After suffering a major defeat, and losing almost all of her powers, Adagio separates herself from her sisters and enters the portal on her own. What she finds is a new world with new possibilities.
At the Battle of the Bands the Sirens were beaten, bested by the power of seven girls and their friendship. Adagio, her power broken for the first time in her long life, fled from the scene and separated herself from her annoying sisters. After some time she returns to the place of her defeat, where she accesses the portal that should take her home... though instead she ends up in a world that's in the middle of a civil war.
She'll have to rely on whatever skills she has left, and pick up some new ones, in order to survive in this world... especially when dragons, vampires, and who knows what else start attacking innocent people. And maybe, just maybe, she'll redeem herself for all of the acts she committed in her long life.
Saturday was a special day for most people in the city of Canterlot, as parents went out with their children and did something fun, or students got together and partied during the night. Some students had no doubt been assigned projects over the weekend, ruining whatever they had originally planned on doing, though while a few would actually enjoy the work there was a larger number that would mess around and not do the work until late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Then there was the group of girls from Canterlot High that either shared their time helping each other, with school work or actual work like dress making, or gathering their supernatural abilities to defeat the forces of evil and save the world.
Adagio Dazzle sighed as she walked down the sidewalk, as she used to belong to a group of powerful creatures known as the Sirens, who used their powers, and their voices, to cause chaos and disorder among the people of the world. She and her sisters had been doing that in their home world of Equus before the unicorn known as Starswirl the Bearded bested them in battle and sent them to a world without magic, where they would have eventually died had Sunset Shimmer, a resident of their home world, not brought magic to this world. Adagio had thought it would be simple to regain their powers, break the seal that was keeping them in this world, and then head home so they could finally rest from their trials.
Then the Battle of the Bands, the worst day in the long lives of the three Sirens, happened and they were beaten again, only this time their necklaces, the source of their powers, shattered upon their defeat and they were cursed with mortality, which she had felt the moment the gemstones had been broken. After fleeing from the scene, and ensuring that they couldn't be found for some time, Aria, one of her dear sisters, finally snapped and jumped Adagio, punching her in the face and blaming her for the loss of their powers, while Sonata merely watched and waited for their sister to calm down.
Adagio raised a hand and rubbed the spot where she had been struck, because despite the fact that Aria had hit her some months ago she could have sworn that her cheek was still sore, almost as if Aria had used what little magic she had left to make her remember what had happened to them. Once Aria had calmed down, to some extent, life between the three of them returned to normal, them bickering with each other and throwing names around to annoy whoever they were talking to. The one thing that kept coming up was Aria's constant mentioning that it was Adagio's fault that they had lost their powers, because, as the leader of the Sirens, it was her plan that had cost them both their powers and their immortality.
Adagio knew that it was her fault, because she had become so intoxicated by the prospect of regaining their former abilities that she had forgotten about Sunset and her friends, who eventually harnessed a power that was far stronger than what Starswirl had used against them, resulting in their current situation. As such Adagio had left her sisters back in their temporary home, an apartment that they had been able to rent thanks to Aria's part time job, and walked back to Canterlot High, where the portal home was located.
Originally she had planned on coming to the school during the Friendship Games, where the students of Canterlot High would have been occupied with the students of Crystal Prep, but then another demonic creature showed up and forced her to run away before being discovered. She had waited a month for the heat to die down before making a return trip to the school, though she did so on a day where she wouldn't have to worry about being seen, but to be on the safe side she was wearing a hood to make sure that anyone she came across didn't find her out until it was too late. Adagio looked both ways, to be sure that no cars were coming her way, before quickly crossing the road and approaching the statue that held the portal home, though she noted that there was some damage to it.
Despite the damage to the statue, and her nearly non existent magic, she could tell that the portal was still active, though as she touched it with her hand it seemed to vibrate for a few seconds.
"Adagio? Is that you?" a voice asked, though Adagio froze as she realized that the voice belonged to Sunset Shimmer, one of the girls responsible for her current predicament.
Adagio moved away from the base of the statue for a moment and noticed Sunset standing on the other side, the one that was the closest to the road. She was still wearing her jacket, something that she apparently never got tired of wearing, though under that was the dress that she had started wearing after her defeat some time ago. Adagio had to wonder what the former unicorn was even doing here, when she had purposely come to the portal when no one was around to bother her.
"Oh, Sunset, I wasn't expecting to see you here," Adagio replied, knowing that her chance to enter the portal, with no one watching her do so, had been ruined, "What brings you to this neighborhood?"
"I live across the street," Sunset said, pointing at one of the nearby buildings, before turning her attention back to Adagio, "I chose such a location so that I could keep an eye on the portal, just in case someone like Discord decided to show up uninvited. I spotted someone walking around the campus and decided to check it out, considering that they were staring at the statue for way too long... though I never thought that I would see you here again."
"I was just, ugh, checking to be sure that the portal was still in one piece," Adagio lied, as she had absolutely no idea what the last demonic creature she had seen had done to the area, besides damage the statue, and that was the best lie she could come up with on such short notice.
Apparently mentioning the portal was a bad idea, because Sunset seemed to understand what Adagio was actually doing here and started to walk faster so she could stop her. Adagio mentally cursed herself for mentioning the portal, as it appeared that she was going to be stopped again and lose the change to ever go home in the future. She stared at Sunset, who was halfway towards the portal, before making a split second decision and threw herself into the magic that made up the portal between worlds. A few seconds passed before she felt the magic of the portal work against her, trying to send her back to Earth and keep her out of Equus, but she groaned and fought against its power to the best of her ability. As her will clashed with the magic she thought of her home, taking a brief moment to visualize her old home, as best as she could remember it, and that caused her to push agianst the magic again.
After a few more seconds of struggling agianst the ancient magic, and trying in vain she mentally thought to herself, she somehow managed to slip through the field of magic she had been working against, though as she considered that victory was hers she suddenly felt herself grow tired all of a sudden. Adagio struggled to stay awake, so she could see her home world with her eyes the moment she arrived, but eventually she succumbed to the magic of the portal as she traveled to her destination, unaware of how much her life was about to change because of her actions.
When Adagio finally came to she expected to find herself in the middle of the Everfree Forest, where a large number of terrifying creatures lived in Equestria if she were to believe the stories Sonata told from her time with Sunset, but instead she found herself in some sort of small bedroom. There was a chair sitting nearby, a wardrobe that likely had clothes inside it, a shelf that had some flowers and gems sitting on it, two small nightstands, and a decent sized pile of books sitting on the floor. She then found herself laying in what appeared to be a straw bed, which some decent covers, but what surprised her at first was that she wasn't anything native to her home world... she was still in her cursed mortal form.
That was before she noticed that the room she had been laying in was actually open to a much larger area... one that happened to have an active font of magic in the middle of it. Despite the near broken nature of her magic she could feel the magic in the air for a moment, leading her to wonder where she was, because it certainly wasn't her home world.
