Chapter 717: Shadow Gate
A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ?? or Google "Donovel Linktree" ??
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Offending a Daedric Prince by messing with their prized Daedric Artifact. For some reason, Jon was quite forgetful of the last time something like that happened and how upset a Daedra was by what he did. And so when he was given the opportunity to do so again, he didn't even hesitate.
Jon would argue that he has offended many Daedra by now. He blackmailed Mehrunes Dagon by showing him images of the time the Avatar of Akatosh whooped his ass in the Imperial City and he took the Mace of Molag Bal and gifted it to Boethiah to be friends with her… or him… or them… whatever! [A/n: will I get mobbed if I misgender a Daedric Prince in the next Elder Scroll?]
Jon has also corrupted the Black Star and unwittingly made himself into a debt to Azura which he had to spend three years to pay. Some would say that Jon would learn a lesson or two from this incident but he can't be that predictable, can he?
And so when Hermaeus Mora withdrew the knowledge Jon wanted from the Oghma Infinium, Jon's bad habits just crawled out once again and he was there with his two besties (Nefertiti and the Augur) trying to fuck shit up… bigly!
"That fucker! He's trying to hold me back, isn't he? That didn't happen in the game? Why? Does he think Miraak is better than me or something?" Jon asked.
< It is certainly because of your skill and knowledge in the Arcane Arts. If you were to know more than what you already do, it would be problematic for him to be the one that teaches you. >
"And what makes you so sure of that?" Jon pouted and stomped on the ground, "I'm sure he is thinking let's not give this knowledge to Jon and let our favorite most dear Miraak have it."
< I don't think… Well, you do you. >
"Yes. Most certainly I will. Hmph!" Jon sat down with a stiff face while focusing on the thing that was happening in front of them.
< The process is proceeding smoothly from the side of the Shadow World but I am afraid the Oghma Infinium is trying to get away. >
"Fat chance!" Jon snorted and looked at the book with cold eyes, "Don't even think about getting away, book."
Unwilling to listen to Jon's orders, the book was attempting to slip through the void and travel anywhere far from Jon. Seeing this, Jon made an angry smile and pulled out an old journal.
"See that?" Jon asked while waving the journal at the Oghma's… front cover.
Jon opened the old journal and then tore out its first page violently while causing the paper to make a crunching sound as he utterly crushed it with his hands.
The Oghma Infinium gradually stopped making a ruckus as the journal was being torn to shreds in front of its very… front cover.
"Glad we're on… the same page!" Jon said.
< You know when you start to make less sense but you actually do make sense? >
"I do?" Jon asked.
< Nevermind that now. Check the shadows around the room. >
Jon looked beneath his feet and found that the shadows were getting darker and larger than usual.
"Talk to me." Jon called Nefertiti.
"It is too much, hooman." Nefertiti replied and peaked her head out of the shadows, "Hand!"
"Usually, I'm the one who says that." Jon mumbled before getting down on one knee and giving out his hand.
Nefertiti bit Jon's hand and swam through the shadows to a nearby wall before going into the wall with Jon's arm. What was left behind was a black portal-like darkness traced on the wall where Jon's arm was passing through.
"Oh!" Jon exclaimed while frowning.
His right hand went down with half of his forearm and he remained there crouching awkwardly. A few moments later, he started to feel some tingling around his hand.
"This feels nice." Jon smiled and started to look for the source of these tinglings.
As his hand came into contact with something soft, he started to move his hand around it to identify what it was.
"Huh! This feels… awkwardly kimochi!" Jon laughed.
"Hooman, what are you doing?" Nefertiti's voice came from all around the room.
"Not sure, to be honest." He replied.
"Alright. That thing you're touching…" She spoke.
"Yeah?" Jon listened.
"When I say grab, you grab and not let go." She said.
"O…kay." Jon replied suspiciously.
As he grabbed onto the thing, whatever it was, he felt something strange before suddenly feeling that his arm was being pulled into all sorts of directions.
"The… fuck!"
Jon tried to pull his arm back but despite his brute physical power, he was helpless against whatever that was and felt a sharp pain running through his arm.
"Hey! What is that?" Jon asked with pain visible on his face.
"You actually held that, hooman?" Nefertiti peeked her head from the shadows again, "I mean… I knew you could do it, hooman."
