Just remember this favor I have provided when you restore the tower and save your beloved Nirn.
And what do you get in return for this favor?
I'm sure something of value will suggest itself when the time is right. I promise that whatever I ask for as a compensation, it will not unduly cost you— anyway, no more than you can afford.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Vestige Bel and Golden Knight Darien Gautier, champions of Meridia, finally get a moment alone to talk on the Isle of Artaeum.
Could he put a shirt on already?
As Bel walked out from under the shadow of Ceporah Tower and into the Artaeum sunlight, she felt a distinctive sense of something missing. Her fledgling gryphon, always weaving out in front of her feet before ascending into the air, had to be left on Summerset due to the challenge of the attunement spell on non-human entities, but Bel knew the feeling extended beyond her feathered friend. The urge to turn to her elven companion and joke about needing to speak with the overly flirtatious knight again was still there, even if it had been weeks since the two had last seen each other.
They’d left on rather poor terms. After a rather heated argument over Falvesi’s choices when helping the people of the Clockwork City, Bel had asked Divayth to send her home and not tell Falvesi. She wondered how long it would take Falvesi to notice. Being back home again hit the dark elf rather hard, and her discussion with Sotha Sil seemed to leave a heavy burden on her heart. But at the time, Bel was too mad at her friend’s actions to see how much she was hurting. Now Bel had to keep moving forward.
Bel hoped that when Sotha Sil appeared after rescuing the Ritemaster, he wouldn’t report on seeing her to Falvesi. He hadn’t indicated as such, but Bel had been too afraid to ask as well. He was a rather intimidating person to speak to - your friend’s boss who is also somehow a god and arguably sent her to die.
Bel shook her head to clear her thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to wallow about Falvesi.
As she turned off the pathway toward the cliffs, Bel could see the figure of Valsirenn leaning over to examine something. Or apparently someone.
As she got closer, Bel could see that someone was none other than their Golden Knight, shirtless and stabless, doing pushups on the ground. He finished his last one and stood up far too gracefully. Bel’s eyes widened and blinked rapidly.
The Golden Knight, Darien, spoke to Valsirenn. "I've always healed fast, Val. I can call you Val, right?"
Valsirenn’s eyes narrowed, her amazement at his rapid recovery quickly reverting back to annoyance at his inability to turn it off.
Darien must have noticed Bel’s arrival. His eyes flitted to her, but still faced Valsirenn as he continued, “Give us a moment. I'd like to chat with our… friend here." Something about that way he spoke and the intent behind the slight smile on his face made Bel’s stomach drop. Were they finally going to have a moment to discuss their Lady alone, away from prying eyes and listening ears?
Valsirenn’s eyes turned to Bel, brow raised in curiosity. Bel tried not to reveal every one of her secrets through her face, putting on her very best “don’t worry about me, you can go now” to the Psijic and giving her a short, sharp nod. Whatever Valsirenn saw was enough for her to leave the two of them alone. "Very well. Then go to the Dreaming Cave. The Ritemaster will be ready to begin soon."
Darien sat on a nearby chair overlooking the sea, legs spread and hands resting on the bottom of the chair leaning back. He didn’t speak right away, taking in the silence and beauty of Artaeum, now that he had been allotted a moment of peace away from the groping hands and minds of the Psijics. Bel had seen how giddy some of the healers had looked around the tower, speaking excitedly about the strange knight and all the tests they wanted to run on him, and was secretly grateful they knew so little about her. She doubted they were happy to see him leave so soon. His eyes closed, taking in a deep breath before sighing it out, allowing a calm smile to cross his face. Bel still stood at a distance, frozen where she had first stopped when she’d seen Darien’s state of dress. Somehow feeling more exposed than him, she crossed her arms defensively, trying to look anywhere but his chest.
As the silence continued on, Bel thought he may have forgotten she was there. “Do you always walk around strangers half-dressed?” she asked, frustration and a touch of discomfort seeping out.
His eyes opened, still leaning back on the chair and looked up at her. The smug smirk only served to worsen her irritation. “Hey, I got stabbed a bunch, remember? You can't examine battle wounds with your armor on. Besides, this sea air is good for the skin. Ask anyone.” His eyes closed again in relaxation. Or pleasure at annoying her.
Bel took advantage of his momentary lack of awareness to glance at his body. It was impressive how quickly his wounds had healed. Meridia must favor him. Or he was not truly human. Either way, Bel could not deny that he did objectively look good. He had a pretty, handsome face and a strong build, and he wore them like he knew it. He just wasn’t her type. Whatever that was.
“You should keep your clothes on,” she said flatly.
“Ouch,” Darien said mimicking her flatness, clearly not actually that offended. “That hurts. I've worked hard for this body, you know.” He gestured his hand over chest and abs in display. Bel pointedly looked away again. “Well, I think I did. My memories have been hazy of late," he said scratching his head. He then looked over his shoulder to the pathway, looking to see if there was anyone listening in on them. Darien must have been satisfied, as he continued, "I wanted to thank you again for getting me out of Mephala's realm. It wasn't anything like I originally imagined.”
