A double Chapter!

Big Thanks to our new patrons:

@Olivia Ferguson (D rank)

@Juan Ramirez (E rank)

~~~~~~~~~~

(Part 1)

Not much is known about the past of Mirren and Miranda. Maybe they were the long lost Prince and Princess of Summerset Isles to some, the known remaining survivors of Queen Ayrenn's bloodline for others, the "Sisters of Death" for those who operate underground, or the "Labours of Mephala" for most of the public.

Yet one thing none knew about them, one particular thing that was never revealed to anyone. They were someone else, they were something else.

Trying to get an answer from them… or in this case, "that"... trying to get an answer, either way, was a mental hurdle on its own.

From the outside, it looked like the two has fused together… which was actually the case. This being, that is in their place, carries not just their appearance but also a similar magical signature yet not quite it. Jon could tell.

Isha was looking at whoever the two fused to be. Something that both Mirren and Miranda wished to avoid for some reason but now, both her and Jon were just looking at them silently.

"Just tell me what is going on." Isha spoke to Jon.

"I am not quite sure myself. Ever since we were at Sentinel, things were quite… chaotic in my head. All of a sudden, I have so much to do yet not enough time. Every idea in my head is b.u.mping with the other." Jon complained with a long sigh.

"I don't care what is going on with your head, Jon. You've always been the crazy fella so just get a hold of yourself and do something about them." Isha stood up violently and kicked Jon by his thigh, "Mirren is all that is left to me. He is the last line that keeps me sane."

Isha's words were not pained but came from her core.

"I know. Mirren is my friend and Miranda is my family. They are not in any danger, Isha… actually, they are safer like that. Who knows what the coming fight holds for us." Jon said as he pointed at that Elf.

Isha sat down beside Jon again with a face full of loneliness.

"I just need him with me." She said.

"He is."

That Elf that came with Jon sometime earlier was identified as what has become of Mirren and Miranda. Something logic can't explain.

The Elf was sitting with Nefert.i.ti and Beth who took an instant liking on whatever he or she is. Jon referred to the Elf by "it" meaning that he wasn't sure of what to call… it.

Innocent and full of energy, the Elf played with the girls as if he had the same mental age but from the previous conversation it had with them, Jon was certain that the Elf was way wiser and knowledgeable than anything he came across.

"Just tell me… how it went down?" Finally, Isha was composed enough to ask the right question.

***

"Who are you? Where are Mirren and Miranda?"

Awakened from his shock, Jon aimed his staff at the Elf. The others around Jon reacted right after him and took cover behind Jon save for Aela who was glaring daggers at whoever that was.

"I… mean… no harm."

Tranquil and ethereal, the Elf spoke in a voice that can't be described as tensed or frustrated. He or she was very calm and composed.

The voice was soothing and the tone was peaceful. It made the other, even Jon, put down the hostile airs and heave a long breath. The situation calmed down as fast as it heated up.

"I… I don't get it. Is this the Blessing of Mephala? You guys… you fuse together?" Jon started to see sense and took a step forward halting at the doorstep of the Ansei Wards Hall.

"The Blessing? Oh! Right… I… I sometimes forget. It… it has been a long time since I made that pact with Mephala." The Elf said in even a calmer voice than before, slow and peaceful.

It was so innocent… so pure. If Jon was the man who controls the embodiment of ever major sin then the Elf in front of him was the complete opposite and even much more. The Elf was virtuous to the point that took Jon, only Jon, by a storm of feelings.

"Just what in the world?" Jon shook his head banis.h.i.+ng all the strange ideas.

"Call me Myr."The Elf said.

"Myr?"

"Mirren, Miranda… Myr."

The Elf, or rather Myr, pointed out the similarities between the three names. Jon felt the irony in the naming and smiled with a face still realizing it slowly for even he was overwhelmed.

"All the Magic I learned, all the knowledge I h.o.a.rded… yet I find myself but a toddler in front of the mists of Fate." Jon said.

His words sounded strange but he surely must have understood something.

"I don't see through you." He said.

"Hm?" Myr tilted his/her head momentary before gazing aside and smiling innocently.

"I don't mean it."

