Chapter 523 - Her Son

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*Present Day - Winterhold*

Jon Dare returned. It needed less than 12 hours for the news to spread from Winterhold and Whiterun to reach every court in Skyrim. Messengers on fast horses were dispatched to all the concerned parties carrying this particularly important piece of news.

Meanwhile in Winterhold, Clan Firemane took care of all the guests delivering Jon's intentions of not incorporating himself with any business-related issues for the coming three days as the journey around the Continent has taken a toll on him. Of course, these three days are the most accurate timeframe in which the representatives of the important forces will start flocking to Winterhold.

That aside, Jon needed some time for familial peace away from the noises of the world. He had a lot of family members to bond with and many stories to tell. Most of the family members were in Winterhold to receive him for the first day. Heartwarming as it was, Jon had to spend all night receiving more family members and accepting drinks.

As the night came, everyone was so drunk that no one even noticed where they slept. By the next morning, Jon was the first to wake up being the early bird he is.

He looked around for Nurina but all the ones sleeping around where the Firemanes. Noticing that Alina and Beth were also missing, Jon followed the direction in which he expected to find them, to the attic of his manor.

The attic was exclusively made for Nefertiti but Beth seemed to have been promised to share the room with her, Jon climbed up and there he saw Alina conversing quietly with Beth while Nurina was dazing at the window with the morning haze making the outer world brighter.

Seeing Jon coming in, Alina's face brightened and smiled at him.

"You woke up?" She asked.

"Yeah, emm… do you have any hangover remedy?" Jon asked Alina while looking at Nurina.

Alina noticed the hint and nodded.

"I'll find you some. Beth, come with me. I'll show you something." She said taking Beth away.

Jon watched them leave then turned to Nurina without saying anything. She didn't turn to him either even with a hidden hint in her distant expressions reacting to his presence.

Slowly, Jon approached and sat on the other side of the window resting his back against the wall. Looking at Nefertiti who was quietly sleeping on Nurina's lap, Jon smiled and finally spoke.

"Congratulations, you have been chosen."

Nurina's distant look went away as she closed her eyes for a second then she looked at Nefertiti and replied.

"She's a good girl."

"She missed you." Jon said and looked at Nurina as she also looked at him, "And I missed you, mother."

Nurina exhaled slowly and looked at Jon seizing him up.

"You have grown, baby boy." She said with a smile that felt to be hiding something.

"You haven't said that word in a very long time." Jon replied.

"You'll always be the baby boy I raised."

Nurina's word struck deep. She is his mentor and his caretaker, she was the one who made Jon Dare who he truly is. She taught him nearly everything he knows.

"I…" Jon was about to say something but she interrupted him.

"You wrote a book without consulting with me." She said.

"Oh! Sorry about that." Jon apologized.

Two years ago, he started writing a research paper under the title of [The Timely Lie] that was made into a very interesting and advanced theory book. Most of the book were notes and observations Jon recorded throughout his research on the Psijic Endeavour but this wasn't the problem. It is part of the etiquette of the Scholars to review the books they wrote on their Mentors before going public with them. Jon had a debate at the Academy of Shad Astula regarding his book but Nurina was not present which can be seen as a form of being insolent to his master.

"I sent you the book one month before going out with it." Jon said.

"It is disrespectful to just send a book, boy. You must have brought it yourself." Nurina gave Jon no excuse.

"I apologize." Jon didn't even try to argue.

"You were lucky Grandmaster Fyr was present. He passed a good word about you to get you off the hook." Nurina said.

"Oh! Alright." Jon nodded awkwardly.

Nurina seemed to be scolding him for the fact that he was absent for more than two years but in truth, once the book Jon wrote reached her, she kept bragging about it for two months straight. She walked around the College of Winterhold dropping bombs at the other departments that no one has a talent like her student and even shamed the Archmage and his students to her heart's content.

Seeing him looking down apologetically, Nurina had a gentle smile.

"You always wanted to become one." She spoke.

"Huh?"

"A Dragonborn."

"Right… I always knew." Jon nodded.

"Yes, your past life thingy."

The conversation came to another halt as they just couldn't organize what was on their minds. It is strange for how many things they wanted to share and exchange, what stopped them both was how to put these thoughts into words.