"What am I holding?" Jon asked with a concerned face, "It is starting to feel… slimy!"
"Just keep holding it in place." Nefertiti said and left Jon gritting his teeth.
Not a few seconds later, the chamber of the Augur started to shake with vibrations coming from outside.
"Something is happening?" Jon started to become worried.
< The chamber next to this one is collapsing. >
"What? Why?" Jon asked.
< The cat is doing it. >
"Collapsing a room in the Midden?"
< She's taking it with her to the Shadow side. >
Taking a room to the Shadow world wasn't something completely out of the scope of Jon's imagination or Nefertiti's power but the question remains, why?
Jon decided to ask his cat directly but her reply was, "Later, busy now, keep holding."
He had to stiffen his lips up and keep holding for the time being. Only half an hour of agonizing pain later when Nefertiti told Jon to let go.
As soon as he did, his arm started to recover slowly and as Nefertiti instructed him, he had to carefully take his arm out from the shadows.
It didn't seem threatening at first but as Jon took his arm out, he noticed that much of the hair over his arm was a bit gray and the skin of his arm seemed a bit wrinkly and aged despite still having its usual vigor.
There was a reason why no living mortal can stay too long in the Shadow world. Rapid Aging was just one of the dreadful effects of that place and only a being like Nefertiti can access the shadows freely without consequences and take people safely in and out of the shadow world.
As for Jon's aged arm, it wasn't the first time he experienced that state due to his constant exposure to the Shadow energy. It only needs a few hours for his arm to return to normal anyway.
But just as he got his entire arm out, he found that the thick shadows had started to gather in the spot where his arm was and formed a shape.
"Is that… a keyhole?" Jon asked.
But it hasn't stopped there. From that keyhole, a key started to come out, and lo and behold, it is a key Jon was very much familiar with. The Shadowkey.
"What do you think of this?" Jon asked the Augur.
< Looking into the shadows is not my thing. >
The Augur gave Jon an astral shoulder shrug which left the two clueless on the matter of this problem they're on.
"Hooman!" Nefertiti spoke to Jon.
"Yes?" Jon turned to look for her shadow that manifested itself on the nearby wall without her body coming out.
"You can enter now." She said.
"Enter?" Jon looked at the key in the keyhole and slowly extended his hand to it.
"Alright!" Jon said and turned the key, "Here I come…"
This was the turn of the unexpected to take place. Part of what Jon imagined (and from what he knows from the lore) is that a portal shall open. As for the shape of the portal…
"Fuck!" Jon exclaimed in long meaningful slang.
< Indeed! > The Augur seemed to agree with Jon's chain of thoughts.
"A vagina portal!" Jon turned to the Augur while pointing at the portal with that face.
< That's not what I thought about. > Or not.
"Really?" Jon asked with a frown, "I've always been trying to make this shape with my portals but they only become oval. Never worked with me."
"Hooman! Hurry!" Nefertiti called.
"Coming, kitty cat!" Jon instantly rushed through the portal while carrying the containment chest with the Oghma Infinium.
His vision darkened but gradually, he started to see around him and where he landed was a place awfully similar to the architectural structure of the Midden. Still, the place was very cold and desolate.
"Hmmm… what a weird place!" Jon exclaimed.
He stood up, since he landed on his face, and took a look around himself and finally saw something that left him in awe.
"Holy…" He exclaimed with a wild look on his face but didn't continue his exclamation.
"Get it out of your system, hooman." Nefertiti spoke.
"Holy Pussy!" Jon said it.
"Knew it."
In front of Jon was Nefertiti in a form he has never seen before.
Nefertiti, a sentry cat turned fey by the shadow element and exposure to the wild effects of the Daedric influence of Hircine, her patron. Since they are in a stable Shadow World environment, Jon could see this real form.
In the Realm of Hircine, Lord of the Hunt and Nefertiti's patron, there are said to be werecreatures from various shapes but in forms unseen before in the mortal realm. These creatures can be way larger than a common werewolf or a werebear. Some are said to be the size of a mammoth or a giant.
Jon saw Nefertiti in a size comparable to that of… well… a Dragon.
With tears in his eyes, Jon dropped the Oghma Infinium and hugged Nefertiti like a child hugging an enormous teddy bear.
"You've grown so much, girly. Daddy is so proud."
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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ?? https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree" ??
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