//------------------------------//
// Brotherhood: Curing Madness 
// Story: Skyrim: The Faces of Death 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Amaryllis walked down the steps leading to the main chamber of the Sanctuary, where she continued to hope that Astrid hadn't done something to Cicero while she was gone, because she actually liked the jester and had welcomed him into the Family with open arms, but she readied herself for whatever she was going to see when she finally passed the area that was near the stairs. That was when she found the rest of the Family standing around the area that Veezara usually sat in from time to time, when he didn't feel like joining the rest of them at the dining tables, but it looked like someone had stabbed him in the side, if the small pool of blood that was on the ground around him was any indication, and that told her that what she had been thinking earlier was incorrect. Babette seemed to be in the middle of treating him, no doubt giving him one of the potions she could make, but that was when Amaryllis noticed that someone else was missing, due to the fact that Astrid's husband was missing, making her wonder where Arnbjorn had wandered off to, though she had the feeling that everything would become clear when she spoke to Astrid. Amaryllis said nothing as she came to a stop near her Family, mostly so the others could finish any conversations they were having without her interrupting them, though it mostly looked like they were focused on what had happened while she was gone and nothing else, even though Babette was in the middle of something right now.

"Just try to relax, Veezara." Babette instructed, her tone revealing that she felt sad about what had happened earlier, while at the same time she seemed to finish what she was doing, as she pulled back from her brother and made sure that the wound was healing like it was supposed to, meaning it was more of an over a few minutes, instead of the instant one Amaryllis had used at the beginning of her adventure, "Let the elixir do its work. You'll be feeling better in no time."

"Achh." Veezara growled, showing that either the healing process hurt more than Amaryllis thought it would, or the wound that was slowly closing was worse than she thought, while at the same time Veezara offered Babette a weak smile, no doubt to show his thanks before he said anything to anyone, "Thank you, dear sister, you are most kind. I'm afraid that the jester's cut feels as bad as it looks."

"Damn it, this never should have happened!" Astrid exclaimed, her tone and the look on her face showing everyone in the chamber that she was pissed off about what had occurred earlier and that she couldn't believe what she had seen, and everyone focused on her while she did that, as they knew better than to try and calm her down when she happened to be like this, "We knew better... we knew better, and still we let our guards down. Agh!"

"I'll admit, even I'm having a hard time disagreeing with you..." Festus said, where Amaryllis got the feeling that he had been hoping for good things with the arrival of the Night Mother and her chosen Keeper, and she felt that the arrival of the Listener should count as something like that, but he didn't say anything else, letting the others know that this wasn't what he was expecting when Cicero arrived.

"Amaryllis, I'm pleased to see that you have returned from your contract, and that you killed Maro and planted the fake evidence like we asked," Astrid said, where she and the others finally noticed that Amaryllis was standing there, not that she was trying to be invisible or anything, meaning that it was time for them to get to what had happened and for her to learn what she needed to do next, "but we've got a much bigger problem right now!"

"I know, Gabriella mentioned something about Cicero as soon as I returned to the Sanctuary." Amaryllis replied, though at the same time this really wasn't what she was expecting when she came back to her new home, to find that one member of the Family was wounded while two more were missing, as she assumed that Arnbjorn had decided to tear Cicero apart for what he had done to Veezara.

"The fool went absolutely berserk!" Astrid stated, once more revealing how annoyed about the situation she was, even if the others might be getting tired of hearing her talk about it, before she gestured to Veezara for a second, almost as if she was pointing out something that was pretty obvious "He wounded Veezara, tried to kill me, and then he fled, all in a matter of moments... I just knew that lunatic couldn't be trusted. Look, we've got to deal with this situation... you've got to deal with this situation."

"Me? You want me to tackle this situation?" Amaryllis asked, because she felt that someone else should be the one to head out and chase down Cicero, especially since they were stressed for time since they had no idea what the Emperor was going to do once he learned about Gaius' death and the supposed plot that he was involved in, before noticing that Astird was serious about what she had said, to which she sighed, "Alright, what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to find that miserable little fool and end his life!" Astrid replied, though she knew that Amaryllis would ask such a question, especially since she seemed to be the most attached to the insane jester, due to the fact that she was the only one that really put up with his actions and and his madness, before she thought about something else, "But first... I need you to find my husband and make sure he's all right. After the attack, Arnbjorn flew into a rage, one that was unlike all the others I have seen in the many years I've known him, and I'm worried that something might have happened to him. When Cicero left the Sanctuary... well, Arnbjorn went after him and they both quickly disappeared into the wild. Before you leave again, I want you to search Cicero's room... maybe there's something in there that can shed some light on where the jester might have gone, where he might hide. Let me know the minute you find anything important... I've got to see to Veezara, and calm everyone down."

Amaryllis said nothing as she headed to the room that Cicero slept in, though as she did that she heard Astrid take a few seconds to thank Veezara for rushing to her aid when the attack happened earlier, informing her that the leader of her Family had been behind ticking off Cicero, but she put that thought on hold as she reached her destination, where she only had to look around the room for a few seconds and found five journals, meaning she had some reading to do before she could figure anything out. The first journal mentioned that the jester was keeping his own record of his life, from a certain point, and that it appeared he started just after the Sanctuary he called home, the Bruma Sanctuary, was purged in some manner, and even mentioned the previous Listener, someone named Alisanne Dupre, along with a few contracts that he fulfilled during his time in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. As she read the second journal she discovered that one of the other Sanctuaries had been closed and it's members integrated into Cicero's Family, before learning that the Lucky Old Lady statue, whatever that was, had been destroyed, leading to a number of members of the Family to rush to the Night Mother's crypt to protect it, only for that to result in the death of Alisanne Dupre and nearly everyone else in that area, save for the one who carried the coffin to Cicero's Sanctuary. What was interesting was that the third journal spoke of the time that Cicero was appointed to become the Night Mother's Keeper, how he wasn't always a jester and that his last contract, before officially becoming the Keeper, had been to kill a jester, one that he was honored to know by what was written on the page.

