Luna and Shadow traveled to the northwest of the Priory of the Nine, where they planned on visiting the chapel in Chorrol so they could find another of the armaments that the Divine Crusader used in the distant past. During their trek Luna listened to everything that Shadow had to tell her about the artifacts that they were supposed to be seeking and the ones that they had already recovered. She was interested in what the artifacts were supposed to do, as she had experience using several artifacts and was on the receiving end once back on Equus, though as she listened to her friend she could feel Nightmare stirring and listening as well.
At one point they returned to the road and found several bandits blocking their way, though they appeared to have no regard for who was standing before them.
"If you value your lives you'll hand over all of your valuables," one of the bandits said, extending a hand to them as he approached them, "otherwise my friends and I will have to relieve you of them... the hard way if necessary."
"I'd love to see you try," Luna replied, stepping forward and pulling her sword out, spinning it around for a few seconds before she faced the bandits, "Come on, show me what the five of you are capable of!"
"It seems that someone can't count!" the bandit retorted, to which Luna noticed more of the bandits step out from their hiding places and surround them, "You don't stand a chance at beating all of us. You would need someone like..."
"...the Queen of Knights, perhaps?" Luna asked, a grin appearing on her face as the darkness of her alter ego appeared around her, transforming her bracers and shoes into the metal pieces of armor that Nightmare always wore.
"Please, as if the Queen of Knights would be walking on a random road, with an argonian no less." the bandit said, to which the rest of his buddies laughed as they drew closer to Luna and Shadow, "Kill the both of them and take whatever they have on them... we've got several caravans to raid and dozens of people to slaughter."
Two of the bandits approached Luna with their weapons raised, but before either of them could reach their target Luna swung her arm and both of their heads went flying into the distance. Several of the bandits stepped back as an ebony battleaxe replaced the weapon that Luna had been carrying, the sheath melting into the shadows as she started to laugh. Luna removed the necklace she had been wearing and tossed it to Shadow, who caught it as he wondered what his friend was doing at the moment, though that was when he noticed that her wings had revealed themselves. Shadows wrapped around Luna and consumed her clothing, leaving behind the familiar armor that Nightmare Moon wore in the arena all the time, along with the proper skin color and hair color.
When the shadows pulled back Shadow's eyes widened as he realized that he was no longer staring at Princess Luna, but instead he was staring at Nightmare Moon, the Queen of Knights, in all of her dark glory.
"Much better," Nightmare said, spinning her battleaxe around as she faced the group of bandits, a grin appearing on her face, "Come then, fight the Queen of Knights and see if you can withstand my power!"
The moment she issued the challenge the bandits ignored Shadow and charged at her, completely ignoring the fact that she was well known for taking out whole groups of enemies all by herself. Nightmare spun her battleaxe round and blocked the first wave of attacks that came her way, even shattering one or two of the weapons that her enemies held without trying to, before she brought it down on one of them and cut him clean in half. Three more of them came at her from behind, though as they did so Nightmare let out a chuckle as she spun her head around, throwing shadowy daggers out of her mane that pierced the three of them multiple times. One of them got back up, despite the amount of daggers sticking in her body, and charged again, though Nightmare merely dodged the attack and took the bandit's head off.
Another bandit came at her and almost hit her, but Nightmare rewarded the bandit by shattering her weapon, before spinning her weapon around and taking her head. The rest of the bandits seemed to be concerned for their chances, because some of them actually backed up as Nightmare approached them. One of them even tried to run away from the fight, and Nightmare was going to let her flee and rethink her life choices, but then the leader took the bandit's head off himself and joined the battle. The remaining five bandits charged at Nightmare, but four of them fell within seconds of them reaching her as she carved them open, before she faced the leader himself.
The leader charged at her and swung his weapon at her, but Nightmare merely lifted her battleaxe and blocked the attack as if it meant nothing to her. He then pulled his weapon back and approached from a different angle, though Nightmare parried that attack as well and proceeded to block every single one that the bandit threw her way. After about a minute of following the same pattern Nightmare decided that it was time to bring an end to the fight and disarmed the bandit, of both his weapon and his right hand, before shoving him to the ground. He landed with his back on the ground, though it was clear that he was outmatched and that he should have not started a fight with the two of them, or with Nightmare for that matter.
