An illustrated Skyrim story beyond the fall of the Dark Brotherhood~
After a surreal event, Cicero is inexplicably thrown back into a clear state of mind and his memories from his life prior to his madness return. We begin to learn who he really is...
"He's your companion. You let him live. You allowed him back into the Sanctuary-"
"Sparing him was the right thing to do," Jade said under her breath, "He was speaking the truth-"
Nazir shook his head and held his hand up, "That's in the past. I need to talk to you about what he's doing now."
"Good Lord Sithis," she groaned, "I'm not his keeper, either."
"I am aware of this, my Listener, but have you seen him lately?"
Jade squinted one eye trying to think, "Not really. Frankly, I've been enjoying his absence in this downtime..."
"Oh, he's not absent. He's different." Nazir explained, "He's dressing in shrouded armor and speaking in-..."
Jade folded her hands on the table and stared, waiting for him to finish. "Riddles?" she asked, "Limericks? Ancient tongues?" she nodded to the books on the table between them.
"...A normal manner."
"...okay?"
"I mean, he's not acting like a clown anymore. He's speaking in natural sentences and no longer referring to himself in the third person. He's no longer dancing randomly in the halls, which, I honestly have no complaints about. That nonsense was getting on my last nerve," Nazir rubbed his face.
"So, you're saying he's not acting annoying?" Jade chuckled, "and you're upset about this... why?"
"I'm not upset, so much as concerned," he continued, "His sudden shift in personality is perplexing, sure... but I feel that something is wrong and I want you to keep an eye on it."
"Cicero is random. That's just what he does. He's probably messing with us-"
"I think the Night Mother starting to disintegrate has something to do with this."
"Yeah, that actually has me concerned as well," Jade lowered her voice.
"He began acting strange the day it started and it's only escalated. I'd rather his 'random' behavior not have a negative impact on our attempt to rebuild the Brotherhood."
Jade nodded in agreement. She knew that Cicero was going to end up being a problem, but it happened much sooner than she thought.
Sage grabbed some wooden bowls and Ruby knew that was the signal that it was time to eat. She skipped down the hall and into the living quarters to find Cicero. She had a feeling of pride being part of the lovely meals that they'd been having lately. Every night there was something new and unique that her taste buds had never experienced before. She remembered growing up eating a bitter-tasting fungus with her brothers and sisters. It made her mouth tingle and her vision blur. She always felt thirsty right after. There wasn't much variety for the slaves of the Dwemer in the way of culinary selection.
Ruby rounded the corner into the initiate quarters and immediately froze. Cicero was sitting on a bed in his underwear beside the new girl, speaking in a quiet tone. The initiate placed her hand on his chest. Ruby felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise and she quickly dipped back out of the room before they saw her. She pressed her back against the wall beside the door and held her breath as her eyes filled with tears.
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