The fourth journal detailed the downfall of Cicero's Sanctuary and the Family that he had known, and his awakening as the "Fool of Hearts" as he called himself, before the final journal, the last, revealed what Astrid had told her when she joined the Dark Brotherhood, the letters between her and Cicero and him coming to this Sanctuary with the Night Mother, before revealing that there was a second Sanctuary in Skyrim, in Dawnstar, and he even wrote down the phrase to get through the door, to which she closed the journal, put all five of them in her pack, and returned to where Astrid was located, who turned towards her as soon as she noticed her walking down the stairs.

"Good, you're back." Astrid said, as it had been a few minutes since she sent Amaryllis to raid Cicero's room and see if she could find anything that would tell them where the jester ran off to, where Babette and the others had finally moved Veezara to the beds so he could rest and recover his energy, before she focused on the task at hand once more, as she stared at Amaryllis, "Did you find anything in that jester's room?"

"Yes, I found all five of Cicero's journals." Amaryllis replied, though while part of her felt that it was wrong for her to even take the journals in the first place, even if it was on Astrid's orders, she knew that she was going to run into Cicero again and felt that he could have them back, mostly since it seemed to be the only place that the phrase to get through the black door was located in, information that was rather important in her eyes.

"Excellent." Astrid stated, because that was good news, as it meant there was a very real possibility that the jester had written something down that would doom him, along with telling her where her husband might have wandered off to in his blind rage, before she calmed down, as she was sure she was getting excited thinking about the death that would visit Cicero in the near future, and focused on what she had just learned, "Do they mention where he might be headed?"

"Yes, an abandoned Sanctuary in Dawnstar." Amaryllis answered, to which she reached into her pack and withdrew the fifth journal, the one that contained the piece of information that was the most important out of everything she had read so far, in terms of Cicero's journals, just to show Astrid that she had found something, "And he even wrote the phrase down, meaning I can get inside the ancient Sanctuary with ease."

"The Dawnstar Sanctuary? What reason could he have for hiding there?" Astrid inquired, as that really didn't make that much sense to her, before she held up a hand to stop Amaryllis from answering the question she had just asked, as part of her didn't care and that part was winning at the moment, "Never mind, it doesn't matter. You need to leave. Now! Every moment counts, so I want you to take my horse. His name is Shadowmere. You'll find him outside, by the pool. Let's just say he's... one of us. Find Arnbjorn, make sure my husband's all right, and then enter that Sanctuary and send that jester's twisted little soul to the Void, in as many pieces as possible."

"Um, Astrid, I don't need Shadowmere," Amaryllis said, where Astrid turned and looked at her for a few seconds, as if she couldn't believe that she was talking back to her on this manner, before she spread her wings for a moment and flapped them, all to remind her of the fact that her anger towards Cicero made her forget about them "I can just fly to Dawnstar. It's much quicker than riding across Skyrim."

"Well, you should let him out anyway, because chasing after you will be good exercise for him." Astrid stated, showing that she didn't much care for the reminder, not when she was annoyed by what Cicero had done, and she walked away before Amaryllis could say anything else, indicating that this conversation was over and that she wasn't going to listen to anyone that wanted to challenge what she said.

Amaryllis sighed as she debated on what she should do about this situation, as she had no idea if she should follow what Astrid wanted her to do or if she should go to the Dawnstar Sanctuary and tend to Cicero in a different way, but she did know that the Night Mother seemed fond of Cicero, as she even called him a humble servant and even sounded like she liked having him as the one that tended to her. There was also Sithis, the Dread Father, and she was sure that doing this would piss the godly being off, something that seemed like a bad idea, so in the end she sighed and headed for the black door once more, as she had two things she could do while she was making up her mind, even though part of her did know what she wanted to do. As she walked outside, however, she happened to hear the sound of hooves running across the ground and looked around for a moment, finding that there was no one around her, before there was a boom, almost like thunder, as she turned towards the pool of black water, where the horse she had seen Astrid ride, back at the shack she had woken up in, happened to be standing in the middle of the water and was staring at her. She knew that this was Shadowmere, but, even though she knew that Astrid wanted her to take him, and ride him all the way to Dawnstar, she wasn't about to do that and took off without wasting a second, though as she started to fly in the direction of her first destination she did look at the ground and noticed that the horse was following her on the road, meaning that people would be seeing a riderless horse chasing something, but she just sighed and focused on her objective, as there would be time to worry about Shadowmere later.

Her first destination was Whiterun, as she now possessed the token that would entitle her to a reading of her future, by Olava the Feeble, even if she wasn't entirely sure that such a thing could happen since she was from another world and whatnot, but she felt that it was worth trying, hence the reason she took the short flight from the Sanctuary to the city that was in the middle of Skyrim. As soon as she reached her destination she landed behind one of the farm houses and made her form something different, this time going for a Nord traveler, more like a close female version of the bard she had seen when she was following Gaius to Solitude, and once that was done she walked out from where she was hiding and started walking over to where the city's main gate was located. Instead of spending too much time exploring Whiterun, all to find the person she was looking for, she asked one of the guards where she could find Olava and was directed to the first house that was right behind the blacksmith's shop, where she just happened to be standing near, and was told that if Olava wasn't there she was likely in the Bannered Mare. She thanked the guard and headed over to the area in question, where she found an old lady sitting on a bench outside the house that she just been told about, though it appeared that she had just finished the tea she had been drinking, or whatever she had been drinking since everyone seemed to use the same metal mugs and it was hard to tell what someone was drinking at any given time. Amaryllis pushed that thought away as she walked over to where the lady was sitting, as she was hoping to get this reading over with before she came to a decision on what to do about Cicero, and sure enough the old lady set down her mug as soon as she was done with it, before glancing up at Amaryllis as she came to a stop, though it appeared that she might already know why she had come to visit in the first place.

