Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CIV - Dreams Come True

"Do you know what will happen to you when we take the Skull?"

Aeyrin asked Jules when they got a moment where they were sure they were alone again. They had been traversing the confusing hallways, following Jules's lead. They saw an apparition of a cultist so far, rummaging around in a room to pack his things. He didn't seem eager to join the battle. Then there was the shadow. It passed through the hallway ahead of them, too fast to spot properly. But other than that, the halls seemed empty. Bishop and Aeyrin used the time to catch up Jules on what was actually happening. He still didn't know what the Skull was or why he appeared here, so they told him everything they could.

"I don't," Jules shook his head. "Maybe I'll disappear."

"No," Bishop shook his head briskly, but it sounded more like he was reassuring himself rather than Jules. His brother didn't sound half as concerned about this. "You're probably gonna go back to... Quagmire?" That made sense, right? He would just... be back in Vaermina's realm. Forever. Actually... was that a good thing? Was he just going to be trapped in eternal nightmares?

"Is that where I was?" Jules gave him a dubious look.

"You don't know?" Aeyrin looked at him curiously. "Didn't you... I don't know... see Vaermina? Or... couldn't you tell what that place was?"

"I never saw Vaermina. I don't even know what that thing looks like," Jules snorted. "I never even saw a Daedra. Like... in my life. I remember Bishop seeing some and other... weird memories of his of Princes in basements... but that's it. I don't know where I was. I just saw dreams. They didn't feel like dreams. But I know they were now. Now that I'm not in that place anymore."

That may have been a good thing. Vaermina's realm could hold nothing good. It still didn't really explain anything though.

"Maybe I was inside that Skull," Jules mused. "You said it steals dreams."

"Oh. Like a pocket realm?" Aeyrin gave him a thoughtful nod. That was possible, though she didn't know much about the concept beyond the fact that those existed.

"I don't know what that is, but sure," Jules smirked.

"We still don't know what happens to you when we take it though," Bishop grumbled.

"Does it matter?" Jules shook his head.

"Shouldn't it? You could... stay. Here. Wherever. You could be alive here for... forever," Bishop scowled. Those nightmares were a fucking pain. But if they made a world where Jules could live... it kind of sounded worth it. Maybe he could even visit this creepy place with that potion. He could...

Jules stopped in his tracks, almost making Bishop collide with him as he was lost in his own thoughts. Jules turned around sharply and he gave Bishop a meaningful and somewhat angry look.

"I'm not alive, Bishop," he scowled. "I'm not alive here and I'm not alive there. Maybe there's a real Jules enjoying his eternity somewhere. But it's not me."

His self-awareness was still a bit staggering. He sounded so frustrated and assertive. Jules only ever sounded like that when he was trying to 'get something through Bishop's thick skull', as he would have put it. It tended to be surprisingly effective. Though not always.

He was right, of course. It was just... hard to think about it. About letting him go again. About killing him again.

"Hey," Jules's face softened considerably when he saw Bishop's troubled expression. "Maybe I'll just live inside your head again," he smirked. "I'd kinda like that. I always liked messing around in there."

Bishop smirked back at him. He kind of knew that Jules was right and he kind of knew that they couldn't just leave the Skull here in order to keep Jules in this place. Besides, he would be trapped here with Torban, a horde of angry Orcs and cultists, some weird dangerous shadow and Gods-knew-what else. That was not exactly an ideal eternity.