Whatever he was “imagining”, she didn’t want to know. Either way, she didn’t need his admiration - she needed him to get to the point of why he was here. Meridia hadn’t given her many details on the Golden Knight’s mission before their communication was cut short. She tried not to think on why it was cut short.
Her expression must have given away her impatience. “Oh!” he gasped, like he’d suddenly remembered the rest of what he was saying, sitting up in focus. “And I wanted to let you know that I was able to repair Dawnbreaker.” That caught her attention. “It was surprisingly easy, by the way. Especially considering that I never repaired a Daedric artifact before. The sword's power should allow us to breach the barrier now."
“Good!” she squeaked out before she could reign herself in. She cleared her throat,“I mean, yes, good. Thaaat’s a good thing.” Internally she cringed. Externally she cringed too. And yet she could not stop the words from coming out of her mouth at her excitement to be so close to the sword of Meridia. “Can I- can I see it? Dawnbreaker, that is. I mean, it’s such a powerful Daedric artifact and we mere mortals rarely get to see such a thing up close and all that and… I just…” she trailed off as her own words caught up with her. Her cheeks burned.
Darien’s brow raised in bemusement. “Uhh well the sword’s in the tower with the rest of my armor, but I’m sure we can make a moment before heading down into this cave.” He rested an elbow against his knee, leaning his weight into it and looking back out into the sea. An all-too-familiar, playful smirk began to sneak across his face. “Unless you mean-”
“No.”
“Understood! Message received!” He quickly moved on, cutting off whatever Bel was going to say about knocking it off. “Anyway, besides all that, I did actually want to talk to you. In private."
The constant yanking back and forth was exhausting, but she could tell from the seriousness of his tone and how quickly he wiped his own smirk off his face that he no longer spoke in innuendo. That sinking feeling was back in her stomach. Back to business. Bel did her best to tamp down any visible reaction to his words and asked, “So what did you want to talk about?”
He looked uncomfortable, fidgeting in his seat for a moment before continuing. It looked wrong for a supposed Golden Knight crafted by Meridia herself. It looked… human. "This might sound like a strange question. In fact, depending on how you answer it, it is a strange question.” Darien paused for a moment, and then looked up at her. “Do you—do you remember me? I'm not talking about here in Summerset. I mean—from someplace else.”
That’s all he wanted to know? Technically she hadn’t remembered him right away and required nudging from Meridia to connect the Fighter’s Guild man from her time in Coldharbour to this Golden Knight figure, but she did vaguely remember him. She remembered a blonde human mage, a white-haired elf mage constantly pestering Falvesi with questions, an ancient elf warrior who died after the battle was won, and a human warrior died or vanished or something. There had been a lot of faces in Coldharbour and a lot of names to remember - Meridia forbid she forgot one while trying to adjust to a world with magic and without her soul. She wasn’t aware there was going to be a test down the line.
But the sincerity and desperation in his question made her think there was something more to what he was asking. Bel sighed guiltily. She didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t quite know what answer he was looking for. “I mean, I didn’t at first. But I remember now you were in Coldharbour. But I thought you died?
He sighed in some manner of relief that didn’t feel right for the information provided. “I thought I did. It was terrible. One moment I’m fighting Molag Bal and the next there’s this big flash of light. Then I remember floating, more light. Meridia was there. She told me I was in her realm: The Colored Rooms. Other than her lectures, it was pretty boring. Come to think of it, those were pretty boring, too.”
Bel pursed her lips to stop herself from snapping at him. Boring? Boring? Clenching her fists behind still crossed arms, Bel pushed out a tight, “You said Meridia gave you a mission?”
“Oh yeah. She told me about you.” What did she say, what did she say, Bel thought. “Said I was supposed to help you stop the Daedric Princes. To keep them from reaching the Crystal Tower.” It truly took everything within Bel to hold onto her sanity. Trying to get information from Meridia’s “champion” without revealing her own association with the prince was agonizing. “Of course, she conveniently forgot to tell me how to do that, and she's stopped responding to my requests. Has me a little worried.”
Bel resigned herself then. If this was all the Golden Knight would reveal when they were truly alone, then that was all he knew. Meridia had no mission for her, no promised Dawnbreaker, nothing. And now he too could not reach Meridia.
“Lady protect us…” Bel muttered quietly as she turned away, raising her hand in blessing and the other over her heart. Calling for Meridia’s protection now while her realm was under attack. It felt wrong. But what else could she do or say?
“I think we’re on our own here, friend,” Darien said softly. Bel didn’t think he’d heard her. She quickly raised her eyes and locked them onto his, trying so so hard to find something, anything indicating he knew - that he’d figured her out without her needing to say a word. All she saw was a kind but oblivious sympathy in those green eyes. He didn’t know anything, but he understood she was terrified too. It aggravated her, it comforted her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, breaking any possible growing connection between Meridia’s twin champions. “Let's-” she said, voice catching momentarily, hand gripping the fabric of her armor over her heart. “Let’s go get the Heart back.”