"Oh, I see that you finally decided to wake up," a voice said, to which Adagio noticed an older lady, likely in her forties she would guess, sitting in a chair that happened to be on the outside of the small room she was in, "You gave us quite the scare when Tolfdir and the others found you; attacked by a pair of ice wolves after having collapsed in the middle of a storm. Whatever you were wearing when they found you was completely ruined by all the blood and the tears that the wolves inflicted on you, so you'll have to forgive us for not being able to salvage any of it. It took all of my knowledge in the art of Restoration Magic to heal your wounds and restore you to perfect health, but some of the other professors told me I shouldn't fuss over someone that was likely dead. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when I tell them that I succeeded in saving you... and validating that my school of magic at the same time."
Adagio had no idea what was going on anymore, though at the mention of wounds she looked down at her body and found that there were some bandages wrapped around her arms and legs, while also discovering that she was wearing some sort of worn out shirt and pants in place of what she had been wearing when she entered the portal.
"You know, I expected more of a reaction than staring at old wounds and saying nothing," the lady continued, poking Adagio's arms for a moment before feeling her head with her hand, "You aren't suffering from any curses that might have been flung at you, I checked for those once you were stabilized, and I also healed up that nasty bruise on your cheek. I can't believe that it took you a week to recover, but at least your fine to move about as you please."
"A... a week?" Adagio said, surprised that she had been out for that long, "the last thing I remember was walking through the portal... this shouldn't have happened."
"I don't know what portal your talking about, but that's nowhere near my department," the lady stated, though she stopped herself as something came to mind, "Where are my manners? I am Colette Marence, and I specialize in the Restoration School here at the College of Winterhold, where I instruct others on how to use the healing arts in their lives."
"Adagio Dazzle," Adagio replied, though when Colette held her hand out she decided not to be rude, as the lady had apparently saved her life after her apparent crash landing from using the portal, "Pardon me for asking, but where is this college located?"
"In Winterhold of course," Colette stated, though when she noticed the confused expression on Adagio's face she decided to move further, "on the northern most point of Skyrim? The home of the nords, who seem to hate magic users? Does none of this ring any bells?"
Adagio shook her head, because at the moment Colette had said nothing that let her knew where she was, though she had to assume that the portal she had entered had taken her to a completely different world than the one she had intended to go to.
"Great, it appears that your suffering from almost total amnesia," Colette said, shaking her head as she muttered something about having to reteach someone about the basics of all the magic schools, "Wait here while I go get Tolfdir and the Arch-Mage... they'll know what to do in a situation like this."
As Colette left the room, and left Adagio sitting on the bed, Adagio had to wonder if entering the portal outside Canterlot High had been the best idea she ever had, because now she was in a completely different world, was apparently missing an entire week of her life, and had absolutely no idea how she going to get back home at this point. She laid her head back down on the makeshift pillow that was there and let out a sigh, wondering what else fate was going to throw at her before finally allowing her to go home... though she had the feeling that her life was about to get more exciting than she had originally planned on.
After a few minutes of staring up at the ceiling of the room she was in, and growing more bored by the moment, Adagio raised herself into a sitting position with her back against the back of the bed. There wasn't much for her to do, not until Colette returned with Tolfdir and the Arch-Mage, whoever they were, and tried to 'fix' whatever was wrong with her. Colette had mentioned that they had found her in the middle of a storm, likely a snowstorm based on what little she was told about the area she was in. The name Winterhold told her that the area around the college was likely filled with snow, so it wasn't too far fetched to assume that she had landed in this world in the middle of a snowstorm.
Adagio glanced over at the nearest nightstand and found a large book resting on it, though with nothing else to do she simply let out a small sigh and gently moved her right arm until she was able to touch the book. From there it was a simple matter to pick up the book and pull it over to her, to which she discovered that the title was Azura and the Box. She had absolutely no idea who this Azura lady was, but she guessed that she was important at one point in time to earn having a book made about her and something she did.
Back when she and her sisters had been living in Equestria, before they were banished from Equus entirely, Adagio had spent some time in a pony disguise, either an earth pony or a unicorn, and had used her time to read books from the libraries in whatever region they were in. Aria, in her own disguise, had caught her one and asked what she was doing, though Adagio had played it off as wanting to make sure that they were on the right track when they were traveling or searching for something specific. She was a mage at heart, as she enjoyed reading spellbooks and actually attempted to cast several of the spells she had found, but was never actually able to do so. She had assumed that being a Siren made things different for her, which was why she focused on just reading them and storing the information away until it was needed.
She opened the book and immediately found that it was part eleven in a series known as the Ancient Tales of the Dwemer, though it failed to mention how many volumes there actually were. She then spent a few minutes reading the first few pages of the book, trying to wrap her head about the strange concepts of the Aedra and the Daedra, as the book failed to mention what those were. It only told her that Azura was some sort of goddess, one whose 'sphere' happened to be dusk and dawn, though at the moment the explanation only confused her.
After a few more minutes of reading she set the book back on the nightstand she had taken it from and started to let out a sigh, but then caught herself as she noticed that Colette had returned... and she was followed by two elderly looking men. One of the men was wearing some sort of black robes, which no doubt indicated his level of mastery over a specific school of magic, if what Colette had said earlier was correct. The other man had dark color to his skin, reminding Adagio of the book she had been reading, though the robes he was wearing were much fancier than anything that Colette or the elderly man were wearing at the moment.
Something about the man screamed that he was the Arch-Mage, the most powerful mage in the entirety of the College of Winterhold, which only made Adagio excited to meet him.
"See Tolfdir? She's awake, just like I said she was," Colette said, beckoning to Adagio for a moment, to which the elderly mage nodded his head, "I hope this validates the Restoration School."
"Colette, no one has ever said that Restoration wasn't a valid school of magic," the more imposing mage said, though his words caused Colette to step back a bit, to which the man turned towards Adagio for a moment, " I am Savos Aren, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, and this is Tolfdir, our resident master of the Alteration School of magic. You have already met our resident master of the Restoration School, though it will be some time before we can introduce you to the other masters... they are currently looking for potential locations where we can teach our apprentices about the usage of magic. Colette said that your name was Adagio Dazzle... is there anything else you can tell us about yourself?"
Adagio thought about that for a moment, because it would be difficult to explain the exact nature of what she was, and what she had been, to a group of people that would need the entirety of Equus explained to them. She guessed that she could lie and say something about being a daedra, but from what little she had read she knew that many of them weren't held in the highest of regards and would made the situation worse. About the only thing she could do was continue with Colette's assumption that she was suffering from amnesia and that she remembered nothing, which annoyed her to even think about playing along with that, but it was better than nothing.
"That's all I remember about myself, save for entering a portal and waking up here," Adagio lied, noticing that Savos raised one of his eyebrows for a moment, making her wonder if he knew that she was lying.
"That's a shame," Savos replied, shaking his head for a moment, "I was hoping that you would at least remember which school of magic you excelled in, as you mentioned a portal of some sorts, but it cannot be helped. We shall simply have to retrain you until your memories come back... which means that you will be starting at the basics as an apprentice. Tolfdir, do you think you can handle having a fourth addition to your study group?"
