Aubeanic Reign: The Other II - Mind Games

"Mona?" Isis called, sitting in her study as she reread one of Agatha's tomes for the 5th time that day.

"Could you run out and get your father?"

"Urgh... Can't Rin do it!?" Mona called back, grumbling to herself as she rose to her feet, abandoning her drawing. It was crap anyway...

The Bosperial stepped out into the garden, normally it was pretty obvious where Jaryl was, he could always be heard cutting at leaves with his sheers or digging or at least cursing and swearing as his arms were cut up by thorns.

However, not a sound could be heard, just the animals in the distance and the slight breeze in the air, causing the swaying of the nearby vegetation...

Mona was alone outside...

Realising this, she returned back inside and made her way upstairs, stepping into Isis' room, rather awkwardly.

"He ain't there, I checked."

Isis looked up, not in the best mood after straining to read one of the Witch's small, cramped notes.

"What do you mean, 'he ain't there?'"

"What I said, he ain't there. I can't see him or hear him..." The Half-Breed shrugged, not seeming too worried about it.

"He left his stuff, so I think he might come back soon."

"Can you make sure Diana doesn't wake up?" Isis asked, standing up and heading to the door of her study. She was worried about her husband, especially because, well, she was the more capable one in their relationship.

If he was kidnapped...

"I should be home soon."

"Erm... What if she does wake up?" Mona asked, last time she tried to calm her down she almost smothered her to death, though that was a very long time ago and she wouldn't likely try it again, she still had no idea what she was doing.

"Uh..." Isis paused and thought for a moment, not wanting either of her daughters to get murdered.

"Call Rin." And with that, she was gone, transforming into a bird to get to Jaryl's previous location as soon as possible.

"How's that idiot supposed to help me?" She grumbled, turning away and sighing heavily as she went to find her brother.

-

Isis was able to find a trace of him pretty quickly, he had indeed left the premises but there was seemingly no sign of a struggle, he had left the premises willingly but it didn't make sense. The tracks suggested that he had walked away, like he had reunited with an old friend but surely he would have notified her, he clearly hadn't ran from the scene. The more clues she got, the less sense it made, the only thing that she could draw from it at this point was that Jaryl left with another person, willingly and wasn't in much of a hurry to do so.

Isis frowned, transforming into a dog in order to get a better sense of who had been with her.

 'What is going on? She thought to herself, snuffling at the ground and following the tracks...

The tracks lead down a straight and narrow path, until they reached the gold road. To Isis' surprise, they merely crossed it and continued up north, far north...

Isis frowned, noting where the tracks were. She'd have to find a more suitable person to care for her kids than just Mona and Rin.

“Hey, uh, Agatha?”

Agatha had seemingly heard her apprentice’s projection, knowing what she wanted; living with the inventor of telepathy did have its perks. Isis felt a slight tremor of recognition as the Witch confirmed that she had heard her plea.

Isis smiled.

“Thanks, Ags”. The Imperial thought before quickly following the trail again, sprinting with the speed of a wolfhound as she followed the trail to the north...

The trail seemed to go directly north, leading Isis all the way up to the Imperial Reserve, between the Black Road and the Golden Road, just south of Hackdirt. There she could see Weatherleah, a small, abandoned cottage, which was still apparently being used, with black smoke slowly trailing up into the sky.

Isis frowned, turning back into herself and moving up to the window of the cottage, quietly, her vision was obscured by a white curtain, which was seemingly impenetrable. Isis sighed, and took the direct approach.

She walked over to the door and knocked it down, before entering...

As she stepped inside she saw that she had seemingly entered a rather cozy homestead, a small cottage with a fireplace, still burning fiercely. There, at the center of the room, lay Jaryl, he appeared to be naked but he was actually shirtless, beside him was a Redguard woman, lay rather intimately with him, not remotely phased by the fact that her door had been broken down.

"Did you have to make such a noise, upon entering?" She asked, bringing her face closer to Jaryl's as she gently stroked his beard, on the left side of his cheek.

"You could've woken him..."

