EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As worried as Julan was about the details of what was about to happen, he did not hesitate to nod in acceptance of Janius' offer. If his father met with his parents, then there was no escaping the fact that they would learn what he and Rhazii had truly done the previous night. He hoped that the meeting itself would convince his father that they had done the right thing, so they would not be punished. At the very least, he wanted to be there to be able to defend himself in the moment.

"I'll come, definitely. I know it won't be a real nice visit or anything, but...maybe I can help?" Julan suggested. "And it's not like he can hurt us or anything. All he do is just get real mad, and we can just ignore that if we want, since he's not in charge of us."

While Fendros was absorbed into his training with Sabine, Ahnasha was free to respond to the fact that Kaleeth and Janius had joined them. There was little question as to what their visit was about, even before she heard them talking to the children. As such, she took a break from watching Fendros to walking over and joining the conversation.

"I see you've come to a decision. You sure on everything you want to do? You need any help?" Ahnasha offered.

---

"This land, or this building specifically?" Meesei asked as she looked around the room. It was dusty and did not look like it had been used in some time, though it still had a certain beauty to it. The architecture in Alinor tended to be pristine in a way that reminded her of the Ayleid ruins her clan had once used as a home. The beauty of it was more apparent when she gazed out of the window down onto the garden outside. Meesei could not yet know the purpose of the building they were in; perhaps it was a private residence, a government building, or a hall for a guild of mages. In any case, they were certainly in a wealthy area, and Meesei would likely want to follow Lunise's lead.

"I shall admit, I did not anticipate you bringing us somewhere indoors. Not that it was dangerous, by any means. As you saw, the spell is able to correct for obstructions...somewhat seamlessly." Meesei commented. "At any rate, the portal was not subtle, so any mages in the building may have felt a magical charge in the air, if they were paying attention. I will follow your lead, naturally. So, what is this place, exactly?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It was a short walk to the courtyard, and fortunately, they did not have to do any more searching to find the children. They still were not permitted to go anywhere else outside the castle, so there was likely nothing else to do for them that would be more exciting than watching Sabine and Fendros train. It was also not a private location, and there were guards posted in the courtyard as well. The majority were simply passing the time observing Sabine and Fendros as well, but they would have to keep their presence in mind when talking to the children.

Julan noticed his parents before they approached, so he practically sprung up from where he was resting to meet them halfway. His mind had been filled with thoughts about the plans they had made the previous day, so naturally, his first thoughts were that it could finally be time for them to finally visit Janius' parents together. He was excited enough that he ended up being speechless when he finally reached his father. He simply looked up expectantly at Janius, wide-eyed.

---

While Lunise was visualizing the destination, Meesei concentrated on finalizing the spell. Lunise's image of their destination did not need to be identical to the location's current state. It needed only form a strong enough connection to the location to give her spell an anchor point to latch onto. Evidently, the structure of the area that Lunise imagined was close enough to reality to form a connection, as Meesei was able to feel the final piece of the spell fall into place. Meesei closed her eyes and exhaled as she slowly pushed the glowing orb slightly away from them, held her hands out in front of her, then charged another surge of magicka through them as she spread them apart to finally open the portal itself.

The portal itself bore a resemblance to a conjurer's portal when summoning Daedra, except red in hue and with more tendrils of energy swirling around it. Unfortunately, they could not see through the portal, so Meesei still did not know exactly where they would be going. "Okay, just take my hand and walk through with me. It will close immediately afterwards, so we need to go through at the same time." She explained as she reached over to grab Lunise's hand. It was not strictly necessary for them to be in contact as they walked through, but it would help to ensure they both went through at the same time.

Since it was draining to keep the portal open, Meesei stepped through with Lunise fairly quickly. The portal had opened approximately where Lunise had envisioned, but there had happened to be something obstructing the exact location that Lunise had imagined. As a result, the portal had opened a few feet back...and a few feet in the air. It was a short drop, but it surprised Meesei enough that she fell to her knees as soon as she walked out of the portal.

Meesei stood up quickly and dusted off her dress. "Oh, I see. In case of an obstruction, I need to consciously invert the..." She began before interrupting herself as she turned her attention to Lunise beside her. "...right, sorry."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth nodded. "Okay. If anything unexpected happens, I will be ready to take him away. If I had to guess, I would say that Rhazii will probably want to come as well. He seemed to like talking to Aurana last night, and the Khajiit. Jatinha, if I remember. Your parents might see it as a...strange family, but hopefully they will give us a chance to explain everything. Well, to give them a story about everything, at least."

"Since Julan already told Aurana a story about us, we should probably stick with that one, right? He said we all work with the Penitus Oculatus, which I guess we can make believable." Kaleeth asked.

---

"Hmm, I always preferred warm colors anyway." Meesei commented, her tone fairly neutral.