"You have come to Olava for a reading, haven't you?" the old lady inquired, where she made no efforts to hide the fact that she was the person that Amaryllis was looking for, nor did she try to hide the fact that she did readings of the future, just like Gabriella said she could, though she knew the lady had more to say and said nothing as she let the old lady say what was on her mind, "Sorry, pup, but I'm not quite in the mood for that today."

"Really? That's too bad, as I have this token that I was told to give you." Amaryllis replied, though at the same time she did know that people could get burned out when they did something too many times, she had seen several ponies have that happen to them and it caused them to experiment to find their creativity again, and that was even true for a select few of the changelings in her old Hive, "But, if you don't feel up to it, maybe I can schedule an appointment for sometime in the future, when you're feeling better."

"Token, you say? Let me see." Olava said, as that was the part that she focused on, not the fact that Amaryllis was one of the few people who were willing to come back when she was feeling better, something that she actually liked since she knew there were so many that wouldn't do such a thing, before Amaryllis pulled out the glass token and showed it to her for a moment, where a look of surprise appeared on her face, "Oh, goodness me, you're a friend of Gabriella's... I should have known that just by looking at you. Well, I guess we both know why you're here."

"Gabriella told me that you could see my future, and that it wasn't something I should pass up." Amaryllis replied, as that was what she had been told when she was informed of the bonus for hunting down Gaius Maro and killing him when he was inside one of the major cities, though she still felt she was somewhat lucky that events had happened like they did, otherwise she could still be out there, chasing her target until he arrived in one of the other cities.

"Yes, I can do that, but it's not something I do lightly, mind you, and there the fact that it's not as specific as you might want. But yes. I will do this for you." Olava stated, though that made sense to Amaryllis, since the future could be changed based on what someone was told and how they acted from that point forward, before she beckoned for Amaryllis to sit down and she did so, leading the old lady to place her hands on either side of her head as she focused her mind on what she was doing, "Please, relax your body and free your mind..."

Amaryllis found that it was rather easy for her to do what Olava was asking her to do, and she closed her eyes as well, even though she wasn't asked to do such a thing, but she was sure that the old lady appreciated her assisting her to some degree, and banished all her thoughts so her mind would be a calming sea, all to give Olava a direct path to whatever she was looking for... and before long she felt something about the old lady change, which meant that she must have found something, despite her earlier thoughts.

"Olava, what do you see?" Amaryllis asked, because if the old lady was actually able to see her future, despite the fact that she was from a different world and everything else she had thought about, it made her curious as to what she might learn, regardless of however small that piece of information could be, and she could tell that she was about to learn what the old seer had discovered.

"There's a cave. No, not a cave. A... home? A place you feel secure. You will find safety there... sanctuary. I see snow, lit by the star of dawn." Olava replied, where Amaryllis got the feeling that she was entirely focused on what she was seeing and that she wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her, not that anything was happening at the moment, but she was interested in the fact that Olava was speaking of the Dawnstar Sanctuary, meaning that it would definitely play a big part in her future, "And you are not alone, as there are others. A child of night... a stalker of the sands? Oh, but before you are family, there will be blood. Such blood. Wait! There's something else... A potential for adventure, and wealth. It is a ruin, ripe for the plunder. Deepwood Redoubt. Far to the northwest... Through there is... Hag's End. The last resting place of an assassin of old. A Dark Brother, who bequeaths his ancient earthly possessions... to you."

"Is... Is there anything else?" Amaryllis inquired, because that was a lot to take in, as it sounded like something bad could happen in the future and that she, Nazir, and Babette would be the only ones to survive it, though at the same time she was interested in the ancient member of the Dark Brotherhood and his armor, along with the possibility of there being something else she could learn.

"Maybe. There's a cave... a ruin, one not like Deepwood Redoubt. One that brings an end to something, but also gives way for something to replace it... and the sign of Akatosh... that is all I see." Olava stated, though as she said the Divine's name Amaryllis noticed that the old lady seemed to become weary, which made sense considering that looking into the future could be quite draining, regardless of how skilled one was, or at least that was Amaryllis' thoughts on the matter since she never tried this sort of thing before, "Now... now please. I find myself very weary all of sudden."

Amaryllis nodded her head, thanked Olava for even agreeing to do this for her, even if it was the token that had made her come to the decision, and then headed for Whiterun's main gate as she left the lady to whatever was going to do with the rest of her day, though once she was outside she made her way to the plains, to get as far away from the residents of Whiterun as she possibly could. The moment she was sure that she couldn't be seen by someone she reverted back to her true form and took off, this time heading to the northwest, because there was too much for her to think about and she knew that finding the ancient member of the Dark Brotherhood would be worth the time, and it might give her the chance to come to terms with what she had learned. It was almost like Olava was saying that she saw disaster in her future, that her Family was going to experience something that would reduce their numbers in some manner, and that she, Nazir, and Babette would be the only ones to survive whatever was coming, but it was just like what Olava had said, the future was never as clear as one wanted, so there was a chance that what she had seen would never come to pass. The part about the Dawnstar Sanctuary made her wonder if it was possible for them to expand into a second location, that way half of the expanded Family could deal with part of Skyrim and the other half could take care of the other part, though such a thing would require recruiting more assassins into their Family, something Astrid might not be ready for. The last bit that she had been told, about a second ruin and everything else, didn't make much sense to her either, and she had the feeling that she would forget about it in due time, so she turned her attention to her flying and where she was headed, as she had no idea where Deepwood Redoubt was located and would need to ask someone for directions.