"At that time…" "During the…"

The two spoke and awkwardly stopped seeing that the other one was about to open that subject. As the junior, Jon remained silent but even as a Senior, Nurina couldn't say much.

Finally, she decided to speak.

"175 years."

Jon's eyes widened as he understood what she meant.

"… That's what it took for my friend from Winterhold to show up. Turns out… my baby boy…"

Nurina's mental state seemed to be dire. Her eyes became empty as she returned to daze at the window once again. Jon couldn't even comprehend what she was feeling which made him just sit silent. Her distant look gave away the pain she felt, the years of waiting for answers and the times when she gave up on ever meeting him again.

Nurina was young when she met Jon, young for an Elf who is very involved in Magic. 175 years ago, she went out of the Chaos by the portal created by one of the people that came to rescue Jon. Ever since that day, she wanted more answers than what she was looking for.

Taking actions based on the things she knows of a different timeline is a reckless move. That's the reason why she refused to share much information with him to begin with. The problem is that when he explained himself for the first time, he spoke of Mannimarco and an Aldmeri Dominion. As far as Nurina knows, this all happened around the 500s of the Second Era, an Era before she was even born. She never expected that history would somehow repeat itself in the future but that man spoke of things she never knew off. He spoke too little as she instructed him but she had bits and pieces of information about him.

He is a Nord. His origin is Winterhold. He is a Nobleman and a Great Sorcerer. And had to do with something called the Collapse.

She felt very grateful for him when he protected her from the influence of [Armilius the False], the Chained Man in the Tower of Babel. They began as enemies and ended on good terms but she later figured out that he is not from the Past as she thought he was but rather from the Future.

What happened to her that day in the Heart of Chaos left her with a scar she can never heal and she never got to know that friend. She remembers this exact moment when she told him her name and asked him to find her, he almost lost his cool and everyone around him had a dumb look on their faces, even the Lord of Madness Sheogorath himself was screaming from shock. Once he tried to tell her something, his friends dragged him away by force and pushed her in a portal that returned her to her timeline.

This was something she never understood and knew that she will never understand. If it was the only thing then it would have been fine but she wanted too many answers and she realized that this friend of hers would just be the key. Hell… she even needed questions for her questions the more she thinks of it, that's how far Nurina was lost.

From the day she left the Chaos, she went to her Master Alfe Fyr who refused her like the plague. Before venturing into the Chaos, she asked for Alfe's guidance to go against the Daedric Princes and restore her family but even Lord Divayth Fyr forbade her from that. Nurina went against their orders and joined the Cult of Sithis at the age of 31 to draw power from the Origin of Chaos, a power that can threaten the Daedric Princes and if not enough to kill them then it would seal them.

The young Nurina was out for too many questions and a blood vengeance against the Titans themselves. After her return and getting chased away by Alfe, she traveled to Winterhold for the first time but the Capital of Skyrim at that time was not welcoming to the Dark Elves. She gathered the information she wanted and went on her way traveling the world. She spent most of her time in High Rock or Cyrodiil but she always kept visiting Winterhold once every one or two years to gather clues.

Her only clue was that Winterhold will face some Collapse. She didn't know what sort of a future she was up against and her investigation yielded no apparent results for a very long time.

With time, people tend to lose hope and Nurina wasn't much different.

Almost 50 years have passed since she came out of Chaos and no sign for anything. By that time, she managed to redeem herself to Divayth and Alfe Fyr and was accepted again under their mantle. Without much hope of finding the answers she sought after, her vengeance against the Daedra was still a driving force.

She caused great pain to the Daedric Cults and annihilated a lot of evil. She even snuck into many Daedric Realms and committed atrocities against the Daedra but like anyone else, she was still powerless against the Princes themselves yet that didn't mean she was completely useless.

In her blood, she carried a terrible power known as the [Chaos Infection], it was what was passed to her by getting exposed to mere fragments of a blood drop from Armilius the False. She refined that Chaos into a terrifying power and even killed a Demi-Prince once. Still, that infection gave her nightmares and caused her great pain. She reverted to drinking to ease the pain but it took her years to fully wield it.

It wasn't until another 50 years had passed when finally the news arrived.

The Great Collapse of Winterhold.