"Yes, I can manage," the elderly man said, though it appeared that he had an idea come to mind, "I've been meaning to make sure the other apprentices know the basics of magic, so having a new apprentice might actually make them more open to the idea of helping someone else out. If nothing else Adagio will be able to learn a few spells, make some new friends, and hopefully regain a memory or two along the way."
"I'm glad to hear that," Savos said, turning to Adagio for a moment, to which he looked at her as if he was searching for any wounds that hadn't healed yet, "Do you think your able to walk?"
"I... I can try," Adagio replied, not expecting the question at all, but she swallowed for a second before carefully removing the covers that were over her and swung her feet over the edge of the bed until they hung over the stone floor.
Adagio had no idea what the Arch-Mage was trying to prove or disprove with having her attempt to walk, but she carefully placed her feet against the floor and pulled herself to a standing position. It was actually hard on her to do so, considering her body had been out of action for a whole week, but as she started to tip Tolfdir ran to her side and stopped her from hitting something and damaging herself further. Colette mumbled something about undoing all her hard work, but moved out of the way as Tolfdir helped Adagio walk out into the middle of the building they were in before heading towards the door that she suspected lead outside.
When they walked outside Adagio was surprised to find that the college was larger than she was expecting, as there was a moderate sized building on the other side of the college grounds, opposite of where they were standing, as well as an even larger building that was to their right. In front of them stood what Adagio assumed was the courtyard, as there was another font of magic sitting in the middle of the area with a statue of an opposing mage right behind it, though the mage's hands out stretched outwards for some reason. Adagio found her eyes wandering around the place as they followed the walkway towards the main gate, allowing her to discover that the college was connected to a small town, which had what she assumed were five or six houses, by a stone bridge that looked like it was getting ready to collapse in the near future.
As Tolfdir helped her onto the bridge, with a warning to watch herself, Adagio discovered that there was literally nothing around the college, as the buildings sat on what appeared to be one massive piece of rock that looked like pieces were missing from it... almost as if something had been attached to it at some point in time.
"W... what happened here?" Adagio asked, staring down at the pieces of the ruined bridge and the jagged rocks everywhere, though she was somewhat terrified of what the answer could be.
"The Great Collapse," Savos replied, letting out a sigh as they headed back into the college, "it was a terrifying event that caused most of the city of Winterhold to collapse into the Sea of Ghosts. Most of the nords of Skyrim assume that the College of Winterhold was responsible for the Great Collapse, because the grounds remained untouched by the event. As far as we have been able to tell there were wards in place that prevented the college grounds from collapsing at the same time as the rest of the city, but that's a conversation for another day.
Now then, the building that we came out of is called the Hall of Attainment, where the sleeping quarters for the apprentices are located, while the one that was across from it is called the Hall of Countenance, where the higher ranking mages, such as Colette, reside. The building directly in front of us actually contains three separate rooms; the first being the Hall of the Elements, where lectures are held, while above that rests the Arcanaeum, where we keep all of our books and tomes in a well organized library, and even further above that rests the Arch-Mage's Quarters, which is my personal chambers for the time being."
"So whose the mage in the middle of the courtyard?" Adagio asked, knowing that whoever the mage was had to be pretty important to have such a statue created in his honor.
"Arch-Mage Shalidor, one of the most brilliant minds to ever grace the world of mortals," Savos answered, though there was a little bit of awe in his voice, "He was an immensely powerful wizard during the time of the First Era, and he had an understanding of magic that few have ever been able to match. People, be they mages, treasure hunters, or thieves, are always interested in getting their hands on his writings, which could unlock many of the secrets he left behind... or sell for a hefty price if the owner happened to be a thief. We'll tell you about the legends and myths surrounding Shalidor later... after you get better acquainted with the other apprentices and settle into some sort of routine."
With that said Savos and Tolfdir helped Adagio walk towards the building that she had found herself in when she had awoken from her week of slumber. She was still somewhat confused as to why they thought that she was a mage, especially considering that her magic had been broken with the shattering of her necklace, though she wasn't about to mention any of that at the moment. When they entered the building Adagio quickly discovered that the other three apprentices that had been mentioned earlier were all standing together and talking about something... though their attention quickly shifted once they spotted the Arch-Mage approaching them.
"And here are your fellow apprentices," Savos said, to which he beckoned to each one of them as he spoke a name, "Brelyna Maryon, J'zargo, and Onmund. Apprentices, meet your newest addition, Adagio Dazzle. I'll leave you in the hands of Tolfdir and his class... there are other matters that require my immediate attention."
Adagio barely had time to say anything before Savos and Colette left her and Tolfdir alone with the apprentices, though it gave her time to study them before they started asking questions. Brelyna looked like the Arch-Mage, which told Adagio that they had to be members of the same race, while Onmund appeared to be a younger version of Tolfdir, only he seemed a little surprised to see Adagio. The only real shocker was J'zargo, as he appeared to be some sort of cat creature that was walking on two legs, though when she noticed the look on his face Adagio knew that he was sizing her up... as if he thought that she was a threat to him learning about magic.
"Great, I'm not the only nord apprentice here anymore," Onmund stated, a smile appearing on his face as he and the others walked over to Adagio and Tolfdir, which meant that they were eager to meet her.
"You are new, yes?" J'zargo asked, though Adagio noticed that he was still sizing her up, and she mentally wished that he would stop doing so, "Have you mastered the Expert level destruction spells yet?"
"Um... no?" Adagio replied, as she had no idea that there were even levels to the magical schools she was discovering today, to which she assumed that the expert level spells were tough to learn and incredibly powerful.
"I see that the rumors about you have amnesia are true," J'zargo stated, as if he had actually heard a rumor, "J'zargo will know them first. It is good to finally be around mages who may be able to keep up with J'zargo."
Adagio mentally moaned the moment J'zargo finished speaking, because she disliked boasters that couldn't back up their claims, but she also kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to make a bad first impression on the other apprentices, who she was likely going to be spending quite some time with before she figured out how she was going to leave this planet. The other problem she faced was the fact that she actually couldn't use magic anymore, which none of these mages or wizards seemed to understand in the short time she had been around them. In that moment she wondered how long she was going to last before they decided to expel her and send her somewhere else in this strange land she had found herself in.
For a few seconds Adagio wished that she hadn't gone through that portal, but for the moment she was going to have to suffer through the consequences of her actions and life in this strange land until she figured out how to go home.
"You know, its sad that you have amnesia," Brelyna commented, shortly after Tolfdir helped Adagio back onto her bed before departing to get her some decent clothing and some additional books to read, "According to what I've heard from all of the Professors, from all of the schools of magic, they're all sure that your appearance marked great things for the College of Winterhold. No one is quite sure where you came from, or what type of spell you used to travel from one location to another, so you'll have to forgive some of the Professors if they look at you with an annoyed look on their face. They were just hoping that you would be able to teach them more about the magic that they spent their entire lives trying to obtain."
