"I would gladly take on another mission," Pandora replied, not surprised to find that lord Sheogorath had snuck up on the group while Luna was tending to Nightmare's wound, "Just tell me what I must do now and I will gladly see it done."
"The Greymarch is upon us, and the Ordering begins." Sheogorath replied, shaking his head and tapping his staff against the floor, "Armies of Order sweep My Realm. Death. Destruction. Then I have to pick up the pieces. And there are always lots of pieces. I don't like it, having to rebuild My Realm every era. Sometimes I forget where things go. Like New Sheoth. I can never remember where it belongs.... You'll change that. Break the cycle. You'll stop Jyggalag, and I'll have My Realm to come back to. I've never actually tried that before.
What do you need to do now? You'll need the respect of My citizens. They'll need a leader, someone to look up to when I'm gone. They're the backbone of any great land. Except where the backbone is an actual backbone. Ever been to Malacath's realm...? Nasty stuff. But, back to the business at hand. You'll need to control one of the Courts of Madness. Replace a current Duke. Or Duchess. Whichever. That will command respect! The people will rally around you. You'll have their love, their admiration, their complaints! Whatever. As long as it keeps them on Our side."
"And this won't upset them in any way?" Luna asked, knowing that either Thadon or Syl would be upset the moment they learned that their place in Sheogorath's realm was under siege.
"No. No, no, no. Absolutely not." Sheogorath replied, before placing a finger on his chin as if he was reconsidering what he had just said, "Well... yes. Absolutely. Bit of a shame for them. But, sometimes you need to break a few eggs. Or skulls. There are rules, though. Even in the Isles. Rituals and rules. You need to follow them. Speak to Arctus and Dervenin, the High Priests at the Sacellum Arden-Sul. They can explain what needs to be done. And you've always got our man Haskill to call on for help. Faithful like a good hound, that one. And he looks better in a suit."
Before Pandora could respond Sheogorath was gone, having disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, leaving her and her companions to stare at each other for a moment. Nightmare moaned and took a seat in one of the benches, knowing that, due to her own arrogance, that her side would bother her in battle and lead to slowing them down. She beckoned for Luna and Pandora to get a move on, so they could choose which Duke or Duchess to remove and then discover the method they had to abide by. It was painfully obvious that Pandora was going with Dementia, as she approached the Priest of Dementia, Arctus, without a moment of delay.
"So, tell me priest," Pandora said, staring into the eyes of the priest that represented Dementia, who was glad to have Agnon's flame for his side of the city, "How does one dispose of the ruler of Dementia?"
"Seldom is the subject ever bro-... wait a moment, did you want to hear the history of the Ritual?" Arctus started, only to ask a question, which Pandora decided that she wanted to hear and gave him a nod for approval, "As it happened so many years ago, my lord Arden-Sul suspected a traitor in his midst. Not wishing to find himself on the wrong end of a blade, he gathered his flock here in the Sacellum. By poisoning the sacramental wine, Arden-Sul was able to suppress any such conspiracy in one fell swoop. He then removed their hearts from their bodies and used his ancient scrying technique known as visceromancy to read their lifeblood. When Arden-Sul couldn't divine the traitor's true nature in their hearts, he became distraught and took his own life in the same way. From that day on, the Ritual of Accession for the throne of Dementia was set."
"So basically we have to assassinate Lady Syl?" Pandora asked, receiving a nod from the priest, "And then, assuming that we've done that, we bring her heart back to you and you'll preform the rite for me?"
"As long as you have Lord Sheogorath's blessing at the end as well," Arctus replied, nodding to her once more, "Now, I'd suggest that you start with the people closest to Lady Syl and see if they won't 'help' you dispose of their mistress...for real this time anyway."
Pandora grinned, not even caring that the priest knew of the previous attempt on Lady Syl's life, the same one that she had personally stopped, and was encouraging her to continue. She turned around and made for the exit, beckoning for Luna to follow her, who was more than happy to be away from her alternate personality. Together the two of them walked back to the palace, Pandora walking in silence as she wondered how to turn the people closest to Lady Syl against her.
"Maybe we can convince them that Lady Syl's time is up," she pondered, shaking her head as if to throw the thought away, "or maybe we can intimidate them into thinking that they'll be put down if they tell Syl of our coming or if they aid in her escape."
