Nightmare Moon Crashes the Oblivion Crisis

by Blackdrag-rose

31: Mehrunes Dagon

With Umaril the Unfeathered defeated, and the chapels of the Divines safe once more, Shadow and Nightmare departed from the Priory of the Nine and began the journey back to Bruma, or more accurately Cloud Ruler Temple, where Rend and Martin Septim were waiting their return. Nightmare, once again, decided that the best course of action would be to simply fly them to their destination, which Shadow seemed to be fine with as they rapidly made their way to where their friend was waiting. They passed over some bandit camps, who actually ran in terror at that sight of Nightmare flying over their camps, as if they actually believed that she was coming to bring an end to them and their thieving ways.

Nightmare would have laughed at the thought of making the bandits run like chickens with their heads cut off, but she decided to save it for when they were done with defeating the Mythic Dawn and the Daedric Lord Mehrunes Dagon.

When they finally reached the city that Cloud Ruler Temple overlooked they found that there were plenty of camps scattered around the inside and outside of the city, all of which happened to be filled with soldiers from the various cities that were scattered around Cyrodiil. They knew that Rend had been busy during their absence, considering that he closed several Oblivion Gates by himself while they were gathering the artifacts of the Divine Crusader, but it almost looked like he had recruited an army to help him. Nightmare even spotted several markings where she believed three Oblivion Gates had been opened, though in the center of them was what appeared to be the ruins of an even larger Oblivion Gate.

Nightmare then corrected her course and flew up to Cloud Ruler Temple, where they found the Blades patrolling the grounds and looking for additional enemies that they might need to take care of. The Blades seemed to think that they were enemies, which Nightmare remembered from the last time she had flown back to the Temple, but then they noticed who was coming their way and sheathed their weapons once more. Nightmare then set Shadow down on the walkway before dropping down beside him, to which the two of them stretched their arms for a few seconds before they entered the actual Temple.

What they found inside, however, was what appeared to be a portal to some plane of Oblivion, but as Nightmare drew her battleaxe so she could destroy it Jauffre stepped forward and started to explain what they were seeing. Apparently what Martin had been doing was gathering the necessary ingredients to build a portal to Mankar Camoran's Paradise, where their enemy had taken the Amulet of Kings. Rend had, while they were gone, gathered the missing two ingredients that Martin needed to open the portal, one of which happened to be a Great Sigil Stone, which could only be taken from a Great Oblivion Gate. Nightmare was able to deduce that the army they had seen outside the city was for the purpose of holding off the daedra until Rend acquired the necessary stone, which he had been successful in getting by the looks of it.

Jauffre finished his explanation by telling them that Rend had already gone into Camoran's Paradise, as they had no way of telling when the two of them were going to return to the Temple, but as he finished explaining everything the portal rippled and Rend, in all his glory, appeared before their eyes as the portal slammed shut behind him. That was seconds before Nightmare spotted the necklace that he was holding in his right hand, the very same necklace she had seen when she had first met Rend and his friends; the Amulet of Kings itself.

"You found a way back! Does this mean... ?" Martin asked, apparently not seeing the necklace that Rend was holding, as it appeared that he was focusing on whether Mankar Camoran was alive or not.

"Mankar Camoran is dead," Rend replied, raising himself to a full standing position again, all while sheathing the weapon that was in his left hand, "He will trouble us no longer."

"You did it. You defeated him." Martin said, joy appearing on his face for a brief moment, but then it disappeared as he remember that there had been a second reason for sending Rend into Camoran's Paradise, "Then you have it... you have the Amulet of Kings?"

"Its right here, your majesty," Rend answered, holding out the Amulet of Kings, allowing Martin to take it in his hands and stare at it, "It belongs to you now."

"Belongs to me? The Amulet of Kings? So you and Jauffre have said." Martin said, letting out a sigh as he stared at the necklace, as if he was lost in thought at the moment, "If it is true, if the Emperor really was my father, then I should be able to wear it. Only those of the Septim blood can wear the Amulet of Kings. To tell you the truth, I don't really need the Amulet to tell me that. I've known it was true since you first told me back in Kvatch. But it is one thing to talk of becoming Emperor, and quite another to actually be the Emperor."