"I know."

The words were exchanged based on a certain degree of understanding between the two so Jon found no reason but to get this over with.

"King Abbas." Jon spoke and turned to the King who was recovering from his daze, "There is a lot going on. Aside from your politics and care for your treasures, I find nothing but to give you a promise. I promise you to return the Wards but as the situation escalated, we are in a hurry. In three days, the Crimson s.h.i.+p will arrive near the coast of Hegathe, a swarm of Plague Husks, Undead, and all manners of Monstrosities conjured by the Cult of the Black Worm will attack us, it may or may not involve the Reincarnation of the Worm King Mannimarco and maybe some involvement of some malevolent Daedric Princes. Call it Doomsday or whatever but as my mind is very occupied right now, I will be forced to leave the mundane things to you. Aela, gather the Imperials and the Redguard to meet us beyond the sands of Alik'r in two days and two days only."

Jon was no longer roleplaying the Nomad or pretending to be the idiot. If he was to let the situation be clung on the appearance of the mysterious Myr for long, precious time will be lost.

"I will, stay safe." Aela nodded not asking much.

"Wait! Hold on… I don't understand. Mannimarco? The King of Worms? The Crimson s.h.i.+p? Why?" The High and Mighty King Abbas lost his composer hearing the words Jon said.

It was understandable. No King in the World would want to hear the name of the King of Worms in his turf, let alone the Crimson s.h.i.+p and the husks it brings.

Jon, on the other hand, had no time to lose. He still had to wield the Shehai of a Sword Saint and gain the acknowledgment somehow. He also had less than three days to fully awaken the [Ebony Blade].

Aela held back the King and with merely one hand and stared at Jon as he entered the room with Myr.

"I have a lot to ask you but now, I trust that you won't fail me." Jon said to Myr.

"Of course. From what I recall, we are quite the intimate couple and even best friends."

"Ugh! You are giving me a shrink here!"

"Oh, worry not! I am as.e.xual."

***

"You told the King to handle everything… just like that?" Isha wondered.

"It was his role, to begin with. Why do I have to hold everyone's hand?" Jon said with an annoyed face.

"And the Ansei Wards?"

"I took one and Myr took the other. It wasn't even hard."

"Whatever! All that aside… Myr… he is Miranda and Mirren fused. Like the Blessing of Mephala they always refused to talk about? That's its effect? It makes them one stronger person?" Isha asked.

"Does it?" Jon wondered.

Isha had a bad feeling about Jon's reaction and stared at him closely.

"Jon, whatever is going on, we can't let go of them. It has been the four of us since the start. Only four of us? What are you not telling me?" Isha shook Jon.

"I'm not letting go, you dumb fool." Jon hit her hard on the head without hold back. "Whatever is going on, there is only one way to get a clear understanding of this. Let's ask him… or her. G.o.ddammit!"

Still confused the two let out a sigh and looked at Myr who was laughing innocently without any care in the world. It was as if his background was full of rose petals and b.u.t.terflies.

"You can see it too?" Isha asked.

"Shut the f.u.c.k up!" Jon said, "Hey, Myr. A word!"

He called for Myr who was playing among Nefert.i.ti and Beth, Myr heard him and smiled even brighter then stood up and came running towards them.

Just before Myr could reach Jon and Isha, it stumbled in its steps and staggered down falling on its face.

"Ouch!"

The two closed their eyes and let out a sigh in unison before standing up and giving him a hand. As Myr was pulled up, he stood happily and hopped on the two laughing and hugging them at the same time.

"Sowwy! Haha!"

Looking at Jon as she was being hugged, Isha had a dangerous look on her face telling Jon that this is mostly his mess to sort out.

"I know a good Tonal Frequency that can be produced by [Sunder]. If we can direct it to the head, we can bring back Miranda and Mirren but I'm not sure of the consequences." Jon offered the most instant solution he could come up with.

"Shut the f.u.c.k up." She returned the insult to him and pushed away Myr.

"Look at the mess you made of your face. Be careful when you run." She spoke to Myr while cleaning its face and hair from the sand.

"Sorry. I was excited. This is fun!" Myr said so purely.

"What is fun?" Jon asked.

"This… last time I went out, it wasn't easy to understand. Humans, Elves, and Beasts… people, in general, don't treat me well." Myr said while looking down with a wry smile.