"Mercy!" the bandit cried, apparently on the verge of breaking down, as if he believed that the Queen of Knights would be an easy person to fight and had his reality broken all around him.
"And why should I show you 'mercy'?" Nightmare asked, pointing the head of her battleaxe at the bandit's face, "I showed mercy to a bandit that wanted to better her life after seeing what becomes of those that decide to rob others, and yet you killed her without a second thought. No, I will not be showing you any mercy today."
Before the bandit had a chance to scream Nightmare brought her battleaxe down and took his head clean off, executioner style, letting it roll away for a few seconds before she sighed and sheathed her weapon on her back.
"You okay Nightmare?" Shadow asked, knowing that his companion preferred to be called by the name of whatever form she was taking, so seeing how she had changed form once more he knew that the 'Nightmare' was back and that 'Luna' was resting.
"I'll be fine once we fight some daedra to kill," Nightmare commented, not bothering to loot the bodies as she continued on the path they had been following, "after all, we've got an artifact to recover before our enemy finds us."
As it turned out there was a pair of Oblivion Gates open right outside the city they were heading to, so Nightmare smiled and headed inside one of them while Shadow sighed and went into the second one. After ten minutes Shadow reappeared outside Chorrol with a sigil stone in his hand, though he merely stashed it away as he waited in front of the other gate. He expected Nightmare to be done with her enemies and have the gate closed before he had finished with his, but as the minutes ticked by he had to wonder if something else was going on inside the gate.
After what seemed like twenty minutes of waiting he finally gave up and walked inside the gate, though when he appeared in the fiery area that Mehrunes Dagon controlled he spotted two Nightmares arguing with each other. It was clear that they had dealt with the daedra, and might have access to the sigil tower, but at some point they had started arguing and failed to lower the gate. He also discovered that there were actually two personas, as is two separate minds that inhabited a single body, which made everything he had seen up until this point make more sense.
"Oh... Shadow..." Nightmare suddenly said, to which both she and Luna stopped arguing and looked at their companion, "we weren't expecting you to follow us into the gate... we can explain."
"Maybe when we're done gathering the artifacts and put down Umaril," Luna added, suggesting to her alter ego that they finish their task without saying anything, "We'll be right back."
Not five minutes later Shadow and Nightmare were standing outside where the second gate had been standing, though Nightmare dropped the sigil stone to the ground and smashed it under her boot. Shadow, after a moment of consideration, decided not to mention what he had seen in the gate and let her smash the stone that he had taken from the other gate. Once both stones were broken into pieces, and Nightmare was certain that they couldn't be reformed, the two of them entered Chorrol and began the walk to the chapel. They had come to the city for a reason, though they had gotten sidetracked thanks to the Mythic Dawn trying to burn the city, and its inhabitants, to the ground.
It was quite easy to find the chapel, though when they entered the building Shadow immediately noticed the pair of gauntlets sitting near a wall with a circle of candles resting around it.
"The Gauntlets of the Crusader," Shadow told Nightmare, pointing to them for a moment, "they haven't moved from that spot in a long time, not since Sir Casimir was alive at least. Neither of us will be able to remove them without overcoming whatever magic is at play, so we might as well ask around and see what I need to do to recover them."
That was when he noticed an altmer priest walking around, so he put on a smile, approached him, and simply asked about the gauntlets that Nightmare was standing near. He hoped that he'd be able to find out something that would tell him how to lift the gauntlets, though he had the feeling it would take some time to get to the end point.
"Ah yes. The Gauntlets have been here for ages." the altmer replied, a small frown appearing on his face for a moment, "I know only the basic story behind them; they're more of a novelty these days. My only real involvement with them these days is keeping the youngsters from hurting themselves trying to pick the gauntlets up. What is your interest in them, if I may ask?"
"I'm just a pilgrim, asking about Divine artifacts," Shadow replied, making no mention that he was here to take the gauntlets on a quest to destroy an ancient foe, "Surely there's something you can tell me about them?"
"Yes, well, I don't know the whole thing." the priest replied, appearing thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "A great many years ago, a knight of the old Order did something terrible, and the gauntlets just fell off. They dropped to the floor right where he stood, and no one could lift them. It was a sign of the curse placed upon this knight by Stendarr, I think. That curse still lingers on today, in fact. Poor Kellen."
