When the Devil Broke the Universe

Sitting in his chair, Neloth took a sip from his tea even as his eyes never left the page of the tome he was reading from. He was in his workshop, safely sequestered away so that he could almost forget that half the forest outside was in cinders and his pack of guar had scattered to the winds—it would take hours for his guards to scout out the area and bring them all back. Sigh.

He'd known the girls had been planning to leave of course, they hadn't been as subtle as they thought they'd been. That was why he'd had the guard captain disable the armory's magical defenses earlier in the evening in the first place. What he hadn't expected was the wholesale destruction the two girls had inflicted on his little settlement, which was…really annoying. Even more annoying was that it had made him look like a fool to his servants who were already surprised he'd just let the girls go.

That's what he got for being nice, he supposed.

"Should have just fed them to the ash hoppers from the start." he mused to himself acidly, turning the page in his book. He paused—ah, visitors, "You can stop skulking around." Neloth said, looking behind him.

On cue, a ghostly apparition formed out of thin air. The figure was a high elf, middle aged and male. He was covered head to toe in a fine ornate golden robe and hood with red accents and glyphs.

"Oh joy." Neloth said with poorly-feigned enthusiasm, slumping back in his chair with his back to the apparition, "A visit from the Psijic Order. Whatever will I do with myself?"

"…You let them go." the high elf said. Not a judgment, simply an observation—one that left the elf slightly perplexed.

"They were of little use to me. Their soul gems were certainly wonders, but the only way to experiment on them properly would have been to take them apart and see how they worked, thus invalidating them altogether." Neloth said, "Besides, they clearly hated it here. Only an idiot keeps hostile elements in their employ." They hadn't wanted to be here; of course he'd let them go. If Neloth had been able to, he'd have left this ashpit of an island decades ago himself.

"We had hoped they would still be in your care when I arrived."

To this Neloth snorted, then closed his book and stood up, "So I do all the hard work and then you sweep in from out of nowhere at the last second so you can play hero. Typical Psijic Order.

"That's not exactly fair," the high elf replied.

"Neither is hiding yourself away in a pocket plane while Nirn burns." Neloth said curtly.

The high elf grumbled, "I didn't come here to trade barbs with you, Neloth. Do you know which way they went or not?"

"And what would the Psijic Order want with a couple of aspects from a fallen god masquerading as children?" asked Neloth. The old wizard stroked his beard as he moved around the apparition of the Psijic.

The high elf's expression became grave, "Don't be coy. You saw the meteor shower, and I'm sure you've felt the magic of Nirn shifting. I need to find those two and reunite them with the rest of their group. If I don't, the fate of the entire Aurbis could be at stake."

Neloth gave his visitor a side-eye, "It's always doomsday threats with you people, isn't it? It's never a mundane political problem, it always has to be something that will literally unravel the cosmos."Honestly, this was another reason the mage lord hadn't been too broken up about Kyoko and Nagisa—Neloth knew they were Important and that eventually he'd have to get rid of them unless he wanted Tel Mithryn to become Important too. The dragon attack had been his canary in the nirncrux mine.

"The Order doesn't usually get involved with politics." the Psijic reminded him.

"Clearly." Neloth replied tersely, then sighed as he turned his back to the other elf, "The girls are likely headed west to Raven Rock so they can find a ship off this island. Beyond that, I haven't a clue nor do I particularly care."

"Hmm." the Psijic grunted in irritation, "Very well. A pleasure as always, Neloth."

"I'd hurry if I were you; a dragon has their scent and is likely waiting for them out in the wilds." Neloth added. With another agitated sigh, the Psijic's illusion finally vanished, leaving Neloth in blissful isolation.

"And good riddance," the old wizard said. Now he could finally get back to work.

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Madoka lifted the bow in her hands, stretching the string out so she could get a feel for it. It was definitely harder to draw than her old bow, which had felt more like an extension of herself, especially when she'd been a goddess. It would take some time to get used to this real, wooden one, but her skill still came naturally as she expertly launched an arrow right into the center of the makeshift target hanging from the tree behind Wulf's house.

"Are you sure about this?" Madoka asked Wulf as she went to retrieve the arrow, "I don't feel right just taking your stuff."

Wulf waved her off, "It's fine. These are all just extra military surplus items I kept from back in the day. We used to hand these out to new recruits. Now then," he pulled out another weapon, a crossbow, from the chest that was resting along the back wall of his house, which he handed to Mami, "Give that a try."

Mami looked over the device in curiosity before Wulf began to advise her on how it worked. She put an arrow in, cranked it up, and after aiming it like a musket fired a perfect shot at the target. The blonde gave a satisfied smile, but that faded a bit as she became a bit puzzled, "… How did you know this would be better for me than a bow?"

Wulf laughed at that, "Enough time in the army and you soon get to tell who's an archer, who's a marksman, and who's neither".

"So…" Madoka said, changing the subject as she stared out towards the distant snowcapped mountains beyond the swamp, "Tomorrow, huh?"

The old man nodded, more serious now, "The longer you wait, the worse the weather is going to get. Summer ends tomorrow. This far north the snow will be starting any day now, and you've got a long trip to Dawnstar."

Madoka's gaze drifted to the ground, "… I can't thank you enough for what you've done for us," she said, turning back to Wulf.

"Agreed." said Mami, "You didn't have to do any of this."

"Ah, I'm an old man who lives alone in a swamp." Wulf grinned as he sat down with a groan, "I get bored. You're quite welcome though."

"There must be something we can do to repay you," Mami insisted.

Wulf seemed to consider it for a moment, "What I want most of all? A good story. The next time we see each other, I want you to tell me the adventures you've had. Make me feel young again."

"…You think we'll see each other again?" Madoka asked hopefully.

Wulf chuckled, "Tamriel is smaller than we like to think. No, I don't believe this will be the last time we see one another." he glanced up at the fading daylight, "However, it is the end for today. You had best get back and rest up for tomorrow."

Together the two girls picked up their new gear: an old imperial bow for Madoka, a small Dawnguard crossbow for Mami, and two pairs of old imperial short swords-one for each of them, and two for Sayaka should she awaken. Wulf had also provided them with traveling boots and wrist guards, as well as a supply of hunting arrows, of course.

When they were ready to go, Wulf stood back up to see them off, leading them around to the front of his house. Mami bowed slightly before heading off, but Madoka stuck around for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Then, she decided. The pinkette gave Wulf a hug, surprising the old man, but he took it in kind.

"Thank you." Madoka said again with as much earnestness as possible while Mami waited.

"Be safe." Wulf replied warmly as the two let go, "I expect great things from both of you." Madoka waved at him with a faint blush on her cheeks as she caught up with Mami. The two were silent for a moment as they walked towards town.

"…Once we get to the College." Mami began, "What is our plan?"

Madoka exhaled as she let her smile go, "… We need to see if they can wake up Sayaka and find the rest of our friends".

"And then?"

"… I want to find out more about the meteor shower." Madoka said, "And my dreams."

Mami looked at her for confirmation, "…You think more of us arrived here."

"I hope more of us have, yeah." Madoka rubbed her elbow. She had to believe. She had to or… or she was going to go insane. There just wasn't any other option for her. The blood on her hands. Trillions upon trillions of… no. No, not right now. She wasn't going to do this right now. Steady breathing.

Mami put a reassuring hand on Madoka's shoulder as they continued to walk, having noticed the other girl was tensing up, "It'll be okay."

Madoka looked over at her with a forlorn expression, "… Will it?" To that, there wasn't much Mami could say. It was never a good sign when the former concept of hope was doubting.

The rest of the trip back was in silence.