Isha looked at Jon telling him "act nice if you want to save time". Jon sighed in return and spoke.

"People, in general, are hard to deal with." Jon said.

"I know, right?" Myr related right away.

"Yes, they are a.s.sholes." Jon continued taking his side.

"… I don't see any point of similarities between people and a.n.u.ses." Myr said with a questioning face.

"…" Jon closed his eyes, "It is my turn to miss Mirren now. He was great when it came to exchanging insults."

Jon lamented his friend and Isha decided to take matters into her hands.

"Can you explain to me what's going on?" She asked.

"What's going on?" Myr wondered.

"I'm not talking to you. You are both useless." Isha was fed up by the Jon and Myr and looked at Beth.

"Why me?" Beth asked.

"From what I've seen so far, only the brat with tattoos have all the answers." Isha went after Beth who hid behind Nefert.i.ti.

Nefert.i.ti in return spread her arms to block Isha from catching her bestie.

"Adorable!" Isha wasn't taking no for an answer, she held Nefert.i.ti by her head and Beth as well, "Now speak!"

To Isha's shout, Beth felt somehow offended to be forced to work and snorted with an att.i.tude, only when Isha squeezed her head did she speak.

"Okay, okay… I'll tell you what I know. I'll tell you."

Isha put her down and she started to speak.

According to what she knows, Myr is a High Elf, neither a man or a woman. It was to be born as a normal child many years ago but some outside interference created it.

"Created it? I don't get it." Isha felt heavy on her chest.

"The Blessing of Mephala. It creates duality." Jon said.

"What?" Isha questioned.

"Indeed." Beth agreed.

"What do you mean?" Isha asked. "Where are Mirren and Miranda in this story?"

Jon looked at Myr as his theory was finally confirmed by Beth.

"I was afraid but it is true. A strange offspring you are, Myr. Tell me, do you prefer to be addressed as a male or a female?" Jon asked.

***

(Part 2)

Myr gazed aside on the ground as the question was a bit private to him but feeling the urge from those who are around, he spoke.

"I prefer to be addressed as a female but I don't mind being addressed as male." He said.

"Fine. Let's address Myr as a she or a he… it sounds like the Daedric Prince Boethiah who takes aspects of male and female but it is more like the Daedric Prince Mephala and her antic.i.p.ation Vivec who prefers being Androgynous." Jon nodded.

"Is that even possible?" Isha questioned.

"Yes, the fusion made it possible." Jon nodded, "But make no mistake, the fusion is not Mirren and Miranda becoming one… it is Mirren and Miranda… returning to what they are."

Jon revealed something that was heavy on his mind and feared its possibility.

Isha, whose mind was not ready for this, slowly descended on the ground and sat down speechless.

Mirren and Miranda were not even themselves all this time, they were one person and that is Myr. The [Blessing of Mephala] wasn't inactive all the time but rather always active creating two Aspects of Duality, Mirren and Miranda.

Isha looked up and quested "Why?" in an inaudible voice. Jon shook his head not knowing how to explain things further. Once he turned to Beth, her answer was rather more disappointing.

"The Bloodline Myr hails from is the bloodline of the most Ancient Altmer Family, the royal family Aldmeri. They are the purest blood of all Elves and the closest to the Elder Elves, the Aldmer. A certain deviation happened to the blood when Queen Ayrenn Arana Aldmeri, founder of the first Aldmeri Dominion, was born making her immune to Fate, Fate is what binds the creature to the World and thus, Queen Ayrenn was Unforeseen. She could have ascended from the World the moment she was fully grasping the potential of her power. She didn't need all the struggle mortal needs to go through to return to Aetherius. Myr is the strongest blood after Queen Ayrenn but as the Unforeseen Blood is immune to Fate, no one can ever Divine them through prophecy. I am completely useless here."

Beth had a very sophisticated explanation about Myr's state and added, "If you want to know more, ask Myr."

Under the pressure of Isha's and Jon's gazes, Myr felt the urgency to talk. Crouching down in front of Isha, Myr looked at her eye to eye and held her face.

"You know… I love you. I love you the same way Mirren loved you."

Myr's warm smile touched Isha who leaned her head forward, Myr held her up close and turned to Jon.

"I love you as well."

Jon snorted at first then started laughing.

