Chapter 618 - Darkness Rises

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Jon barely touched the Elder Scroll of the Dragon and he got a signal from Gluttony right away. He could see through the eyes of Serana and felt what she was feeling.

"Shit!"

There was no time to stand on ceremony after this revelation and Jon grabbed the Elder Scroll right away.

"What shit?" Jullanar asked as she noticed his expressions going wild and distant for a second.

"Shit finally happened." Jon replied, "Long story short, this is the second Elder Scroll we need and now only one left and guess what, the key to the last Elder Scroll just contacted me."

"I have a feeling the key is a She." Alina mumbled.

"She's my agent in the…"

"See? I knew it!" Alina forcefully took away Nefertiti from Jon and stormed out of the place.

"Wow, Jon. You've really outdone yourself this time." Wulfur acted all riled up and left after Alina.

"Hmph!" Even Jullanar turned away with a haughty face.

Jon was left alone in the Oculory holding a precious Elder Scroll and frowning as his crew just acted up.

"Alright…" Jon couldn't help but be bothered and walk after them while holding his aching body. Even if it is a plot to kill the Emperor of Cyrodiil, Family always comes first.

***

While she was under the possession of Gluttony, Serana could still move both her eyes and see very normally despite the anomaly she is influenced by.

She surely wanted to hear an explanation from Jon on why he would bring a piece of Gluttony, the blood parasite that tormented her once in the past, and plant it back in her again. Still, she was in no position to make demands at the moment and had to do what Astrid wanted from her.

Find out who Cicero is conspiring within the chamber of the Night Mother and report to Astrid.

Easier said than done, Serana thought. Sneaking into the chamber of the Night Mother was easy but once Serana opened the coffin, she was greeted with the sight of the decaying mummified corpse of the night mother.

Sharing a coffin with a mummy is nothing Serana would mind but walking into a coffin once again is just traumatizing for the young vampire.

No need to dawdle longer than this, she thought, she had to simply step in and close the coffin. The rest is easy for a vampire.

A minute later, footsteps were heard and a single person walked into the chamber. Serana was naturally sharp but despite this, she didn't sense anyone except a single person walking in and judging by the crazy mumbling and the muffled laughter, it was the mad clown, Cicero.

"Are we alone?" Cicero spoke those words which caused Serana to question her senses as the clown continued, "Yes... yes... alone."

"Sweet solitude. No one will hear us, disturb us. Everything is going according to plan." Cicero kept whispering but Serana couldn't help but think that this guy was talking to himself at this point.

"The others... I've spoken to them. And they're coming around, I know it. The wizard, Festus Krex... perhaps even the Argonian, and the un-child…" Cicero then kept telling whoever he's speaking to about those he's trying to recruit into the team of the old ways.

"What about you? Have you... spoken to anyone? No... No, of course not. I do the talking, the stalking, the seeing and saying! And what do you do? Nothing! Not... not that I'm angry! No, never! Cicero understands." Cicero said and continued, "Heh. Cicero always understands! And obeys! You will talk when you're ready, won't you? Won't you…"

At this point, Serana suspected someone to reply but the clown's next words spooked the undead ghost out of her.

"…sweet Night Mother."

Turns out the clown was talking about the dead body in the coffin all along but once Serana turned to see the Night Mother, her whole being was frozen.

The Night Mother… the corpse with a dangling head… it moved a little… its eyes emitted red… and throbbing pain came through Serana's mind as her right eye was almost about to burst.

{Poor Cicero! Dear Cicero! Such a humble servant. But he will never hear my voice. For he is not the Listener.}

That voice shook Serana to her core, she never expected to be trapped with this kind of monstrosity in a coffin. The scarier was what Cicero replied with.

"Oh, but how can I defend you? How can I exert your will? If you will not speak? To anyone!" Cicero said as if he replied to the voice that rang in Serana's head.

"Oh, but I will speak… I will speak to you… For you are the one… Yes, you. You, who listens, who sent one of my kind into my coffin, who spies through the veil with a fragment of his fragment. Sithis' blessed… his Advocate. I will give you this task…"

Serana couldn't believe what the corpse of the Night Mother was whispering through her. The words of the Night Mother were directed through her to Jon who was watching from somewhere far far away.

"Journey to Volunruud. Speak with Amaund Motierre." The Night Mother gave her task to Jon through Serana.

"Poor Cicero has failed you. Poor Cicero is sorry, sweet mother. I've tried, so very hard. But I just can't find the Listener." Yet in the background, Cicero kept wailing and crying.

But the Night Mother had one last word to say.

"Tell Cicero the time has come. Tell him the words he has been waiting for, all these years: "Darkness Rises when Silence Dies."" [A/n: so cheesy! I hate that line.]