Despite the time that Adagio had spent reading about spells, much to Aria's annoyance the few times she was found out, she was sure that any of those spells weren't what these people were looking for. She guessed that one good thing that was coming from her landing in this part of Skyrim, which she still knew next to nothing about, was that the mages and wizards pretty much saved her life and welcomed her into the College without having her test her skills. She knew that she couldn't use her magic, not when her necklace and its gemstone had been shattered, so she dreaded when one of them decided to ask her for a demonstrate of her abilities in the near future.
"We're not going to get anywhere fast," Onmund stated, causing Brelyna and J'zargo to turn towards him for a few seconds, while at the same time he pulled out a map and showed it to Adagio, "Adagio pretty much has no memory of anything that's happened in her life, save for her name and what she used to get here, which means that we have to start at the basics and work our way up. On the map in the continent of Tamriel, of which Skyrim is a part of, with the the provinces of Cyrodiil, Black Marsh, Elsweyr, Hammerfell, High Rock, Morrowind, the Summerset Isles, and Valenwood.
Skyrim, being the northernmost province of Tamriel, is often considered to be a a cold and mountainous region to its visitors, while the nords that are keen on sticking to tradition sometimes call it the Old Kingdom or the Fatherland. Skyrim is broken up into nine Holds; Eastmarch, the Pale, Hjaalmarch, Haafingar, the Reach, Whiterun, Falkreath, the Rift, and of course Winterhold. The small village I assume you saw from the bridge is what amounts to being our capitol, as the hold m=never really recovered from the Great Collapse that swallowed the entire city. I'll be sure to find you a book or two on the other provinces, as I don't know enough about them to accurately tell you about them... and I'm sure Urag would like having a new face once you get your energy back."
It was at that time that Tolfdir came walking back into the small room that apparently belonged to Adagio, to which he set at least five books down on a nearby chair before placing what appeared to be a set of robes, one that looked like the robes that the apprentices in front of her were wearing, on a nearby chair. Tolfdir also came with a pair of shoes, which looked more like several pieces of cloth woven around each other to form the shape of some footwear, though he set them to the side before excusing himself. That was roughly followed by the apprentices departing as well, telling Adagio that she was to rest from her ordeal before she was going to be included in any of the teachings that were going on.
Instead of going back to sleep, and wasting time on nothing, Adagio carefully moved towards where the books were located and pulled them over to where her bed was, to which she discovered that most of them were spell tomes, in order to teach her how to use a spell, as well as some history associated with magic itself. With little choices available to her at the moment Adagio sighed and opened one of the books, to which she got started on learning about the magic of this strange world... silently hoping that, against all odds, that she might gain the ability to use magic again, even with her shattered necklace.
During the time she spent reading Adagio admitted that the mages that had penned the books she was going through had done a good job at instructing someone how to use one of the spells, even if she spent five minutes understanding each instruction and reread every book at least three times. The only way she knew the passing of time was when one of the other apprentices, or Tolfdir, came to visit her to see how she was doing, though Tolfdir was kind enough to offer her more of the novice level spells to further her knowledge. Despite how she had acted back on Earth, she was secretly grateful that the old man was more than willing to help her learn, even if he was trying to restore her memory.
The last time the apprentices visited her for the day was right after dinner, as Adagio had chosen to stay and read instead of joining them, but Onmund insisted on leaving her some slices of bread, a mug full of water, and some strips of meat, though while she couldn't determine which animal it was she knew that Colette wanted her to take it slow so she could fully heal. After her dinner, which was better than what she had thought for what little she had actually eaten, Onmund mentioned that it was getting late, to which Adagio watched all three apprentices climb into their various beds and go to sleep... while still wearing their robes.
Adagio let out a light chuckle, because seeing that reminded her of how Sonata would go to sleep in her own clothing most of the time, before she closed the spell tome she had been reading, placed it back on the pile, and allowed sleep to claim her the moment her head touched the pillow.
Adagio only knew when morning arrived when she heard the sound of the other apprentices moving about and getting ready for the new day, to which she let out a yawn and pulled herself out of her new bed. She carefully walked over to the chair that her robes were resting on and gently picked them up, to which she carefully pulled them over her body and made sure that everything was in what she assumed was the proper place. Once that was done she sat in the chair and pulled on the oddly shaped shoes that had been given to her as well, mentally wishing that she had a set of gloves and a hood to complete the mage look she had going on.
"Ah, I see that you are already awake," Tolfdir said, casing Adagio to look at him for a moment, while nodding his head as he looked over her robes for a moment, "and I see that you managed to put the robes on right the first time. Will you be needing help in walking to the Hall of the Elements, or do you think you can manage it on your own?"
"I think I can manage," Adagio replied, smiling at the man as she picked herself up, finding that she must have overcome the state that Colette had found her in, which was odd because she had figured that it would have taken a few more days to reach this point in her recovery, "besides, I'm sure that the others are eager to see me in action today."
Tolfdir smiled and beckoned for Adagio to join him, where they and the other mages left the building they were in and made their way towards the Hall of the Elements. As they entered the large building Adagio immediately noticed the font of magic sitting in the middle of the large chamber, though as they all walked towards it she could tell that someone else was in the chamber with them. It didn't take her long to find Savos Aren standing beside one of the pillars in the room, on the opposite side near the main door, which only told her that he was interested in seeing how skilled she really was.
Personally Adagio believed that this was too soon for someone to be asking her to fire spells, but apparently the mages all expected a miracle and she silently hoped that she could produce one.
"Magic is, by its very nature, volatile and dangerous." Tolfdir explained, moving away from Adagio as the apprentices did the same, indicating that this was likely going to be her first test, "Unless you can control it, it can and will destroy you."
Adagio recalled the first book on magic she had ever opened, the one book that got her interested in learning in the first place, and recalled that the author had said those exact same lines. It seemed like all of the mages, regardless of which planet they were from or what their race happened to be, agreed that magic was extremely dangerous and that having no control meant it could destroy the wielder. Adagio remembered the magic that had torn apart her necklace, and its destructive nature, so she knew that there was some truth to what she had read in the past.
"We know that you possess some inherent magical ability," Tolfdir continued, snapping Adagio back to reality for a moment as she focused on the man, "so the question isn't if you can use magic, but rather what will it take to awaken your former abilities? We shall start by having you call upon the novice spells you just relearned and use them against my ward, which will protect me while giving you the opportunity to practice your control."
Adagio, having read the books and had some sort of understanding on the magic of this world, let out a small sigh as she held her right hand out a tiny bit and focused her mind. She wondered which of the three novice destruction spells she should choose from, Flames, Frostbite, or Sparks, but after a few seconds she quickly decided on fire. She focused on casting the spell, as described in the tome she had been reading, before aiming her hands at Tolfdir... though after a few seconds she realized that nothing had happened. It was as she suspected, the shattering of her necklace had made it impossible for her to do anything related to magic, which meant that she had no access to her abilities.
At the moment she honestly didn't care about the hypnotic powers she and her sisters had used while they were Sirens, but any form of magic was better than nothing... and she had nothing going for her at the moment.
