454 Chasing the Curse

It has been a week since the appearance of the mysterious disease on the eastern border area with Cyrodiil from and things were looking bleak in the First Response Camp that was established by the Federal Thalmor Authority.

Even if it was called the Thalmor Camp, it was actually the place where every authority has gathered its best first responders to contain the disease. The Royal Family of Anequina, the Moon Priesthood and the Thalmor.

The Thalmor's name may be associated with every evil there is outside the Aldmeri Dominion Territory but inside it, they are not that bad to their citizens. Surely the High Elves have a thing for looking down on other races and they treat both the Khajiit and the Wood Elves terribly but it is still a far cry compared to the other races.

That's why the treatment of the High Elves, Wood Elves and Khajiit in the First Response Camp was clearly much better than the treatment other races took. For example, those three races were housed in tents and under sheds while other races were thrown outside scattered across the camp under heavy surveillance. To make things worse, the Orcs were put in cages to keep them from acting violently.

This was all done by the order of the Thalmor Justiciar supervising the campsite, Lady Wendlain.

On the other hand, some of the Moon Priests were upset about the unfair treatment and the practices of Lady Wendlain as she dissected many living and dead for the sake of finding out the nature of the disease.

For that reason and many others, an argument broke out between Moon Bishop Zara and Justiciar Wendlain about how to contain the situation.

"It comes without a warning. We are not aware of the reasons behind the infection as there is no notable anomaly in any inner organs. The lungs, the heart, the liver… they all work perfectly until the disease strikes then everything starts to fail. On the outside, Necrosis starts to happen after a number of days especially without movement. What is more interesting is the ones who develop mental issues, they are resisting the disease more than the ones who are sane. I am not sure if psychology has anything to do with it but this disease is clearly not normal. That is why we need more subjects for our studies." Justiciar Wendlain said.

"Absolutely not. Zara can be tolerant if your so-called subjects are the deceased ones but the living need treatment, not research." Moon Bishop Zara replied.

"I am sorry, Moon Bishop, but I wasn't asking for your consent on this. The Thalmor have full authority to operate in this camp and we expect your cooperation and assistance. This disease is a threat and we will take the extra mile to find out what is the reason behind it even if we had to get our hands dirty."

"How dare you, Justiciar? Is that a threat?"

"Did anyone just say 'Dare'?" A concerned red-furred Khajiit butted in the conversation but was pulled away by his colleagues.

"Moon Bishop, this campsite is under my supervision and I run things around here. Hindering me is hindering a Formal Thalmor Investigation because that's what it is. If you don't want to receive a Thalmor Court Notice and be removed from my campsite by force then I suggest you do cooperate."

The argument ended as Lady Wendlain stormed her way in the care facility Moon Bishop Zara was working on and arrested a few foreigners.

Moon Bishop Zara and her helpers were pushed outside from the place as the Thalmor took over.

Frustrated, Moon Bishop Zara kept walking back and forth while sending the Adepts and the Moon Priests around her on various errands. It was then when she was approached by some Adepts who seemed out of place.

"Those Thalmor are brutal. No wonder they are being hunted by the Nords in Skyrim." The Khajiit from a while ago said.

The Moon Bishop looked at the large Khajiit not knowing what to do or say. She just wanted to vent her anger on something so she just kept going back and forth as she replied.

"They don't listen. Those people are being tortured and the Justiciars only want to gain personal glory by harvesting people's organs for research. This is infuriating! Zara cannot accept this any longer." She said as she was biting on her claws.

Despite being an Ohmes-Raht, Zara was the right mix between a Khajiit and a human having both the right amount of fur and cat-human features. She had green eyes, white body fur with dark fur over her face, hands, feet, and tail.

[A/n: Basically a Siamese Khajiit… and please don't imagine the Ohmes to be like those abominations of Taylor Swift's movie Cats. This pic may do some justice https://ibb.co/TWBBPMm]

"Should we blast those Thalmor away, Moon Bishop?" The Adept asked again.

"Heh heh!" Zara laughed in self-mockery and looked at the Adept, "Thank you, Adept, but let's not get ourselves into trouble. We are here to solve problems, not start ones."

Zara said as she looked over to her helps only to find them too busy to task them with anything more. She sighed then looked at the Adepts she doesn't know about.

"Adepts, which temple are you from?" She asked.

"Star Haven."

"Oh, Zara doesn't know you. Are you perhaps Outer Adepts?"