After an hour of flying she touched down outside Dragon Bridge once more and took on a brand new disguise, a dark elf mage that was looking for a lost relic, and when she walked to the other side of the bridge she asked the first guard she found where she might find the ruin she was looking for, playing it off as that the item she was looking for was last seen in the area of the ruin, only to learn that it was to the west of where they were standing, as she would have to follow the path that lead out of the village and follow the path on the left until she came to Volskygge. Amaryllis pretended to know the area that the guard was talking about and he seemed to believe her, letting her go with a warning that there were reports of Forsworn and bandits in that area, meaning that death was the only thing she would find if she wasn't careful, to which she thanked the guard and went on her way, leaving the small village behind once more, even though part of her had to wonder how many times she would have to pass through this area in the future. She was a little surprised that she would be dealing with the Forsworn again, as she had been positive that her last encounter would have been the only encounter, but, at the same time, she had an advantage that all of the other adventurers and travelers didn't have, and those were her natural changeling powers. As such she made sure that she was a far enough distance away from Dragon Bridge and shifted back to her true form so she could take to the sky once more, which was the moment that she headed in the direction the guard had pointed her in, though it wasn't long before she found a decent sized ruin built into the side of a mountain, which had to be Volskygge.

With the nordic ruin located she landed nearby and took on the shape of the Forsworn, the same one she had killed when she was looking for the Pommel Stone of Mehrunes' Razor, and walked over to the steps that were close to where the ruin happened to be resting, which was when she found a small area with four members of the Forsworn standing guard over an entrance into Deepwood Redoubt. Of course, since she appeared to be one of their type, the guards only glanced at her as she walked up the stairs, almost as if they didn't care about her, which allowed her to walk over to the wooden door and enter the first of the two ruins, as Olava's words indicated that she had to go through one ruin to get to the second one, which was the one that held the armor she was looking for. On the other side of the door she found what appeared to be a wrecked nordic ruin, if the burial chamber she walked into was any consideration, and at the end of the short passage she was in was a close iron door, the barred type, that wasn't even locked, so all she had to do was open it and walk into a corner that caused her to turn towards some stairs. Those, in turn, allowed her to access another part of the ruin, where she found two Forsworn standing near a fire, in an area that gave her a decent view of a blocked passage that would require her to move elsewhere to gain access to it, and a tunnel that one more Forsworn was standing in, but what he seemed to be doing was making sure the swinging blade trap in this particular tunnel was fine, otherwise it would be useless if an enemy attacked them... not that it mattered since the only potential enemy was walking through the ruin like she belonged there.

Amaryllis found it a little amusing that none of the Forsworn, not to mention the other groups she had infiltrated so far, had thought to stop her while she was in disguise, because that would have put a stop to what she was doing at the time and force her to fight them, but they were just letting her walk around like she was one of them, without answering any questions, which made things too easy for her.

As soon as she was passed the tunnel with the swinging blade trap she found a room with an iron door that looked like it might need a key to open, though before Amaryllis even started to look for the item in question one of the female members of the Forsworn just so happened to unlock the door from the other side and walk into the area she was in, and she seemed to be mumbling about how she had to replace the frost traps every time they went off, which seemed like a common occurrence based on how annoyed she looked. Of course that offered her a way forward and she took it without wasting any time, where she had to jumped over a pressure plate to avoid being punctured by the spike wall that would move if she touched the plate, before walking up the walkway until she reached the covered bridge she had spotted when she entered this area. The two Forsworn that walked along the bridge didn't seem to mind that she briefly touched the pair of wind chimes, made out of bones, that had been hung from the top of the cover, where they paid her next to no mind as she walked by they and headed to the area that another Forsworn was in, sitting at a table that faced the wall in front of her, though she ignored the lady and walked through the door that was at the end of the passage. From there she discovered that she was outside once more, where she followed the path that happened to be in front of her and came to a stop when she found a massive area that could house a small army, which it appeared that the Forsworn were in the middle of creating, and she knew that getting through the fifteen to twenty members of the clan would be hard, without one of them trying to stop her and talk to her.

Amaryllis looked out at the area that she was in and came to the decision that her only way to get through this was to fly over to the entrance that would take her to Hag's End, the location that the ancient armor was in, and then hide in the shadows until all the Forsworn stopped looking for her, even though she knew there was a chance she might have to fly out of here if they didn't stop searching, as there was no ceiling to this area and they were surrounded by mountains, so she was bound to be seen by someone. In the end she sighed and reverted to her true form, because she knew that this could be the most dangerous thing she was going to do so far, especially in the middle of the day, before she launched herself into the air and flew towards the building that would allow her to access Hag's End, though it didn't take more than a few seconds before the Forsworn were organizing themselves and readying themselves for battle. She had known that this was coming, but as she headed towards her destination she spotted an area above the entrance, one that couldn't be accessed by anything that was near it and had a small river running through it, to which she shifted her course and landed in the snowy area, where she leaned on the side of the mountain and watched the Forsworn as they ran around the area, looking for her so they could put her down. Several of the Forsworn pointed in the direction she had headed, no doubt talking to their superiors as they searched for her, but, to her amazement, Amaryllis watched as the annoyed force of natives eventually gave up their search and returned to what they had been doing before her arrival, as if they believed that she had flown off and wouldn't come back.