"Clear your mind of all your doubts and fears," Tolfdir commented, noticing how troubled Adagio was at the moment, while at the same time taking a guess as to what happened, "Focus on positive thoughts and ignore the negative... that is all the help I can give you."
Adagio nodded to Tolfdir and tried again, this time closing her eyes so she could calm herself down and see if she even had a drop of power left inside her body. She knew that magic could be influenced by one's emotions or their thoughts, as rage and anger tended to make something more powerful while being calm made it easier to do what someone was focused on. With her necklace gone it was definitely going to be more difficult learning to control whatever magic she possessed, if any at all, but she had to try and see if she had the potential to do anything.
After another minute she extended her hands again and called upon whatever powers she had... only to discover that nothing had happened, just like the last time.
"Think of your magic as an extension of yourself," Savos commented, drawing Adagio's attention to him for a moment, as she was surprised to hear the Arch-Mage speak all of a sudden.
Adagio had heard of unicorns who had difficulty learning to use their magic, where they told themselves the same thing and had decent results thanks to their innate power. She still had no idea if something like that would even work for her, but with nothing else to try she decided that she might as well roll the dice and see what fate had in store for her. She imagined that her magic, whatever was left of it, was an extension of her body, where if she raised her right hand she would be able to summon her spell forward and test it out... to which a small gout of flames surged out of her hand for a few seconds before cutting itself off.
Adagio stared at her hand for a moment, wondering if she had imagined the magic or not, before deciding to which to frost magic, which was followed by some ice coming out of her hand and striking Tolfdir's ward.
"Very good," Tolfdir said, giving Adagio a moment to drop her magic before continuing, "Now that you can actually cast a few spells we shall begin reinforcing what you know and teach you some additional spells from the other schools. Who know, maybe this is the first step to remembering who you are and what spells you had access to."
Adagio still didn't like the fact that they thought she had amnesia, but she knew that one day she'd be able to tell them the truth about herself... after she had relearned the basics of magic anyway.
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.
Another week had gone by for Adagio, one where she had spent days learning the novice spells for all of the various schools of magic that the instructors had to offer her, spent some time reading more of Urag's books and asking him questions, and even spent some time with her fellow apprentices. Of the three apprentices that she studied with, and talked with whenever they weren't busy in their own studies, Brelyna was the only one to have asked her for some help with one of the spells she had been working on. Adagio had been assured that the spell was harmless and decided that nothing bad could come of one apprentice asking another for help so they could both become better mages... she just didn't expect the spell to turn her vision green for an hour.
Once the effects had worn off, and Brelyna assured her that she had fixed whatever minor problem she had with the spell, the two of them tried again... only for Adagio to be turned into a cow, a dog, and a horse before returning to normal. If her pendant had been in one piece, and she happened to be wearing it, such an effect would never have occurred, but the two apprentices were glad that Onmund and J'zargo had been absent when they practiced the spell. They agreed never to speak of it again and, despite the fact that Adagio didn't want any payment for helping a fellow apprentice out, Brelyna insisted on giving her a magical necklace that would allow her to resist some level of all harmful magic that was used against her.
Neither Onmund or J'zargo actually asked for her help with anything, as they preferred to study as a group, though all three of them were more than happy to answer questions that Adagio had... though there were some that they had to recommend Urag to answer, who was always happy to see her.
Over her second week at the College she noticed that there was another new arrival at the College, an altmer mage, who looked older than everyone else, dressed up in what clearly weren't College robes. She had noticed the stranger lurking around the halls, listening in on Tolfdir's lessons, discussing things with other instructors, or simply glaring down at Urag at times, who always frowned in return. She questioned Urag about the elf at one point and learned that he was supposed to be a member of the Thalmor, sent to the College to act as an advisor to Savos Aren. Urag also warned Adagio not to trust Ancano, the elf she had asked about, though she knew he was the type of person that she should stay away from when she could help it.
She also noticed that Ancano hated standing beside the Arch-Mage, as he always walked away unhappy, though she made sure to keep an eyes on him... just in case he was up to something that would damage the College and its reputation.
One morning, following the end of her second week at the College, Adagio woke up to find that Brelyna and the others were excited about something, though once she was fully awake she decided to see what all the fuss was about.
"Tolfdir's going to be giving us another lesson today," Brelyna said, though her happy tone indicated that there was something better coming up, "and, from what I heard, we might actually have a chance to visit the ruins of Saarthal."
Adagio had heard of the nearby nordic ruins, mostly in name because no one had any real idea what happened to the place and the only book the College had on the subject was missing, much to Urag's annoyance and anger. She had to wonder when the five of them would be heading into the ruins, and what they would be searching for, but she decided to not ask questions until the time was right. Now that she knew what they could be doing in the near future, and her sense of adventure had awoken once more, she joined the other apprentices for the morning meal before they made their way to the Hall of the Elements.
As the four of them left the building that was reserved for students, which all of them were at this point, they noticed that Mirabelle was talking with Ancano this morning... though Adagio also noticed that the elf was not pleased about something.
"I believe I've made myself rather clear." Mirabelle said, clearly annoyed with the elf for some reason, though she had her arms crossed at the moment, which told anyone that the two of them were having some sort of disagreement.
"Yes of course." Ancano replied, though by his tone Adagio knew that he wasn't going too pleased with what Mirabelle had told him, "I'm simply trying to understand the reasoning behind the decision."
"You may be used to the Empire bowing to your every whim," Mirabelle stated, though her statement caused a look of annoyance to appear on the elf's face for a moment, "but I'm afraid you'll find the Thalmor receive no such treatment here. You are a guest of the College, here at the pleasure of the Arch-Mage. I hope you appreciate the opportunity."
"Yes, of course." Ancano said, though this time Adagio knew that the elf didn't think too highly of Savos Aren, who was one of the most powerful mages in the entire College at the moment, "The Arch-Mage has my thanks."
"Very good." Mirabelle replied, waving her hand as if she was dismissing him, which only made the elf growl at her before he did anything else, "Then we're done here."
Adagio watched as Ancano walked passed them, taking a moment to glare at all four of them for a few seconds, before he entered the building that the instructors slept in, or rested from their lessons.
"I don't like the way he looks at us." Brelyna commented, having waited until Ancano was inside the building before speaking, "I can't tell if he expects any of us to blow ourselves up, or if he expects me to try and murder him because of what I am. But I can tell that he clearly doesn't trust any of us."
"J'zargo is glad that he is not the only one that feels that way," J'zargo said, though he took a moment to spit on the ground, "J'zargo does not trust the Thalmor, regardless of who they send."
The look that Ancano shot the group made Adagio trust him even less, which was easy to do because he appeared to treat everyone like dirt and didn't care for anyone but himself. The elf just reminded her of how she acted when she was the leader of the Dazzlings, always looking down on everyone and treating them like garbage. For a moment Adagio was actually happy that her necklace, and her powers, had been broken, because it allowed her to understand where she had gone wrong with herself... though it annoyed her to find someone that reminded her of who she used to be.
