A Spellsword's Journey

by Adagio Shimmer

4: Lending a Helping Hand

A week had passed since Adagio's first lesson in magic, where she discovered that her magic wasn't as broken as she had originally believed it to be. She was proud to say that her control was getting better every day, little by little anyway, though her various instructors insisted that she spend as much time reading as she spent on actually practicing with her magic. Adagio was more than happy to spend some additional time with the various tomes that resided in the Arcanaeum, which in turn surprised the person who ran the place, an orc by the name of Urag gro-Shub. He was more than eager to share his knowledge with her, though he made it clear that he wanted no harm to come to the hundreds of books that he and his predecessors had spent an untold number of years collecting.

Adagio made it clear the first time she had learned that piece of information regarding the Arcanaeum and Urag's books, she would treat the books with respect and ensure that they remained in the same condition between the time she checked on out and the time she checked it back into the library. Apparently that had earned her some points with Urag, because he insisted on her coming to visit whenever she wanted and even cleared out a table near his work station, so the two of them could discuss anything that she didn't understand from her readings. Urag even brought some drinks and treats the first few times she had taken him up on that offer, though the smile on his face indicated that he was pleased to have met someone who enjoyed the books and their knowledge as much as he did.

What shocked Adagio was the fact that when she explained the reason behind her asking so many questions about the books she was reading, because she wasn't from this world, Urag wasn't too surprised by what she said... rather he was quite pleased to hear that he and the rest of Nirn weren't the only life baring world in the entirety of Aetherius.

Adagio enjoyed spending time in Urag's company, learning about the Aedra and the Daedra, the two types of god like creatures that the people of this world worshiped in one form or another. According to what she had discovered most of the Daedra were evil and sought the end of Tamriel, in one form or another, though there were exceptions to that as she found there were a small number of 'good' Daedra. Urag also informed her on the situation regarding the Aedra, or the Divines as the people of the Empire had taken to calling them a good time ago, and that some people said they were known as the Eight while others called them the Nine. Urag, not wanting to be caught in the middle of a conflict, had resolved to say 'Divines' to avoid gaining the ire of the side he didn't speak of, something that Adagio decided to agree with.

She found it odd, for the first day anyway, that there was a war going on that had started over the fact of one of the Divines, the one called Talos, had his worship banned across the Empire, to which Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of the nearby Hold called Eastmarch, created a rebellion in Skyrim to restore Talos to his people's pantheon.

She also found that she didn't have time to worry about the 'war' that was apparently raging across Skyrim, mainly because her new instructors kept her busy with whatever spells they wanted to teach her or wanted to be sure she knew before moving onto another lesson. She had also spoken with a Courier that came to deliver some packages to the other apprentices, who indicated that there hadn't been anything going on with the war lately... nothing besides small units of guards moving around and positioning themselves. Adagio wondered why the supposed war was in a stalemate, with neither side moving at the moment, but decided not to bother with it as she continued her studies and slowly grew her powers.

---

On the 29th of Mid Year, exactly one week after her arrival in Skyrim, Adagio was sitting in the Arcanaeum, reading another book that Urag had let her check out after the return of the previous set she had selected, though before she could get too involved in what she was reading she was approached by Drevis Neloren, the instructor for the Illusion School of magic.

"Ah, Master Drevis, please and take a seat," Adagio said, carefully clearing the other chair that rested with the table she was sitting at, which had a pile of books she planned on checking out, though she made sure to carefully set the tomes down next to her as the instructor took the seat across from her, "So, what can I do for you?"

"I have a matter in which your... skills... could be useful." Drevis replied, though Adagio noticed he seemed worried about something, "The various points of focus for magic energies around the College have become polluted, and are in need of cleansing. The magical energies underneath the college still require purification. Your assistance would be most useful."

Adagio had no idea why the instructor felt the need to mention that the magical energies needed cleansing twice, but she figured that the reason behind it was because he wanted to stress how important this task was. She also had to wonder what skills the instructor was referring to, as she was still a novice in terms of her magical abilities at the moment, but again decided not to bother asking.

"Sure, I would be glad to help you out," Adagio told the man, carefully placing a bookmark inside the book she had been reading and placed it on the pile, before turning her full attention to the instructor, "So how am I supposed to cleanse the focal points?"

"These specially enchanted gloves will allow you to delve directly into the focal points for these energies." Drevis answered, pulling out the pair of gloves and carefully set it on the table in front of her, while telling her exactly what she needed to do, "Go to each focal point and remove whatever impurities you may find there. Return the gloves to me when you have finished. Please exercise caution. This is not a procedure without possible... consequences."

Adagio had discovered that the wells of magicka, like the one that was positioned in the middle of the College's courtyard, were the focal points for the College, which meant that they had been important when the school had originally been built. She was sure that Drevis was referring to the one in the courtyard, the one inside the student's quarters, and the one inside the instructor's quarters, but she didn't bother to question why he was having a novice do all of this when it was easier for him to do so. All she ended up doing was nodding her head and the instructor told her to come see him when she was done, though when he got up to leave Adagio let out a sigh as the instructor took a seat at the table on the other side of the room.