Jauffre seemed to relax as Martin slipped on the Amulet of Kings, as now they were one step closer to bringing an end to the entire Oblivion Crisis now that there was someone who could light the Dragonfires.

"Our next course of action is to head to the Imperial City and speak with High Chancellor Ocato." Martin said, though he immediately noticed the confused looks on most of the faces around him, save for Jauffre, "Chancellor Ocato is the head of the Elder Council. The Council rules in the Emperor's absence. I don't expect any objections from the Elder Council, but we should defer to their authority. Let's go to the Imperial City at once, before the enemy can recover from Mankar Camoran's death."

"Then we had best no waste any time," Nightmare replied, sheathing her battleaxe as she turned back to the entrance of the Temple, "because if I'm right in my thinking, and I'm sure that I am, then Dagon won't wait for you to light the Dragonfires and seal the veil between Nirn and Oblivion... he'll attack the city itself in the attempt to destroy you first."

Martin nodded and the assembled group made for the entrance of the Temple, to which Jauffre called for the Blades to follow them so they could deal with any enemies that interfered with their journey to the Imperial City. The soldiers stationed at Bruma, on the other hand, were also asked to come along, because Jauffre was thinking that Nightmare might be right in her thinking and wanted to be sure that the citizens of the city were safe in case the forces of Oblivion attacked them.

---

It took them the better part of the afternoon to reach the Imperial City, though to pass the time Shadow and Nightmare told Rend and Martin, and by extent Jauffre, about the gathering of the Divine Crusader's artifacts and then the defeat of Umaril the Unfeathered. Martin seemed impressed by the feat that Shadow was able to full off, defeating another enemy before he could announce himself to the whole of Cyrodiil, just like Pandora defeating Jyggalag in the Shivering Isles. Even Rend seemed impressed by what they had done, though Nightmare wondered if it was because of the fact that Shadow had recovered an ancient suit of armor and weapons, or if it was because of the fact that he had defeated another enemy while he was busy.

When they actually reached the city Jauffre got the soldiers into position around the various districts, where they could be of service and protect the citizens like they had originally planned. Martin, Rend, Shadow, and Nightmare continued towards the center of the city, where the palace was located, so that they could meet with Chancellor Ocato. As they approached their destination they found a familiar face, as Baurus had been patiently waiting their arrival, though it made Nightmare wonder how long he had been guarding the actual palace.

"Sire, Chancellor Ocato is expecting you." Baurus said the moment he spotted Martin walking towards the entrance of the palace, "He had word of your arrival in the capital."

"Very well." Martin replied, allowing Rend and Shadow to open the palace gates for him, "Let's finish this."

As they walked inside the palace Nightmare noted that there weren't many guards around, which actually annoyed her considering that the previous Emperor had been killed with only three guards to protect him. She drew her battleaxe and extended her magic, making sure that they were alone and that there were no enemies waiting in the shadows to strike at Martin when they were least expecting it. They swiftly entered the main area of the palace, which Nightmare deemed was safe at the moment, where they met the person that they had traveled so far to meet.

"I have been expecting you. The full Council has already considered the matter of Martin's claim to the Imperial Throne in detail." the man said as they entered, confirming that he was, indeed, Chancellor Ocato, "Martin Septim, on behalf of the Elder Council, I accept your claim to the Imperial Throne. We should arrange the coronation ceremony as soon as..."

"Chancellor Ocato!" a soldier shouted, running into the room and approaching the Chancellor without wasting even a second, "The city is under attack! Oblivion Gates have opened, and daedra are inside the walls! The guard is overwhelmed!"

Nightmare couldn't believe what she was hearing, because they had literally just arrived and it had been perfectly fine when they had entered the palace not five minutes ago. She considered that this attack had likely been planned in advance, in the off chance that Mankar Camoran had been defeated before Mehrunes Dagon could do whatever he was planning, but for the guard to already be overwhelmed made her wonder if they even stood a chance at this point. She knew that she could fight off as many enemies as she could before exhaustion claimed her, and that was quite a number of enemies thanks to her status as an alicorn, but none of her friends could match her speed or endurance and would likely fall long before the city did.

