[SKYRIM]: The Name of Time - Miraak & Female Dragonborn Fanfiction - Chapter 41: Chapter 41

On that particular day, Ammra spent her time cleaning the study room in Breezehome. After many weeks of hunting down Miraak in Solstheim, she wanted to take some break before facing him face to face. A couple of days of vacation would be nice but Ammra chose cleaning the house instead as if it cleaned her mind as well. In any case, she was relieved.
There was not much to do because Lydia always tended the house well. Ammra rearrange the books and sorted out some old tattered books to throw away. Something caught her eyes. It was a book she wrote accidentally. By accident, it meant she continued writing it when she was drunk.
The woman took some minutes to read it and frowned. It was well-written with brilliant choices of words, yet the content was trash. She wrote everything in whatever she had in mind—mostly about her vacation by the beach back when she was on earth. The book was written long ago but left unnoticed ever since.
"Finally, it's done!" she cheered.
Ammra spent the rest of the day taking a short break then prepared herself for the battle; sharpening the blades, mending the light armour, and recalling the spells as well as shouts she might use during combat. At last but not least, Ammra also packed some potions for the journey. Before the evening fell, everything was ready.
"Are you sure you will go alone, my Thane?" asked Lydia the next day. The dawn just breaking but her Thane was already in her travelling gear.
"Yes. Please take care of the children. And..." she hesitated. "I am not sure I'll be back. If anything happened, you know what to do." Even if she did not like that possibility, Lydia obeyed and saw her off.
"This is it! I must face him! No turning back!" she assured herself.
She was riding through the snowy forest, heading North to Windhelm when a group of elk crossed the road. Ammra pulled the reign of the horse and it stopped on the track. Her eyes were wide open in astonishment for the sight. Never had she seen such docile creatures roamed around fearlessly like now. When he turned her head, she noticed there were more beasts' snow sabre cats, now bears and snow foxes, as well as snow wolves, were also roaming around peacefully. The predators did not show any hint of threat and seemed to enjoy the company of others, be it rival predators or preys.
"What on Mundus in happening?!" she muttered.
Suddenly her beast blood pulsed in response to the presence of Hircine nearby. This time the horsed trotted lightly while its rider was busy observing the peculiar sight. Few meters from the side of the road, Ammra saw a man sitting alone on a tree stump. At first glance, he appeared like a normal hunter, but having the beast blood enabling Ammra to see his true form. Behind that hunter's mortal flesh was the Daedric Prince Hircine.
What business he did in the mortal realm was unknown to her, nor was she eager to know. It was quite a rare sight and honestly, it was the first time she saw the prince. Hircine slowly turned his head to her and smiled. With a single silent command, he ordered her horse to walked closer.
"Dammit! What now?!" she complained and cursing herself for not escaping sooner.
"Where are you heading, young pup?" he asked.
"Umm...I am heading to Windhelm's dock." She replied, unsure how to act.
"Running an errand, I suppose?"
"Y-yes." She stuttered, impatient to end the conversation. She did not want to get involved in whatever thing he was doing or would do.
Hircine sigh, his masculine face softened as he did so. "I feel sorry for you, young pup. It's Labour day but you are still working. How diligent of you."
"W-what? Labour day?"
Hircine just smirked. "In any case, good luck. Hunt well!" he vanished into thin air before she got any explanation. Unless she was hearing something but did he just mention Labour Day? How on Mundus was that even possible?
Ammra shook her head and immediately resumed her planned. If she wanted to face Miraak, she must not let anything disrupt her concentration—at least for now. Her mind was full of what might and might not happen during the battle. Miraak might be much stronger so she needed to outsmart him and she knew how. But even so, anxiety refused to leave her alone.
"This is it!" she thought as the ship harboured at Raven Rock dock.
The sky was scarlet in the twilight glow when she arrived. Her plan was to rest one night and delve into the Apocrypha the next day. Ammra made her way toward Saverin Manor when suddenly some cultists appeared from the corner of the road. She sprung backwards, readying herself behind the dock wall, but nothing happened.
The cultist just walked by while chatting among themselves. She heard them talking about the things they wanted to buy. They even mention their attention to try some Sujamma as well as sweet rolls. "It feels good to have a break from what we are doing." One of them muttered.
Ammra raised her brows in confusion. When she thought everything was safe, she left the hiding place. This time, the sight of two men from the distance caught her eyes.
"Was it Sanguine and Sheogorath?" she narrowed her eyes to see better and it was indeed the Daedric Princess. Ammra wondered what they were doing but all of sudden she chose to ignore it. She was fidgeting with the key to her house when someone suddenly spoke behind her.
"Well, hello! Isn't it a nice coincidence to have you here?!"
Ammra screamed in surprise and instinctively threw the key. Sanguine immediately reach one hand to reach the key before it touched the ground. Ammra turned around with an annoyed face.
"What?" her voice rang harshly. She was on an important mission and bumped herself into these two lunatic princes was the last thing she wanted.
"Are you off for some errand as usual?" Sanguine asked.
"Judging from his gear and the look on her face," Sheogorath's voice interrupted but he was not around to be found. But all of in sudden he popped and appeared next to her. "she was busy doing...maybe some boring jobs."
"Yes. Now you can leave me alone." Ammra retorted. "Now gimme back my key." She demanded to Sanguine.
"Work, sister? During Labour Day? Are you serious?" Sanguine asked. By now she had enough of this nonsense.
"Labour Day?!" she exclaimed.
"Yes," Sheogorath replied. "A brilliant and crazy idea indeed. It tells us to take some days off." Before Ammra could continue he went on, "We were even told how to do it. Look! We had one spare lazy bench by the beach. Let's watch the sunset together!"