She left everything in her hands and traveled to Winterhold to investigate only to see no trace of the great city. Only the College remained standing with the land around it was gone as if taken by the Titan of the Sea. Other than the College, there was a camp of Nord survivors who were beyond hope and despair.

With the Collapse that finally happened, Nurina insisted to uncover its reason but that stubbornness of hers, which drove her to find answers to everything even at the far depth of the Abyss, was the same stubbornness that drove her almost hopeless once again.

The truth of the Great Collapse was nothing but that wound that made her the person she is today.

It all began when she was six years of age during the Oblivion Crisis when her father died to a Daedric creature. As the Crisis was over in the rest of the world, it wasn't quite the case in Morrowind and especially the City of Vivec. During the crisis, Vivec, the king of the city disappeared and without his presence, a titanic rock hung above the city was about to fall and crush it. Two Dark Elves made a pact with the Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile to give them a method that keeps this rock in its place but such a method needed thousands of blood sacrifices. Nurina's mother was taken by a random selection when she was 11. After that, the machine that hung the rock was compromised and the gigantic rock fell on the city in full momentum. That day, the City of Vivec was wiped off the face of Nirn with only one Unrecorded Sole Survivor.

Nurina Aren.

[A/n: The Rock hung above the City of Vivec is thought to have been tossed from the void by a Daedric Prince. Read about the "Baar Dau" in UESP. Image "Baar Dau" is uploaded on IG and Discord (links at the end of the Chapter).]

The tragedy of Vivec city was the disaster that caused the Red Mountain to erupt in year 4E 5. The Red Year became a global disaster that affected far more than just Morrowind. The Great Collapse in Winterhold was another result of the Destruction of Vivec. It was caused by an earthquake that happened under the sea as an aftershock from the volcanic Red Mountain.

The tragedy of Winterhold was the same tragedy that made her and since then, she decided to stay. She took it as a sign and stayed in the College of Winterhold confining herself from interfering with the hold.

Time changed Nurina. She distanced herself from the Magic Community even with her great titles and high seniority in the line of Divayth Fyr. As she let go of all the questions that she kept asking all her life, she started to find some solace and salvation. She even got married once but discovered that she is infertile and the marriage was ruined thus she stayed with Faralda who became some sort of a soul mate to her.

Things became easier and easier with time and her life became slow, boring, peaceful and dull. She wanted it this way and quite enjoyed it too. She also developed a strange fondness of children and always thought about adoption but she wasn't quite sure.

Many years passed and she forgot all about her past, she became the lazy drunk clumsy Nurina and loved her lifestyle. She even wanted to try her luck at raising children and became an Orphanage Caretaker in Riften, it was then when she met a certain child.

A child whose world was falling apart even when he was less than a year old. She never suspected much and took the child under her care. With time, she grew fond and attached to him, he was even making it worse by his curiosity and obsession of magic and anything related to the craft thus she taught him from the very fine basics to the mind-flipping theories which he absorbed all and even started researching them. His talent was… monstrous. He even would spout nonsensical excuses about past life and his peerless handsomeness yet even if that was true, it still wouldn't explain his talent.

Days passed and years followed. Nurina delayed her return to the College of Winterhold just to watch that child grow in an environment he is familiar with and before she knew it, she adopted him and made him her Legacy Disciple. Even with his biological mother showing up, he wasn't the unfilial type. Finally, that day came when he became 15 and had to leave the orphanage. She excused herself as well and decided to take him to the College of Winterhold where his talent can grow further.

Since the day she brought he to Winterhold, not a day was quiet or peaceful. Everything was changing and revolving around him, every action he made impacted the Winterhold significantly. Nurina feared that she may have caused an alteration to the future by bringing him to Winterhold yet nothing she could do about it, her child was just moving with the momentum of Fate.

Business, money, battles, politics. Nurina hid from the world in Winterhold yet he brought the world to Winterhold. She has long since forgotten about what happened in Chaos by that time. Jon even got himself into trouble and out of it but she had to leave him to rely on his own power and face his Fate. That until… he returned to her one day.

One look at him and it was just it.

It was all there.

Every question she ever asked, every stone she ever turned, every clue she ever followed for 200 years… the answer was right in front of her once she felt the Chaos Infection running on his blood.

The things she forgot and the things she tried to forget all came together to make perfect and clear sense.