She sighed for a moment as she jumped down to the entrance of Hag's End, as she was still surprised by the fact that the Forsworn didn't search for her for more than a few moments, but she wasn't about to question that as she took on the shape she had used to get through Deepwood Redoubt, before entering the ruin that was her destination, because she wanted to get out of here before someone stopped and questioned her. When she entered the ruin she found a large wooden door in her way and opened it a little, where she spotted a Hagraven and two witches that seemed to be talking about something, though none of them noticed her and, oddly enough, they opened the smaller door that was right behind them and started to walk towards the next room in the ruin. Amaryllis paused for a moment, to be sure that none of the enemies came back into this chamber, and eventually moved forward when she heard another door open, meaning that her potential foes were moving to another part of the ruin, something that was confirmed when she heard a bridge above her move into place and noticed that the Hagraven was leading four witches somewhere, likely a ritual chamber or something. Fortunately it appeared that none of them noticed her, otherwise she was sure that the Hagraven or one of the witches would have paused to question her, but since none of them had spotted her, and none of them were stopping for anything, she was able to make her way into the tunnel and follow the path that the first group had followed, only to come to a stop a few moments later when she reached the second room of the ruin, a room that had a not so hidden secret compartment that needed a switch to be pulled.

Oddly enough she found that the lever that was connected to the hidden wall was to the left of the stone, all she had to do was walk around the throne that was in the middle of the room, and when she did that the stone lowered into the ground, revealing a small tunnel that didn't go anywhere, but the most important thing she discovered was the body that was right in front of her. The armor the corpse was wearing was mostly black and red colored, where the black sections seemed to be the interior of it and the parts that rested on top of someone's arm or chest were red colored, where a black hand print seemed to be engraved on the upper part of the chest piece, and there were parts of the arms and legs that had small spikes on them, giving the armor a deadly appearance. There was even a cape that seemed to reach the back of one's legs, which went with the look of the armor, and a cowl that was different from what she was using at the moment, as it just so happened to cover the person's face and there was a metal portion that seemed to cover everything that was right below the nose area. This was what she was looking for, an interesting suit of armor that was unlike anything she had seen so far, and what she did next was take off the armor that the body was wearing, which was when she found that it was a long dead skeleton that the armor was covering, oddly with no smell coming from it, and she replaced her current armor with the new set, where she found that the gloves had sharpened points to make the fingers look like claws, which was an interesting design decision in her mind.

It didn't take her long to claim all the armor and put it on, where she looked at herself and found that she truly looked like an assassin of old, instead of wearing what Astrid and the others wore, along with the fact that the armor seemed to be made out of metal plates and leather, though while the metal could be ebony it was incredibly light, almost like the old armor she had been wearing, meaning she wouldn't be weighed down by a heavy suit of armor.

With that done Amaryllis looted the large chest that was near the corpse and discovered that there was a pair of ebony gauntlets and some coins, along with a spell book or two, so she took all of that, backed out of the small tunnel, and then sealed the door so no one would find it, even though she was amazed that none of the enemies she had seen had even spotted the area in question, before she smashed the lever to ensure it was never opened again. Once she did that she turned around and headed back the way she came, where she discovered that the ancient armor must have a couple of enchantments that were like the armor she had been wearing earlier, as she couldn't hear anything coming from her at the moment, meaning that her foes might not be able to hear her either. As she considered that information she knew the first thing she was going to have to do, once she was done with her errands, was find a ruin with some bandits and see if they could hear her, because if her enemies couldn't hear her with this armor on than she knew she had found something great, as she was sure the armor would protect her from all sorts of damage and boost her skills, which would make her a true assassin that should be feared. Of course she had to put her thoughts on hold for a moment as she reached the door that would take her back out into the area that the large force of Forsworn called home, though this time she walked out there with a smile on her face, as all she had to do was revert to her true form and take off, where she could head over the mountain that she had used to hide from her pursuers and head to the east, meaning that none of the Forsworn would even realize the intruder was gone and would spend days looking for someone that didn't exist.

One thing she discovered while she was flying was that the enchantments the ancient armor had were interesting, as the boots actually shifted to match her hooves, as if they were made for hooves and not normal feet, and that the cape didn't get in the way of her wings, rather it seemed like it wasn't even there at all, meaning that it would likely shift when she changed into a new disguise, making this a wonderful gift that she wasn't expecting to find when she learned what Olava had to tell her earlier that day. As soon as she figured out what was going on she came to the decision that she would have to test the armor at some point in the future and see if it had any limits, as she was positive that it, like her and everyone else she had come across so far, had some sort of limit and she knew that knowing what sort of limits the enchantments possessed would come in handy for the future. Now that she had the armor, however, she turned her attention to her next destination, Dawnstar, as it was time to hand over the fragments of Mehrunes' Razor, get paid for all the hard work, even if she didn't care about the septims all that much and was only going to take them since people in this land insisted on paying people for their efforts, and then head to the Sanctuary that Cicero was in, so she could determine what she was going to do with him. She knew that, once she arrived in the abandoned area that he was hiding out in, she would come to a decision, but for now her mind was on getting to the city in question and dealing with Silus, because once that was done she could deal with the bigger fish that Astrid sent her to deal with.





It was around two in the afternoon when Amaryllis landed down the road from Dawnstar and changed her form again, as she returned to the Khajiit form she had been wearing when she first talked to Silus, since he would be expecting her to be the person he had spoken to and not someone else, before she entered the city and made her way towards the building that happened to be the closest to where the black door to the other Sanctuary was located in. Of course she made sure to look like she was an adventurer that was wearing iron armor, gauntlets, and boots, minus the helm, instead of looking like a member of the Dark Brotherhood, as there was no telling if the guards that knew she had been here to kill someone would come after her or not, and she'd rather not tangle with them. As she walked down to the dock area, which only had the same boat she had seen the last time she was here, she spotted a Nord that seemed to be the owner of the second mine in this city, the Quicksilver Mine, the mine that Beitild had been fighting with before her demise, and she overheard the man say that he wasn't going to miss her, referring to her as a sabre cat for some odd reason. While she was doing that she heard the sound of hooves coming up from the road behind her, where she glanced back and found Shadowmere coming to a stop with a determined look in his eyes, though she chuckled as soon as he came to a stop and continued walking towards the house that was her destination, as he had done exactly what Astrid had told her he would do, but at the very least it would allow her to get Arnbjorn out of here, once she found him anyway.

