Sheogorath groaned as reality returned. His head felt like all the hangovers in Aurbis history had been funneled into his cranium alone, and all his muscles ached...despite the fact that head, physical brain, and muscles were all just magical constructs that such things shouldn't apply to. "Ugh..." he groaned, noticing an odd tinny echo to his voice. "What in Sithis' name happened?" He brought a hand up to his head, only to flinch back from an armored gauntlet.
"What?" he demanded in shock, sitting up fast enough he had to clutch his head with both hands. "Aedra blood!" he barked out as he lifted the face plate of his helmet to vomit.
Alright, that's a lot to take in right now, he thought to himself. My thoughts feel like Sheogorath, but I'm definitely in Jyggalag armor, and experiencing physical sensations I shouldn't, including vomiting. ...also, my head's been clear enough despite feeling like Sheogorath that my train of thought hasn't turned into a mongoose. ...oh Anui-el, did Clavicus and Sanguine team up to turn me into a mortal again for shits and giggles? I hate when they do that, no matter how short it lasts! He gripped his sword, feeling the Order power inside it. Okay, still got my Daedra power...not a mortal. Also not Sheogorath if I have Order power and not Madness power. That's...
His senses alerted him to a massive spiritual imbalance in the fundamental fabric of reality very close to his location. "...when in doubt, check out the odd thing," he mumbled to himself as he sat up, turning towards the source.
A strange chimeric creature hovered in midair, clutching a staff as he seemed to flicker in and out of existence as he watched. "That creature...I know...my son?" He blinked as that thought struck him. "I have a son? Yes, that's my son! My son...my son..." He clutched his head. "If he is my son, why can I not recall his name?!" His eyes narrowed. "And why is he flickering like that? Pretty sure that's more important."
Getting to his feet, he rushed forward and faced the creature. What he saw gave him pause. Inside the creatures eyes was reflected the image of an ever crumbling tower. "...CHIM..." he murmured in awe. "My son...he's attempting the Psijic Endeavor...but why?" He rubbed his forehead. "At least that explains the flickering, and why my memory's spotty. He's struggling to encompass all of Aurbis within his sense of self, and he keeps slipping towards Zero Sum."
He closed his eyes, focusing on his memory, struggling against the pull of ontological inertia in his own mind. "He fought me...because he wanted me back. He took the throne...so I'm Jyggalag now. No, he fought to get me back, so I'm still Sheogorath. Or..." He glanced at his reflection in his sword, seeing Sheogorath's face there. "He...he said I was still too cold, and was fixing..."
Realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. "Mind of Jyggalag, with logical thought and clear thinking. Heart of Sheogorath, who loves joy and believes in hope..." He shook his head in amazement. "He remade me of my pieces, making me whole...but where did the mad mind and still heart go? This is quite perplexing."
For some reason, a grey face with green eyes and pale purple hair rose out of a nearby bush. "You're quite perplexing," the face observed in a feminine, monotone voice before vanishing back into the bush(1).
"That was random," Jyggorath observed, having chosen a name already for his new joined identity. "Guess that's a good sign as far as my son..." He slammed his fist against a nearby tree. "Sithis' left testicle! Why can't I remember his name? That's not good...not good at all..." His head snapped up as 14 portals appeared.
Each of the other Princes stepped out of the portals, all looking shocked at the sight of him. Well, they did think he was Jyggalag after all, and they joined forces to best him. Only Clavicus Vile looked intrigued, glancing between Jyggorath and the boy.
Hermaeus Mora, however, acted. Lunging quickly forward, he stretched his tentacles out towards-
Without even being aware he was moving, Jyggorath leapt between his son and the Prince of Knowledge, sword flashing in the air like a thunderclap, the air ripping in its wake as the tendril was severed and banished from the realm. Hermaeus let out an unearthly shriek that was as much shock as pain as he pulled back.
Hermaeus Mora turned his baleful gaze upon Jyggorath. "Jyggalag," he spoke up, unaware of the change as of yet as Aurbis was still in flux. "You know as well as I that he does not belong in this reality. He never should have existed, and his presence has undone the order that Aurbis is meant to function by. If he continues, all Order - all Knowledge - will be nothing before him! Now is the only chance to act. If he is distracted from his Endeavor, he will slip into Zero Sum, and none of this will have ever happened-"
"Xth!"(2)
The assembled Daedric Princes gasped at Jyggorath's exclamation. Though its meaning was deceptively simple - Unname - the truth of it was far worse. To speak it to another was to proclaim that all their works were nothing, that reality would have been better off if they never existed, that if the speaker could do so they would make the one spoken to cease to exist through sheer force of will. For a Daedric Prince to speak it to another...it was a declaration of all out war to erasure. Hermaeus blanched. "You...you don't mean-"
"I mean it, you bastard," Jyggorath snarled defiance. "I don't care about Knowledge or Order...or even Aurbis itself! I care not if it leaves us all mere puppets dancing to the tune of a mad True God. He is my son, and I won't let you lay one tendril on him you slimy son of a bitch!"
Hermaeus Mora flinched back in shock, but snarled defiance. "You think you can stand alone again?" he demanded angrily.
"Who says he'll stand alone?" Clavicus Vile asked as he positioned himself between Hermaeus and Jyggorath's son. "After all...this is the wish I granted. I want to see it play out."
"I'm not about to allow my nephew to come to harm because you don't know how to have fun!" Sanguine snapped as he stepped up to Jyggorath's other side.
"We may not agree on who is the Mother..." Nocturnal said as she joined the group.
"...but we do agree that you will not bring him harm if we can help it!" Meridia concluded fiercely as she followed.
"I'm not about to let you hurt my little bro!" Azura snapped as she placed herself in the group.
"He belongs," Malacath snarled as he stepped up. "I will not let you cast him out!"
"You think we fear this alliance?" Mehrunus Dagon snarled as he stepped up beside Hermaeus. "This will end!" Mephala, Molag Bal, and Namira joined him in silence.
"I always wanted to hunt another Prince," Hircine observed calmly as he stepped up beside Clavicus Vile. "This will be interesting..."
Hermaeus Mora turned towards the remaining three Princes, a commanding look in his eyes as though insisting they join him.
Boethiah snorted disdainfully. "Just because I'm not on his side," he snapped as he jerked a thumb towards the chimeric creature, "don't assume I'm on yours!" He stepped back, staying neutral.
"He was the first to treat me as an equal!" Peryite snarled as he took wing, hovering over the group defending. "The rest of you just treated me like some sort of sub-creature! I stand with my friend!"
Vaermina walked calmly to beside the creature. "I stand with my mate," she stated simply, shocking all those listening.
Jyggorath grinned at Hermaeus' stupefaction, seeing he didn't have the support he'd hoped for. "As the world is in flux, this is still my realm...which means my word is still law here. And I say..." He drew his sword, letting light glint off it. "That you shall not touch Discord!" He felt something shiver as he slammed his blade point first into the dirt between his feet. "You...shall not...PASS!"
The entirety of Aurbis lurched, maybe inches, maybe feet, maybe hundreds of miles. At the same time, all of reality seemed to chime with a bell like tone. As everything swung back into focus, Jyggorath felt a paw on his shoulder.
"...I've got this, Dad."
(1) Maud turns to the readers. "And now you know why I didn't exist before season four."
(2) This is merely the closest any literary form can come to represented the actual exclamation. The true form of it cannot be recorded or comprehended by mortal minds.*
(*) Kudos to anyone who catches what book series it's a reference to.