They were going to have to fight to the bitter end, because she knew that they didn't have enough time for her to fly to the door that led to the Shivering Isles and ask Pandora for assistance in this matter.

"Courage, soldier. We have an Emperor again." the Chancellor said, turning to Martin without wasting a second, "Your Highness, what are your orders? Shall the Guard fall back to the Palace?"

"No. If we let ourselves get besieged in the Palace we're doomed." Martin replied, looking down at the Amulet of Kings for a moment, to which a plan appeared to form in his mind, "We must get to the Temple of the One immedia..."

Before Martin could even finish what he was about to say the ground seemed to shake for a moment, but as everyone gathered themselves Nightmare's eyes widened as she felt something that made her shake for a moment; the presence of Mehrunes Dagon himself. She immediately knew what that meant, as it was the sign that the barrier between Nirn and Oblivion had failed now that one of the Daedric Princes was walking the world in his physical form. She threw open the doors and ran outside, where she stopped the moment she spotted a massive creature, roughly the size of the palace itself, with deep red skin and four arms attached to his body. Dagon appeared to be wearing a loincloth and nothing else, though the amount of power that Nightmare could feel was making her worry about their chances of actually defeating him.

"We're too late... Mehrunes Dagon is here!" Martin said, looking at the Prince of Destruction as he began to lay waste to the district that he had appeared in, "Lighting the Dragonfires will no longer save us... the barriers that protected us from Oblivion are gone..."

"There must be a way for us to cast him back into Oblivion," Shadow said, drawing forth the Sword and Shield of the Crusader, though it was clear that he was wondering if they even stood a chance at harming the Daedric Prince.

"I don't see how..." Martin replied, shaking his head as he searched for something that could actually help them in this situation, "mortal weapons may hurt him, but now that he is physically here in Tamriel, they have no power to actually destroy him. I doubt that even the mighty weapons of the Divine Crusader would do more than scratch him at the moment."

"Then what about the Amulet of Kings?" Rend commented, drawing attention to himself once more, "It was given to Alessia by the Divine Akatosh, so doesn't it hold some power that we might be able to use to defeat Dagon?"

"But how to use this power against Dagon?" Martin said, though it was quickly becoming clear that he was losing faith in his ability to save both the Empire, but also the entirety of Nirn, "The Amulet was not intended as a weapon... wait, I have an idea. One last hope. I must reach the Dragonfires in the Temple of the One."

"Then go and do whatever you need to do," Nightmare replied, tapping the bottom of her battleaxe on the ground, "I'll fight Dagon and give you as much time as I am able."

Before anyone could say anything to stop her, not that she would have listened, Nightmare spread her wings out and took to the skies, leaving Shadow and Rend to protect the Emperor from Dagon's minions. She flew right up to the Daedric Lord and swung her weapon at him, cutting a light gash into the side of one of his arms before he even knew that he was under attack. Once she was passed him Nightmare landed on one of the rooftops, so that she could see if she had actually done anything or if she had only made him much angrier.

"Who dares to challenge the Prince of Destruction?" Dagon shouted, completely ignoring the fact that Nightmare was standing on a nearby rooftop, though she was more than willing to reveal herself.

"I am Nightmare Moon, Princess of the Night and Queen of Knights," Nightmare shouted, causing the Prince to turn towards her, "and I DARE to challenge the Daedric Prince of Destruction."

"As does the Prince of Madness," a voice said, just as Pandora, dressed up in the same clothing she had worn when she defeated Jyggalag, appeared beside Nightmare and tapped her staff on the ground, "and let me tell you something Dagon, I'd love to skip rope with your entrails... a pity that I can't actually remove them though."

"Sheogorath... this is unexpected," Dagon replied, almost sounding pleased that one of the other Princes had shown up in the end, "but not unpleasant at all. Now I can crush you into the ground and burn YOUR realm to..."

