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Her mind continued to spiral, knowledge in its rawest form, no longer bound to physical reality burned its way through the it. It was everything, that book was everything, she was everything. The Word Hermaeus Mora had spoken- no, impressed, into her circled her mind unlike anything she'd ever processed. That Word of Power, that piece of knowledge that normally flowed into her as easy as breathing was now pulsing through her mind like a migraine. This was not normal. This was not how the Words were supposed to enter her, how she was supposed to learn them. She wasn't even sure if her physical body would retain the ability, nothing made sense anymore. In the split seconds that she remained in Apocrypha, her mind collapsed. The infinite on infinite books, the stacks so high yet they bent like tendrils of some hideous aberration, the weight of all the raw unfiltered knowledge breaking her mind like glass under a hammer. How she'd survived without breaking was now life's greatest mystery, the foundation of her sanity only maintained by the knowledge that she wasn't physically here, or at least she wasn't supposed to be for much longer. The book that stood in front of her twisted and writhed, pulsing with hideous intelligence. For a singular moment, Savyrra understood knowledge.
The first thing Savyrra realized was that she was on the ground. Her eyes weren't open yet, but she felt the cold stone and metal of the dwemer ruin beneath her.
That's right she thought Nchardak
Savyrra's eyes slowly opened, the dull light of the room revealing the concerned face of Brelyna looking down at her, her body crouched in front of her.
"Hey, you okay?" Brelyna whispered.
Savyrra looked around, still taking in the fact that her mind was intact. Neloth stood to the side, looking down at the two dunmer women, eyes fixated on the book between them. She closed her eyes again, forcing herself to become truly aware of herself once more. She was here to find the Black Book, she did that, she read the book, and then…
"Hey!"
Savyrra snapped to Brelyna, "Yeah? S-sorry, I'm…" Nothing came to her mind, whatever experience she'd had in Apocrypha wasn't there. But she knew what she'd learned.
"It's okay, I'm just worried about you… like usual." Brelyna forced a smile. Savyrra appreciated it, but she knew Brelyna's worries ran deep. They'd known each other long enough to read each other like-
"Are you two going to lay there making eyes at each other all day? Or are we going to get moving?" Neloth fussed, his arms folded, "What happened. What did you see?"
"I-" Savyrra racked her brain for something, anything to recall. She'd been in Apocrypha for some time it felt like, a couple hours maybe? She'd learned… something- no, a few things. A new Word, the second one for that Shout, Bend Will. She'd struck a deal of sorts for the final Word. She had to find Storn again. "I think I spoke with Hermaeus Mora."
"Hmph, you're surprisingly still sane by the looks of it. Well, out with it, what did he want from you?"
"He-"
"I'm sorry, but can we have a moment?" Brelyna interjected, glaring at Neloth, "She just got out of that blasted book and you're already grilling her!" She turned back to Savyrra, "Let's get you off the ground."
Brelyna wrapped one of Savyrra's arms around her and pulled the two of them upward. Savyrra's knees felt weak, but otherwise, her body was intact. A slight headache coursed between her temples, but it was nowhere near as horrible as had been just a minute ago. The two made their way over to the wall before slumping onto it and sitting down. Brelyna then removed Savyrra's arm from her shoulder, setting it on her lap and clasping it in her hand. The two's thumbs wiggled around each other, a small game they played almost reflexively. A smile crept over Savyrra's lips, it felt like a lifetime had passed since they'd done it last.
Neloth glared at them, arms still crossed, "Well? We don't have time to sit and ogle each other. What did old Mora want from you?"
"Oh you-"
Savyrra put a hand up, "It's fine. I'm fine Bre." She turned to Neloth, "He wanted the Skaal's knowledge. Something about it being hidden from him."
Neloth rolled his eyes, "Hmph. What secrets could they have worth keeping from him? Sounds like a bargain to me." He reached down and plucked the small travel bag he'd brought with him from its spot leaning on the lectern, "I need to get back to Tel Mithryn. This has given me a lot to think about. Come talk to me once the two of you are done canoodling." He turned and strode out of the room back into the Solstheim wilderness.
The two women sat for a second, wondering how to break the silence the third dunmer had left behind. Brelyna laid her head on Savyrra's shoulder, Savyrra's onto Brelyna's head.
"He'll be fine, right?"
"Probably, it's only a few hours trek. And now he knows to avoid the coast." Savyrra chuckled.
The two dunmer sat in silence once more, fingers still intertwined. Savyrra wondered if Brelyna had tried to touch her when she was in Apocrypha. If she had, it certainly hadn't come through. Savyrra squeezed Brelyna's hand in response to that thought, she didn't want to do that again. The first time had been strange enough, but she'd assumed it was Miraak's power causing her mind that strain. Now she knew that that realm of Oblivion was too much for a mortal to truly handle. She'd probably had permission to be sane there, Hermaeus Mora watching her like she was some animal doing a trick, a curiosity, a plaything. She respected the Daedra like she'd been raised to, but Mora was not one of the ones she worshipped. He was a trickster to her, a hoarder of knowledge, only doling it out when it would suit him most. And she'd taken his deal. Was she really that desperate? Was Miraak that big of a threat? Savyrra hated seeing her home, her people, enslaved like this. As much as she disliked the Nords, their resilience was admirable and she'd hoped they would've had an answer, but no luck there. It was too much to take in sometimes, she'd only been a student a month ago and now she was dragonborn. No, she was the Dragonborn, supposed savior of Skyrim, a land she didn't particularly like. What cruel joke fate had laid out for her. And now the one place she'd thought could be a refuge, even for a moment, wasn't there for her. She wanted to curse those Nords' Divines, curse those dragons, curse the people, it was all stupid, all for nothing, nothing for her at least. What's even the poi-
"Sav?"
"Yeah?"
"You're crushing my hand again."
Savyrra released her grip on Brelyna's hand, not realizing she'd been slowing crushing it in a vice of her own creation, "Oh sorry, I-"
"It's fine, I get it." Brelyna pulled her head up to look at Savyrra, "What's wrong?"
Savyrra looked down at her feet, "Remember back in Winterhold, when I first told you I was Dragonborn?"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah…" Savyrra glanced around the room. The old dwemer ruin seemed so small now. Everything was small now. Savyrra had only been to Winterhold and the college before a month ago. The whole of Skyrim had seemed so vast then, it had kinda scared her. Now it was just cities on a map, separated by mountains, wildlife, and politics. It'd taken nearly two weeks just to get back to the college from Helgen, and once she did, it felt like a completely different place. Savyrra supposed she was the one who'd changed, but she didn't feel like she had. Everyone looked at her different, like she was some new celebrity, or worse, a politician. Brelyna still treated her the same though. She smiled at that thought, glancing over at the dunmer next to her.
"Hey Bre?"
"Yeah?"
"Can we sit here for a while?"
"I thought that was the plan."