Luna touched her shoulder, brought her into a corner that none of the maids or guards walked around, and threw up a small barrier that would protect them from being overheard. It wouldn't help them if someone overheard their plot and took it up to Lady Syl, who would likely lose her head and order the entire guard after them. Pandora looked at her as if she had lost her mind, making them lose valuable time that could be used to turn the people around Syl against her, but Luna shook her head.
"The barrier will keep others from hearing about this," Luna explained, beckoning to the light blue barrier for a moment, "Look, we're going to have to play this as if its a game of chess, where we'll reveal nothing of our plans to the people we need to talk to and see what information we can gleam from them. Then, with this information in hand, we'll make a plan and attack Lady Syl when she least expects it, like she feared when she had us find the previous assassination plot."
"And your sure this is a better plan than what I was going to go with?" Pandora asked, raising an eyebrow as she worried that the plan would fail before it could be put to use.
"Trust me, I've learned something from my sister," Luna said, not believing that she had just said that, after everything that's happened to her so far, "Let's play this game right and see if we can't get to Lady Syl before she finds out about us."
Pandora nodded and, once the barrier was down, the two of them moved towards the House of Dementia, where they were saluted by the Mazken guarding the main doors, for their service in Cylarne. Once inside Syl's throne room they discovered that she was nowhere in sight, despite it being during the afternoon, and found that her two closest 'friends' were still standing near the throne. Anya, the maid, seemed overjoyed to see them again, likely because they had cleared her name or something, though Pandora was quick to speak to her in the corner of the room, leaving Luna with the guard Kithlan.
"So," Pandora said, getting ready to spring the question on the poor maid, "What are your thoughts of Lady Syl these days?"
"She's taken to hiding herself lately, fearing that Lord Sheogorath is going to replace her," Anya replied, shaking her head before realizing that there was something about the way Pandora asked the question, "Oh, I see how it is now. How about this Champion, I'll come by the door to her chambers this very night and distract some of the guards, so you can do whatever it is that you have come to do. How does that sound?"
Pandora stared at the maid, surprised that it took so little effort for her to make her fall in with her scheme, but then she remembered how she had fallen into the first plot. That was, however, before she and her friends had found out about the plot and put the leader of it down, as Lady Syl had slain her in her torture chamber. She grinned once more and eagerly accepted the maid's help, equally eager to share the news with Luna that her plan of playing chess wasn't going to work.
Luna, seeing Pandora speak to the maid, walked up to the guard, wondering how to broach the subject of Lady Syl without alerting him to their scheme. She was never any good at keeping her true goals hidden, but after some time with her sister she had learned some of the finer points of what Celestia called a 'poker face', or something along those lines. Kithlan took notice of her as she approached, though he made no move to leave the throne nor did he make any move to make her stop in her tracks. Luna suspected that he was sizing her up, as the last time they met he had been staring at Nightmare Moon and no one else, though he'd soon learn that she wasn't to be underestimated.
"I see what your doing," Kithlan told her, before she even had a chance to speak her mind, "but I must confess to you, I have grown tired of guarding Lady Syl. Here, take this key and get going before someone sees us speaking."
Luna had to admit, she was surprised that he was just giving her the key to Lady Syl's chambers and telling her to deal with his mistress while he did nothing to stop her. She returned to the entrance to the torture chamber, where Pandora had gone to speak with someone on Syl's behalf, and found her companion waiting for her. She got the basic run down about how her plan sucked, thanks to the maid basically giving them her cooperation in the assassination, before beckoning towards the door they needed to pass through. They passed into the private gardens and found a few Seducers waiting for them, with their weapons drawn no less, but before they got any closer Luna pulled the air into her and blasted the two of them off their feet. It gave Pandora enough time to hit them and make sure that they had been put down permanently.
"What was that?" Pandora asked, as they reached for the room that Syl should be in.
"Less talking and more fighting," Luna remarked, not wanting to explain the Royal Voice once more.
