Aubeanic Reign: The Other IV - Critical

"NO!" Isis shrieked, tears openly running down her face, now. She turned upon Aasi, furiously.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, it was a complete accident, I swear..." Aasi smirked, stepping forward as she did so.

"Grow up, when I'm through with you, you'll be twice the woman you are now and hopefully half the one that I am. Whether you realise it or not, this is the start of your path to godhood, snot nosed kids and junkie husbands are just a distraction, whilst you spend every hour of the day fretting over them, they wither and die in your hands.

If you want your Bosmer back, then you're going to do exactly as I say."

"Then fucking hurry up and speak!" Isis hisses, using the back of her hand to wipe away the tears from her furious face.

"Now now..." Aasi uttered, sighing heavily as she found herself disappointed with Isis' temper and choice in language. There was no need to shout...

"Your mind has the power to bend the will of the minds of others and their bodies... You are going to save him, regenerate him, using your mind."

Isis' frown deepened.

"...How would I do that?" She asked, still cursing out Aasi in her mind.

"Urgh... Your mind is like a gutter my dear." The Redguard said, sounding somewhat disgusted as she looked down on Isis' pale husband.

"Quickly, place your hands around his forehead... Go deep into his mind, just like before..."

Isis did as she was instructed, placing her hands around his head. She immediately delved into the maze that was the thoughts of her husband, beginning to poke around, going ever deeper and deeper and deeper...

"Now... His brain is weak... Weaker than usual, if you can believe that that's at all possible. You're going to have to serve as his brain and restart his heart, by ordering it to do so." The Redguard instructed, slowly pacing around in front of her.

"Take your time; he's only... twenty seconds away from brain death."

Isis winced, slightly, as she realized she had a time limit. She immediately began to wrestle with Jaryl's near-dead brain for control. It took less than 3 seconds for her to overpower him, before she began to order his heart to begin beating once more...

As Isis took control, she began to see how his weak heart was beating once more, though it was very weak and infrequent. She'd have to keep up the pressure in order to keep Jaryl alive.

Isis did so, making her grip even stronger as she forced Jaryl to come back to life. This was getting slightly tough...

Jaryl began to convulse in her hands, seemingly trying to resist her as his torso shifted forward and he grit his teeth, like he was seemingly in pain.

"Keep the pressure, his body's fighting back, his brain has enough power to realise that you're a threat and it's trying to throw you off." Aasi informed her as Isis began to feel her grip weakening.

Isis tightened her grip, fighting Jaryl as much as she could without taking her mind off of bringing him back to life.

Jaryl began to stabilize but his brain still put up a major fight, desperate to throw his wife's hands from his head, so that he could die freely. Of course, this was but an unconscious reaction and not a decision on his part.

Isis remembered how weak-willed mentally Jaryl had been before, and she was surprised by how much of a fight he was putting up now. She maintained her hold, though it had weakened a tiny bit...

As Isis tightened her grip on his mind, she began to feel his emotions. Fear was the most prominent of them and there was some anger beneath the surface, however, Isis couldn't help but notice his overwhelming desire a desire to keep himself alive, not out of fear or to overcome his mental intruder but to keep on going for his wife and children.

Isis was touched by this revelation, though she didn't let the moment ruin her focus. She instead maintained her hold, determined to make sure he got what he wanted...

Eventually, Jaryl's heart returned to its normal rate, prompting him to throw his head back and gasp as his eyes widened and he began to pant heavily. He looked up to her, confused and a little afraid before passing out in her hands as he slept off the shock.

"Hmm... Not bad..." Aasi replied, though she didn't sound that impressed as she could've done it ten times better, obviously.

Isis angrily turned her eyes back on Aasi, her hate growing for the Redguard bitch.

"Can we go now?"

Aasi looked somewhat disappointed, folding her arms and pulling her lip out.

"Oh and here I thought we were having such fun..." The Redguard pouted, well, she was having fun at least.

"Jaryl will be out of it for some time, during that time, there is one last thing that we need to discuss..."

"And that is?" Isis asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hmm... I wonder if he's even aware..." The Redguard began, gently taking hold of Jaryl's chin and forcing him to look at her.

"I wonder if you are..." She added, glancing back up to the Imperial with a knowing smirk.

"Well, I mean, I'm obviously unaware, seeing as I asked you what it was." Isis replied, testily.

Aasi slowly rose to her feet and paced around the room, trying to hide the glee in her eyes.

"I'm just surprised that you never saw the signs, never noticed that you're dating a drug addict, who hasn't even thought about Skooma since he first laid eyes on you. How dependent he is on you, how perfect he is... “ The Redguard stopped to scoff, slowly turning back and glaring at Isis.

"Almost as if you conjured him using your own imagination..."