"Who the fuck are you?" Isis snapped, unsure whether she would kill the woman or her husband first.

"Get away from him, you... you...!"

“If you insist…” Aasi replied, sounding a little annoyed that her fun was being ruined; she rolled out of bed and emerged in a velvet robe, slowly pacing around the bed.

"No wonder he was so desperate to get away from you, you're ever so clingy."

"Who do you think you are?!" Isis snapped, stepping forward, looking ready to call crows down to rip Aasi's eyes or throat or both out.

"An intriguing question, do you think that I'm under the delusion that I'm someone else?" The Redguard smirked, taking a step behind her as she slowly paced around her.

"I am Aasi Henair, I don't know if you stepped inside a Guildhall recently, but even out here that means something."

"Yeah?" Isis growled, her fists clenching. "Well I'm Isis Oakvale, and if you've been anywhere recently, that means a lot."

"Oh, believe me, I know who you are." The Redguard said with a smirk as she continued to walk circles around her Imperial guest.

"Isis Harin, daughter of Maria Harin, with a little Morgan Blood thrown in there. Apprentice of Agatha Tira and a contributing member of the Companionship who saved Nirn from an egotistical madman with erectile dysfunction.

Yes, yes... I've done my research, of course, I know a lot more than that but I'd rather not bore you with details that you already know."

"If you know who I am, then I'm sure you know how I'm about to tear you apart for sleeping with my husband."

"Oh, I see, it's perfectly reasonable for YOU to take what's not yours but if anyone else does it..." The Redguard replied, a certain degree of spite in her voice.

"Of course." Isis replied, coldly.

"Revenge is a perfectly logical choice, when you kidnapped my husband for no reason."

Isis' response made Aasi laugh, with some degree of exaggeration; she threw her head back and laughed heartily. She quickly snapped out of it and lowered her head, fixing her eyes on the Imperial and narrowing them.

"I have a reason for everything I do, my dear and believe it or not, you stole from me before I ever stole from you."

"I'm afraid that I have no idea what you're talking about, 'my dear.'" Isis retorted, mockingly, her own eyes meeting the Redguard's.

Her face quickly fell and went stern for a moment, glaring into the Imperial's with no sign of weakening.

"No, you wouldn't... Which is why I intend to enlighten you." With that she turned back around, pacing back over to Jaryl's bed and standing by his side as he lay perfectly still for her.

"What did I ever do to you?" Isis growled, folding her arms over her chest. She cautiously let her mind probe out, to gain the upper hand...

"Hmm... Before you offered to have crows swoop down upon me and tear me apart, a gift that you got from Agatha, I presume?" The Redguard asked, folding her arms and tilting her hip a little.

"Obviously." Isis retorted, sarcastically, getting even more angry as the Redguard danced around the subject.

"A gift that you have used to benefit Nirn... how?" The Redguard probed.

"Do you know anything of it? Where it comes from? The true potential behind it or do you just consider it to be part of your collection, godlike powers that you use to assist with the washing and drying of your mutant children's clothes?"

"I decided that I have better things to think about than how I control a bird." Isis sighed, waiting for her to get to the point.

"Oh I bet, better things being how you can help yourself, whilst the rest of the world must rebuild! I waited for a decade, centuries for Agatha to show herself and give me the means to assist the universe and what happens? I arrive to find out that she is gone again and that her legacy has been passed onto a miserable house wife. I can't decide if she's senile or easily manipulated but either way, I KNOW what my people are missing out on." She said, rather sternly, dropping her facetious mask for a moment as the rage made itself present in her tone.

"A miserable house wife?" Isis laughed, coldly, trying to remain calm to gain the upper hand once Aasi finally revealed her opinions. "Oh, my dear, I am so much more than that."

"Ha, it's hard to take that statement seriously from a woman that has baby spittle on her shoulder and bags under her eyes... but I'll give you a chance to prove what you said is true. In fact, I'll give you several." The Redguard replied, with a proud smirk.

"I think you should hurry up, then." Isis sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "I mean, I'd like to show you why Agatha chose me and not you as soon as possible."