Sure enough they found Syl in her bed, but as they approached they found that she was dead, almost as if someone had beaten them to the punch. Luna, not certain that this was indeed the real Syl, was about to investigate the corpse, but then the guard she had listened to appeared behind them and made a comment that the corpse was just a double. Neither Luna nor Pandora had to be told what that meant, as they knew that Syl had fled and that they needed to track her down and assassinate her. As they left the chamber the guard made one last comment, saying that there was a hidden tunnel under a nearby bust, where their target had fled to.
They found the bust without any difficulty and entered the tunnel, finding a seemingly straight path with a few turns waiting for them, though Luna held a hand to slow them down. Pandora nodded and prepared herself as they slowly made their way down the tunnel, both of them keeping their eyes peeled for any more Seducers that wanted them dead. The first chamber they found was filled with traps, though Luna made sure to keep her eyes on the traps patterns and, after some careful maneuvering, lead them to safety. The second chamber had a few guards in it, who were immediately alerted to their presence before they even opened the door, but Pandora was prepared. An arrow found its way into a guard as Luna blasted another into the wall, snapping her neck from the impact and clearing the way for them.
The following chamber had a much larger group of guards waiting for them, making Luna wonder how Lady Syl convinced all of these guards to protect her during the evening. The Seducers came right at them, but Luna was more prepared as she unleashed her voice, knocking them off of their feet before she began her fireball barrage. Pandora, seeing the opportunity to have some fun, trained her eyes on a target and, where they stood back up, her arrow tore into their chest, knocking them into the wall. Once the group was taken care of, and the way forward was revealed, the two of them made their way forward and eventually reached another door.
Once they passed through the door they came to a circular chamber, though the difference between this one and the previous ones was that almost every other entrance was blocked off.
"I must admit, these Seducers are good at setting up traps," Luna commented, looking around for anything that might let them move forward, until she found something, "but never leave a button in plain sight."
She pressed the button and opened the secret passage, one that she was sure that the Seducers had used, and they moved forward until they came to another locked door, which was opened by another button. They stepped out of the hidden passage and surprised the group of passing guards, barely giving them time to defend themselves as Luna blasted them into the wall. She was pretty sure that Syl, if she was indeed down here, was now aware of their presence, which meant that she could either flee or fight for her life. They then came to a much larger chamber than the previous ones, though it was also home to quite a number of guards that stood to protect their mistress.
Pandora rained arrows down on their enemies, hitting them wherever she could, as they were actually moving around more than she was expecting. Still, she was able to hurt quite a number of them and make their numbers go down, though Luna was more than able to pull her weight this time around. Magic flew from her hands and connected with several of the remaining guards, blowing up their their faces and blasting them into the walls around them. Those that weren't slain immediately were targeted by another spell, hitting them in various places around their bodies and blasting them to their deaths.
The final door they opened brought them a sight of two more guards protecting Lady Syl, who was now wearing a suit of armor and carried a large warhammer. The moment she took notice of them she drew her weapon and charged at them, apparently no longer caring for her own well-being as she swung at Luna. Magic arched across Luna's hand and struck Syl in the arm, intending to freeze a part of her so they could deal with their enemies, but she shrugged it off and continued towards her. Luna then had an idea come to mind, so she clapped her hands together and disappeared, only for Pandora to appear in her place before she loosed her arrow at Syl. The Duchess barely had time to move as the arrow pierced her skull, toppling her body and causing her to hit the ground, much to the horror of her guards.
Pandora knelt beside Syl's body and pulled her knife out, cutting into the chest area until she managed to cut her prize free, the heart of the Duchess of Dementia. Luna, knowing the guards might have acted against them, allowed her magic to hum around her, making the two guards worry that they were going to die next and forced them to back off. Once they had the heart they made their way back down the path they had used to reach this point, though Pandora had just one question she wanted answered.
"How did you pull off that switching spell?" Pandora asked, curious as to what had happened, though she was thankful Luna had come up with a plan.
"Something I picked up from a friend," Luna replied, not wanting to mention the stallion's name and stir the memories once more.
----------------------------------------------------
The duo returned to the Sacellum and found Nightmare where they had left her, though she was now joined by Sheogorath and had the look of someone who wanted to leave. Pandora walked to the alter and dropped Syl's heart onto it, watching it burn up until a flash of light appeared and then vanished in a matter of seconds.
"You've done it!" Sheogorath nearly shouted, apparently pleased with what they had done, "The Ritual is complete, and you've survived! Who'd have thought? Now, on to other..."