Isis glared right back at the Redguard, getting what she was hinting at.

"No... He's just... changed..."

"Aye... He's changed a lot, hasn't he? Almost as if he isn't the same person anymore. How did that drug addict, lay, foaming at the mouth, half dead on a couch become the kind, attentive father that you know now?" The Redguard smirked, stepping forward and narrowing the gap between herself and her rival.

"It's almost as if he married someone who can alter his mind..."

"I'm not doing that, though..." Isis pointed out, with a shrug, though she was a bit nervous.

"Aren't you? How exactly do you know, Isis? How does a Telepath as powerful as you contain such power, confining it into her own mind?

Your mind is slowly radiating your surroundings Isis, it affects everyone who comes into contact with, the more exposed a person is, the more it affects them. Everyone is susceptible, Jaryl, the children, Maria, Julie... Everyone but me, Aratius and any other Telepaths you knew." She paused, stifling a laugh as she stepped back, throwing her arms wide.

"You made all of this possible!"

"No..." Isis whispered. "I didn't do any of this..." Though, now that Aasi had explained it, it was beginning to make sense.

"Of course not... But it still happened, thanks to your brilliant brain." The Redguard grinned, finding some sort of pleasure in breaking the news to her.

"Well... How... How do I fix him?" Isis asked, turning her head to look at the sleeping Bosmer. It was completely unfair of her to have changed him against his will. And, while she loved how he was now, it just...

Wasn't fair...

Aasi slowly paced around the room, stopping at the Bosmer's head and glancing down on him, thinking on it for a moment or two.

"The thing is, he isn't exactly broken... The alternative to this would be for him to go back to being drug dependent, the many years, skooma free will catch up with him." The Redguard explained, seeming a little more serious now.

"He is, right now, capable of thinking for himself... Just not a lot... His mind is weak and susceptible to your transitions, susceptible to all transitions. You could leave him the way that it is, he's happy,  isn't he? Would you take that away from him and turn him back to the drug addict that you saw in your dream for the sake of fairness?"

"But..." Isis thought for a moment. Was stealing his life away and making him happy really a good thing? He didn't exactly ask for it...

"I... I..."

"Or... Why deal with either consequence, you could always possess him further, take away his free will entirely and make him as happy as possible. He's proven that he can't look after himself independently, maybe someone smarter, whose kind to him should show him the way?" Aasi offered, weighing up the options in her head.

Isis completely ignored that option, as she wanted to still have Jaryl there, she didn't want some weird... puppet. Eventually she stepped back, making her decision.

"J-Jaryl deserves.... to make his own choice."

Aasi sighed, hoping that she wouldn't make that option... it meant more waiting around for the dumb bastard to wake up.

"Alright... If that's what you want, we can ask him, when he comes too..." The Redguard uttered, scratching her head as she took a seat on the bed, where she and Isis' husband had made love mere hours ago.

She wished that he was awake, so that they could do it again; it passed the time at least...

Isis, on the other hand, sat down closer to Jaryl’s head, running her hand through his hair. She remained silent, her hatred for Aasi keeping her quiet.

"You're welcome, by the way..." The Redguard said, seemingly out of nowhere as she turned her attention to the Imperial.

"For pointing this out to you, that is..."

"I didn't say thank you..." Isis pointed out, coldly.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I must have mistook you for someone who has manners..." Aasi replied, sarcastically, falling back onto the bed and sighing heavily.

"Yes, kidnapping and then killing my husband to get revenge on me, and then dropping a bomb like this does warrant a more polite response." Isis responded, just as sarcastically.

"Aye it does, it took a lot of time and effort in order to do this, a little appreciation would be nice..." The Redguard replied, resting her eyes and placing her hands on her stomach.

Isis resisted the urge to slap the smug woman.

"Next time, don't bother."

"What, would you have preferred to have Jaryl unknowingly under your spell for eternity? To not know most of the things that I've shown you today?" The Redguard asked her, swiftly sitting up.

"I know that you seem to be used to having everything in life handed to you on a silver plate Isis but sadly, in the grown up world, that's simply not how it works."

Isis looked away.

"I do understand him better..." She muttered.

"Indeed... I thought you'd find those memories to be interesting." Aasi replied, with a smile, edging her way to the foot of the bed and looking down on the sleeping Bosmer.

"I did a little exploring of my own, whilst he was sleeping earlier... He has some interesting places in his head."

"Well, he is an interesting man..." Isis mused, smiling sadly as she ran her fingers through her sleepin husband's hair.

"Aye, he has a lot of vibrant memories so many that keep him going... Some torment him." The Redguard hopped off of her bed and took a seat on the floor, by his pelvis.

"Mind if I ask, what was it that drew you to him? Don't get me wrong, he's an excellent lover as far as between the sheets are concerned and he is a good father but you couldn't have known either of these things when you met him.

