Mkay, ya'll, this chapter is super sketchy and unedited because I am using a backup cheap computer at my dad's house and my dyslexia has just been kicking my ASS. I reminded all of you as well that chapters are going to be inconsistent because I have a lot of shit going on.

This chapter is really Soruy intensive, because it is time for me to explain shit behind them, and I also miss writing Soruy moments. And it's also part of the outline, so, yeah.

But I am SUPER late on this chapter so, as an apology, here is a picture of my cat wearing some tissue paper as a headband.

I love her more than life itself.

~

Ruy was seated outside Keefe's cell, leaning against the bars as he explained where he has been. He constantly checked down the halls, looking for anybody who could be overhearing or spying.

"But, Mesmer powers don't work like that, right? Maha would have to constantly be drained and focused on keeping you under control?" Keefe whispered.

Ruy shook his head, "Not exactly. The way Vatarian Mesmer powers work is more on duration rather than potency. Elven mesmers are able to keep a tighter hold on their victim's brain, make them do more complicated tasks, or tap into their intelligence. Though Vatarian mesmers cant do that, they are able on controlling minds for a long time and at long distances with little drain."

Keefe hummed in understanding, his arms crossed.

"They won't believe me if I say I was mesmerized," Keefe said plainly, stretching out slightly.

"Maybe we can find you a way out of here rather than making you a spy." Ruy proposed. Keefe side-eyed him, "What about your mother?"

"What about her?" Ruy hissed.

Keefe shrugged, "Ruy, Vespera is a smart ruthless woman. But you have to admit that her claiming you are being mesmerised is a bit... far fetched. She knows better than that."

Ruy rolled his eyes, "And?"

"It's no secret that Vespera's emotional center was shattered years ago, and all of those broken little bits of Vespera are creating interesting habits and actions in her. She mostly keeps them under wraps but... from what I know of her, her emotions are manifesting in interesting ways. Anger is a natural emotion everyone falls to when their goals are blocked, and that is an emotion Vespera still has. But the others are so broken and shattered that they have a hard time manifesting, but they still exist." Keefe explained. It all clicked in Ruy's head, he knew all too well anger was one of his mother's specialties.

"Where are you going with this?" Ruy sighed.

"Besides anger, which she sometimes lets slip through, she is emotionless. But there are two other emotions she has shown. Pride and love."

"The pride she has shown a few times, I know, but love?"

"She was in love with Allesandro, right? Well, after that crashed and burned, her emotional center never fully recovered, since it was in the middle of shattering. But there is one thing that her sense of love has latched onto that is manifesting."

Keefe looked at Ruy, bristling slightly, "You."

Ruy froze, his jaw clenched. "Vespera was the farthest thing from a loving kind mother."

"It is something that naturally happens to all parents, especially empaths. They create bonds to children and family that is always going to be there, no matter what happens to them or the children. She never intentionally created it, she never truly felt it, but a small part of her mind loved you, but because her emotional center was so damaged, she could never manifest it into nurturement for you. But that small little part in her mind that still holds onto that natural bond, is tricking her into thinking that you never betrayed her."

Keefe sighed, "It is the one flaw in her emotionless scattered mind. Is that you are one of the bonds keeping her leashed to her emotions, her sane mind. The only reason why you aren't dead is that the little part of Vespera that is a nurturing mother is clouding her reason."

Ruy digested the information, tried to let it sink. But it just sat floating between them, Ruy silent as Keefe nervously swallowed, worried that he might have crossed some sort of line.

"Figure out if you want to get out of here or join me Sencen, then we can figure out some sort of plan," Ruy muttered, getting up from beside the cell door.

"You aren't actually going to do this, are you? Sophie might throttle you for it." Keefe asked.

Ruy brushed off his cloak as he stood, "This is a chance I can't give up. Until now, we haven't had the slightest clue what the Neverseen operations are, and more importantly, how big they are. If I play this right, I can more info than any of our spies could before."