"Good..." Aasi smirked, snapping her fingers and causing Jaryl to awaken with a start.

The Bosmer quickly sat up, shaking his head and feeling somewhat disoriented.

"Jaryl!" Isis exclaimed, happily, now that her husband could actually talk. "Are you... How dare... What... Oh, Jaryl."

"Hey Hon..." The Bosmer slurred, gently rubbing his temple before looking up to Aasi, with a degree of conclusion on his face.

"Who's this?" He asked, prompting the Redguard to give him a warm smile.

"Oh, I don't believe you've met... This is Isis, a... 'friend' of mine." She explained, gesturing to the Imperial, with a nod.

"Oh..." Jaryl grumbled, awkwardly scratching his head.

"H-Hey..." He uttered, rather awkwardly as anyone would upon waking up to a strange woman being in his room.

Isis frowned, turning to look at Aasi with as much hate as she could muster.

"You... You're just like Aratius! How dare you tamper with someone's mind like that!"

"Says the Telepath." Aasi beamed, stepping to one side as Jaryl tried to roll his legs out of bed but the Redguard stopped him.

"No Dear, we'll need you to stay in bed for this." Jaryl raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused but given that they had been married for years now, he wasn't going to question it.

"You have no idea how ironic that phrase is, my dear..."

Isis glared at Aasi. "What are you going to make me do?"

"Hmm... How deep have you ever gone into someone's mind, Isis? Out of all of the time that you spent together, have you ever melded minds?" The Redgaurd asked, suddenly intrigued by Isis' experience with Telepathy.

"I've tried not to go too deep into anyone's mind, let alone Jaryl's." Isis admitted.

"In my experience, it always ends in hurt."

"For an amateur, sure but with enough practice, you can explore crevices that neither of you even knew existed. I've just had a quick look around myself and it’s just fascinating. It's like stumbling across someone's diary..." The Redguard replied, almost breathlessly.

"Oh?" Isis asked, forgetting herself and growing curious. "What did you discover?"

Aasi merely chuckled at this, shaking her head. "That's for me to know and for you to find out." She said, stepping to one side.

"Come, sit by Jaryl. He won't bite, not until you make him remember who you are anyway." The Redguard smirked, getting an indignant look from Jaryl.

"You gotta bring that up?" The Bosmer asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

Isis raised an eyebrow, before moving forward and sitting down next to her 'husband,' though a little close, given his current state.

"Now what?"

"Place your finger tips on either side of his temples; build a connection with his mind..."

"Wait... You want her, in my head?" Jaryl asked, sounding reluctant to go through with it as he didn't know Isis at all or trust her.

"Hush Jaryl... It'll be fine; Isis knows what she's doing. Don't worry about any resistance that he puts up, his willpower is laughable at best." The Redguard added to appease her.

Isis glared at Aasi, coldly, before she placed the tips of her fingers on either side of his temples, as instructed, and building a connection...

Jaryl slowly shuffled away from the stranger as she moved in closer towards him, clearly distrustful of her. He glanced up to his 'wife' who gave him a disapproving glare, prompting him to hold still for their Telepath guest.

As Isis and Jaryl connected, they felt a strange surge of consciousness shoot through their minds as they connected, the Imperial's vision was completely engulfed in a blinding white as she and Jaryl's minds became one.

-

Within a flash Isis and Jaryl found themselves in a forest of some sort, a bleak woodland, similar to that found in skyrim, the evergreen trees around them created a dark and gloomy atmosphere, which was only iilluminated by the moonlight that leaked through the cracks between the branches.

Isis looked around the dark forest, trying to get a grip on the reality of that area. She resisted the urge to grab her estranged husband's hand, figuring that it would make the situation even more awkward than it already was.

"Erm... Do you recognize this place?"

Jaryl shuddered as he heard Isis' voice, he quickly stumbled forward and swung around, panting heavily as he stared at her in shock, like he was looking at a ghost.

"The... The hell, where'd you come from?" He panted, moving in closer towards her and examining her.

"Are... Y-You real?"

