Claimed: A Thieves Guild Fanfiction [Revised&Edited]

Chapter 21

  "This may not go our way." Karliah's voice was soft as the two of them crept silently down the damp entrance to the Ragged Flagon. Arsha nodded in the dark, even though the action would be hidden by the gloom. Her thoughts turned to the past few days as she stepped around a puddle, the water mirroring her shadowy figure.

Arsha had barely had time to breathe these last few days. After she had spoken to Enthir at the College, she had been sent to collect a rubbing of some translation because the language that Gallus had written his journal in was the language of the Falmer. The Falmer! Arsha had to admit the lengths that Gallus had gone through to keep the contents of his journal secret were rather impressive. After a fair amount of sneaking and several close calls with some dwemer machinery, Arsha had finally obtained the information that Enthir had needed.

When she had returned to the mage, Karliah had been there. The two of them had waited with baited breath as Enthir had translated the small journal. After what had seemed like an eternity, Enthir had let out a low whistle. He had gone on to explain that had Gallus thought that Mercer had been stealing from the Guild vault for years. He also said the Frey had desecrated something called the Twilight Sepulcher. Karliah had murmured something to Enthir and then the two of them had left for Riften, evidence of Mercer's extreme betrayal in hand.

On the way back, Arsha had asked about the Twilight Sepulcher. Karliah had given a deep sigh before saying, "You've come this far, I don't see a reason to hide it from you any longer. The Twilight Sepulcher is a temple to the goddess Nocturnal that the Nightingales are sworn to protect. If Mercer truly has defiled it, we are in much graver danger than I had thought."

The rest of the trip had been silent, which had left Arsha to her unpleasant thoughts. With each step that they had taken towards Riften, the memories of her time as the Dragonborn had become more and more prominent in her mind. Now that they were standing outside of the door to the Cistern, her mind felt as if it were on fire. Each memory was a blazing beacon of pain for her, and she knew that seeing Brynjolf would only make it worse. As Karliah slowly pushed the door open, Arsha wondered if it would have been better for Brynjolf if he never knew that she was actually alive. It was too late now, and so Arsha stepped firmly through the door, pushing her pain to the back of her mind. She had more important things to worry about.

Brynjolf heard the door to the Cistern creak open and his eyes immediately shot that direction. When he saw the two figures standing in the doorway, he stood angrily and strode towards them, fury in every step.

"You!" Brynjolf's voice was venom as he spat the word at the woman in the front. "How dare you come here after all you've done! You took Gallus and now you've taken Arsha too. Isn't that enough, Karliah?" Karliah flinched slightly at Gallus's name.

"Brynjolf, please just listen to me. I have proof that you've all been deceived," Karliah pleaded, but her words fell on deaf ears.

"Why would I believe a single word you say? All you've ever done is lie to us!" If Karliah seriously thought that Brynjolf would fall for her trickery again, she had another thing coming.

From the shadows behind Karliah, the other figure stepped forward, seeming hesitant to do so. "Bryn," the voice was soft, but Brynjolf still recognized it. How could he not? "Please, just listen to Karliah. Please, hear her out," Arsha sounded sincere, but Brynjolf barely heard her. He was too focused on the fact that the lass wasn't dead. Mercer had said that she was dead!

"How..." Brynjolf didn't even know how to ask what was happening. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Arsha visibly flinched at his words, which made a bolt of shame flash through him. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh. "That sounded bad. I'm sorry, lass. Mercer told me that Karliah had killed you."