"And who is this Kellen?" Shadow asked, though he had the feeling that, by the way the altmer mentioned his name, that he had to be a descendant of Sir Casimir.
"Oh, why he's a descendant of that very knight from so long ago." the priest answered, again not looking happy about something, "The curse has affected his family all these years. He suffers from it now. He came here from Hammerfell seeking a cure, but, ahh... well, there's really nothing that can be done for him, I think. He may know more of the story than I. Perhaps you should speak with him, if he's feeling well enough."
"And what exactly is this curse?" Nightmare asked, beating Shadow to the punch, though she was interested if she might be able to do anything to speed their journey along.
"It's a horrible thing, truly." the priest replied, though it appeared that his answer would not give them any information on what the curse actually did, "One cannot help but pity those such as Kellen, who have such a burden placed on them through no fault of their own. But... But if it is the will of the Nine, then there is little that can be done."
Shadow could immediately tell that the only way to remove this strange curse might be to take it upon ones own self, though he needed more information before he made such a decision. He asked where they might find Kellen and found out that he was in the basement of the chapel, where all the priests slept during the nighttime, to which he walked to where the young man was waiting for someone to save him. What he found, on the other hand, was a young man that seemed suspicious of the priest that was allowing him to sleep at the chapel because of his ancestors curse.
"What is it? Is there a cure?" Kellen asked the moment Shadow appeared before him, as if he believed that he was another priest that called the chapel home, "Has Areldur found a cure? I know there's something he's not telling me!"
"You seem suspicious of Areldur," Shadow commented, glad to have picked up the altmer's name, because he had been so occupied with the gauntlets that he had forgotten to ask the priest's name, "Is there something you wish to tell me?"
"Areldur has let me stay, mostly out of pity I think, but there's something else." Kellen replied, sighing as if he was collecting his thoughts before telling Shadow everything he felt, "I swear he knows more than he tells. I've seen plenty of pity in peoples' eyes over the years. I grew up recognizing it. But with Areldur... There's something else there. And when he speaks to me, there are times I'd swear he sounds... Apologetic. Guilty, even. Why would that be? What reason does he have to hold back information? I know I'm a doomed man, one way or the other."
Shadow turned right around and headed back up to the main area of the chapel, to which he looked around for the altmer priest before he spotted him standing over the gauntlets... with Nightmare still standing next to them. He walked up to them and asked Areldur about what Kellen had told him, to which the priest broke down and told him something that he wasn't expecting to hear from a priest that serves one of the Nine Divines.
"I... I cannot face him." Areldur admitted, appearing to sigh for a moment as he looked at the alter in the middle of the chapel, "I know what might be done for him, but I haven't the will to do it. I wish I could help him, truly I do, but I cannot muster the strength to damn myself on his behalf! The curse... I know what would lift it. But I cannot do it. The only way to free Kellen of his curse is to take it on myself. I am not strong enough to do this, and so I am a failure. I fail Kellen every time I speak to him, and I fail Stendarr every time I pray to him and do not ask for the power to lift the curse. Do you know one who would do such a thing? One who would pray at this Chapel's altar, pray to Stendarr for the power to lift this curse?"
Shadow smiled and approached the alter, kneeling before it and silently praying to Stendarr to remove Kellen's curse and place it upon him instead, though he felt something wash over him as he finished. Once his prayer had been answered he stood up and approached the gauntlets yet again, but this time he reached for them and lifted them off the floor with ease... much to the amazement of Areldur.
"I can't believe you were willing to do that for Kellen." Areldur said, though it was clear that he was shocked that a complete stranger would release the man from the curse he had been baring for some time, "To sacrifice your own well-being without hesitation... What business do I have acting as a priest if I'm not willing to do all I can in helping those who need it? Perhaps I need to re-think my calling."
As the priest left and went on to his own devices Shadow slipped the gauntlets onto his hands, somewhat amazed that he was holding yet another of the Divine Crusader's artifacts. Now all he and Nightmare had to do was check their list of remaining artifacts and choose their next destination... and then they would being their journey to find the next missing piece of the original Crusader's armor.