunou perked up again.

"That's right." Aela smiled. "We turn –"

"That means you can turn fluffy!?"

"..." Aela opened her mouth but no words came out.

"That's exactly what it means." Farkas replied, not missing a beat. The female companion swatted at his shoulder with a huff.

"I can turn fluffy too!" Kunou said proudly.

They looked at her then looked at me.

"She can turn into a fox." I corrected. "Yasaka can do the same, and step on this building. However, Kunou's about the same size as the rabbit on her head."

"I'm gonna get bigger." She pouted, digging back into her treat.

"Fluffyness aside –" Serana began to speak.

"I'll show you fluffy." Aela huffed again.

"—I have a....personal matter I, we, wish to discuss with you, Wilhelm." She finished.

"Aye, my Friend." Thorum scratched his head. "I feel bad asking about this when you're already going to be so helpful."

"Nope, none of that." I cut him right off. "You ask me for help and you don't hold back. Do you think I called you a brother for the sake of it?" I narrowed my eyes at the Dragonborn. He was dangerously close to getting smacked upside the head.

Serana smiled warmly at our little antics. "It's about my mother." She began to explain. "I think I found out where she is, and Thorum's been helping me...seek her out."

"It's not something I'm good with." Thorum said with a bit of melancholy in his tone. "It's more a magical dilemma I think. And I couldn't ask the College, they're already working hard for the good of Skyrim."

"Idiot." I snorted. "You could have come knocking." I couldn't help but cross my arms and glare at him. "I bet you weren't even going to say anything if I didn't show up?"

He ducked his head sheepishly.

"Serana, next time he does something like this, I give you permission to smack him." I looked towards the vampire.

"Will do." She grinned, fangs showing. "We do appreciate it – I am thankful, as well. My mother....I thought she was gone."

And that hit right in the feels. Gods know what I would do if it was my mom missing.

"Alright, so tell me what's happening." I beckoned her to continue.

"My mother disappear to hide from my....father." Serana clarified. "Jinn was nice enough to give me a few journals so I could start searching. I found a couple leads and I believe I know where she is."

"Oh?"

"Have you ever heard of the Soul Cairn?"

"I can't say that I have" Sounded interesting though.

"The Soul Cairn is a.....Plane of Oblivion, inhabited purely by remnant souls and undead monsters." She stated. "From what the notes I've gathered, it's a place ruled over by some entities know as the 'Ideal Masters'."

"Are they like Daedric Lords?" This was sounding more dangerous as she went on.

"No but.....it seems like all Black Soul stones are deposited into that realm when used."

"Oh." I rubbed my chin. Black Soul stones were the ones that can take in sapient souls like humans. "I see how that's particularly disgusting." Still sounded like a Daedric Lord.

"There's also some rumors I've discovered after digging up information. Some sources speak that all souls that pass through soul stones end up in the hands of the Ideal Masters."

Now that made me annoyed.

I used Soul Stones. The souls were supposed to reenter the normal flow of the world, not go to some entity outside of Nirn.

"And any mentioning on what the souls are used for?" Which was the most concerning part.

"None, I'm afraid." She shook her head, the others still listening intently.

"Not to sound callous, but why haven't you gone yet?" There must have been an important reason beyond how busy they were.

"Only undead and souls can pass through into the Soul Cairn." She made sure to reiterate.

"Oooh." I understood now. "Thorum couldn't go with you normally." I eyed him up and down.

"Yes, and that's not even taking into account the difficulty in going there itself. I believe my mother has a ritual site at the Castle somewhere hidden, I think I may be able to use the remnants of that and I think I know the materials needed. It's going to take –"

"I can take you both there." I interrupted.

"Pardon?"

"I can take you there easily if you have the coordinates or a pathway that's able to open there." I clarified.

Serana opened her mouth, closing it again, seemingly confused. "Could you....elaborate?"

"Did Thorum not tell you how Meridia and I first met?" I couldn't help but smile.

"I told the broad matters." He confessed.

"So, I cleared one of her temples, and she 'appears' to greet me. Except, it's just a floating ball of light. My Curiosity got the better of me, so I followed the....link it had with her, and tore a hole open to the Colored Rooms."

Serana stared at me before slowly bring up her palm to meet her face. "You really are Thorum's friend."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Me as well." Thorum smiled.

"It wasn't" She clarified. "However, it does remove one significant hurdle at least. The second matter is making sure Thorum and you can even go there."

"That shouldn't be an issue." I waived this one off too. "Did you forget what his Aura is?"

She blinked at that, looking at him again. "And that will protect him?"

"The Light of his soul surrounding him forming a protective barrier." I pointed out, flicking a compression of air at the Dragonborn, letting his Aura flare up. "It should, based on the admittedly limited amount of knowledge I have. I'll obviously need to test it before we just jump right in, but I'm fairly positive."

"Oh...." She blinked once more. "That means, we can go at any time!?"

"This is wonderful!" Thorum exclaimed.

"Well, settle down." I hated to rain on their parade. "Yeah, we can do it at anytime. But to be more specific, I can't do it for a little while. I have some things I need to take care of, I was just visiting for the day with Kunou."

"Oh." Serana slumped down slightly. "It's alright, I simply got ahead of myself. Yes, I can wait longer, It's already been centuries, a few more months wouldn't cause a problem."

"Sheesh, make me feel bad." I ran a hand through my hair. "It shouldn't be that long, give me like a week and I can make time." As important as I knew this was for them, it wasn't a pressing matter on the surface. I had some responsibilities and plans first.

"Even still, this is something we should celebrate for!" Thorum exclaimed.

Farkas shrugged. "I'm up for a party."

"I wouldn't mind unwinding a bit." Aela agreed. "Lets see who's around."

"Aye." Thorum smiled, looking at Serana who mimicked the same expression. They caught each other's gaze, holding it for a moment before he looked at Kunou who was quietly enjoying herself. "How about I regal the lass with stories on how we met and fought a dragon together!"

"Oooh!" Kunou perked up again, eyes sparkling. "Daddy you fought a dragon too?"

"He sure did." Thorum walked over, slapping my shoulder, a noticeable amount of pride on his face. "If it weren't for him, well, I don't think I'd be here right now. Your father is a hero, there isn't a person in Whiterun who would say otherwise!"

Kunou's eyes sparkled as she looked at me with so much excitement.

Dammit Thorum, why do you have to be such a good friend?

"Fine, fine." I think I successfully held off the blush that threatened to show at his praise. "Keep it civil, Kunou's not even eleven." I made sure to remind him.

"No worries, I spend many a night telling stories for the children when they come running up!" Thorum took a new seat, next to the eagerly anticipating fox. "Now, our tale starts when your father and I were brothers in binds."

Everyone else started moving with a purpose, shouting and calling for others while drinks were handed out.

And Kunou, well, she was smiling so brightly, I just sat back and enjoyed the moment.

****

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