“Would've been easier to just knock her off the bridge...â€
“Then I would have to be explaining to the whole counsel why I let a Nord run around the college and kill someone,†Felix growled at her and hoisted his bag over his shoulder more comfortably, “You know, when I said let's go smash some stuff, I didn't mean people's faces.â€
“She insulted me!†Nina said, rubbing her hand gingerly from the punch, “Called me a mindless barbarian, that stupid little knife-ear....â€
“Well, weren't you?†the Breton asked, smiling a little as she scowled at him; the effect was only lessened by the fact the snow was starting to fall heavily upon the group and cloud their vision, “You did threaten to throw her off the bridge as your first impression.â€
“She's a mage, I'm sure she knows how to fly,†she mumbled and shrugged.
“Yes, I'm sure she could have....three hundred years ago, when it was still legal,†he rolled his eyes.
“Oi, just like that waterwalking deal....too many people were drowning walking on the ocean, the morons. Ya know, I say let nature deal them out. If they don't want to take a ship, that's their own damn problem, but don't make the rest of us suffer for it. Nothing like a few floating bodies to set an example for the others.â€
“'The rest of us'?†Felix asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“You know who I'm talking about,†she shook her head quickly and glared at him.
“Uh huh.....well, same problem with flying. At least so the counsel claimed.â€
“Didn't they also ban necromancy?â€
“Mages Guild did that, not us. Speaking of mages....why the sudden fascination in magic, Nina?†he asked and laughed at the look on her face.
“How about trying to distract you from the fact I hurt your little elf friend?†Nina replied. It was Felix's turn to glare at her, “I had a very good excuse for doing what I did!â€
“She insulted you....with words. How does that justify getting half of her face broken into?!â€
“She's an Altmer, she really doesn't need an excuse.â€
Felix sighed exasperatedly, “By the gods, Nina......you know, not all high elves are part of the Thalmor.â€
“Well sorry if I nearly got killed by knife-ears a million times in a row,†she yelled, a tone in her voice that suggested that they were done with that particular conversation or else she was going to make it stop, “But if the mages banned waterwalking, then why didn't they do the same thing for waterbreathing? I mean, that's the same damn thing. The spell wears off and, oh look, you're stuck in a ship on the bottom of the lake. Really, I don't think somebody thought this through very well when they proposed it.â€
“And here I thought you hated magic,†Felix said with a chuckle.
“You know, you don't always have to be a mage to know what common sense is, and that was just not common sense on their part. Just like that cave entrance,†she said, pointing her finger at distant figures through the heavy snow. Strange blue light shined across the snow and towering glaciers that surrounded the entrance, certainly not the likes of which Nina had ever seen before, “Doesn't that just yell 'rob me!'?†she asked and grinned.
“Kvenin did say that Lecelle wanted no further delays...†Felix replied quietly.
“When he said that, I didn't think this Lecelle guy would be literally yelling 'come on in! It's nice and comfortable! Free food and ale for everybody!',†she joked animatedly, her hands beckoning to invisible people to come towards her before finally groaning, “Oh, I can tell this is going to be a very nasty trap...â€
Felix was more than inclined to agree with her, even have a fleeting thought of abandoning the whole mission. But feeling the presence of the small skull-carved stone in his pocket, he set his shoulder straight and said with an air of resolve, “Nevertheless, we need to face Lecelle.....or rather, I have to face him,†he added quietly and looked at Nina, “If, um, this is too--â€
“Felix, I have nothing better to do than to go to a slum-city and deal with an army of drunken soldiers,†Nina interrupted, holding a hand up to silence him before smirking, “So how about we just go in there, kick Lecelle's butt, and come out with you being daedra-free, hm?â€
“Not sure if it'll be that simple,†he said honestly, “This is daedra princes we are talking about here. Vaermina, of all the gods.â€
“Fine, then just kicking Lecelle's poor, doomed rump. I ain't coming out of that place without giving that guy some bit of Oblivion to remember me by. I'll even make Vaermina look tame, if you want me to.â€
Felix laughed and patted Nina on the shoulder, “As long as you leave some for me.â€
Nina erred and shrugged before finally relenting. Just as the sky was darkening in approach to the coming night, they made it to the entrance of the cave. The sounds of the ocean could be heard right next to them and while Nina scowled at the sources of light, floating balls of unnaturally bright light, she said nothing as they ducked under the frozen rock out of the snowstorm. The two took a small break as Felix warmed up his hands, giving Nina time to scout ahead for any signs of enemies or traps. But instead, “....Yo, Felix?â€
“What?â€
“Okay, I may just be an idiot and just not recognize this, but....did the Dwarves use white rock for their structures?â€
“White rock?†Felix blinked a little in surprise, “No, the Dwemer used natural stone and dwarven metal. There's really no white rock around Skyrim. I could be mistaken, but that was what I last heard.â€
“Well then, who'd the dumb idiot to be using white rocks?†she yelled, which made Felix frown and rush over to Nina's position, driven by curiosity and a bit of sheer annoyance that she couldn't come over herself.