"You totally ruined the gay scene I had in mind." Jon said and sat on the ground as well.

In the middle of the core area of the HoonDing Alliance Camp on the Edge of the Alik'r Desert, Myr started to tell a story that started over 182 years ago.

The story started with some High Elf prisoners who were members of the Altmeri Royal family which fell to ruin after the Thalmor Uprising that started on 4E 22. The Royal Family that was on the run for many years and thought to have escaped was caught in Hammerfell, Sentinel during the Night of the Green Fire in year 4E 42.

At that time these prisoners were a man and a woman who were to be the next King and Queen of Summerset. Their names were forgotten in history but according to the Thalmor, they are the purest blood of the Altmer, if cultivated, they can be transformed back to Aldmer, Elder Elves.

The Thalmor at that time had many goals but as Elves, they sought out the return to their Original Home way before Summerset or Alinor, they wanted to return to Aldmeris where those Elves, who fell from favor becoming the low form they call Altmer, can attain their former glory and become Aldmer once again. They only needed an Aldmer to lead the way back.

Aldmeris, also known as Old Aldmeris and Old Ehlnofey, is the mythical lost continent from which the Elves are said to have originated. What befell Aldmeris after the Aldmer left it is an enduring mystery. Some claim that the angry G.o.ds of the Aldmer sank the land into the sea, others that Aldmeris has left Mundus altogether and will not return until the races of Mer are reunited. The legends were unreliable so they wanted to return to the source by recreating an actual Aldmer.

Those Altmer man and woman whose blood was most pure were forced to undergo experiments by infusing Magicka and Souls to their spiritual roots in brutal ways but as the sources were not enough, the Thalmor researchers were forced to look for an alternative source of power and that was when one of them suggested using the Energy of the most hated enemy of Elves to cultivate those two purebloods.

The Energy of Jode and Jone or the ones commonly known as the moons Ma.s.ser and Secunda; the celestial objects that, if one believes the Myth, are the actual corpse of the Traitor Spirit of Creation, Lorkhan.

As the experiment took such a turn, the Thalmor took the two prisoners to Elswyer exactly in the most important Temples of the Moons where the Khajiit wors.h.i.+p the Moons.

There, an access to the Lunar Energy was created and that energy was used to cultivate the man and woman to turn them into Aldmer.

Yet it was impossible, the pair were quite old already over a hundred years old each even though it is quite youthful for High Elves. No matter what, the two were impossible to mutate back into Origin… but something else was… an infant!

A tender piece of flesh with a soft enough soul to undergo any change and thus, the pair were forced to breed under the watchful eyes and the stinging whip of a Thalmor Justiciar and by the year 4E 98, the woman was impregnated and separated from the man.

She was put into a Magical Coma and was cared for extensively to safeguard the baby inside here but the Thalmor were not the type to waste time on a Child to be born, the experiments were kicked off once again on an unborn baby.

Cultivating the Bloodline, enhancing the soul, empowering everything there is to be. This child was being genetically enhanced by every magic there is to create something beyond normal, to create not just an Aldmer but the most perfect Elf ever existed.

The energies of the two moons were drained on a ma.s.sive scale as the experiment was succeeding in every aspect there is but there was a side effect that happened on the moons.

They disappeared.

The Moons of Tamriel disappeared one night from the sky without any notice, this started in the same year of 4E 98 and the event known as the [Void Nights] started from 4E 98 to 4E 100.

Two years the moons kept hidden from the world to mutate a child that was to be the future of all Elves, the one who returns them to their Home Aldmeris, their prophet and messiah as the Thalmor believed.

In those two years, that baby was enhanced in every way possible and the Thalmor ignored the fact that all Mortals are flawed. Their twisted imagination allowed them to think that an Aldmer is the most perfect being under Aetherius, the most beautiful, the most powerful and the most exalted there is. They thought if the Aldmer were given the chance, they would have been able to reverse the creation and ascend back to Aetherius.

