Blue Archive - An Otherworldly Sensei

Five days had gone by since Ja'vassa was struck by the mysterious assailant and he still remained unconscious, his condition was slowly improving, but as he remained asleep. With each passing hour, discomfort became increasingly more evident in his face. Night terrors were all too common for the old Dragonborn; no matter how hard he tried, his past never seemed to leave him alone. Trapped in an endless sleep like this gave him no means of an escape, and though he could often will himself through many situations through sheer stubbornness, this wasn't one of those situations he could beat. Senseless murmurs escaped his lips, what he said wasn't clear, but it often sounded like a cry for help. As she had been for much of the past week, Hifumi was watching over him alongside Maribelle to monitor his condition. The nervous mutterings from him were a source of concern, they needed to wake him soon, but the toxins coursing through his body were unrelenting. They needed a solution and they needed one quickly. Glancing towards the student, Maribelle spoke up. "We'd be interrupting their meeting, but we need to speak with Relumara... he's one of the finest mages in Sjel Blad, he might have a solution for us. If he's upset with you interrupting him and Rianra, tell him I sent you." She spoke in a soft, worried tone. "They're in the Council Room now, Mordan and Kara are standing guard, they'll listen to you." As Hifumi reluctantly left the room to visit the Council, Relumara and Rianra were deep into their private meeting. Given the Altmer's frequent disappearances, the sudden attack, and the rumors of the Thalmor's resurgence, it was of the utmost importance that all possible threats were ruled out, especially if the threat came from someone on the inside. It was difficult to think that Rianra could be a traitor, it wasn't a possibility anyone wanted to consider; least of all Relumara, as it was his idea to spare Rianra's life in the first place after the Second Great War. The meeting was called to clear up the air and figure out what he's been doing. "So, as you explained... Your absences were to practice new spells without risking damage to the castle and to meet with your fiancee. That makes sense, though I wish you'd give us a heads up, so we know when to schedule important meetings..." Relumara sighed softly, pacing around the table. "So, explain the spells you've been working on, Rianra. Are they to benefit the castle, or more for personal use?" Rianra was silent, figuring out the words he wanted to say. "While they're mostly personal, that's not to say that can be used to benefit the castle. I've been primarily experimenting with illusion magic, creating a memory extraction spell. I believe it could be invaluable on our enemies, being able to create a duplication of their memories during interrogation. If they refuse to talk, we can still get the information we need." He explained, taking a small journal from his satchel with notes on the spell written down. "When I wasn't with my fiancee, I was experimenting with the spell, using it on bandits I'd find on the road." As he set out the journal for Relumara to read, he'd continue to speak. "I've been working on some restoration spells as well, they're also written down in the journal." Relumara nods, skimming through the notes for a few moments. "I see a spell that mentions being able to cure poisons and diseases. How far along are you with developing it?" He asked. If it was still in the testing phase, perhaps they could use it on Ja'vassa. It'd be a huge risk, but he wanted to awaken the Dragonborn sooner than later. "I'm in the testing stages now.. I haven't been able to find many willing subjects, so I can't vouch for the success of it yet." Rianra replied, noticing the glimmer of hope in Relumara's eyes. "Are you wanting to test it on our Lord?" Before Relumara could respond, they'd be interrupted by the arrival of Hifumi alongside Mordan and Kara. An almost annoyed sigh escaped him, "I thought I made it clear that I was to have no visitors. Our meeting hasn't been adjourned yet. I understand how precious you are to your teacher, Hifumi, but the rules apply to you as well." He reminded her. "I-I know that... I wouldn't have come without a reason." Hifumi replied, backing away slightly; the piercing gaze from the old Dunmer caused a bit of discomfort. "Sensei's... condition is worsening. He seems to be trapped in a nightmare, and Maribelle's concerned that his state of mind might worsen the effects of the poisons." Relumara's expression softened slightly as he listened to her. "Well, Rianra.. you wanted to test the spell out, this will be the perfect opportunity." He suggested, making a motion for his companion to follow him. The group shuffled back into the infirmary, noticing that Ja'vassa was still in the uncomfortable position; his ears flattened against his head as the nervous murmuring continued. "I've always wondered what's caused some of these terrors of his?" Rianra stated as he'd kneel beside the Khajiit's bed. "We've served him for centuries and we barely know anything about him.." There was a brief silence amongst the group; it was true, despite having well over a thousand years of loyal service to him, they knew next to nothing about his past. They knew he had children, as they had met several of them, but they knew nothing as to what happened to their mother. They knew of his village's destruction, but hardly a thing about his family. It wasn't something any of them had considered until Rianra had mentioned it. The high elf glanced towards Hifumi for a moment. "I'm not sure what it is about you and the others, but my Lord seems quite attached to you. Has he told you much?" Rianra asked curiously, preparing the restoration spell. Hifumi shook her head. "Not really. While we were traveling to Solstheim, he told us some stories of the ruins he explored. I had assumed he'd told you as well. Has he told you about his time in Sadrith Kagran?" The Council