The Last Soulmate

15-Castle

I was running away from something. My heart was beating rapidly against my chest and my dress was getting tangled in briars. I fell down on the ground. I felt something grab me and pull me towards it. I was screaming.

"I told you you'd pay for your betrayal, Aemma." He was unmasked but his mask had changed. His eyes were pitch black with black veins coming from them. He had brown skin and brown hair. My heart was threatening to beat itself into a heart attack at that point.

Alduin! Akatosh! Kyne! Someone, please! I thought to myself as he cast a strangulation spell on me.

Suddenly, I lost my consciousness.

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I woke up, gasping. I was in my underwear and with a heavy blanket on my body. I grabbed at my hair, curling up into a ball. There were tears coming from my eyes. What was that?

"Lia!" Alduin hugged me. Y'all see this shit???? I was too stunned to speak at first but I wrapped my arms around him.

"Hi." I manage. He smells nice. Like a campfire, but in a good way. He pulls away.

"You okay?" He asked me. I could feel my ears heating up as I realized he was pretending not to eye me.

"I-I'm fine. I'm fine." I tuck my bangs behind my ears. "Why do you care all the sudden?"

"I mean I've been around you for so long....I know when you are not well." Alduin spoke, looking away from me. This is awkward....

"Hey, Lia, I-" Serana spoke, stopping mid sentence. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, no, I just had a nightmare." I spoke to her. Alduin perked up.

"What kind of nightmare?" He asked, his tone softening. How hard did I hit my head?

"I don't know. I was running away from that man in my last dream. He caught me and told me I'd pay for betraying him..." I placed my chin on my knees. "He called me Aemma....Alduin, who was she?"

Alduin sighed, grimacing. He had been trying to avoid this conversation for a while from the looks of it.

"Aemma was.....my first love..." He spoke. "I thought she loved me back but she didn't."

"Ouch." I responded. Oh my Divines, shut up Lia!

"I spent centuries grieving her. I thought she had returned as Severine but she clearly did not." Alduin sighed. "She was fond of my nephew back then, she wept for him, but she clearly did not feel anything for me. I was a fool for thinking that she loved me."

"I'm sorry. That must have been very painful for you to experience." Serana spoke.

"Right?" I replied to her. I thought of the dream. She was calling out for him so maybe she didn't totally not care for him. But I don't know. I wonder if Aemma was the one in the dream getting scorched. "What happened to her, Alduin? If you're comfortable sharing that."

"Miraak escaped and I was angry at her and Vahlok for not stopping him but I tried to hide it. She was weeping for that fool....I wanted her to calm down...I wanted to..." He took a deep breath. "Tell her...instead I pushed her away and she ran. That's when Miraak got her. By the time I found her, he had forced one of the dragons to burn her to ash."

My memories of that dream flash through my mind.

"I would rather die than betray my King!" She-or I- had yelled at Miraak. Was this chick that good of an actress? So good she made Alduin fall for her without trying and then broke his heart.

"She was thinking of Alduin.." I say. Alduin looks at me.

"What?" Alduin's eyes widened. "Aemma...she was thinking of me?"

"I think so." I sighed, still feeling a bit of pain. "Severine tried to poison me, didn't she?"

"Yeah, we had to hide out here after she destroyed our apartment building." Serana sighed. "And my spells and Alduin's healing shout could only stop the poison from spreading."

"What cured me?" I asked. I don't feel like I'm still poisoned.

"A cure potion and a blood transfusion." Serana sighed. "From Alduin."

"You should have seen him, Aemma. He fell out of his damn chair when he tried to get up." Odahviing said in a very thick accent.

"I did not." He crossed his arms.

"Well, thank you." I said, looking at him. "Why are you being so helpful all the sudden?"

"I need you alive to return to my original form." Alduin spoke. "That is all." He wasn't looking at me directly like the other times he'd said that. Odahviing and Paarthurnax looked at each other.

"Okay then." I shook my head. He's acting weird. I'm not totally obtuse and I feel like he's hiding something but I'm not sure what. Him liking me? That would be a cold day in hell.