He is her son… her baby boy… he is the one she met 175 years ago.

Was all her life just a coincidental survival? Was all her misery a curse by the Daedra?

No.

It was all Fate preparing her, making her into who she is, giving her all the solutions and granting her all the credit. It was her Fate and her Reward. Nurina was never much of a believer but now she believed.

If her Fate was to meet Jon, to be his mentor, to give him power and see him rise… then this is better than anything she ever dreamt of.

She is lucky. She is a winner.

It is said that behind every great man, there is a great woman. In Jon's case, that woman is not Hilda, not Jullanar and certainly not Alina.

It is her.

She raised the Dragon.

Let all the world shiver in her wake and bask in her glory.

She looked at him with tears finally flowing from her eyes.

"Welcome home."

Jon silently put his head on her lap and closed his eyes.

"Yeah… I'm home."

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*The College of Winterhold*

The College of Winterhold was always shunned by the Nords and until this very day, no one liked the magic or the mages this much. Winterhold as a city was an exception as a big part of the economy is dependent on the College but problems would arise from time to time with the Nords who recently moved to the city.

Other than that, the College started to receive more attention than before from the outside world. Jon Dare is surely the culprit but the College itself started developing from inside alongside Winterhold and was stretching its influence to the other holds all around Skyrim. Archmage Savos Aren was surely ambitious and wanted to expand whenever he got the chance and the DDC assisted him. With that, many young Nords would enroll in the College to graduate and find work in the DDC either as Battlemages, Researchers, Alchemists or Enchanters.

Inside the College, the situation was as busy as ever. Students and Scholars were holding lectures and the Eight Departments were on each other's throats especially today. Why? It is the enrollment day.

The College accepts students four times every year and the departments would work as hard as they could to attract students.

"With Alchemy, one unravels the secrets of the matter and browses the wonder of nature." Two Alchemists stood behind a table as they performed colorful tricks with their flasks and ingredients.

"Alchemy? Is that even Magic? Who needs unraveling the Matter when you can Master the Matter. Turn what is cheap to something expensive. In Alteration, you can even protect yourself from any spell or blade." Two Alteration apprentices on a stage not far from them showed off their arcane skill.

"Did I hear that right, friend? Alteration protects you? Maybe at minimal but when it comes to protecting or even healing and fighting the undead, there is no school beyond Restoration, my friends. Join our department." Two Restoration mages performed the most radiant magic to attract attention.

"Restoration? Isn't that the magic they teach at basically any temple? These people came to the College to see true Magic and there is nothing more Arcane in this world than Illusion. Master the ways of the Mind, unravel the secrets of the Hidden Senses. Join the Illusion Department." Two Illusionists made music and lights using their staves to attract the crowd.

"Illusion? I wonder what is turning invisible good for unless for running away. This is Enchanting, you don't need any School of Magic and Craft after this, at any Magic Application, Enchanting is always essential." An Enchanter said as he sent up a floating staff and robes that looked well crafted and abundant with magic.

"Hahaha! Friends, we all came here for one thing and one thing only. Blow stuff up, freeze it to death, shock it to the morrow. We are the most popular department for a reason, be with the cool kids and join the DESTRUCTION Department." A Pyromancer road on the shoulder of two others and started shooting out flames.

"Those Destruction metalheads are too noisy. This is a Flame Atronach and that's a Frost Atronach, do I need to tell you more. Who needs to dirty their hands if they have such mighty servants or maybe… delve into a darker endeavour. We are not shy, join the Conjuration Department." A Conjurer road on a Flame Atronach Horse bragging with his summons.

"Bitch, please! Mysticism is this way." A mystic floated on air while crossing legs as he manipulated the arcane energy to Teleport around while levitating.

It was fairly clear that all the departments were on edge but one thing was certain about most of the Nord students, the first thing they would ask about is which department does Thane Jon Dare belong to. Mysticism was popular for such a reason but the numbers would always decrease when people realize how insane that department is and they would transfer to other departments.

Alina observed the situation from above the roof as the main yard of the college was as busy as a Fredas (Friday) market. As a teacher in the Academy, she has a large role to play in managing the students of the Mysticism Department and she will be assisting Master Tolfdir in the coming lectures for the new students.