The arrogance and the vanity of the Thalmor were what created this being they wanted to attribute to their Origin being Mer (Elves) so the child was called Myr, the genderless infant who was to be the G.o.d they would wors.h.i.+p when it reaches power.

Years pa.s.sed for Myr to become but a child raised by a group of extremists. They wanted to teach him things about their way but… that child was already knowledgeable since the day a child could speak. It was a miracle that boosted their arrogance a mile… but the thing is, this child was too knowledgeable.

Truths that should never be known, ugliness about the world, lies, and deceit. The Child who was created to be the most pure of all things hated each and everything the people around him stood for yet how can a flawless creation such as Myr come to act upon hatred, he was simply incapable too. He was… flawed.

Myr sought out salvation of his flaws, Myr sought out to be ordinary and one day when he was gazing at the reflection of moonlight cast on the sea at a sh.o.r.e near one of the most dazzling palaces in Alinor, he just spoke.

"Haven't you been watching me… for too long?"

To the question Myr asked to thin air, thin air proved to have answers.

"And what do you want me to do? You can unhear my whispers, you can refuse my calls, you can unthink me of your surroundings and I won't appear to you. So you talk! So you finally have a wis.h.!.+"

The answerer asked him what he wants.

"End me."

"I can't."

"I know."

Myr's wish was to never exist.

"Your ideas are simple, you are still taking the form of that child you are, you are free of form, gender, and Fate itself. Why don't you come to Oblivion? Be one of us?" The voice asked.

"It is lonely." Myr said.

"Us? The Daedric Princes? Lonely?" Mephala was fed up with games.

"Yes, very lonely. Don't be offended, loneliness is my craft. I never knew a thing or a one. I just… I don't want to be lonely anymore. Can you make that happen?"

"I can be around you."

"I don't want you."

"Oh! You are breaking my heart."

Mephala took all forms that can sway even the coldest of hearts. Women of all sorts, men of all kinds, children, pets, creatures but Myr was unfazed by any.

But one thing moved Myr and it was as if the world showed something Myr never thought off, it was when Mephala split into two, a male and a female.

Myr's eyes widened and he looked at his two hands, Myr wanted desperately to be… something more.

"Is that so? You like… that?" The pair, that is Mephala in front of Myr's eyes, questioned in surprise.

"… Yes." Myr couldn't think of a better solution.

"How simple!" Mephala returned to the form she preferred, a woman with spider-like features.

"Will you?" Myr asked.

"I will… but you owe me."

Since that night, something changed about the whole being that is Myr for the curiosity of Mephala was drawn to the being that has no string attached around him whatsoever, the strings that Mephala feeds on which are the bonds of mortals.

But that night was not just the night when Myr fulfilled a dream of his but was also the night when the faction of the Thalmor that created him fell to another faction of Thalmor over a power struggle.

That night, an Altmer Ancestor known as the White Lady came to the palace where Myr lived and looked for the last heir of Alinor only to find two twins sleeping in each others' arms.

Mirren and Miranda were taken by the White Ancestor to Elswyer to be raised away from all struggles with the secret of Myr dying in the drainage of history for too long.

Since then, Myr emerged a few times and each time, parts of Myr crumble for Myr always meant to be Mirren and Miranda, the perfect form of the most flawed mortal ever created.

"An Aldmer?" Isha wondered.

Myr gazed away with a wry smile not confirming the truth.

"Not just an Aldemr." Jon denied it, "An Ehlnofey."

----------

[Lore Term]

- Ehlnofey : The faded descendants of the Aedra who walked Tamriel, as well as the ancestors of men and mer.

- Void Nights : Exactly two years from 4E 98 to 4E 100, the two moons around Nirn disappeared for a mysterious reason unknown to the general public causing a big impact on the moon-wors.h.i.+ng Khajiit whose very biology is affected by the moons. The Aldmeri Dominion claimed that they managed to return the moons using ancient magic causing Elsweyr to leave the Empire and join the Dominion.

~~~~~~~~~~

• P4TRE0N

pat×reon.com/eldokhmesy ( remove × )

• YouTube

Youtube.com/channel/UCr7RT7NUojIRA0s7cjfrjDw

• Discord

discord.gg/gKcKva7

• Instagram

@don_dokhmesy

• Twitter

@eldokhmesy22