"Wait, I must speak!" a voice said, just as Lord Thadon, his eyes brimming with anger, entered the Sacellum, "Halt! Cease! Desist!"
"Thadon, how dare you interrupt me!" Sheogorath growled, clearly angered by the Duke's actions, "Only I interrupt me. Like just then. I'm speaking with someone. We'll talk later. Or not. When is later, exactly? Not now, I'm sure of that. Guards, I think Thadon forgot how to use the door. Kindly show him/her out. Before I forget myself."
"Syl...dead..." Thadon said, apparently not taking the news very well, "This can't be right. Is this right? What have you done? Have you done this?"
"Hold your tongue, little Duke," Sheogorath warned, clearly getting more annoyed with Thadon's presence, "or I'll tear it from your mouth."
"But, this... stranger?" Thadon replied, pointing an accusing finger at Pandora, "Someone new? From somewhere else? Not here. I'm sure of that. I don't understand. Or I can't."
"Calm yourself, Thadon." Sheogorath said, now trying to calm him down, which was the opposite of what he had been doing before, "You're making my teeth itch. You still hold your office. I suggest you see to your duties."
"Ridiculous!" Thadon nearly snapped, his own temper rising and lowering with his mood, "You can't do this! Although... you're omnipotent. Or just tall. It's one of the two, I'm sure. And a fool!"
"Fool? Visionary! Change is in the air, Thadon." Sheogorath said, beckoning to everything around them, "Breathe it deep! Bathe in its scent! Bottle it up. Save some for later."
"Order approaches!" Thadon reported, apparently choosing this point to report something that they all needed to know, "It's taken the Fringe already! With Order clothes and Order hats! And you speak of "change"?"
"Change will preserve us!" Sheogorath said, waving a hand once more, "It is the lifeblood of the Isles. It will move mountains! It will mount movements!"
"No. No. Certainly not." Thadon replied, causing a few guards to gasp as he took the opposite side of his own Lord, "This isn't good. I'm sure it's bad. I can't do this anymore. No more."
"Then go, Thadon." Sheogorath said, casting a glance back at him that would have chilled the bones of any mortal that wasn't used to how the Isles worked, "Have your Greenmote. Take a bath. But leave. Before I decorate my throne with your insides"
"Yes. That's it. I'll go." Thadon suddenly said, as if reaching a conclusion for himself, "Away. Far away. Working for them is like working for us, but without all the dying."
The guards, shocked by Thadon's words, barely noticed him as he left, taking whatever information he knew about the Isles with him so he could plead for his life whenever he met the Knights of Order. Sheogorath sighed and rubbed his eyes, either completely annoyed that one of his own Dukes would turn on him or pleased that something different happened for once.
"Wondering why I let him go, aren't you?" Sheogorath asked, a smirk appearing on his face, "I can see it in your face. Mostly in the eyes. I may take those from you when this is done. This has never happened before! The ruler of Mania turning traitor? Unprecedented! But different is good. A new act in this play. Maybe we're on to something here. We'll see how it plays out. It can't be worse than what's happened before. But, that's enough about that. You're the ruler of Dementia! Just look at you. You're positively beaming! You now have the power to summon Dark Seducers. They've always served the Duchess of Dementia. I think they have a thing for pain. And here is the Ring of Lordship, a symbol of your new station. Symbols are important. They carry weight in this Realm, and others. You would be well served to remember that."
"And about the Fringe?" Pandora asked, wondering if they'd have a battle to join soon.
"He was right about that." Sheogorath replied, tapping his staff once more, "I can feel it. In My bones. The little ones. The Greymarch has swept the Fringe. Order gathers its forces there as we speak. And I hate when people gather forces in My Fringe. You'll need to put an end to that. Stop them. My armies should already be there, but I want you to see what you can do to help. If they continue to marshal their forces there, we won't be able to contain them. Make sure they can't."
Pandora looked at Luna and Nightmare, both of whom were prepared to leave the capital of the Shivering Isles and return to the place they entered from, to do battle with Jyggalag's forces. They were all ready to finally take the fight to their enemy, something they had been waiting for since the first time they encountered the Knights of Order. Pandora grinned, it was time to have some real fun.