The four of them entered the Hall of the Elements and made their way towards where Tolfdir was standing, who was happy to see them and immediately got into the lecture he had planned for them... which was only a review of the basics at the moment.
"Magic is, by its very nature, volatile and dangerous." Tolfdir said, reminding Adagio of her first lesson two weeks ago, which brought a slight smile to her face, "Unless you can control it, it can and will destroy you."
"I mean no disrespect sir, but I think we all understand that fairly well." Brelyna commented, though only J'zargo and Onmund bothered to nod their heads in agreement with her, as Adagio decided not to play any games at the moment, "We wouldn't be here if we couldn't control magic."
"Of course, my dear," Tolfdir replied, a slight smile appearing on his face as he looked at the four of them, "You all clearly possess some inherent magical ability, that much is not being questioned. What I am talking about is true control, mastery over magic. It takes years, if not decades, of practice and study."
"Then what are we waiting for?" J'zargo spoke up, though by his tone Adagio knew that he was referring to adding more lessons and not rushing ahead of a safe pace, "Let's get started right away!"
"I can see that all of you are eager to get started with our next lesson," Tolfdir commented, to which he turned to Adagio for a second, "Today I wish for us to practice ward spells for a while before we move onto something else... and I'm sure you'll all be pleased with what I have planned."
Adagio had read a book or two on ward spells, though she had actually never had the opportunity to use one before, so she was actually looking forward to trying it out. Tolfdir had each of them stand on a symbol across from where he chose to stand, where he would have them summon up the war before he would throw a fireball or two at them, though the spells were toned down to prevent anyone from being hurt. He started with Brelyna, because she had been the first one to speak up, before moving onto J'zargo and Onmund, though when it came time for Adagio to try the spell it took her a few additional tries to get it right.
Eventually, with some help from Brelyna, Adagio was able to cast the spell and hold it up to block the trio of small fireballs that were sent her way, to which Tolfdir praised her for learning the spell and praised Brelyna for being so willing to help another apprentice out. Once Tolfdir was pleased with their progress he had them follow him outside the building they were in, where he explained that they would be going on a trip to the ruins of Saarthal. He had them gather whatever they needed from their small rooms, though all Adagio brought was herself, which was understandable considering she didn't have a weapon, and a bag that could store whatever she found inside the ruins... though she intended on bringing back items for everyone to use for their studies.
Once everyone was ready, and had gathered everything they needed, the group of five left the College of Winterhold, crossed over the bridge that brought them to the ruined settlement, and entered the wilderness that was to the left of the settlement's entrance. As they walked through the wilderness they were assaulted by a pack of wolves, of which there happened to be four of them, but Adagio and the others proved to be too much for the wolves. They left behind the corpses of the wolves, passed by a random merchant that happened to be on his way to Whiterun, which told Adagio that he was nowhere near his destination, before they reached the ruins that they would soon be looking through.
Adagio was surprised that they had been able to find the ruins to begin with, and had found a usable door so they could delve deeper into the depths, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the experience.
"As some of you may know, Saarthal was one of the earliest Nord settlements in Skyrim." Tolfdir said, leading the group down a makeshift walkway, as the stone walkway that had originally been in place had been broken into pieces, "It was also the largest. Sacked by the elves in the infamous 'Night of Tears', not much is known about what happened to Saarthal. This is an exciting opportunity for us. To be able to study such an early civilization, and the magics they used..."
Adagio could see that her fellow apprentices were excited about the opportunity to study whatever they found inside the tomb, especially considering that J'zargo liked to hoard magical artifacts that he found, though she eagerly awaited to hear what their instructor wanted them to do while they were here.
"Brelyna, my dear," Tolfdir commented, choosing her first once more, "why don't you search for warding magics. Anything designed to keep people out. Don't interact with them, just identify them. Onmund, please search that area over there. See if you notice any... residual energies. Alive or undead. J'zargo... what shall we have you do... Ah! Why don't you verify that we're the first ones here? Look for any amount of tampering with the tombs."
As the other apprentices spread out around the area they were in, and Adagio noticed that Onmund's earlier happiness had faded, Tolfdir turned her way to give her whatever task he had in mind.
"Adagio, why don't you see if you can assist Arniel Gane?" Tolfdir said, beckoning to the passage that none of the other apprentices had gone down yet, indicating that he suspected that the other mage was down that passage, "As you know he's one of our scholars, and he's been hard at work cataloging all of our finds. I expect he'd appreciate some help in locating any additional magical artifacts here in the ruins. Any enchanted items will do; the usefulness of the enchantment is irrelevant. If you find anything, the class can look it over."
Adagio smiled and walked down the passage that Tolfdir had pointed out, finding it amusing that she had thought of doing exact what Tolfdir had asked of her before he even said so. As she walked she marveled at the sheer size of the ruins, wondering how the ancient nords could have built such a large tomb underground, though she made sure to be careful so she didn't hurt herself again. She had to cross over some more wooden walkways that had been installed, which would allow them to get around easily, before she rounded a corner and spotted the man she was looking for... though his back was turned to her as he looked at something on the table in front of him.
"Arniel Gane?" Adagio said, to which the man looked up from whatever he had been staring at, which had been a book, and turned to look at her, "Tolfdir asked me to come help you out."
"Ah, yes. You. I remember you. You're going to help?" Arniel asked, as if he was being sure that she wasn't lying to him, though she nodded and was relieved when he let out a sigh, "That's fine. Just... Just don't make a mess of my work. I've only looked through a portion of this section. You, uh, you can look around in the chambers just north of here. Try and be careful, all right? We don't want to damage anything."
Adagio nodded and looked in the area that she had been told to look in, though she immediately found what appeared to be two enchanted rings of some kind, to which she smiled as she gently placed them in her bag. She looked around for a few more seconds, and changed where she was looking, before she found a third ring on the floor... before she came to a wall carving that had an unusual amulet hanging from it. She gently removed it from where it was hanging and looked at it more closely, though she was interrupted when she noticed a trap had activated and sealed her in the area she was standing in. She looked down at the necklace for a moment, wondering why it was important to trap such a small thing, before she slipped it on and noticed an area appear around the carving she had pulled it from.
Adagio looked at the carving for a moment, wondering how mad this was going to make Arniel, before she loosed a small gout of flames at the carving... causing it to explode backwards and reveal a secret passage that had to go deeper into the ruins. Adagio smiled as she wondered what secrets she and the others would find as they delved deeper into Saarthal, while at the same thing hoping that she hadn't accidentally unleashed some magical entity that was better left alone.
Before anyone delved into the new passageway that Adagio had created, the same one she had an uneasy feeling about, Tolfdir mentioned that he wanted to check on the other apprentices, though his tone indicating that he believed that this would be a good experience for all four of them. When the four of them arrived at where Adagio was standing, beside the passage, they all had smiles on their faces, as they all seemed eager to learn about whatever had been locked away, though she knew that Onmund would likely fuss over the dead bodies they were going to be examining and that J'zargo would be looking for small magical items to take with them.
"Well, this is highly unusual... and very interesting at the same time." Tolfdir commented, leading the way down the passageway, which ended up being very short as the group entered what appeared to be a burial chamber of some kind, "Why in the world would this be sealed off? What is this place?"