Meesei stepped out into the middle of the room to give herself more space. "This room is as good as any other, so I suppose we can begin. I will start the spell, and you can add your own raw magicka to it if you would like to help. I can give it the proper shape. It will take a minute or two for me to complete the spell." She explained as she extended her hand out in front of her and began charging magicka through it. Quite a lot of magicka, in fact. For most mages, the spell she was casting would be beyond their ability to cast without some other source of magicka. However, Meesei's magicka reserves were far greater than most, which Lunise would be able to determine fairly quickly.

As the spell progressed, a red orb of light started growing in the air in front of Meesei. It's energy much resembled that of the propylons Meesei had created. After a minute, that energy was swirling around the orb in a way that made for an appealing light show. "Okay, I should be ready now. I need you to place your hand into the orb, then envision your destination in as much detail as possible. Just be careful where you place us, as the perspective from which you are recalling the destination will be the exact place that the portal sends us. I will have no way of knowing the destination you give until we arrive. Really, you could be sending us anywhere in the world. So, I suppose I will have to place my trust in you." She said, looking over to Lunise with a lighthearted grin.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"That makes sense." Kaleeth said with a brief nod. "I will follow your lead. Though, I'm sure they will want to meet me too...for better or for worse. I just hope that us being there doesn't distract too much from Aurana's issues. No matter what emotions they are, your parents will have to feel something strongly after seeing their long-dead son alive again. But, if we don't show up there ourselves, we probably won't be able to accomplish anything for Aurana. It's just a difficult situation from every angle."

Reaching over, Kaleeth placed her hand on Janius'. "But whatever the problems are, I'll be there with you. Just...do you think we should let the children come too? I know Julan wanted to meet his grandparents, if he hasn't already."

---

Meesei breathed out a quick laugh. "Indeed, but I suspected you would come by today. I was not certain of where exactly in Alinor you intended me to bring us, so I wanted to be prepared. It is my understanding that Alinor has a certain higher standard for fashion than Bravil, correct? Granted, I would venture to say that most places in Tamriel have higher standards than this...city."

Meesei had already prepared herself to open the portal to the Summerset Isles. The magic was, in principle, exactly the same as the magic she had used to create the propylon network. After all, the propylons were, at a basic level, simply enchanted stones. And an enchantment was just a spell bound to an object, so the magic did not necessarily require an object in order to be cast. In fact, Meesei had opened portals briefly when she was learning how to make the enchantment; she would just need to apply that knowledge over a longer distance. "As for how we are going to make this journey, I can open a portal to anywhere in this plane of existence, and perhaps some others. But, there is a limitation in that I have to be able to...connect to the destination, so to speak. I need to be able to understand the destination, so practically speaking, I have to either be able to visualize the destination myself, or cast the spell with someone who can visualize it. While I have committed a few locations in Alinor to memory, they are probably not close to where you wish to go. So, all I need from you is to select a destination in your mind and visualize it when it is time. Well, I also would not mind it if you added some of your own magicka to the spell, to make it easier on me. It can be rather draining." She explained.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It was later in the day than the pack usually awoke. Kaleeth and Janius mostly had the mess hall to themselves, since the guards had their meals hours ago. Even so, not everyone had slept particularly well. Kaleeth had been awake in bed for an hour or so the previous night thinking about their plans for the next day, but she had a feeling that Janius had been awake for even longer.

Kaleeth shook her head. "I tried, but I don't think that anything that would work with my parents would really work with yours. They're too different. I think your ideas might be the best...if you don't mind your parents being angry at you. I guess if we say we'll take the blame, then Aurana should be confident enough to speak out for herself. But, we might not want to try to take any blame unless they get really angry at her. If we try to take the blame away from her, then they might just ignore anything she said."

---

Since the rest of her pack all had somewhere else they either needed or wanted to be, Meesei had simply remained in the barracks they had been given. Janius and Kaleeth intended to deal with his parents, Sabine, Fendros, Ahnasha, and the children had all gone to the courtyard for training, and even Lorag stated his intention of discussing with Marod how some of the information they had recently learned might change the details of the strategy they had been taking against Vile. With all they had to worry about, no one had so much as questioned what Meesei intended to do for the day.

As opposed to her usual attire, Meesei had put on the nicest dress she could acquire in preparation for her planned trip to Alinor. Provided that Lunise decided to follow through with their plans, Meesei was not entirely sure of exactly where she intended to take her. But, she hoped that her clothes, despite not being in an Altmer style, would be enough to allow her not to stand out even more than she already would. It was blue with green embroidery and, as it was not exactly her size, fit around her rather tightly. Overall, she did not appear as a noble by any means, but she could pass as someone in the merchant class.

