The Last Soulmate

24-Kalpa

I woke up in a strange house I didn’t recognize. I must have passed out after going insane. Sevy and Alduin looked at me with concern. 

“Was it a bad dream?” I ask. Sevy’s teary eyes confirm it wasn’t. I break into loud sobs again. Alduin hugs me and Sevy pats my back. Memories of the girls filled my mind. Lydia offered me a toy carrot on our first day of daycare. Serana looked at me for the first time. Us shopping, us partying, and of course, when they visited me at the hospital. 

Bryan was in a corner, sitting with his knees to his chest. Paarthurnax and Odahviing looked at me. The group felt so much smaller. 

“I’m a fucking idiot.” Bryan had his hair singed and he looked rough. “I sold my soul to Nocturnal…I thought I’d have more time with her…” He slams his fist into the glass coffee table. “I’ll never see Lydia again!” He started to wail inconsolably, sounding more like a wounded animal than a man. 

“I wish I had the words to comfort you.” Paarthurnax spoke, looking forlorn. Odahviing sighed, shaking his head. 

“How the hell is he so strong?” Odahviing asked. “It makes no sense.” 

Three older men and a woman walk up to us. 

“She has awakened.” The woman spoke, looking at them. 

“Who are you?” I ask her, raising my brow. 

“The older men are the Greybeards and the woman is a priestess of Akatosh.” Sevy spoke, looking at me. 

“The world is in danger.” I responded, looking at them. 

“We know.” One of the Greybeards spoke. “We were made aware of this by your friends. Miraak got to the Throat of the World as we had left to meet a delivery truck for our supplies. He is getting closer to destroying the Towers.” 

“We need to stop him.” I responded. “Or everyone will die because of him.” 

“Well….I received a vision from Akatosh.” The priestess spoke, looking sorrowful. “I don’t know if that is something that can be done.” 

My heart stopped. Was it really the end of the kalpa? Sorrow fills my being. I would never get to old age or have kids or continue my previous lie of being a nurse. Any baby born or conceived now wouldn't get to become a child.  Suddenly everything went white and my friends and I were in a white room. I could hear whispers in the background so I couldn’t see anything. I saw a golden dragon walking to us. 

“Father…” Alduin said, looking nervous. 

“My sons, a Nightingale and a fellow Aedra.” Akatosh spoke in a booming voice. “Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.” 

“Why have you brought us here?” Alduin asked him, staring at him intensely. 

“The Kalpa is at its end.” Akatosh spoke, looking down at us. 

“So…you’re saying…no matter what we do….” I responded, feeling dread and sadness. My brothers would never get to be adults. My parents would never grow old. 

“Yes.” Akatosh answered my question. “But Miraak must be defeated in order for the kalpa to properly end. Otherwise he will always threaten the kalpa he comes into.” 

“But how will we do that?” Bryan asked him. 

“Alduin will end the world when I call for him. Miraak is still mortal and can still die. It is up to you to figure that out.” Akatosh spoke. 

“Where is he now?” I asked him. 

“He is in Solstheim, trying to recover from the fight the Greybeards and the military gave him. It is best to seek him out now.” Akatosh looked at us. Bryan and the other two dragons disappeared. It was just Alduin and I. “Monvahkrii….” 

I’m assuming that was supposed to be my dovah name. I turned my attention to him. 

“Yes?” I asked him. 

“You will be the only one besides Alduin who will survive this kalpa.” Akatosh spoke to me, looking sadly. “Unfortunately you will not remember it.” 

I sighed. That is what drove Severine to insanity. Losing everyone she loved. Being the last one. The fact that I would be the last person from this kalpa was terrifying. No one else would and I wouldn’t even remember the faces and names of the people I had once loved. 

“Why just me? Is it because Alduin is supposed to be my husband?” I asked him. Akatosh nodded. “You are the other half of him.” He tells me. 

“The other half of me?” Alduin asked, looking at me. “But she doesn’t really have power like mine.” 

"There is a way to change that." Akatosh spoke. "But you will have to accept it."

"What is it?" I asked him. I felt like I was going to vomit from all the anxiety of this. 

"You must die to truly become Aedric."