Keefe had no hint of his signature swagger or smirk, he just stared at Ruy with a blank face through the bars of his cell.

"I'll let you know when I come up with any ideas, and if I want to stay or not." He muttered. Ruy looked over Keefe, loosening at the sight of the elf remaining unharmed. Sophie has lost enough, and Vespera's threats were clear what she would do to Keefe if he didn't listen.

That was it. Ruy didn't bother saying goodbye, he knew Keefe wouldn't say it back. Keefe still didn't trust him, and this whole spy operation Ruy was building in his head wasn't helping his cause. But this was an opportunity he couldn't give up. He could get real numbers and plans for the guild, they could know what they were up against.

Ruy focused on the pattering of the gentle Inalian rain against the cracked and muddy windows of the Castello, watching the sun paint the rain clouds with golds and reds as it set behind the horizon. He passed a few Neverseen members who were casually conversing in the hallway, who gave him a dirty but also interesting look. Curiosity. He started up the stairs towards his room but ran into Trix. Trix looked him dead in the eyes, simmering hatred seething behind them as he said, "Tomorrow, we have another scouting mission, this time in the city itself. Don't be late." He hissed at Ruy.

Ruy watched him go with carefully guarded eyes, waiting until he was completely one before he continued towards his room. A few new members passed by him, mostly young girls that looked to be fresh out of Foxfire, looking at him when they thought he wasn't looking. He gave them a charming smile before entering his room. He heard their quiet whispers and giggles, still gossiping students, fresh out in the world, and made the wrong move. So many new faces in the Neverseen... how fast were they growing?

Ruy tried to pull off his cloak, but his wings tangled around the back of it. He groaned, thumping down on his bed. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his scattered mind. His mother hasn't talked to him since that first day, hasn't even glanced at him. Ruy didn't mind, he wanted the witch as far away from him as possible.

Outside his door, he heard the quiet shuffle of Neverseen guards guarding his door. Ah, so he wasn't entirely off the hook yet. Still suspicious, they still knew better than to let him go off-leash. Ruy ground his teeth, hating that he was here, and knowing that he should go. But this opportunity-

Ruy cursed as his elongated canines bit down on his tongue, his teeth grinding coming to a sudden stop. Ruy glared behind him at his wings, the Dunmer wings his father and brothers shared.

Ruy wasn't going to get anywhere with them unless he learned how to fly. He could hover for 2 minutes before faceplanting into the floor like an idiot. But his dad did teach him how to open and close the wings, how to quiet the Dunmer blood in his veins should he need it.

Ruy closed his eyes, focusing on the membranous wings arching from his back. He folded them in, and out, in, and out. He imagined them flittering away to nothing, to wisps in the void that he could call on whenever he needed. With a final breath, he felt the wings evaporate like a thick fog dissolving away with a new morning.

He opened his eyes noting the Dunmer thrill no longer humming in his bones. He glanced behind him, the wings nowhere in sight. His Dunmer marks no longer ran along his shoulders and the planes of his back. Ruy ran his tongue over his teeth, noting his fangs were gone. His ears no longer had their slight point

But the teeth were supposedly part of Ruy's Pancras form when he accidentally released it in order to save Sofia. But they didn't know Ruy was half Dunmer back then, the fangs must have been a part of his Dunmer side coming out, not his Pancras form.

Ruy glanced at the old clock nailed to his wall, squinting at it to make out the numbers.

9:17. He was pretty tired, he could head to bed. But it was fairly early, and he was in no mood to deal with nightmares.

Ruy sighed, flopping down on his bed, trying to calm his scattered mind. He wanted to be with the Inner Circle, with his real family. He wanted to be bantering and flirting with Sophie back in his shitty apartment, or arm wrestling Alexios, or going through sparing techniques with Nour and Mansi. He wanted to be anywhere but here.