members looked towards her with obvious confusion. "No, he hasn't. I've never even heard of a place like that." Maribelle admitted. "What about it? Is it just another ruin that our Lord has explored?" There was some slight hesitation before she'd speak up again. "Not quite.. It was an old settlement that Sensei was held captive in. I believe he mentioned it was before he returned to Sjel Blad Castle after his exile, held as a prisoner and slave to some scholar." Hifumi explained, looking towards her sleeping teacher. "Claimed that... after they gave him his freedom, he destroyed the settlement, along with the people living within it." Relumara's eyes widened slightly at the revelation, finding it difficult to believe. "Just... what were you doing in your exile, Ja'vassa?" He bit his lip slightly, looking towards Rianra for a moment. "How did that memory extraction spell of yours work? I feel we'd be overstepping our boundaries, but... I feel it's time we learned more about our Lord's past." Rianra seemed somewhat surprised at the suggestion, but it was working right into the plan that he and Viralia were discussing in the week prior. "As I explained before, it would extract the memories and allow us to see them directly through his point of view. I'm not sure what we'll find, perhaps I can find the source of what's causing him so much terror." The idea of peering into someone's private memories seemed wrong, Hifumi backed away slightly. If Ja'vassa found out, she feared that he might be angry with her, but the intrigue of seeing all of that made her teacher who he was today was too strong to pass up. "Um... what if Sensei's angry at us? There's gotta be a reason he didn't tell you about it..." Her hesitation was understandable, the love Ja'vassa held for her was obvious from the way he looked at her and from the way he spoke to her. "If he's angry, we'll take the blunt of his anger. You're not magically inclined, so you'd have nothing to be blamed for." Rianra assured her as he'd begin to cast the spell; placing his hand onto Ja'vassa's forehead. A deep blue light surrounded both of them for several minutes; the light intensified with each passing second, enveloping both the high elf and the Khajiit on the bed. As the light slowly faded away, revealing a hovering, multicolored ball of light covered in dark spots, some of them darker than others. The group was silent for several moments as they stared at the strange ball in fascination. "So... those are the memories you extracted? What's with the dark spots? Bad memories, perhaps?" Maribelle asked, watching as the ball slowly rotated in Rianra's hand. "Yes. The darker they are, the more traumatic they seem to be. Let's see what they have to show us..." Rianra muttered, pulling on one of the darker spots. His motion produced a mirror that hovered over them, revealing a piece of Ja'vassa's past as seen through his eyes. The mirror revealed three young children playing under his watchful eyes in a quiet part of the city. Relumara's eyes softened slightly, he recognized two of the children, but the third was unknown to him. "I know this place... that's the Solitude Amphitheater, and I'm quite sure that's Kisavi and Tsalira when they were younger, but I'm not sure who the boy is. I don't recall his daughters ever mentioning a brother. Sounds like his name was Ri'saad." As the playback continued, the memory seemed peaceful. The children were cheerfully playing in the amphitheater without a care in the world. For a while, it didn't make any sense why such a memory would've been so dark, but that was until the echoing sound of a crossbow being fired rang out from the shimmering mirror. Before any of them could blink, Ri'saad had fallen; blood pooling on the ground around him. The Dragonborn quickly scooped him up in his arms, but there was little he could do. The bolt was lodged deep within the young Khajiit's neck; by the time it'd be pulled out, he'd have bled to death. A gut wrenching scene to behold, though that was far from the end of it. Ri'saad was gone, the life had faded away from the vibrant green eyes. Though the scene played out from Ja'vassa's perspective, the immense grief and anger could be felt through the pained sobs coming from him. Several towns folks had gathered, watching the scene with confusion and pity; Ja'vassa handed the corpse of his son to one of the guards that gathered, ordering them to bring both Ri'saad and his daughters to the Blue Palace where they'd be safe. With them escorted away, he found the assailant. A crossbow wielding warrior outfitted in the Dawnguard's signature armor. Without hesitation, Ja'vassa hunted the attacker down and struck at him with great fury, launching a barrage of fireballs without pause. The relentless fury of flames knocked the agent to the ground, severely injured and covered in painful burns. He looked towards Ja'vassa, pleading for mercy. Tears of fright streamed down his dirt-caked cheeks, his blood ran cold as he saw the bloodlusted anger in the vampire's eyes. With his sword raised, the Dragonborn dashed and slashed at the agent with a flurry of furious strikes. Every cry of pain and plea for forgiveness fell upon deaf ears, within mere minutes, the Dawnguard warrior was no longer recognizable; the stench of blood and ash drifting upon the wind. Guards and citizens alike watched in horror, none of them willing to step in or say anything; fearing what might happen if they got in his way. Even as the agent laid there, a mangled mess of destroyed armor and flesh, Ja'vassa still wasn't finished. He headed for the front gates of Solitude, though before he could leave, one of the gate guards stopped him, pleading for him to reconsider whatever he was planning to do. No amount of honeyed words, threats of imprisonment, or begging was going to change his mind. Ja'vassa even threatened the guard's life, promising to end him as he did the agent if he didn't move out of the way. As the memory continued to play out on the shimmering mirror, the group's eyes