She slipped the odd gloves onto her hands, carefully pulled herself from her chair, and bid Urag farewell for the moment so she could cleanse the focal points of the College, though she had to contain a laugh when she noticed the look the orc gave Drevis. Apparently Urag thought that Frevis was wasting her time, time that would otherwise be spent reading and asking questions, but she didn't mind the change of pace at all. Despite the fact that all of the instructors, including the Arch-Mage himself, believed that she had a wealth of knowledge to share with them when she 'regained her memories', they still treated her like an apprentice, which Adagio was fine with.

After she and her sisters were defeated by the Rainbooms, and their pendants had been shattered, Adagio had come to understand that being a power mad leader had been one of the worst decisions in her entire life... and it had caused Aria to declare her everlasting hatred for the eldest Siren. Normally Adagio assumed that Aria was playing around whenever she spoke like that, just for the sake of some sort of family dynamic or whatever she called it, but after their defeat Adagio had finally seen the truth in her sister's eyes; Aria truly hated her. The odd part about the three of them had been the fact that Aria had been the only one to find a job, which was how she was able to afford the low priced two bedroom apartment they had been living in... up until their defeat, where her rage was so great that she pretty much told Adagio to get lost and never come back.

Adagio sighed as she walked down the stairs that would take her to the entrance of the Hall of the Elements, putting away the memory of the event that had caused her to abandon the world she and her sisters were living in for the chance to go home... only to end up here. One of the things she had tried to look into was using magic to create a portal or gateway back to Earth, if only so she could apologize to her sisters and try to make things right.

"Hey Adagio," Brelyna called out, stopping Adagio from walking out into the courtyard for a moment, though she used the opportunity to catch up with her, "Onmund, J'zargo, and I were wondering if you wanted to join us for some point studying later today."

"Sure, I'd love to join you guys," Adagio replied, a smile appearing on her face, because despite the fact that she didn't like J'zargo's arrogant attitude the four apprentices had grown on each other... almost as if they were actually friends.

"Excellent," Brelyna said, turning to head back so she could tell the other two apprentices the news, before staring at the gloves Adagio was wearing, "I take it one of the instructors asked you to help them out?"

"Yeah, Master Drevis wanted to enlist my skills in cleansing the College's focal points," Adagio answered, staring at the gloves for a moment, before turning her attention back to Brelyna, "I should be done with his task in, oh, thirty minutes tops."

"Well, we'll see you when your done," Brelyna said, flashing Adagio a knowing smile before returning to the other apprentices, leaving Adagio by the door for a moment.

Adagio had the feeling that Drevis asked all of the apprentices to do this at some point during their studies, either as a test or because he might be too lazy to do it himself, but she eventually shrugged and headed outside. She approached the focal point that was sitting there and simply held her hands out towards it, figuring that the gloves would be able to do whatever they had been designed to do. For a moment she could have sworn that she felt the magic in the focus reacting to her presence, though after a few seconds she felt that she had done the task that had been requested of her... or at least she assumed so when a blue crystal popped out of the focus and landed in her hand. She had seen these soul gems scattered throughout the College, as she had learned the name by simply asking Urag about them, but she wasn't about to question why one had been in the focal point to begin with.

She then headed to the Hall of Countenance and the Hall of Attainment, where she repeated the movement she had done on the first focal point... though once she was done she had three small soul gems in her pocket as she returned to the Arcanaeum, where Drevis was waiting for her to return.

"I have cleansed all three of the College's focal points," Adagio told the instructor, gently removing the gloves she had been given and placed them on the table, silently wishing that he had given her something more difficult to do.

"Yes, they have." Drevis replied, taking the gloves while nodding his head, as if he was confirming something, "I can feel the difference already. But of course, I'm far more in tune with these sorts of things than most. Thank you. I appreciate your assistance."

Before he walked out of the Arcanaeum he paused to hand over another trio of small soul gems to Adagio, though once that was done he thanked her for her help again and walked out of the library... leaving Adagio to sigh as she returned to her table and picked up the book she had been reading earlier. As she turned the page she silently hoped that something exciting happened around the College, or maybe a field trip of some kind, otherwise she was sure that she and the other apprentices were going to go crazy... and she knew that crazy apprentices was the last thing the College needed at the moment.

Author's Note:

For those curious Alduin doesn't return until the 17th of Last Seed.
Yes, Adagio arrived two whole months before the beginning of Skyrim's story line.

Comments

[Sonata Blaze]

It seems that Adagio is quickly adapting to her new life... and apparently her new friends.
Though I'm a little shocked that she arrived two months before Alduin did... mainly because every Skyrim story I've seen has the character arriving a day or two before the black dragon's return.

[Aria Blitz]

Its actually good to see that she's adjusting to her new life, especially after Aria apparently had a massive fight with her and cast her out.

8104416 Variety is always a good thing.

[HB_DS2013]

Is the 17th of Last Seed the canon date? I ALSO didn't know that life before Alduin was a thing.

[Pinkie Glimmer]

8104430 In the official elder Scrolls timeline Alduin's return is on that date... and I know, its shocking to see what ordinary lives people had before the return of the World-Eater!

[Blackdrag-rose]

Interesting... Adagio showed up before the return of Alduin... very interesting.

[Nova Blaze]

10 likes already, with no dislikes. I'd say you're doing a great job.

[Lettus the Saiyan]

Strange, a Skyrim story that sets the character entering the story before the return of the World-Eater. This just got more interesting.