Isis patted her head and arms, as if to reassure him that she was, indeed, real.

"Erm... I think?"

Jaryl paused for a minute, eyeing her up and down, though he eventually stopped caring and lunged forward, wrapping his arms around the Imperial and pulling her in for a tight embrace, burying his face into her collar bone.

"F-Fuck... I don't even know where I am, didn't think I'd see you again..." He whispered, tightning his embrace.

"Uh... I saw you, like, a few hours ago...?" Isis replied, though she didnt want to complain. She simply wrapped her arms around him, as well, breathing in his scent.

"I... I know but... This place is fucked, it's like I'm goin' in circles, I can't even track here, I don't even have any footprints. Everythin's frozen..." He whispered, slowly pulling away and looking into her eyes, gently placing his hand on her face.

"How'd you get here? D-D'you know anythin' about what's goin' on?"

"You got.... taken." Isis explained. "I left Agatha with the kids, and came to follow you... Some... S-some Reguard who is obsessed with me or something took you, and I had to get in here, I guess... To get you back..."

"Damn, kids are gonna be havin' nightmares for weeks..." Jaryl uttered, looking around from side to side as he tried to determine what this place was.

"So... Where are we? I... Remember a woman, Redguard, she walked up to me and started talkin' about... you and her and then the next thing I know, I'm here." The Bosmer turned back to the Imperial, hoping that she could make sense of that.

"We in... Skyrim or somethin'?"

"Or Northern Cyrodiil." Isis replied, taking another look around the area. "Do you... remember this? Were we transported somewhere?"

"I don't even know, is this... real? It goes on forever..." Jaryl uttered, looking around.

As Jaryl spoke, his voice began to grow a little muffled as something else took precedent, the Imperial's thoughts quickly amplified as Aasi spoke to her.

"He is  right; the forest goes on forever, unless you know how to navigate it. Only a telepath could find their way through here, I've left four landmarks for you to find, find them, take what I need you to take from each one and you will be free to go..." 

Isis frowned and looked at Jaryl.

"Erm... Did you hear that?"

Jaryl looked around and raised an eyebrow, looking a little concerned.

"Fuck Isis, don't tell me you're goin' crazy to..." He sighed, turning his full attention towards her.

"He  cannot hear me, only you can, telling him would be a waste of time, since he wouldn't be able to find his way, even if he knew what he was looking for.  

You can..."

"Nevermind." Isis said, determinedly, before turning on her heels.

"Follow me, Jaryl." She said, before taking her first step into the forest.

"We have things to do."

"Such as?" Jaryl asked but then decided that he didn't care, he compliantly followed Isis along from behind, folding his arms and constantly looking around for any signs of hostility.

As Jaryl and Isis explored the region, Jaryl began to grow concerned, even to a tracker the entire forest looked the same to him but somehow to Isis, she felt like she knew where she was going. It was a strange experience, like having a map inside your head, like she had walked these roads dozens of times over the years and didn't need to think of them anymore.

-

The two of them eventually came to a stop, just outside of an old ruin, it was difficult to determine what kind of ruin it was, it looked Cyrodiilic but more than that couldn't be said...

"We re going in." Isis told Jaryl, before stepping towards the entrance and investigating it for traps. She needed to make sure that neither of them would die when they got in...

There did appear to be traps inside though they were long since deactivated, dead, they had all been activated at some point or another, paving the way for Jaryl and Isis.

Isis frowned and did her best to make sure that they wouldnt spring up and kill either of them, before taking her first, tentative step inside...

As Isis entered the ruin, they could hear the constant snapping of a whip, followed by a pained scream; needless to say it brought back some bad memories for the Imperial as the sounds grew louder and closer.

Isis was struggling not to latch onto Jaryl for protection as she moved closer and closer, towards the sounds...

As Isis got to the end of the long, stone corridor she found herself coming face to face with a large wooden door, the sounds seemed to be echoing from the inside.

Isis finally gave in and grasped Jaryl’s hand, before slowly pushing open the massive door to see what lay beyond...