Her first stop was Silus' house, where she found that the man was standing near his collection, something that he was focused on and only glanced up from for a few seconds as she entered the building, though when he spotted her he did turn away from the displays and waited for her to say something, almost as if he was dreading asking her if she had found any of the fragments he had sent her to collect.

"I have good news for you, Silus. I have all three fragments of the Razor in my possession." Amaryllis said, to which she approached the man for a moment and reached into her pack, where she noticed that the man seemed to be excited by what she had just said, before she started to withdraw the items and handed them over to him, "Here you go, the Pommel Stone, the Hilt, and the Blade Shards, just as you requested."

"All at once! You're efficient. I like that. Here's your reward." Silus replied, to which he carefully stored all of the pieces he had been given in another sack, something that interested Amaryllis since she was sure that he would have put them on display with the rest of the stuff he had, before he handed her a bag that was heavier than some of the other rewards she had been given so far, "Finally, all of the pieces of Mehrunes' Razor are in my hands. It's time I let you in on something, there's a fourth piece, one that I collected a long time ago. That scabbard in the display case, built to house the Razor and contain it's power. And there's one more thing, I know how to put all the pieces together and reforge the Razor. We just need to take the pieces to Dagon's shrine and contact the Lord of Change directly."

"Do you really think Dagon will repair the Razor?" Amaryllis asked, because while part of her didn't care, since her part in all of this was over, she was curious if the Daedric Prince could actually reverse the damage that had been done to the weapon and make it whole once more, so she was a little torn between helping Silus out and heading to the Sanctuary that was just around the corner to check if anyone was there.

"Ever since I was a little boy, I felt this strange sense of destiny surrounding the Mythic Dawn cult, and now I finally know what it is." Silus said, where he walked over to the case that contained the scabbard and unlocked it, which was when he added it to the sack that contained the other pieces, with a big smile on his face, before he turned towards her once more as he headed for the door, "Don't you see? Fate has led you to me and to the pieces. Dagon has to answer our call. We're so close. I'll meet you at the shrine."

Amaryllis watched as Silus headed outside and started running for the area she had landed in, before she wanted into the city, to which she sighed and guessed that she would have to follow him at some point, but, before she did that, she just turned around and headed to the area that the Black Door was located in, where she walked around the large stones and found what she was looking for, along with a wounded Arnbjorn sitting near the door.

"I should have guessed that Astrid would send you to check up on me." Arnbjorn commented, informing Amaryllis that he was just fine in some ways, as his tone sounded the same as it had been when she last saw him, but, at the same time, she knew that the cut in his side was going to take some time to heal, especially since she didn't have any healing potions on hand and didn't know how to use the healing magic of this land, something she needed to correct for the future, in case she found herself in this situation again.

"That she did," Amaryllis replied, as she wasn't surprised that Arnbjorn quickly figured out that Astrid had sent her to find him and Cicero, especially since Shadowmere was standing behind her, waiting for someone to ride him no doubt, but that was when she focused on the wound, finding that Cicero was definitely skilled with his dagger, "You're in no condition to be running into battle anytime soon."

"What gave it away?" Arnbjorn stated, though that was when he chuckled for a moment, as if he found something to be funny and she had to guess that it was because she happened to be stating the obvious, before the pain of his wound caused him to stop chuckling and made him focus on her again, "Yeah, got to admit that little jester is actually pretty good with that butter knife of his. But don't worry, I gave as good as I got."

"I assume that Cicero made it through the Black Door?" Amaryllis inquired, because she could see a trail of blood that lead right to the door in question, meaning that the person she was here to deal with had to be on the other side, but for right now she was going to take care of Arnbjorn to the best of her ability, which was why she had Shadowmere come over to where she was standing so she could put her brother on the horse's back.

"Yeah, I guess so." Arnbjorn said, showing that he must have lost his target at some point and had followed the blood to this area, which could mean that Cicero wasn't here at all and could have fooled him by leaving a false trail, before he focused on something important as Amaryllis helped him onto Shadowmere's back, "By the looks of it, this has to be an old Sanctuary of some kind. I would have followed him inside, but I don't know the phrase to open the door."

"Don't worry, I know the phrase." Amaryllis replied, as she found that it was fortunate that Cicero had written it down in one of the journals he had left behind, otherwise she would have been forced to stake the place out and wait for him to leave for food and other essentials, which would have been the only chance for her to get him, before she shook her head and focused on what she was doing, "Shadowmere will take you back home, so Babette and the others can tend to your wound before it gets worse, though I'll deal with Cicero and meet up with you guys when I'm able to."

"All right, you convinced me. Doubt I'd be much good to you anyway, since the little fop cut me pretty deep, but I did slash him good in return." Arnbjorn stated, informing Amaryllis that Cicero was also injured, so it would be a while before he tried to leave the Dawnstar Sanctuary again, and while she thought about that he seemed to think of something else to say before he was taken out of the area, "Pretty sure I severed an artery earlier, before he slipped into the old Sanctuary. Don't know what you're going to find in there... but you can probably just follow the blood."