Adagio wondered if she even had a decent answer to give the instructor, though before she could open her mouth to say anything she noticed that he and the other apprentices had stopped moving... and that there was some sort of magical haze of some kind filling the entire chamber. She opened her mouth to question what was going on, so she could start to figure out how to undo whatever had happened, but before she said anything she noticed an apparition of some kind, one wearing an unusual robe that reminded her of a high ranking mage, had appeared in front of one of the coffins.
"Hold, mage, and listen well..." the apparition commanded, stopping Adagio in her tracks, while at the same time making her curious as to what the person was going to tell her, "Know that you have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped. Judgment has not been passed, as you had no way of knowing. Judgment will be passed on your actions to come, and how you deal with the dangers ahead of you. This warning is passed to you because the Psijic Order believes in you. You, mage, and you alone, have the potential to prevent disaster. Take great care, and know that the Order is watching."
Before Adagio could say anything, and question what chain of events she had put in motion, the apparition disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving her with more questions than answers as the magical haze faded away and everyone resumed walking... only for them to stop and look around in confusion for a few seconds.
"I...I swear I felt something rather strange just then." Tolfdir said, to which the apprentices nodded their heads in agreement with him, before they all turned to Adagio, who wasn't as confused as they were, "What just happened?"
"Some sort of apparition appeared and froze all of you for a few seconds," Adagio explained, not really knowing a better way to explain what had happened, though she could already tell that J'zargo wasn't believing what she was telling them, "All it told me was that there was some sort of danger ahead... and that the Psijic Order is watching me."
"The Psijic Order? Are you quite sure about that?" Tolfdir asked, though when Adagio nodded he raised a hand to his chin for a few seconds, "That's very odd. And danger ahead? Why that doesn't make any sense at all. The Psijics have no connection to these ruins. And no one's seen any of their order in a long time."
"Forgive my ignorance on the topic," Adagio said, knowing that everyone at the College believed that she had amnesia and couldn't remember everything about her life, "but who or what is the Psijic Order? And why would they be contacting me?"
"I have no idea, but it's fascinating. Assuming it's true, of course." Tolfdir replied, though at that point Adagio had the feeling that she was going to have to ask Urag about the Order to figure out who they were, "The Isle of Artaeum disappeared over a hundred years ago, and no one has seen them since. And yet now, suddenly, they have chosen to contact you? Why, it's intriguing! If nothing else, I'd take it as a compliment. The Psijics have only ever dealt with those they feel worthy."
"J'zargo has an idea as to why the Psijic Order contacted Adagio," J'zargo spoke up, causing everyone in the chamber to turn towards him for a moment, "What if Adagio is a lost member of the Order? It is said that the Psijic's could appear out of thin air, which is what happened to Adagio before she was attacked by those wolves. Its possible that they are keeping taps on her, to be sure that she is safe and sound before she recovers her memories and goes back to the Isle of Artaeum with them."
Adagio knew that J'zargo could come up with some crazy ideas when he really set his mind to it, but she was sure that this was one of the weirdest, if not the most ridiculous, ideas she had ever heard him come up with in the two weeks that she had known him.
"Look, we can discuss this back at the College," Brelyna said, to which she gestured to the coffins around them, "For now we should focus on moving forward and seeing what else Saarthal has to offer us."
The moment the words left her mouth the coffins opened up and Adagio had her first encounter with the draugr, which were literally walking corpses that had been reanimated by whatever magic had been used on them after their death. The three ancient warriors pulled themselves from their coffins, lifted their weapons into the air, and advanced towards the group with the intent to kill them, though none of the mages were going to give them a chance to hurt them. For the most part the apprentices chose to use the most basic of destruction spells, the Flames spell, to damage the draugr, but with five of them attacking three undead warriors it was clear where the advantage lay.
In a matter of seconds the trio of draugr had been taken care of, to which the group walked through the passage that had been hiding behind one of the coffins and made their way to another open chamber... one that had six coffins on either side of the circular chamber, which all opened to reveal twelve more draugr for them to fight. Flames danced around Adagio's hands as she upped her game and started using the Firebolt spell, to which she threw several small fireballs at her chosen targets, while at the same time avoiding the arrows that were coming her way. One of her foes dropped an ancient looking blade as it fell to the ground, though when she noticed that her fellow mages were all carrying weapons, ironically daggers, in case they ran out of magicka, so Adagio rolled over to where the weapon was resting, picked it up, and drove it into the heart of the draugr that was standing in front of her.
What followed that was the sound of the battle ending, and the other apprentices letting out a sigh of relief, to which Adagio pulled herself back onto her feet and gently pulled the blade out from the draugr's chest.
"I didn't know that you knew how to use a sword," Onmund commented, staring at the blade for a moment, as if he was surprised that Adagio had done what she had.
"I... I've never used one in my entire life." Adagio admitted, though at the same time she knew that the rest of the group was going to label it as a sign that her memories were slowly 'starting to come back'.
"I've never seen anything like this in Nordic ruins before." Tolfdir spoke up, causing everyone to turn towards him for a moment, and gave Onmund a moment to bring his palm to his face, "Why, just look at all these coffins! This bears closer inspection. I'd like to stay a while and examine this. You, however, should press on. See if you can find whatever this vision of yours mentioned. But if it is truly dangerous, be careful. Go on ahead. I'll be sure and catch up with you before long."
Adagio was about to say that it was a stupid idea to go any further, especially when there was no reason for them to awaken whatever danger the apparition had told her about, but once she saw that her friends were eager to move forward she simply let out a sigh and decided that she might as well humor them. It was almost like she was the leader of the group sometimes, only because everyone treated her like she was some sort of gift to the College from one of the Divines, while other times they voted to see what they wanted to do... or, in cases like this, she was overruled by all three of her friends. Onmund and J'zargo pulled the nearby levers that opened the way forward, allowing them to pass through the door that was in front of them and delve deeper into Saarthal.
As they walked deeper into the ruins Adagio made sure that they were watching out for anything dangerous, though she was referring to the draugr and any traps that might be waiting for them, though J'zargo was the only one not paying too much attention, because he was looting corpses for any treasures they might need further down the line. She was somewhat glad for her caution, as when they entered the next chamber she found something that Brelyna identified as a elemental rune, a fire one by the color she noted, and stopped the group before any of them got close to it. Adagio could hear the sound of the draugr waking from their slumber, so instead of fighting them she had them pull back to a safe distance and waited... to which they watched as the pair of draugr were consumed by the explosion of the rune the moment they stepped on it.
"J'zargo will admit that it was fun to watch the draugr blow up like that," J'zargo commented, somehow finding an intact coin pouch on one of the draugr's chests, "and now J'zargo wishes he knew the Fire Rune spell... if only to replicate what we have witnessed today."
Adagio was sure that learning such a spell would be good for all of them, in the future anyway, as it would provide an excellent manner to get rid of stupid enemies, or the undead if what she had seen was anything to go by.