"Indeed."

"But all Outer Adepts were to help out in Rimmen. What brings you here?"

"Excuse us, Moon Bishop, but the situation in Rimmen is stable without any hitch. As the number one Outer Adept, this one was sent here to see if someone needs any help." Jonya said.

"Oh! Zara understands. We have a lot of tasks on hand, you and your friends are really welcome to help as long as you know what are you doing?"

"Yes, Moon Bishop. We will be of help."

"Zara is pleased. Please, go help with the back area and transfer more patients to the vacant places left by the ones the Thalmor took. Something tells Zara they won't be needing it anymore." She said as the last part was in a more depressed tone.

"Yes…" Adept Jonya said but he didn't move.

Zara looked at him questioning if he still has something to say.

"Moon Bishop, excuse Jonya for saying this but are you sure about the disease we are facing here?" Jonya asked.

"What do you mean?"

"This disease… can't it be a Curse or something?"

"A Curse? By the Moons! No, it can't be such a scary thing… those superstitious thoughts are by no means logical. Also, curses can't go viral." Zara dismissed Jonya's suggestion.

Jonya narrowed his eyes and scratched his furry chin.

"Is that so? Jonya can swear that his Blessed Amulet reacted when he came near a very ill man." Jonya said slyly acting all sad.

He looked with half an eye at Zara who reacted with a surprised face to Jonya's claims.

"Blessed Amulet? You have such a thing on you? Did it really react?" Zara asked with a serious face.

"Eh! No, it is nothing. Jonya is sorry. I will go to my task…"

"Wait here! Show me that Blessed Amulet and the reaction it made." Zara commanded.

"M- Moon Bishop, don't talk loudly, please. This… it may cause me trouble." Jonya said acting all careful and afraid.

"Hm? What is wrong?" Zara asked.

"It is just… if those Thalmor saw my Amulet, they will arrest me." Jonya said with a fearful face.

"Oh! Is that so? Fine, follow me." Zara said leading Jonya and the other three female adepts following him to a rural area in the camp.

The area had some ill people who seemed to be in an advanced state of the curse and mostly unconscious. Jon could finally feel the power of the curse in such a hazardous area.

"Show me your Blessed Amulet, Adept." Zara said.

"Yes."

Jonya recovered an Amulet from his pocket and showed it to Zara. As soon as she saw it, her eyes widened and she pushed Jonya's hand to his pocket.

"What is this? You can't show that around!"

Zara freaked out. After all, it was 'that' amulet. The [Greater Amulet of Talos] that was passed down to Jonya, or rather Jon, by Hilda.

"How do you have that? Do you want the Thalmor to execute you?" Zara said in a scolding tone.

"This one is sorry, Moon Bishop. Jonya may not look like it but Jonya is a collector. Jonya has many Divine Amulets and some Artifacts but this one is really valuable as it is the first in my collection." Jonya said.

It was true. The first valuable thing Jon ever possessed was this Blessed Amulet and the ring Nurina gave to him.

More to that, Zara could tell how powerful the Amulet was from just a glance.

"Fine, show Zara the reaction then hide that Amulet away."

Jon nodded and took out the Amulet near a patient. As divine artifacts, Blessed Amulet would react to the evil energy as a warning sign for its holder.

And it did react. The Amulet of Talos started vibrating left and right in Jon's hands.

"Moons! This is… this really a Curse… How could I not tell?" Moon Bishop Zara was dumbfounded as she learned the truth.

The reason why a holy woman like Moon Bishop Zara couldn't detect a curse was how faint it was and its disguise like a disease. Also, Zara seemed to not be carrying a Blessed Amulet on her. The reason was obviously the value of these items. The Amulets of the Moon were kept in the vaults of the temple for safety and only taken out when needed.

"We must report this!" Moon Bishop Zara said, "If Zara tells this to Justiciar Wendlain, she will surely stop the unnecessary killing. Of course, Zara won't say anything about your Amulet, Adept Jonya. Good work!."

Moon Bishop Zara started running back towards the camp leaving Jon and the other three behind.

"Won't you stop here?" Said a grey Cathay who was actually Isha.

"Why would I? I can see this going totally wrong from a mile away. Also, she will have no choice but to turn to us once she is rejected." Jon said.

"You are merciless, man. Why involve this Moon Bishop girl with us from the start?" Asked a tabby Suthay who was actually Mirren.