Amaryllis said nothing to that and watched as Shadowmere ran off with Arnbjorn, heading for the Falkreath Sanctuary like she had instructed, and she waited for a few moments before seeing the horse disappear as it headed out of the city, which was the moment she reverted to her true form and flew around the other edge of Dawnstar, as she wasn't about to deal with Cicero. Her plan was to find Silus, get the Razor reforged, and then leave the man to his own devices, as she felt that it would be as simple as that, but as she flew in the direction the man had gone in she found him running by a giant's camp about ten to fifteen minutes away from Dawnstar, and luck seemed to be on his side since the giant and the nearby mammoth were focused on a small group of bandits, which were taken out in rapid succession. Amaryllis felt that Silus was a fool to be doing something like this, or utterly mad because of what she had given him, as he also ran up a hill that happened to be close to where some black robed figures were fighting some figures that had steel on their arms and legs, but she followed the man from the air, just to make sure nothing terrible happened to him. Fortunately that appeared to be the end of the misfortunes that Silus encountered, as he was able to spend the next twenty minutes running along the side of the mountain, only shifting his course when he arrived at the base of a massive statue, one that Amaryllis had never seen before, and she noticed that the being it depicted had four arms and four weapons, but she had the feeling that it was Mehrunes Dagon.

As Silus ran up to the shrine, however, Amaryllis landed at the base of the stairs and shifted back into her Khajiit form, all armored up once more, before she headed up the stairs as well, giving herself a few moments so it didn't look like she had been right behind him the entire time, and when she reached the shrine she found that Silus, despite being winded from the long run, was excited for what he was about to do.

"Oh, good, you followed me here. I'll place the pieces on the altar, and Dagon should speak to us." Silus said, showing little to no surprise over the fact that Amaryllis had walked up the steps and had joined him, though that was the moment that he walked over to the rectangular shrine and placed the four pieces of the weapon on the stone, arranged in the form of a square for some reason, before he held his hands in the air, "Mehrunes Dagon, the Lord of Change, we have brought your Razor to you. We beg you, please bring the blade's full glory to Tamriel again... odd, it's not working. Why don't you give it a try? Just put your hands on the altar."

Amaryllis raised her eyebrow at that, especially since Silus didn't give Dagon much time to hear his voice and respond to what he had said, which was a bad sign since it showed that he didn't much care for the Prince, or at least for whatever the powerful being was doing at the moment, before she approached the altar and placed a hand near the pieces, as that was where she felt a slight bit of power resting.

You. Mortal. You are worthy of speaking to. a powerful and commanding voice said, one that Amaryllis felt should belong to one of the more powerful Daedric Princes, as she was sure that Dagon was much stronger than Meridia, but she said nothing as she waited for the Prince to continue, because she knew he had something he wanted to say, before he even considered doing what Silus wanted him to do, You have claimed the pieces of my Razor. It has been an amusing game to witness. But Dagon does not declare a winner while there is a pawn on the board. Kill Silus. He and his family have served their purpose.

"As you wish." Amaryllis replied, though this time it wasn't because she wanted Silus dead or anything, it was more due to the fact that she was sure this Prince would actually materialize, despite what she had been told earlier, and smite them both if they refused to do what he wanted them to do, and as she said that she noticed that Silus had heard what the Daedric Prince asked her to do and had the feeling that it was a game of kill or be killed, as the winner would get the Razor and be able to do whatever they wanted with it.

Now then, may the best pawn win! Dagon declared, his tone revealing that he had set this game up so that all of the people who brought together the pieces of the Razor would have to fight each other for the relic, which really made things unfair for Silus, since he was facing someone who had gone up against two dangerous criminals and lived to tell the tale, even if the truth was something entirely different, but that didn't stop him from readying himself.

The moment Dagon stopped talking Silus lashed out with lightning, trying to strike Amaryllis before she even had a chance to react, but she was able to roll to the side and avoid being struck by the attack, and as she stood back up she let go of the disguise that was currently on, allowing her true form and armor to be known once more, which actually caused Silus to freeze in terror for a moment. Amaryllis suspected that part of the fear was because she was an unknown species, with the horn that her new armor opened a new opening for, the wings that unfurled from her back, and everything else that set her apart from the creatures the man was familiar with, while the other part was the fact that he likely recognized the symbol on her armor, the hand that represented the Dark Brotherhood, an order of assassins. Just seeing the armor was likely the cause behind him pausing and the fear that was coming from him, almost as if he believed that his quest to have the Razor remade was at an end, and in a way he was right, as Amaryllis pulled her steel sword out as she walked towards him and drove it into his chest, allowing Silus to fall to the group in a heap, though this time she decided to leave the blade behind, as she didn't need a sword to fight her foes, she only needed her dagger, or, to be more accurate, the Razor that she originally didn't want when she set out to assist Silus.

I am pleased, mortal. I will give you my Razor. Use it to wreak havoc on Tamriel. Dagon spoke, his tone revealing that he wasn't lying to her, that even though the battle had come to a quick end, thanks to Silus freezing and allowing her to deal with him like that, he was still amused by what he had witnessed since she took on the task to collect the fragments of his Razor, You have been a worthy tool. Place your hands on my altar one last time, and you will witness the power of Mehrunes Dagon for yourself.