With the lower area taken care of they walked up to the upper section and found one more draugr that was waiting for something to do, though the moment it noticed them it raised its arms and came at them. The barrage of firebolts easily took the undead warrior down, allowing the group to progress further into the ruins, and giving J'zargo enough time to find a gemstone in one of the urns before he caught up with them. They walked down the ancient hallway as silently as they could, though as they did so Adagio noticed that there was a large number of the dead buried in the walls, but she also discovered that the majority of them were actually dead. Knowing that they didn't have to fight a swarm of ten to twenty draugrs, based on the number of holes that were lining the walls, gave the group an opportunity to restore whatever magicka they had spent so far.
The only draugr that actually woke up were the two at the end of the passage, though the group put them back down moments before the undead could realize that their opponents were ready and waiting for them.
The group eventually came to a hallway that had an iron gate at the end, but as they walked through it Adagio discovered that each side of the tunnel had a set of pillars, ones that appeared to be rotatable. She discovered that, by looking behind each of the pillars, she found the animal that was supposed to be facing the tunnel and immediately pointed it out to the other apprentices, to which they began to turn the pillars. On the hallways left side she turned the pillars until they read eagle, snake, and whale, while the three on the right side read whale, eagle, eagle, before Adagio approached the lever at the end and pulled it back. For a few seconds she wondered if they had done something wrong, which would have made the others annoyed with her, but then the gate opened and allowed the group to progress forward again.
The following chamber they entered only had one enemy for them to fight, though Adagio was amazed to find that the enemy was actually a female draugr, as all the rest of them she had come across had been male. As the draugr noticed the group she was able to get an understanding of the armor and weapon that the draugr was carrying, which was basically the same armor that the other draugr had been wearing. The only other difference that Adagio noticed was that this draugr had a battleaxe in place of the swords or axes that the others had been carrying into battle. The four apprentices loosed another barrage of spells at the draugr, though this time it actually managed to get down the stairs it had to walk down before falling to the ground, where it stopped moving.
"J'zargo had heard that nordic tombs were guarded by fierce guardians that rip all invaders to shreds," J'zargo commented, while at the same time the group walked up to the walkway the draugr had previously been on, "and so far, J'zargo is not impressed."
"And now you just jinxed us," Brelyna replied, shaking her head in annoyance, because while she disliked this being so easy she wasn't going to say anything out of fear of encountering something powerful seconds later, "Let's hope we reach the end soon... before some monster actually tries to kill us."
The next area the group entered had more of the dead lining the walls, but as they walked forward they quickly noticed that none of the draugr were waking up, leading them to assume that they were all lifeless. They eventually came to another puzzle, with four rotatable pillars, though this time Adagio tested it by moving the pillar that was closest to the iron gate on her left, which moved all four of them at the same time. She continued to move the pillar for a few seconds until it showed the whale symbol, where the one before it she spun until it showed the snake symbol, though she then moved to the other side and rotated the pillar near the gate to show the eagle symbol before she moved onto the fourth pillar and had it show the whale symbol. Once all four pillars had the respective animals facing the lever, and she was sure that the combination was correct, she pulled the lever and the gate opened before their eyes, allowing them to move deeper into the ruins.
Before they could get too far, however, they heard Tolfdir call out to them, to which they turned around and spotted their instructor as he ran up to join them, though there was a smile on his face.
"I thought it was time that I caught up with all of you," Tolfdir said, though at the same time he reached into his bag and pulled some items out of it, to which he handed each of them a blue potion, "Here, you all look like you could benefit from using one of these."
Adagio was grateful for both the magicka potion, which would restore her magical energy, and for Tolfdir's timely arrival, because when they opened the door that was at the end of the hallway they found a room that was unlike anything they had seen throughout the entirety of Saarthal. Sitting in the middle of the room was a massive light blue sphere that almost looked like the pieces of it could pull themselves apart at any moment, though even in her current state Adagio could feel its power from where she was standing. Some distance in front of the orb was another draugr, though this one possessed a strange green glow to its body, one that looked like the barrier that was surrounding the sphere behind it.
As the draugr noticed that it had company, and got onto its feet so it could deal with them, Tolfdir raised his hand and threw a bolt of lightning at it... to which they were all surprised to find that nothing happened to the creature. Instead of giving up, and running away, Tolfdir did the same thing with the other two elements of the destruction school, but neither spell had any effect on the draugr.
"Nothing seems to work!" Tolfdir declared, though as everyone else prepared the run it seemed like he had one last idea in mind, one that came from looking at the barrier, "Keep it busy. I'll try to drain some of its power."
Adagio looked at the other apprentices for a moment, wondering if their instructor had gone insane for a moment, but instead of questioning it she grabbed the sword she had been carrying the entire time and charged into the room, to which the draugr stared at her and turned its gaze on her. She eyed the axe that the draugr was carrying and dodged it when the creature tried to hit her, though when she returned the favor she noticed that even a wound from a sword was impossible. Whatever was protecting the draugr was making him impervious to all types of damage, be it with magic or with a blade, though a few seconds later the shimmering aura the draugr had shifted into that of flames.
When Tolfdir called out that they should now be able to damage the creature all four apprentices loosed their frost magic on the draugr, freezing it to the ground until the shield switched to lightning. They followed that up with fire, forcing the creature to one knee as the four of them attacked him from all four directions, though it also switched the shield to ice as well. At that point Adagio knew that they had the draugr beaten, as they all pushed themselves to the limit and caused the draugr to fall over, though when it didn't get back up they knew that they had succeeded.
As the others moved down to where Tolfdir was standing, however, Adagio noticed that the draugr was wearing a unique necklace, which she pocketed for further study when they were back at the College... and she also grabbed the staff on the table for good measure.
"I'm not the only one seeing this, am I?" Tolfdir asked, beckoing to the orb that was resting in front of them, while at the same time all four of the apprentices stared at the orb with awe on their faces, "Why, this is utterly unique."
"What is it?" Adagio asked, because she was sure that one of the other mages would have some idea as to what the item was, especially since she had no idea what magical artifacts existed in this world.
"I have no idea! This is amazing. Absolutely amazing." Tolfdir said, to which he turned to the four apprentices, though they knew that he was looking at Adagio the whole time, "The Arch-Mage needs to be informed immediately. He needs to see this for himself. I don't dare leave this unattended. Can you return to the College and inform Savos Aren of this discovery? Please, hurry."
Adagio looked at her friends for a moment, who all shrugged for a few seconds, before she told their instructor that they would do as he asked immediately, to which she beckoned them towards the door that rested behind the orb. What Adagio found was a room that had some sort of wall, written in some sort of language that she didn't understand, and a chest that J'zargo proceeded to loot. Once J'zargo was finished taking everything of value, and promised to share once they had informed the Arch-Mage of their discovery, the group made their way through the other passage until they found themselves back near the entrance of Saarthal.
As they made their way outside Adagio couldn't help but wonder if the orb they had encountered had been what the apparition had been talking about... and worrying that they had set in motion something that shouldn't have been awoken in the first place.