When Lunise finally entered the barracks, Meesei stood and greeted Lunise with a smile. "Ah, good afternoon."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think I shall let you set up whatever scenes you like for the next day. Mostly because I really need to get to bed at the moment. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For the first time during their conversation, Meesei was actually visibly surprised but the sudden turn that Lunise had made. Even Meesei was not exactly sure what she had done that prompted it, but she certainly appreciated Lunise's relatively emotional display. Perhaps more than she would care to admit aloud. "Thank you, I...shall be looking forward to tomorrow. And may the Huntsman guide you as well."

Eventually, Meesei returned to the barracks in a far more hopeful mood than when she had first left. While Thalmor had a tendency to be cold and disdainful towards much of the rest of Tamriel, Meesei was glad to have taken a chance with Lunise. There were few in the world who could be considered truly irredeemable, and Meesei saw Lunise as someone who could be a great ally, and perhaps even a legitimate friend. She was already showing signs of overcoming at least some of the prejudices instilled in her by the Thalmor, and Meesei was not entirely sure of what to think of Lunise's last farewell. She supposed she would have to wait until the next day to see how a night's rest influenced the Justiciar.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei's expression slowly shifted from being solemn, to a moderate grin once more. "I have been even kinder to my friends before, when they allow it. Indeed, I think you may find several members of my family to be more...amicable than you might expect. Regardless, I believe we should both get some rest. It is late, and I feel we both deserve some sleep. It should not be difficult to find me tomorrow, whenever you are ready. I do not plan on leaving the castle grounds."

Walking up closer to Lunise, Meesei reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know we have had our differences in the past, Lunise, but...I am glad to have you with us, truly. Were it anyone else, anyone less...principled than you, then Tamriel might not have as much hope in its future. Sleep well, Lunise." Meesei said before turning and beginning to walk towards the door.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei held a similar frustration as Lunise herself. She did understand Lunise's reservations, particularly since she likely was having a difficult time trusting anyone at the moment. "As far as I am concerned, Lunise, those documents are yours. I already have all of the information I need from Areldril. They are certainly dangerous, but they could still be useful to you. I would not recommend taking them back to your superiors. I would report the mission as a failure, then find somewhere safe to hide the documents. You need not tell me where, just keep them secure. Trust me, I have as much of an interest as you in keeping the Dominion stable. About a third of my people are Dominion citizens, and I have as much of a responsibility to them as I do to those in the Empire, or other independent nations. It is why I want to help you find a way to stop your superiors' plans without unmaking the Dominion itself...as long as I am able to help."

Meesei gave a long sigh at the uncomfortable thought she was about to address. "I will not lie to you, Lunise, I may not be long for this world. For all of the power and ability that I have, the odds I am going to be facing in the coming days are not favorable. What is demanded of me is to lead a charge into Oblivion itself to essentially kill a god. Granted, it would not be the first time a mortal has succeeded in that task, but I am going to be at the forefront of that battle. Even if we do succeed...I have to plan for the possibility that I may not live to see it. The world will still not be safe after Vile is defeated, so I want to be sure that there are still people left to fight for this world if I am gone. I certainly trust that Marod and the Empire will be opposing the Dominion's plans. That much is obvious to everyone involved. But, I do not trust that the Empire will do so in a way that prevents the Dominion from falling into chaos. No, instability in the Dominion would only be of great benefit to the Empire. Regardless of Marod's opinions, his superiors will not care about the Dominion's people. You could help prevent that, and I will offer whatever resources I can give to help you. But we need to have some trust for each other. I am not asking you to part from those documents. Take whatever time you need to hide them, make sure they are safe. Then, perhaps I can start to try to prove to you that I can be trusted?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With Lunise's back turned to her, Meesei charged a spell. Instead of glowing as usual, her hand was encompassed in shadow. Then, in an instant, Lunise would suddenly find that Meesei was standing across the table from her, with small wisps of a shadowy energy dissipating around her as the only evidence of what she had done. It was shadow magic, the craft of the ancient nightblades. It was not the kind of magic that would take one such a long distance as Meesei had been describing, but she believed it would serve her point nonetheless. "I would not be so skeptical, Lunise. Much of the time, knowledge is never truly lost. It merely goes dormant."

"Regardless, you may be correct that tomorrow may not be an appropriate time to leave. I suppose we still have much to decide. But, I would not put the idea out of your mind entirely, Lunise." Meesei said. Letting out a sigh, she raised up her hand and looked down at it, charging the raw energies of shadow magic through it. Her expression rather suddenly turned sullen, regretful. "All of this power, these abilities, they did not come without cost. I was a terrible fool in even attempting to acquire them. I am certainly more powerful now, of that there is no question. But...you can trust me when I say that isolating yourself from your family, friends, and anyone else you may care about can be a terrible mistake. I wanted to bring an end to this war, but in doing so, I nearly lost my own life, and almost destroyed my relationships with those I hold most dear. I want to keep you from making the same mistakes I did, Lunise. I want to let you go back to your homeland and remind yourself of why you are doing what you are doing. Isolating yourself from such things for too long can warp your perspective more than you might expect."