"Master Alina, I've finished." A young voice called for her and as she turned around, she saw Beth coming alongside Laaneth.

"Congratulations on the application, Beth. And Senior, thank you for taking care of her." Alina received Beth cheerfully.

"It's a pleasure, she's such a sweet girl." Laaneth said as she patted Beth on the shoulder.

"Hey, Beth. Why don't you go and find Jon, he is over there with Master Nurina." Alina said.

"Alright, I'll go greet Master and Grandmaster." Beth said as she ran to where Alina pointed her.

Laaneth and Alina watched Beth go and looked at each other.

"Not his child, right?" Laaneth asked.

"Senior, surely you jest. Kid is 12, Jon is Jon alright but even he can't have a kid when he is 8." Alina smiled.

"Oh! Look at you, all nerves of steel and all. Hubby is now home and you can act all relaxed and cute now." Laaneth teased her.

"That's a given, I am not the most beautiful and cutest in the World for nothing." Alina acted all high and mighty.

"Tsk, you're as a brat as he is." Laaneth punched Alina in the shoulder and stood beside her at the balcony, "Good numbers this year, will have a lot of work."

"True. Jon asked me to be on College duty for the coming few months." Alina replied.

"Why?"

"He didn't say… from what it looks like, something in the College is concerning him. It is also fun to teach so I'll be sticking around you and Master for a while." Alina said then kept looking at the yard of the college with a frown.

"What's on your mind?" Laaneth asked.

"I don't know…"

"Relax. By the way, that girl Beth seemed to have run into that Thalmor spy." Laaneth said.

"Ancano?" Alina reacted violently.

"Yes. He seemed to have started questioning her but she got on his nerves a bit too fast compared to others." Laaneth said.

"By Kyne! I just can't understand how the Archmage let a Thalmor into the College, it is an insult to everything Winterhold stands for. If Jon finds out…" Alina was about to throw a tantrum.

"Hey, calm down. You know how much the Thalmor are deeply involved in the politics of the Magic Community. If the College went against them publicly, we may lose a lot of relationships with the other Academies and Institutes. Also, we agreed that we can afford a spy that we can monitor." Laaneth said.

"I know. Jon won't interfere with the College but he won't like it." Alina was still upset.

"Are you upset about the Thalmor or are upset about something else?" Laaneth teased Alina.

"Alright, I am upset. Hmph! Why does every time I try to be alone with Jon, someone has to be with him? I want my husband and I want him now." Alina stomped the ground.

"Here it is, the Alina we know and love." Laaneth pinched Alina from her cheek.

"Stop it."

"Speaking of Jon, I was waiting for a moment to drop by and talk to him, let's see what his two years journey has uncovered."

"Senior, you're a bully."

"Ahaha!"

The two kept conversing until Laaneth finally spoke out her true purpose.

"Alina, Mirabelle Ervine wanted you to receive this list of freshmen. They are all under Master Tolfdir's guidance so you'll manage them."

"Shouldn't Master Tolfdir be the one managing his people?" Alina asked.

"We are lucky he still remembers his name. Also, weren't you the one who asked to be assisting with the first year?" Laaneth asked.

"Yeah." Alina received the list quietly.

Truth be told, it was one of Jon's instructions that were in his message. Jon wanted her to be around the first-year student that will apply this summer. He didn't say the reason but she didn't mind.

Alina finally opened the list and observed the names.

"A troublesome bunch it seems. J'zargo, a Khajiit; Onmund, a Nord. Not so promising."

"Wait and see, you have a Telvanni down the list and guess what… Mysticism." Laaneth pointed.

"Brelyna Maryon? That's some royal blood among you Dunmer. Guess there is some potential at least."

"I'll leave you to your duties then."

"Thank you, senior."

Alina took the students list and seemed to be willing to do some work as long as it is an easy task that will finally end with her going back home to Jon. Little did she know what he had for her in-store.

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A/n: Here is Nurina's status which was censored before.

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• Name: Nurina Aren

• Titles: High Priestess of Sithis, Daedric Nemesis

• Race: Elf (Dunmer)

• Age: 207

• Level: ???

• Class: Arch Mystic of Chaos

• Energy: ???

• Condition: Normal

• Bloodline: Chaotic

• Birth Sign: The Mage

• Blessings: Sithis, Mara

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