darted from it and towards the unconscious Dragonborn. Hifumi appeared sick, her mind racing; in the time she knew Ja'vassa, he was so kind and gentle, affectionate to her and the other students. To think he was capable of such horrific violence was a difficult pill to swallow; even if she knew he'd never hurt her, to know he'd go to such lengths was terrifying. None of them spoke up, they remained in a horrified silence as their attention returned to the memories that played overhead. A short time had passed and Ja'vassa finally arrived in the Dayspring Canyon where the Dawnguard were headquartered. It became increasingly clear what he intended to do, and those intentions were confirmed as he struck at the unsuspecting agents that patrolled the canyon. They were effortlessly slaughtered and left behind as he moved onto the next; every last Dawnguard warrior he could find was hunted down, butchered like a wild animal and left to rot on the dirt road that led to the entrance to the grand fortress. Not even the innocent refugees that called the canyon home were spared from the brutal violence spewing from the grieving Dragonborn, the horrifying display only continued as he entered the fortress, continuing to sow his path of destruction and blood with each agent that unfortunately found themselves in his line of sight. Whether they were new recruits or veterans of the organization, the only mercy they received was a quick death. One after one another, they had fallen until Dayspring Canyon became an unplanned cemetery for the once noble guild of vampire hunters. Ri'saad was struck down as the Dawnguard believed he was being groomed by his vampiric father, and as a sort of revenge for the agents that Ja'vassa had killed prior. They took his only surviving son and so, he took everything from them. He was content with keeping their clashes to the wilderness of Skyrim like he had since Lord Harkon's fall, but the moment they involved his children was the moment that it changed. However, as he stepped out of the ruined fortress, the old Dragonborn collapsed to his knees; regret and grief ringing in his voice as he sobbed. Mentions of his wife and children who were killed in the first attack on Copperstead, the death of his sister, Ri'saad. The desperate battle with Alduin, the role he was thrust into, his foolish decision to accept the undead blood coursing through his veins. Now, his hands were stained in the blood of innocent lives, even if they had been responsible for planning the attack of his son, that didn't mean every agent was some horrific monster like he was. All of this occurred within a decade, though he's kept much of it bottled up. The increasing pressure, the immense guilt and rage he felt, all of it bubbled up and burst into the lonesome sobs mixed in with the sounds of the heavy rain and thunder claps. Though he's tried his hardest to be the hero that his sister and his wife saw him as, each successive memory they looked at, it became increasingly obvious that he's strayed far from the line. From the brutal slaughter of the Dawnguard to the absolute destruction of Sadrith Kagran and its citizens, the massacre of Markarth guards just prior to him joining the Civil War, and even the destruction of Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood chapter were difficult to watch. They knew Ja'vassa had a difficult past, but none of them expected to bear witness so many horrific deeds. Hifumi swallowed hard, staring at the sleeping Khajiit. "It's hard to believe what I saw. Sensei's been so sweet to me, how could he have done things like this?" She asked softly. "Rage and grief can drive a person to do the unthinkable, Hifumi. I... I wasn't expecting to see any of this either." Relumara replied, his eyes firmly on the memories playing overhead. "I can see the fear in your eyes..." She quickly looked away, unable to meet his gaze. "I know he loves us, but... what if we anger him and he turns on us?" Hifumi asked softly, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "I'm not sure any of us could stop him... I mean, what we saw there, he was clearly much younger." A soft sigh escaped Maribelle's lips as she nodded in agreement. "Our Lord has undoubtedly grown much stronger since then, but... I don't think he'd ever turn his back on us, even in his anger." She placed a hand on Hifumi's shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. "I don't think he'd ever put you in harm's way, my dear. You're too precious to him." In her heart, she knew Maribelle was right, but the fear remained deeply lodged in the back of her head. "I.. I know, but... still. What will the others think? Should we even tell them?" Hifumi asked softly. "I think they have a right to know. If they're as close to Ja'vassa as you are to him, it's only natural they learn more about their beloved teacher." Rianra replied, his tone soft as well. "Perhaps when you return to Kivotos, we can host a meeting with them and the other students he's close to." Before anyone else could speak further, Ja'vassa had begun to stir and awaken. The toxins hadn't completely faded away, but they could no longer hold him in a state of unconsciousness. He slowly sat up, aware of the conversation that took place around him and of the spell placed upon him. "I believe you're right. They deserve to know the truth, to know that... the teacher they look up to is a monster. The things you saw replay in my head on a regular basis, but I've forfeited the right to complain. The blood of hundreds, perhaps thousands have stained my hands. Armani would hate to see what I became. She would fear me... and she'd be right to do so. You should fear me, too." None of them expected him to wake up without warning, they stared at him with a mixture of fear and relief. They were glad to see that Ja'vassa was able to fight off the powerful toxins, but they were afraid of the potential punishments for prying into his darkest secrets. No one said a word, no one moved a muscle, staring at him in a frightened silence.