Amaryllis did as she was told and placed her hands on the stone rectangle once more, where the pieces of the Razor were lifted into the air and she watched what happened next, as the blade shards fused together to form a single blade, and fused to the part that was connected to the hilt, while the Pommel Stone slipped into the base of the hilt, before the reformed weapon returned to the scabbard, allowing her to take it and replace the sheath of her old sword. In that instant Dagon declared that he had one final test for her and sent out a pair of creatures that were wearing terrifying armor and were wielding large weapons, greatswords to be exact, and while their skin was dark gray colored they had red markings on their faces and had red eyes, complete with horns that coiled back towards the back of their heads. Instead of sticking around, and dealing with the pair, Amaryllis took to the sky and departed from the area, as she wasn't foolish enough to fight the pair of creatures that Dagon had summoned to fight her, though she could have sworn she heard the Prince laughing as she left the shrine behind and headed back in the direction of Dawnstar, as it was time to tend to Cicero and come to a decision on what to do with him. Part of her wondered if she should bring Silus back to the city and inform them that something else had killed him, passing the blame to the creatures that had been summoned after she took the Razor, but, with those two still standing there, it was best that she leave the area and come back later, to see if they would disappear with time.

It didn't take her long to return to the black door that served as the entrance for the Dawnstar Sanctuary, where she made sure that no one saw her as she landed in the area, which would be hard to do since she went around the city and landed in an area that none of the residents should see, before she approached the black door and tapped on it, as it was time for her to deal with Cicero.

What is life's greatest illusion? the Black Door asked, speaking the question that someone would have to answer, with the correct phrase, before they were allowed to enter the Sanctuary, though it spoke in the same tone and style that the door to the Falkreath Sanctuary used when she first found it, not that she was expecting anything different from the sinister black door.

"Innocence, my brother." Amaryllis replied, because that was the phrase that was in Cicero's journal, and since he was able to get inside this Sanctuary with that phrase she knew it had to be right, but she readied herself for what was going to happen next, as she knew the door was going to allow her to enter the area that her target was in and she had no idea if he had any traps to protect himself.

Welcome home. the Black Door stated, just like what happened with the other Black Door when she answered the question it had asked when she arrived outside the Falkreath Sanctuary, which was when Amaryllis nodded her head and pushed the door open so she could head down the stairs that were on the other side and see what this Sanctuary was like, before seeking out Cicero so she could end this madness.

Amaryllis found an incredibly short tunnel that brought her to the stairs, which brought her down to what she had to assume was the first chamber of the Sanctuary, one that was different from what the Falkreath Sanctuary had, since that one had Astrid's room attached to it, but what was interesting was a set of jester's clothing that looked similar to what she had seen Cicero wearing, before she walked up to the door that was in front of her.

"Listener! Is that you?" a voice asked, one that seemed to echo throughout the entire Sanctuary and it almost seemed like Cicero, as that was who the voice belonged to, had raised his voice so she could hear him from wherever he happened to be hiding, like he was trying to distract her while she looked for him, "Oh, I knew you'd come. Send the best to defeat the best. Astrid knew her stupid wolf couldn't slay sly Cicero. Oh, but this isn't at all what Mother would want. You kill the Keeper or I kill the Listener? Now that's madness."

"Indeed it is." Amaryllis commented, even though she was mostly speaking to herself at that moment, though as she opened the door and walked forward she found that there were a pair of ghostly assassins, who had drawn their weapons the moment they appeared and seemed to be walking over to where she was standing, and she knew they were the ones that Cicero had mentioned in his journals, though she had an idea to get around them, "Stand down, guardians of the Dawnstar Sanctuary, for I am the Listener of the Drak Brotherhood, chosen by the Night Mother, and I seek to converse with the one chosen to be the Unholy Matron's Keeper."

The ghosts looked at her for a moment, then glanced at each other, before sheathing their weapons and beckoned for her to follow them, where one of them passed through the iron bars that were blocking the path into the lower area of the Sanctuary and pulled the lever, lowering the bars in the process, only for them to lead her to a door that they unlocked for her, one that let her enter a passage that had another door in front of her, and when she opened it she found Cicero laying on the ground in the middle of decent sized chamber.

"You caught me! I surrender! Ha ha ha ha!" Cicero stated, where he chuckled as he said that, showing that his wound wasn't as bad as Arnbjorn thought it was, meaning that it was possible that he had used a health potion before she had arrived in the Sanctuary, but Amaryllis found that none of the ghosts were following her into the chamber, meaning that this was between her and the person she had come for.

"There is only one cure for all of this madness, Cicero, and that's me." Amaryllis replied, as she knew that Cicero could recognize her by her voice and her unique features, but at the same time she came to a stop near the jester, who glanced up at her as she did that, though it appeared that he might have something more to say before she did the deed, as if he thought that she was going to kill him, even if he was surprised by how quickly she had reached his hiding place, almost as if he didn't consider the ghosts turning on him like this.

"Oh, I like that! Very good, very good! Creative!" Cicero said, where the smile on his face and the tone of his voice told Amaryllis that he was happy with what she had said, though she patiently waited for him to stop talking before she told him what her decision was, as he no doubt knew why she was here, "But killing me would be a mistake! Oh yes. You would displease our mother, hmm? For she's your mother too, isn't she... Listener? Walk away! Let poor Cicero live! Tell the pretender Astrid that you did the job! Stabbed, strangled, drowned poor Cicero! One little itty bitty lie!"

"Cicero... I'm not going to kill you." Amaryllis replied, because that was the decision she had come to, that Cicero was part of the Family, despite what Astrid wanted her and the others to believe, and he had stood up for the Night Mother, as she had to assume that someone had said something that set him off, probably Astrid she guessed, and she could see the look of surprise on the man's face as she turned around, "I'll tell the guardians to tend to your wounds, to make sure you don't die, and then, when this business with the Emperor is done, I'll come back and set things right."

Cicero didn't say anything as she left the area he was in, where she made sure the guardians headed in there to tend to his wounds, before she headed for the exit, as it was time for her to return to Astrid and tell her the news she wanted to hear, before focusing on the contract they had been hired to do, as it was about time they wrapped it up and moved on with whatever the future held for their Family.