As the Imperial reached out for Jaryl's hand she noticed that he was no longer with her, he had seemingly vanished into thin air, leaving her to face whatever lay beyond the door alone.

Isis shivered, desperately wishing that the Bosmer was still with her. Now that he was gone, however, she knew that she'd have to 'toughen up.' She stepped forward, moving quietly into the room...

As she opened the door she found herself stood behind a famiar figure, her memory kept him preserved down to the finest of details. Aratius stood before her in his robes, lashing repeatedly at his victim's back, who had had her clothes torn from her body so that she had nothing to suppress the whip's sting. He seemed just as joyful now as he did before as he continued to strike at her again and again.

"Stop it!" Isis shrieked, almost feeling the whip on her own skin. "Leave that girl alone, Aratius!"

As Isis got a better look at the girl, she immediately recognised her hair, her back, the marks on them that continued to linger on her own body to this day...

The girl appeared to be a copy of Isis and Aratius didn't seem to be paying any semblance of attention to her.

Isis took a deep breath, realizing that these were really her own memories, and she just had to relive them.

Wow, this 'Aasia' was an ass, wasnt she?

As Isis saw the torture unfolding before her eyes, she began to hear a shivering stutter inbetween cracks of the whip as someone whimpered in the corner of the room, behind her.

Isis whipped around, preparing magic in her hands as she prepared to take out another foe, no matter who it was...

However, to Isis' surprise, the sound wasn't coming from a foe at all but a well known and well loved companion, in the corner, in the darkness, curled up and shivering sat Jaryl, seemingly trying to block the sight from his retina and his mind.

"Jaryl?" Isis asked, confused, glancing at the door as she wondered if she was losing her mind.

"But... You were out there! Please... What is going on?"

Jaryl's head shot up as his eyes fixed on his wife, he seemed somewhat frantic, his eyes looked like they were aching with tears, though trembled with confusion at the sight of her.

"Isis... You're... I... How'd you get in here, why're there two of you? What the fuck's goin' on!?" He demanded, still trembling from the trauma of having to watch his wife be tortured before his eyes.

"This is't real, love." Isis whispered, moving forward and cupping his face in her hands.

"This is the past... Let's go..."

"What... Isis..." Jaryl began; not moving as he slowly lifted his pale head up a little more, revealing how sickly he looked.

"Is this... How you got your scars? On your back...?"

"Y-yes..." Isis replied, wearily. It was still tough for her to talk about the situation Aratius had put her in.

"B-but it's over now..."

Jaryl hung his head, giving her a reluctant nod as he sighed and shivered, resting his head against his arms as his Wife's screams echoed inside his head.

"I... I can't believe that I let this happen to you..." He said in a broken whisper.

"It w-wasn't your fault..." Isis replied, trying desperately to make him feel better.

"Isis... It might as well've been...

I mean, I'm supposed to be your husband for fuck's sake, I ain't supposed to let shit like this happen to you, I can't deal with shit like this happenin' to you." He quivered, pressing his forehead against his knees.

"I fucked up at bein' a son, a brother... boyfriend... but I didn't want to fuck this up, I really didn't. You were too important to allow myself to fuck up and I still let this happen to you!"

"It couldn't be helped..." Isis whispered, placing her hand on his back.

"And there’s nothing we can do to change it... Don't worry about it..."

Jaryl fell silent and began to breathe in and out carefully, trying to take control of it before finally letting out a gasp and sighing, nodding hastily.

"I... Sorry... I... I don't even know how long I've been watchin' this, it feels like hours..." The Bosmer whispered, glancing up to Isis, looking a little less disturbed.

"I think I just need to get out of here..." He added, letting a tear roll down his cheek.

"Y-yeah, hon..." Isis whispered, kissing his cheek, lightly, and extending a hand to help him up. "You get out of here..."

Jaryl nodded as he rose to his feet, slowly making his way over to the door, blocking the nightmare out of his mind. Isis was right, it was in the past, Aratius was dead and this was all just a nightmare. He had to get away from this, had to get back to the kids, back to that bitch who tricked him.

He had a future ahead of him...