Ruy closed his eyes, imagining the taste of the spiced fish and dark alcohol from the pub the Inner Circle visited at least twice a month. The smell of the fresh rosemary bread from the bakery down the street wafted into his nose, the Inalian breeze flittered his hair. He could hear the children laughing as they darted through the streets playing tag, could feel the soft woven wool of the carpet in the Villa's small library, where he would sit and read if he had nothing to do.

Sophie would sit next to him in that library on the days off she gave herself, leaning against to him and propped on his shoulder. She was always engulfed in her human poetry or Vatarian tales, humming in excitement whenever the hero did something she liked, or her toes curling whenever two love interests even just talked to one another. Whenever she wasn't working, her hair was almost always done in Inalian pleats, soft ribbon or leather wrapped around the braid in order to keep in contained in her busy life.

Sometimes he just couldn't focus on his books or work because he couldn't stop looking at her, watching her nose crinkle when she smiled or how she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear when she focused on the plot. The doors were always open in the Morretti villa, Sophie only closing them when she slept, and even then, the windows remained open. There was a big door that leads from the library to the back patio and the Grecian plains beyond that. Ruy will never forget when a snake slithered into the house by one of the open doors. Ruy yelped slightly when he saw it, poking Sophie, who was drooling in her sleep on Ruy's shoulder. Sophie startled awake, following his gaze at the small snake.

She just scooted towards it, holding out her hand. Ruy watched in amazement as Sophie silently grinned at the snake's rapid tongue, scritching it under its chin. She met Ruy's stare and just shrugged, "Father taught me which ones were venomous, this one is just a simple ringed snake. Besides," Sophie pointed her head to Ricin, who was napping in the Villa courtyard belly up and tongue hanging out, enjoying the Inalian sun, "I kinda like reptiles." She smiled at Ruy, the sun alighting her hair like gentle embers in a sleeping fire, her golden skin lit up flecked with different scars but with no shame behind them.

The beauty of a Morretti was something everyone knew about, it ran in the damned family, but seeing her so casual yet alight with life, Ruy had never seen it before. Not in the Neverseen would someone glow like that, the world gravitating towards them, the wind whistling as they laughed, or silence falling on the world when their brain worked at speeds Ruy could only imagine.

Sophie got up, her bare feet padding against the terracotta tile, and placed the snake near a little pond just outside the path behind the Villa, where it slithered into the water. Sophie walked back over, easily going over the soft grass and back into the library. Ruy watched as she bit her lip perusing through one of the shelves, and his thoughts drifted about her lips. How they would feel against his, the little flirty things she would sometimes tease him with-

"Now these bad boys are the ones you want to watch out for," Sophie claimed, plopping down back in her spot of her woven rug next to Ruy holding out a book. Ruy nearly jumped out of his skin, his mind washing away his... thoughts.

"The Grecian Adder snake, this thing can royally fuck up your day," Sophie said, a smirk on her lips.

"Really? How so?" Ruy coughed. Sophie collapsed easily into his lap, her head on his thigh, "The poison is enough to kill the average Vatarian in under 3 minutes." She explained, flipping through the other pages of the Inalian bestiary book.

Ruy picked up his book again, ignoring the blonde in his lap. He tried to ignore the gentle smell of lemon verbena and almonds wafting from her hair, the rhythm of her breath and the steady weight of her head against him.

"And what are you reading about, Mr. Ignis?" Sophie teased, poking his book.

"Stop that, I can't focus with you around, you are like a damn-" Sophie peaked over his book, the smirk appeared on her lips, "Ohoho, Ignis, are you telling me I'm distracting you? Can't focus with the pretty blonde fussing around you?" She teased. There she goes again with her damn little flirty remarks. Sophie wasn't a very flirty person, and their relationship wasn't like that at all, at least, not at the time. But when she did flirt with him, it caught him completely off guard.

"I swear if you don't stop-"

Sophie held up her hands in a sign of fake surrender, her eyes edging him on, "Ooh, whatcha gonna do?"