That was seconds before a large swirling sphere of gray and orange energy barreled into Dagon's chest, forcing him backwards for a brief moment before he looked down at the two that dared to challenge him. More specifically he seemed to be staring down at Pandora, completely ignoring the fact that Nightmare was even standing next to her at the moment

"Ah ha! I knew that would hurt him..." Pandora said, grinning like a madman as she stared at the smoke coming off of Dagon's chest, "I mean, if it was enough to hurt Jyggalag during our fight then it should be enough to hurt Dagon... and it appears that I was right! Cheese for everybody... except for Dagon anyway."

As Pandora finished the sentence Dagon brought his arm down on the building that they were standing on, forcing the two of them to move as he smashed the building into pieces. Nightmare flew through the air and swung her weapon at the Prince, but this time Dagon seemed to be expecting it because one of his arms slammed into her and sent her flying into another building. The unfortunate part about that was that her weapon was sent flying in a different direction, so thanks to the current situation she didn't have an opportunity to go get it without leaving Martin open to attack.

Nightmare cut her thumbs on her teeth, drew a small diagram on both of her palms, and pressed her hands against the ruined building around her, before she drew out two of her unique swords. These special azure colored blades had been used in her battle with Celestia, though when she had lost the fight, and was sent to the moon, she sealed them away in her rage. They were designed to hurt godly creatures, mainly her sister, but she had forgotten about them when she discovered that Dagon was attacking quicker than any of them had been expecting.

"I see you had another trump card," Pandora said, landing beside Nightmare as she stared at the weapons, as if she would actually feel their power, "I wonder how much damage they'll do if I imbue them with the power of Madness itself."

Nightmare watched as the dual colored magic was weaved on top of her weapons, allowing the two to merge into one entity, before Pandora's spell was finished. Nightmare then sighed as she opened herself to her full power, which happened to be aided by Luna's own abilities, until the two of them were on the same level. Magic surged around her swords as she burst into the air, to which she swung her arms and released two waves of magic that barreled into Dagon and pushed him backwards. Before her enemy had a chance to regain himself she charged forward and slammed into him, cutting into his chest and arms before she was thrown to the ground once more.

Nightmare then called upon the power of the storm, lightning flashing in the sky as she used her magic to attack the Prince of Destruction, knowing that none of her attacks would actually harm her enemy. Pandora weaved her way through the air as well, shooting dual colored arrows from the top of her staff that contained the power of madness and using small explosives to tear Dagon's attention in half. The two of them forced Dagon to choose who he wanted to attack, whether it was actually Nightmare or Pandora, so that they could make sure that Marin was safe to do whatever he needed to do that might stop Dagon from destroying all of Nirn.

Pandora got a lucky shot and blasted Dagon back into the building that was behind him, where he crushed the top of the building with his body, but before he turned his gaze towards Pandora he looked into the building and seemed to stop moving. Nightmare's eyes widened as she realized what that building had to be, because there was only one thing that would make Dagon stop his fight with the two of them; Martin himself. He turned to the building and started to tear it apart, but then a surge of energy poured out of the Temple of the One and a large red dragon, equal to Dagon's height, emerged from the wreckage.

It was the Avatar of Akatosh, Nightmare knew that was what it had to be, and it immediately attacked Dagon, tearing into the Daedric Prince of Oblivion multiple times before finally stunning him. Then the large dragon loosed a mighty roar that tore Dagon to pieces and sent all of the daedra that had accompanied him back to Oblivion, before taking a breath and turning to stone. Nightmare let out a sigh as she sheathed her weapons and summoned her battleaxe back to her side, though she looked at it for a moment before she made it disappear as well. She then stared up at the massive frozen dragon for a few minutes, wondering if it was still alive or if it had been a one time deal with the Divine Akatosh, before Rend and Shadow walked over to where she and Pandora were standing.

"Where's Martin?" Pandora asked her former companions, tapping her staff on the ground as they approached her and Nightmare, "We must congratulate him on defeating Mehrunes Dagon!"