But that annoyance was soon forgotten as he laid his eyes upon the clean, white block that protruded from the cave's walls; nothing carved onto the stone, and not a shred of metal to be found, “....could be Chimer, but I never heard of any of them coming this far north, and they were more fond of mazes than straight-shot tunnels...†he commented as he looked further down the cavern, where more of the mysterious architecture could be seen.
“Well, whoever was the architect didn't think ahead far enough...it's a miracle this tunnel hasn't collapsed yet,†Nina mumbled and kicked the rock with her boot, “Alright, rule number one on this expedition: don't blow anything up. Unless in an emergency. Even then, don't blow anything up. I don't know if this place even has a back door after this, and I don't want to know when we're trapped.â€
“I'll try...†he said and suddenly groaned, leaning into the wall next to him as he clutched at his head. His head felt like it was being split apart into several pieces, “Argh!â€
“What?†Nina said quickly, snapping her head around to look at Felix. Seeing him about to collapse, she rushed over and quickly brought him down onto the smooth ground, mumbling a few vulgar words under her breath as she placed the back of her hand on his head and noticing he was feverish, “Dammit....I said last resort, you know.â€
The Breton shook his head and slammed his head into the wall, in hopes of diverting some of the pain; unfortunately, he ended up seeing double for a moment as the pain worsened and had to resist the urge to throw up all over Nina, “I know, but....well, it was. The last resort, I mean. But I think it's wearing off....â€
“Feels like nails be pounded against your head?â€
“Worse.â€
“Of course it is,†Nina said and sighed, “That would be the side effects from the potion. After the headache, you'll get a fever, start shaking a little....well, apparently a lot in your case, then get a little hyper, maybe a little bloodletting, then you get a major crash. After that, should be no problems, hopefully....â€
“Er....b-bloodletting?â€
“You start coughing up blood.â€
Felix blinked at her and gave her a wary look, “Erm....i-is this safe?â€
“If it was safe, I would have given it to you without complaining. Of course it's not safe!â€
“And....you still gave me this?â€
“Kept you awake, didn't it?â€
“Well yes, but it's wearing off now!â€
“Yeah, you'll be sleeping all the way home, most like.â€
“Sleeping? T-that's not good thing, Nina,†Felix said, a hint of fear in his voice, “I can't sleep, you know that.â€
“Yeah yeah, I know....daedra,†she said and waved her hand to silence him, “I know that. You got a couple of days before that crash kicks in. So, how about we stop yammering about ethical stuff and go smash this Lecelle person's head quickly, hm? Cause you're starting to get feverish.â€
He nodded; apparently even that little shake he made was too much as he suddenly groaned and clutched at his head, “By the gods....Nina, you drink this stuff? Why?†he asked, looking at her with worry.
She regarded him silently for several moments before shaking her head, “The headache won't last long. Couple of minutes and you should be able to start walking again. Just mind your aim when your hands start shaking, aye?â€
Felix noticed she had dodged the question and opened his mouth to ask it again, only for Nina to interrupt, “Felix, please...it's been a long few days, I'm already getting sick of all this magic here, and you've been asking me very personal questions of the late,†she gave a sort of a sad half-smile, “Let's just go kill some rogue wizards and forget about my stinkin' life, okay? It's really not that interesting.â€
“I beg to differ.....†Felix muttered and shook his head softly, “I-I think the headache's getting better?â€
“Oi, take your time,†she said quietly, “I'd hate to have to face all those zombies by myself, you know.â€
“Zombies?â€
“That's what it's smelling like at the moment. Wonderful necromancers are, aren't they?â€
Or daedra, Felix mused to himself and slowly managed to work his way up on the wall, his head pounding from the exertion, but thankfully without feeling like he was going to black out, “Okay, I think I'm....I think I'm okay. We should....get going....â€
“Ugh....You people never listen, and yet you wonder why I prefer solitary confinement...†Nina couldn't help but mutter and stayed next to Felix, helping him down the steep slope into the strange new ruins, “So whenever you feel up to it, how about telling me a little bit about Lecelle?â€