In fact, at that point, he was a drug addict...

But you saw something else, clearly..."

"I don't know..." Isis mused, staring at his face. "I guess, when we met, I was in a bad place, and he helped me. I guess I could just tell how amazing he was..."

The Redguard paused, furrowing her brow, Isis, in a bad place? What possible 'bad place' could she be in? She had power, limitless power, a loving husband, children... It seemed blasphemous to her for the Imperial to be unhappy.

"What do you mean, 'bad place?" Aasi asked, curiously.

"I was being hunted by slavers..." Isis mused. "I was getting helped by a psychotic doctor... and then my family began to hate me..."

"Because you betrayed them?" Aasi asked, though she didn't seem to be mocking her rival anymore.

"In a sense..." Isis muttered, though it was obvious that that was the reason...

"Hmm... Well, it did almost get your mother killed." The Redguard pointed out, with a sigh, veering off to the right.

"Can't really blame you though as much as I'd want to... Aratius did offer you a lot; you had no reason to distrust him. You're only human, I suppose, everyone but my Father knows that..."

"Your Father?" Isis asked, quizzically.

Aasi paused, glancing up to the Imperial as she fought her inner demons, everything inside her was screaming not to tell her enemy this as if it was a weakness for her to exploit.

"Yes, my Father, a man who cared for nothing but perfection from everyone and saw anything lower than that as deliberate sabotage, to undermine him."

"That sucks." Isis replied, actually feeling pity for the psychotic woman.

"Sounds awful."

"Pfft... Hardly." The Redguard scoffed, not appreciating the pity, false or otherwise.

"It made me stronger, more keen on success."

"That's good. I guess that everyone develops in adversity..."

"Well, a brass belt buckle is an excellent incentive to stay up late and do some extra studying, you know..." The Redguard chuckled, sitting back against the foot of the bed.

"Point taken." Isis agreed, seeing that the conversation was becoming more and more awkward with each sentence.

She prayed that Jaryl would wake up soon...

"Yeah, that's what I thought... You wouldn't understand, being a precious, Princess, who gets everything handed to her on a silver plate and all..." Aasi grumbled, veering off to the right.

Isis rolled her eyes. "Well, some of us are born with the right to succeed, and some of us... are you."

Aasi just laughed, harshly, pulling herself to her feet as she glared at the Imperial.

"You entitled little bitch, you don't have the right to do anything, you aren't even a real person, you weren't even born! You're a freak of magic, lacking the common bastard courtesy to even be grateful  what life has thrown at you!

And, for what it's worth, I may have loathed my father but at least I didn't betray him. Mind you, having the loyalties of a whore... You probably got that from your mother, didn't you?"

Isis balled her fists, glaring at the woman with white-hot anger boiling through her.

"My mother... was not a whore, you psychopath!"

"Oh right, yes, she only sucked the dick off of... How many men? Ten? In how long? A month?" Aasi mocked, pulling herself to her feet.

"No shame in it, you can't help being a whore's child..."

"I suppose that we’re in the same boat, then. My mother loved another girl's boyfriend, you slept with my husband." Isis pointed out.

"You're a whore, as well."

Aasi just rolled her eyes, glaring at Isis with a sharp look.

"Well, if you hadn't have taken so long to show up, I wouldn't have needed to entertain myself, now would I? I mean, it was only your husband's life at stake, you could've picked up the pace..."

"Sorry, I still had children to take care of." Isis replied, coolly, really wanting her husband to wake up right about now. "My husband would've wanted for them to be safe before he was."

"Huh... Fair enough, I suppose..." The Redguard sighed, rising to her feet and gently kicking Jaryl's knee, causing it to twitch a little.

"I'm sure that he won't be complaining."

"Hope not..." Isis replied, gently nudging Jaryl's shoulder.

"How long is this supposed to take?"

"Well, how long did it take for you to come back from the dead?" Aasi sighed, approaching the larder and rooting around in it.

"Just give him some time or you could, y'know, take control of his body again and force him to wake up."

Isis thought about the suggestion, eventually taking it as she couldn't stand that thought of conversing with Aasi any longer. She entered Jaryl's unconscious mind, and stimulated the body to get him to wake up.

Jaryl's body shook in her hands as he was forced back to consciousness, though it did work, it would seem that Isis was lacking experience as it seemed to hurt him in the process.

He lay there, panting heavily as his eyes darted around the room, trying to familiarise himself with his surroundings.

"Ise... Isis? Wh-What's goin' on!?" He demanded, not feeling right, though he felt a little safer in her hands.

"You... I'm sorry, but I needed you to be awake.... so you could make a very important decision... for both of us..." Isis whispered, examining his face to make sure that he would be okay.