"She can do a ritual I can't do." Jon said.

"Fine, let's follow her just in case things go wrong." Mirren said and Isha followed him.

Jon watched them go and looked at the fourth person in their group. It was Miranda who was disguised as a tri-colored Khajiit.

Jon approached her and raised her chin with a finger.

"Girl, purr for me one more time."

"Purrrrr."

"Hehehe! We are definitely doing it tonight."

***

Just as Jon said, Zara was turned down and mocked by the Thalmor very badly.

Disheartened, she walked away with a depressed face around the camp.

"Moon Bishop, how did it go?" Jonya asked as he ran to Zara.

Zara put on a faint smile and looked at Jonya.

"Zara apologizes, Adept Jonya… Justiciar Wendlain accused me of trying to seek personal gain and… she pushed me off the operation." Zara said.

"Oh! How unfortunate! This is really not good." Jonya made up a grim face.

"Sorry to disappoint you."

"It is not your fault, Moon Bishop. An honest person like you would never seek personal gains like those blood-sucking Thalmor. They are worse than goblins." Jonya said.

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"It's okay. Zara will inform the temple and we will send Adepts to investigate. You can rest assured." Zara said.

"Moon Bishop, Jonya thinks he can prove to be of more help." Jonya said.

"... Speak."

"Me and my team are skilled in fights and can survive anything but we lack guidance. Perhaps Moon Bishop Zara can help us help the people around here."

"What is in your mind?"

"If we tracked down the one who cast the Curse, we can destroy the Curse's medium. The only problem is… he can be anyone and anywhere."

"... How can I help you then?"

"Jonya has once read about that ritual, it is called the [Eyes of the Moon Beast]." Jonya said in a low tone.

Moon Bishop Zara froze in her place.

"This… this is really not good, Adept Jonya. This Ritual is not allowed to be used. It involves establishing a connection to the Moon Beast."

"Yes, Jonya knows as much. Thankfully, the Star Haven Temple puts the Warning before the Spell. Jonya knows someone who would just fall in love with this method instantly."

"Involving the Moon Beast is a Heterodox method, it is not acceptable." Moon Bishop Zara refused bluntly.

The Moon Beast she spoke of was a god in the Khajiiti Pantheon known as Lorkhaj, the one Elves call Lorkhan and Humans call Shor or Shezarr.

"Moon Bishop, let me remind you again how the Moon Beast was once held in reverence and later in contempt by the Moon Temples. You know exactly that the reasons behind the discrimination are political and mostly to suck up to the Aldmeri Dominion and the Thalmor." Jonya said.

His argument was sound, even Moon Bishop Zara was having a hard time weighing the gains and losses. Yet the more she looks at it, the more she saw that there is no losses as long as the Thalmor do not find out about the ritual.

"But that still means we are going after that person who caused all this by ourselves." Zara said.

"And Jonya told you we are good." Jonya assured her.

Zara sighed and nodded.

"The Eyes of the Moon Beast, a ritual that needs to be held at night to draw power from the Jode and Jone then direct them to search for anything that can be seen by the moon. Zara never tried this Ritual before but knows what to do." Zara said.

"Tell me what you need." Jonya said.

"First, we need Moon Dew drops and Moon Sugar so Zara can prepare mentally. Zara has Moon Sugar but the Moon Dew is a rare…"

"Here you go." Jonya passed a bottle of Moon Dew liquor to her.

"How do you have that?"

"It was in a Thalmor tent, that big one that belongs to the Justiciar. Somehow, this bottle slipped by itself into Jonya's pocket. Weird, right?"

"... Looks like you are blessed by Rajhin."

[A/n: Rajhin = Khajiit Thief deity.]

"Everyday and twice at weekends."

"This is good, the campsite here has sufficient Curse Magicka. We will contact the moons here and move on to the next half of the Ritual outside the camp."

"Sounds like a plan. Is there anything more I should prepare?" Jonya asked.

"Something to trap the Moon Energy."

"Meteoric Glass, check."

"A high-grade purification substance."

"Crystal Tears, check."

"Someone with good control over Magicka."

"Me, check."

"Let's save those people, Adepts."

Five Khajiits, except they are actually 1 Khajiiti + 1 Nord + 1 Redguard + 2 Altmer, set out on a noble quest to save the cursed refugees.

And the last half of the 7th Labour has officially begun.

~~~~~~~~~~

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