Serana heard the last of the words passed by the Night Mother and as if a strong force that took a grip over her body was lifted off her, Serana found herself struggling almost to fall outside the coffin but she barely kept her feet on the ground as she stood in front of the bewildered Cicero.

In an instant fit of rage, a terrifying physical power came from the unremarkable Imperial body of Cicero and with a dagger out of his sleeve he rushed at Serana, grabbing her from the neck and struggling against her to bring his dagger closer.

"What? What treachery! Defiler! Debaser and defiler!" Cicero was speaking with madness oozing from his eyes, "You have violated the sanctity of the Night Mother's coffin! Explain yourself! Speak, worm!"

On the other hand, Serana was barely able to collect her senses after the disturbing experience. Despite her past, she was under the effect of Gluttony while acting as a proxy to transfer information from the night more to Jon. This almost felt like hell when her right eye and ear were completely overtaken that way.

"MOVE!"

With a single push, Serana forced Cicero off her, sending him flying across the chambers. The clown hit the other wall and groaned from the pain before trying to pick himself up and go after Serana who had already left the room.

Serana rushed out to the main hall of the hideout under the eyes of many Assassins including Arnbjorn and Astrid. Once Astrid saw Serana, she felt uneasy as the expressions of the former weren't right.

A moment later, Cicero came after Serana holding a knife and madly shouting "Defiler!" and "Violating mother's resting bed".

Astrid would take this as an opportunity to strike down Cicero where he stands and accuse him of assaulting a fellow assassin. However, it was Serana's action that caused her along with everyone else to just stop and watch.

Serana rushed to the forge of Arnbjorn on the wall of the cave and held one of his tools before standing over the fire.

"Hey! Put that down!" Angrily, Arnbjorn was about to step up and take his tool away from Serana aggressively but Astrid stopped him.

The tool in Serana's hand was something like a Nose Pliers, a thin pointed long pliers. Serana didn't seem like thinking as she instantly jammed it into her right ear.

""WOAH!""

"What the…"

"Gods!"

Everyone in the cave reacted to what Serana did to herself but she kept squeezing and squeezing until she started bleeding like mad. A moment later, she pulled out and something at the end of the pliers was struggling and wiggling not intending to come out.

With a screaming struggle, Serana pulled the Gluttony Fragment by the pliers and immediately dipped it into the fire of the forge. She then crumbled down on her knees and slowly rested her back on the wall.

The scene was shocking but Astrid was fast to pick things up.

"You!" She raised her blade towards Cicero, "What have you done? How could you do this to a member of my family?"

"Me? Nothing!" Cicero refuted immediately but before he could accuse Serana of anything, Astrid came down, cracking at him.

"You mad fool! You think I'll let you off after this…" She wasn't waiting for an explanation and wanted to take Cicero's head off his shoulders as soon as possible.

"Stop!" But Serana cried as she desperately stood up, "He's innocent."

Innocent?!

The word came too specific as if Serana and Astrid had something they know. No one here was a half-witted fool.

"What are you talking about?" Astrid asked but as Serana stood up, she could see Serana's face regenerate after she destroyed it with the pliers from inside.

A vampire's vitality is just scary.

Serana ignored Astrid's question and knew this was the time she and the Leader of the Dark Brotherhood started to go head to head.

Serana looked at Cicero, tried to say something but held her ear painfully before speaking.

"She… she spoke to me!" Serana said.

Cicero's expression turned from angry to indifferent and from it to downright horrified.

"WHAT? IMPOSSIBLE!" The mad clown screamed, "Liar! More treachery! More trickery and deceit! You lie! The Night Mother speaks only to the Listener! And there is... no... Listener!"

The words greatly disturbed the assassins present in the scene but Serana seemed worn down but she put on more strength as she continued speaking.

"She said… Darkness Rises… Darkness Rises when Silence Dies."

To most of the members of the brotherhood, these words are as sinister and shady as any motto the brotherhood uses but Cicero's reaction was full-on display.

"She said… those? Those exact words!" Cicero said as he stuttered greatly, "She spoke? Mother spoke?"

The blade fell from his hand, the clown had tears in his eyes, shaken to the core, and all the way taken by emotions.

"Listener!" Cicero cried as he fell to Serana's feet, "You're the Listener! I've served Mother well! I have! Alisanne can rest now! All hail the LISTENER!"

With the cries of the clown, the entire sanctuary of Falkreath was gathered around Serana, the supposed Listener of the Dark Brotherhood.

The old ways of the Dark Brotherhood suddenly made their way back into the guild of assassins. This surely is not a new order but a storm of chaos brewing around the last remaining true assassins.

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