Jaryl remained tense before noticing the soft sensation of his wife's fingertips on his face; he calmed down a little and relaxed underneath him, controlling his breathing as best he could.

"A... decision? What... Decision?"

"It seems... that ever since we met... I've been accidentally... changing you, to be... perfect... and I just found out today..." Isis whispered, sadly.

"Aww... Hon..." Jaryl whispered, gently taking hold of her hand and pressing it against his chest with a smile.

"You don't nag me that much..."

"And now... I want to know... if you want to be changed back..." Isis replied, not really listening to him, so she didn't know that he didn't understand.

"Changed back?" Jaryl asked, slowly pulling himself up as he looked at her, incredibly confused.

"Changed back to what? I don't... I don't get it..."

"To... how you were... before we met..." Isis mumbled, loudly enough for him to hear.

"It wasn't right... it wasn't my right to change you..."

"You... Isis, are you talkin' about when I was an addict? Overdosing on cheap Skooma every few weeks, wastin' my life away? I... No, I don't wanna go back to that, that's what people do, people change when they get married, don't they?" The Bosmer asked, seeming incredibly confused, not knowing about the telepathic element.

"N-no... it's... My mind... changed you, I guess... making you... different... from what you were..." Isis replied, her hand still on his face.

"Ain't... That a good thing?" Jaryl asked, still not entirely sure what she meant, to him, that seemed pretty normal for a married couple.

"No... You're... you're... what I made you.... I had no right to... to... manipulate you, influence you with telepathy... to change you into my husband..." Isis whispered.

Jaryl paused as the reality sank in, slowly making sense... His addiction, it wasn't even an issue, when she was around, he always assumed that that was because of the way that he felt about her. It didn't feel like magic to him, just... love.

He paused, thinking about it as he saw the guilt in Isis' eyes, he took a tighter grip of her hand and gently shook it.

"Isis... D'you remember what you saw, about how I used to live? How I was, how... she was? You saved me from that, in a few years... hell, maybe a few weeks, I could've been like her... you took me away from that place, believed in me, when no one else would.

Don't you... fuckin' dare, apologise for that..." He whispered, his emerald eyes began to shimmer as he spoke and his voice became a broken whisper.

Isis felt a tear streak down her cheek as she met his also-filling eyes. "I... Didn't... mean to change you... without... permission..." she sobbed, trying to shake the guilt away.

Jaryl exhaled heavily, giving her a warm smile as he gently grazed her hand with his thumb.

"Well, I'm glad you did... I'd let you take over my mind completely, if it kept me away from that place." He whispered, gently bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing it.

Isis slowly smiled, wiping her tears away with her free hand. She looked to Aasi, after a moment of lovingly staring into Jaryl's eyes.

"Are we done here?"

Aasi paused, glancing down to Jaryl, who was now staring up at her, with a knowing glare, she gave him a grin before turning back to Isis.

"I believe that decision has been yours all along..." The Redguard replied, leaning back against the wall.

"Come on, Jaryl." Isis stood up, before realizing that her husband probably couldn't walk.

"Erm... I can carry you..."

"N-Nah... I'm fine..." Jaryl wheezed, slowly puling himself up to his feet, he was incredibly pale and weak but wasn't quite as delicate as Isis thought he would be.

"Let's just... get home." He added, giving her a smile as he moved forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and wrapping his hands around her stomach.

Isis helped her husband out the door, making sure to keep him stable and up. She walked away from the house, giving Aasi one smile before they left...

Aasi returned her smile, seeming rather genuine in her pleasure in seeing the two of them work out their differences. She knew that the Imperial despised her but she couldn't help but find a great deal of respect for Isis, a respect that unfortunately turned to envy.

She slowly stepped over to the window, watching as 'Mr and Mrs Oakvale' left her cottage behind, Isis hung off of Jaryl's arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek, just happy to see that he was alive and well, after their ordeal.

The Redguard's smile soon dropped, however, transforming into a look of guilt as she slowly turned away from the window, stepping over to the nearest mirror. She stood, staring at her reflection, seeing a much older woman than most saw. The woman in the mirror looked tired, drained even and there was definitely a form of pain behind her eyes.

She slowly pulled her hand behind her back and readied a spell in it, holding her hand up into the air as she got ready to cast it on herself, though she found herself hesitating. as she realised the consequences of either outcome. Already she was having doubts, reservations about her plan but she had come too far to back out now...

Aasi cast a spell over herself, causing her eyes to light up a bright pink colour as she looked into the mirror, seeing right through herself as she was obscured by a powerful light, indicating her life energy. The Redguard's eyes quickly switched to her stomach, staring at it intently as she looked for any sign...

It took a moment or two for her to clearly see it, the small light source blipped on and off but it quickly became clear.

The Oakvale seed had been planted...