"Throwing you into the canal sounds pretty appealing right now." Ruy grumbled stretching out on the woven carpet and draping the book over his eyes. Sophie hummed, he was keenly aware of her eyes tracking his every movement, well aware of how still he was next to her. Next, it was the sound of her bristling and getting up, "Come on, Maria is closing up shop soon and she mentioned that she needed help. We are meeting Alexios and Maha there."

Ruy remained sprawled out on her library floor, enjoying the cool tile peaking through the small holes in Sophie's woven rug.

"Nah," he sighed, taking a deep breath as he slowly started to fall asleep. Sophie snorted, "You wanna tell Maria that?"

Ruy mulled it over, groaning as he got up, "I'm not in the mood to have a sandal thrown at me today, fair point."

Sophie helped Ruy to his feet, their hands lingering for a moment before she grabbed her leather satchel from the kitchen counter.

"Come on," She chuckled, nudging the shoes Ruy left at the door when he walked in. She held her strap slightly tighter when he mussed his hair and tied the laces of his shoes.

"Maybe we can catch one of the live paintings sessions in the square after?" Ruy proposed, smiling at the thought of lined canvases and various artists as they painted their subjects in the center of the market place. Sophie smiled towards Renisanca, smiled at their home.

"That sounds like fun." She agreed, her smile small and gentle as they set off towards Maria's boutique.

Ruy's heart was soaring the whole way there.

Ruy snorted awake, his head whipping around in minor confusion. Had he fallen asleep? It wasn't morning, though the sun had fully gone down by now. He glanced at the clock again.

11:23 pm.

Ruy hated that he woke up in the middle of the night, but he changed out of the Neverseen work clothes and into sleep attire, that actually fit on him without his wings. Ruy walked over to the small desk in the corner of his room, nothing in it but a few mission and scouting reports he was given. He was hoping to find another blanket, he knew rainy nights could actually get pretty cold if you didn't have a fire going or central heating, which he figured the ancient Castello wouldn't have.

In annoyance, he pulled open the last drawer in his desk and froze. As still as death.

Surrounded in a rough scrap of linen, was the Azure crystal. The dragon's eyes peering at Ruy.

Ruy left it in his room at the Dunmer castle, there's no way... how on earth did it get here?

There had to be a reason, it couldn't just be teleporting to him for no damned reason.

So Ruy carefully picked up the crystal in the linen wrap and sat down on his cot. In a sort of daze, he took a deep breath and gently ran his fingertips over the crystal.

The minute his fingers made contact, he was sucked into the darkest depths of his mind and through the void of his memory.

Sophie didn't get scared easily, not after all that she has seen. But when the dragon that made her look like a toothpick standing next to him snarled at her, she actually muttered prayers to Mara. Ricin was curled around her, the massive dragon not even noticing Sophie's companion.

"I told those Vatarian mortals in that temple," The dragon began to stalk down the gathered peak of rocks, his massive talons the size of Sophie herself, "That if another mortal stalks up this mountain again, I will burn them where they stand." The dragon snarled, his teeth were sharper than any of Sophie's swords and longer than any spear. Sophie couldn't move, but she opened her mouth, surprised at the level her voice was when she claimed, "You need to ignite the Forge of Byzanthar."

Need, why the fuck did she say need? The dragon simply snarled at her, "Who are you to demand me to do anything?" He got up closer to her, his snout in the air. He sniffed, his eyes lighting with the slightest shine of recognition, "That scent... I know your bloodline. Yes.... I know it well."

Sophie clenched her fists when the dragon sniffed again, merely inches away from her. her eyes drifted to his abdomen, where a knarly burn seared half of his stomach. A rolling mix of uneven scar tissue and miscolored skin and scales.

Her fingers unclenched when the dragon tipped back his scaly head and let out a laugh.

"Not only a Morretti but an heiress!" The dragon's voice sounded like the lowest rumblings of the earth during an earthquake, shaking the tip of the mountain.

"Tell me, did Kynareth give you a choice, or did she just claim a life debt?" The dragon insisted. Sophie muttered with wide eyes, "A life debt."