"Nice idea, brother!" Sanguine added.
"Whoa whoa...wait! Who told you this?" Ammra asked before they claimed each of her hand and dragged her along.
"Who else? Of course, that Mister Know-It-All Mora!" exclaimed Sheogorath.
Seeing Ammra's face of disbelief and confusion, both Daedric Princes nodded to each other. Their mischievous thought led them to Apocrypha in a blink of an eye.
"You can ask him yourself if you don't believe," Sanguine said.
"No. I want to go home." She retorted.
"Why do you always act so indifferent to us?" he continued.
"No use to argue, let's go!" Sheogorath exclaimed while grabbing her by the hand. He conjured Wabbajack with another hand and thrust it once on the floor.
The torn pages swirled around them rapidly. Some magical force made their body levitated while the pages combined themselves together forming a big layer of matt. Sheogorath pulled Ammra down to sit beside him while Sanguine standing behind them. The mat floated and took them to the next tower in Apocrypha.
"Wow...magic carpet. I guess Sheogorath would make a good Aladdin." Ammra thought half amused. She hoped this would end soon so she could rest. Miraak was waiting to be stopped and he was more than ready to kill her. Ammra could not let her guard down but these lunatics just did not listen.
From above, Ammra saw how the Seekers floated around the wall of books impassively. They seemed so quiet and grim if no one intruded on their study. Wait? Are they studying? Ammra narrowed her eyes to see better and she found out they were lazing around; some seekers were playing with the tentacles, some making a castle by pilling the books together, some even floated by the edge of the tower while holding a bowl—what they were eating, Ammra did not want to know.
Soon, they landed on the summit of Apocrypha. Her mouth slightly opened in disbelief as she noticed two lazy benches by the edge of the tower, facing the horizon of Apocrypha. On one of the benches, Hermaeus Mora laying in his usual form (please imagine it yourself. Ammra couldn't find the right word to describe).
As if people enjoying their time on a hot summer day by the beach, one of his tentacles holding a glass with some sort of pale liquid, of course, with the small pink umbrella as the aesthetic ornament of the beverages. Ammra noticed another tentacle was holding a book open, while another one slowly taking what might be some sort of cookies from the tray next to him. She was speechless when seeing another tentacle holding a folded fan and move it gently to cool himself with a soft breeze.
"F*ck! He nailed it! The ultimate lazing style!" Ammra thought.
"A guest." Hermaeus Mora's voice rang, snapping her back to her sense. "Dragonborn." Then slowly he added, "If you are here for Miraak, I think he won't see you now. He was...occupied."
"Is he here? Where is he?" she asked.
Hermaeus Mora reached out one of his free tentacles toward a curtain. He slid it open and revealing Miraak, bare-chested, lying on a bed with his back facing upward and some two Seekers giving him body massage. Besides a short, the man put on nothing, even his mask.
"Hey! I told you not to disturb!" he grunted.
"Someone was looking for you." Hermaeus Mora replied.
In the same position, Miraak turned his head and saw Ammra. "Dragonborn. We meet again." He said then gesturing the Seekers to stop. He got to his feet and walked closer.
"By the Nines! Why did he only put on short pants? Did he think this is some kind of beach party?!" Ammra protested in her head. She tried her best not to sway seeing his naked skin and muscled body. "He is enemy, he is enemy..." she chanted the words like some sort of mantra. But the image of his face refused to leave her memory. Who would have thought he had been hiding such a charming face behind that annoying mask.
"I must admit you possess a good head. Labour Day is a decent idea." He said while walking past him only to lay on the lazy bench.
This time Ammra turned to Hermaeus Mora. "Who—who told you about Labour Day?"
Slowly he floated and turned to her. "You." He answered while reaching out one of his tentacles to give her a book.
Ammra grabbed the book and opened it. Her eyes and mouth were wide opened. It was written: The Labour Day—and how to execute it. By: Ammra.
This was exactly the copy of everything she wrote while she was drunk! It was supposed to be The Harbour—the name of the mansion by the beach where she had her vacation. She couldn't remember why it became The Labour Day in the book she wrote but clearly, everything was misleading.
"You told that taking care of the well being of those who have worked hard is good for longevity and power increasing. I can feel my knowledge grew. The secret of Labour Day is mine now." Hermaeus Mora claimed.
Ammra slapped herself internally.
"She looked pale." Sanguine added.
"Give her something to drink," Miraak said to the Seeker who worked as a d*mn bartender. Hermaeus Mora even bothered creating a spot that resembled a bar in the earth. When Ammra gazed at Miraak, he added, "Don't worry. Drinks on me." He winked and resumed his...sunbathing?
She still couldn't register the whole situation even when the Seeker came with a tray to bring her the cocktail. "Um...so...our...you know..." she tried to talk about the battle.
Without looking, Miraak replied, "Nah. Not now. I am not in the mood. Enjoy your holiday."
"Perhaps she is still not used to Oblivion. She is still pale." Sanguine said with genuine concern.
"Oh, poor cheese. I'll take her back. Ta-ta!" he fired the Wabbajack to Ammra and instantly she stood at the door of Saverin Manor. Her hand still holding the Apocrypha cocktail.
Just in time, a courier man came and gave Ammra a letter.
"The Jarl requested your presence for some important matter." He said but Ammra decided to take care of it another day. It was Labour Day anyway. The Hard-Working ones deserved a good rest.
Ever since that day Ammra promised to never write while she was drunk. Poor Mora might learn some queer secret if she did that again.