"Gone," Shadow replied, shaking his head as both he and Rend sheathed their weapons, "The joined blood of kings and gods. The Amulet of Kings. The divine power of Akatosh. Martin became the Avatar of Akatosh and sealed the barrier between Nirn and Oblivion. Mehrunes Dagon and his ilk can never threaten Tamriel again. Martin is dead. But he died an emperor, and a hero to rival Tiber Septim."

"Then I must depart for the Shivering Isles," Pandora said, tossing her staff into the air and catching it, before turning towards one of the nearby gates, "I have not fully grown into my form as the Daedric Prince of Madness, so I was not immediately blasted back into Oblivion like Mehrunes Dagon, but I should not stick around for it to remember that I'm one of Dagon's ilk now. Oh, and Nightmare... the next time you manage to find your way to Nirn, do look me up in New Sheoth."

"I will Pandora," Nightmare told her friend, though she knew that it was likely going to be a lie in the end, as it had been by random chance that she had come here and had no idea how she was going to return if she had the desire to do so.

"Well then, I hope you don't miss your ride home," Pandora said, smiling the instant that she noticed that they were all looking confused, to which she pointed up at the sky above them, "Check out the moons."

Nightmare looked up at the sky and noticed that the two moons had formed some sort of eclipse, which she had assumed had been because of Dagon when she had seen it the first time, but now she had to wonder if there was something else she was missing. She could feel the magic in the air all around her, though as she noticed the magic she realized that it was akin to the magic of her home world. She had no idea how that was possible, but she had to wonder if the Divines had managed to build a temporary bridge for her to return home, almost as if they were silently thanking her for helping their champions save the world.

Up until now she had no idea on how she was going to return home, and had actually forgotten to search for such a method while she was traveling with her friends, but she was actually happy to have a way home.

"Well then, I had better get going," Nightmare said, opening her wings as she turned to Rend and Shadow, who were both sad at the idea of her departing from their world, "I know not when we'll meet again, or if we'll meet again, but know that I will remember the three of you and hold our adventures close to my heart."

Rend looked like he wanted to say something, and even Shadow looked that way as well, but in the end the two of them merely nodded their heads and remained where they were standing. Nightmare, with a mixed bag of feelings, flapped her wings and headed towards the moons, where she knew the magic of her home world would call her home. As she neared the eclipse she felt her body being pulled on by the magic in the air around her, though this time she merely closed her eyes as the magic worked whatever spell it was designed for.

---

When Nightmare next opened her eyes she found herself in what appeared to be an old ruin of sorts, though as she looked around she almost immediately recognized where she was standing; she was in the castle that she and her sister had lived in so long ago. It actually brought tears to her eyes to see her former home in such a state, though she figured it would have happened eventually, whether or not she had been there to see it happen. She then looked up at the sky and noticed that her moon was hanging in the sky, leaving her to wonder how she could have been released from her prison, before she looked down at herself and found that she was a pony again.

"Your thousand year sentence is over, dear sister," a voice said, causing her to snap her head to the room's entrance and find Celestia standing there, though she was without any visible weapons or armor, "Whatever you did while you were away was enough to grant you the release that you desired so badly... and I am glad to have you home once more."

"I've... been gone a thousand years?" Nightmare asked, knowing that she had been on the moon for about eight hundred years before she attempted her spell, which meant that the Divines of Nirn must have let her jump forward in time, to the end of her sentence.

"Yes Luna, you were gone for a thousand years." Celestia answered, walking up to Nightmare and wrapping a wing around her, "I can see that you didn't flinch when I said your name... which means that the two of you have learned to coexist without hating each other. Before we go home, and get started on teaching you what you missed, there is one small favor that I have to ask of the two of you."

Nightmare didn't like the look in her sister's eyes, and even Luna mentally voiced her dislike of the look as well, but they knew that Celestia was planning something... which they were likely going to find out in the very near future.

Comments

[Sonata Blaze]

Okay... what does Celestia want of her sister?
On another note, the story is literally almost over.
I wonder what will replace it in the future...

[Moon loving Changeling]

Can't wait for an update

[Vigilant of Stendarr]

It seems that we have reached the end of the story, save for the final chapter.