An illustrated Skyrim story beyond the fall of the Dark Brotherhood~
After a surreal event, Cicero is inexplicably thrown back into a clear state of mind and his memories from his life prior to his madness return. We begin to learn who he really is...
Cicero cleared his throat and spit over the side of the rail. The taste of vomit lingered. Jade's smile faded back to her usual bitch face as she leaned back and put her feet up on the bench next to him. After wiping his face a few times, Cicero carefully reached down and pulled the elven girl up onto his lap and held her against the jarring of the wagon's movements.
"Please hand me that sheet, Listener," he asked, motioning to a tattered tarp draped over some tools against the back of the driver's seat. Jade made sure to over-exaggerate her reach to show him how inconvenienced she was by his request. She held it out to him with a limp wrist.
"Thank you, kindly," he said in a surprisingly non-sarcastic tone.
She sat back and crossed her arms, watching him wrap the girl up to protect her from the brisk chill in the air as night crept in. It felt like he was caring for a sick child. Why was he so concerned about what happened to this strange elf? It was the first time she'd seen him take any interest in something to this degree beyond his care for the Night Mother.
"Did you name her?" Jade asked in a slightly mocking tone.
"She's not a pet, Listener. I'm sure she has a name."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Well, she's not talking, so..."
Cicero gazed down at the girl and tugged at her curly white hair with his fingers. She shifted slightly, showing more signs of life than when they had found her. He carefully pulled down at her right eyelid causing her to squint in reaction.
"You are safe, young elf," he spoke gently, "Cicero and Miss Jade are taking you to a safe place. A sanctuary. Cicero's family is there."
Jade stared at him lost in thought. Cicero really did think of the Dark Brotherhood as his family. Even though he had only been with this sanctuary's members for a few months, and they tried to have him killed for his old age beliefs... given, after he attacked several of the members for disrespecting the five tenets... he was still devoted to them. Nazir, the Dawnstar Sanctuary's new Speaker, has even openly voiced his dislike of the fool; even to his face on many occasions. But, through Jade's command, Nazir was reminded to respect Cicero as the Keeper and a ranking member.
Cicero never really bothered Jade. Okay, so his insufferable optimism and bad jokes wore on her, and don't get her started on that obnoxious tone of voice he uses. She knew he did that on purpose to accentuate his warped acquired persona of a silly jester. She'd heard him speak normally, usually when he was trying to make a point to her.
Jade acted as if she didn't care about him and often times threatened to leave him behind. But ever since she had learned of his tragic past, sacrificing his sanity to protect the remaining essence of his former sanctuary, she knew that there was a strange method to his madness and there was a lot more to this joker than simply playing the comic relief. His limitless dedication and admiration for the Brotherhood, for the Night Mother, for Sithis... even for her as the Listener. There were way more layers to this guy than met the eye and every once in a while, she caught a small glimpse of something underneath. He seemed quite intelligent and not at all as mad as he wanted others to think. It was a clever tactic, both to trick an enemy into underestimating him and to bury unwanted years of pain.
"Ruby," Cicero's voice broke her train of thought.
"Huh?"
"Ruby!" Cicero chuckled, "We shall call her Ruby for now."
"Sure, but why?"
"Why not? Her eye is the color of a beautiful ruby."
"Naming her after her eye color?" Jade questioned, "You said she wasn't your pet. I had a dog named Blue for the same reason."
"Jade," he said boldly.
"What?" she blinked her green eyes, "Oh. Jade's not my real name," she said, glancing away.
"It's not?" he gasped, "I knew it didn't sound like a Nord's title!"
"I changed it when I was a teenager."
"Why, if I may ask?" Cicero seemed quite interested.
"No, you may not," Jade said flatly and rested her arm on the outer railing, staring off into the trees.
"Cicero understands. We all have darkness in our pasts that we'd rather forget. But unfortunately, you can't rename the pain."
That. That was the sort of profound statement that had Jade convinced that he was much more intelligent than he pretended to be. Tragedy, sacrifice, the need for acceptance, and his obsessive devotion had carved Cicero into a complex and oftentimes contradictory man.
The more Jade stared at Ruby, the more she began to feel uneasy, "You notice the collar?" she nodded to the bronze piece around the girl's throat.
"Of course. It's what led Cicero to believe she was a slave-"
"The etchings," Jade interrupted, "They look Dwarven or Dwemer or whatever."
Cicero pulled the collar lightly as he examined it. Sure enough, the etchings appeared very similar to the designs seen on ancient Dwarven artifacts. "Indeed, so."
"Do you think she was a slave in the ruins?" Jade asked, her tone less inquisitive than the question itself.
"No," Cicero answered without hesitation.
Jade's eyes shifted back up to him, "No? What makes you so sure?"
"If you are suggesting she's Falmer, it just simply isn't possible."
They both sat silently for a few moments. Ruby inhaled loudly. It seemed like she was coming to a bit more.
"Maybe she's some kind of fluke?" Jade asked as she found herself suddenly becoming intrigued.
Cicero shrugged, "The Dwarves enslaved the Falmer eras ago. Something crazy happened and the entire Dwarven race went missing. The blind and devolved ancestors of the Falmer are all that are left down in those ruins. You've seen them. They're monsters." He glanced down at Ruby again, "Though, Miss Ruby also doesn't look like any living elvan race Cicero has ever seen. Her features are unique."
Ruby slowly wrapped her arms around Cicero's torso and clung weakly. She hadn't moved this much on her own before. He tapped her back lightly to see if she would respond. Jade was starting to understand why this girl seemed so fascinating to him.
"She could be bi-racial. Or even part of some undiscovered race," Jade sat up suddenly, "I bet she would be worth a lot to the right buyer. You think that museum nerd in Markarth would be interested? He collects that Dwarven crap," she pointed to the bag of artifacts.
Cicero's eyes widened, "What!? Listener! What are you suggesting?"
"If not, she is a slave, so she'd easily sell back into servitude. We could even say she's some pre-devolved snow elf fluke. Besides some random statues and etchings, no one really knows what they looked like anyway." Her tone was disturbingly excited.
"Never!" Cicero's tone shook with frustration. "How could you even think of something that? She's not for sale like a beast of burden! You need to see that gold isn't everything! Perhaps Cicero was meant to find Miss Ruby. Some treasures are not meant to be sold," he mumbled and glanced away in disgust.
Jade slouched back down on the bench and crossed her arms, saying nothing. It was just an idea... fine. Maybe that wasn't Cicero's intention in rescuing the girl, but she was definitely of value. It was just a matter of figuring out how much.
