Challenge?

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When Lucia woke, it was, once more, to one of her Dark Sisters watching over her. Babette, it seemed, had been keeping vigil over her, and with something dwelling on her mind. She had opened her mouth to speak, when Lucia held up her hands, a signal to wait, just a few moments. "Tell me. Which part has been preying on your mind sister. Is it that the arrival of the Keeper will upset the sanctuary Matron, because obviously, at this stage, the pair will clash? Is it that one of the Daedric princes was able to touch one sworn to Sithis, because that, I can actually explain. Or is it that I left something out of my tale of woe?" Babette smiled softly, her eyes belying her true age, in all their crimson glory.

"None of the above Lu, or well, perhaps it ties in. You speak of Sheogorath as female... But is he not what we on Mundus perceive as male?"

"Babble..." Lucia got a smile at that, from the nonsense word she had first called Babette before she could pronounce her name properly. "That is... a story in itself. Do you remember, when I first came to the Sanctuary? You had been here only a year or so." A nod was her only reply. "It was not my first visit here. I have been around the Brotherhood since I was born, but it was only then I took the final step to be inducted as a Dark Sister. It was in my blood you see, though one would not think so now." A frown crossed Babette's face, and she spoke up.

"I don't see what this has to do with..." Lucia cut her off.

"I am getting there. See, two years before I came here, an odd door appeared in Niben bay. Nobody knew what it was there for, nobody knew where it led. Nobody who entered the door returned. My mother had been part of the Brotherhood for two centuries. She had been Listener for most of that time. She had been content with Listening for the Night Mother for all that time, and had always been true to the Family, even after my father's death." Seeing the look on the vampire's face, Lucia smiled once more. "I will tell you another time. But as I said, assassination is in my blood. Anyway, where was I. Oh yes, the door. Mother knew it was time for someone else to take the responsibility of leadership, so she consulted with the Night Mother. I do not know what exactly happened, but it was announced that she would be the first Listener to survive to retirement. She handed in her Blade of Woe, given to her by my father when she first joined, and left the Brotherhood. She was still affiliated, but no longer was she an active member. She decided to investigate the door in the Niben bay, and soon after she entered, it closed, with no trace of what had once been there. I searched for her for a year, before I found out what had happened. Again, I do not entirely understand, but somehow, my mother had become Sheogorath. Daedric Prince of Madness. That is why she was able to touch Cicero, because she was still somewhat a part of the Dark Brotherhood." Lucia had to wait a while for a reply, worried somewhat as Babette seemed to be in shock. When she finally moved, it prompted a breath of relief.

"Your mother... once the greatest Listener the brotherhood has ever known... Became a Daedric Prince?" Lucia nodded in reply, and started as another voice spoke up.

"So that is why you told everyone you would try to convince her to release the jester. Because she may actually listen." The golden skinned girl turned to Astrid, and nodded.

"I would like to do it as soon as I can Matron, if it is not too much trouble. I believe it will make the transition easier." Astrid crossed her arms, leaning against the wall.

"But how do I know I can trust you? You say your mother was the Listener, but you have no proof." Lucia's chocolate eyes were narrowed, dark, cold.

"I am not here to usurp you. Far from it, I was simply looking for a place to call home, to call Sanctuary, after mine was destroyed. I respect your authority as Matron of this Sanctuary, and, as there is no Listener, that makes you the highest rank currently known within the Brotherhood. The Black hand is gone, it never recovered from what happened at the end of the third Era. We may be the only ones left if all of Tamriel, we cannot afford to let bickering and fighting amongst ourselves destroy us. I wish to make the assimilation of the Keeper easier on all of us, and to ease his pain at losing so much of his Family. That is not a selfish goal, it is a goal for the good of the sanctuary. That means, that if you seek to stand in my way, you are making things harder on everyone." Once Lucia's rant was over, the tension was so thick between the two facing off that it could almost be cut with a wooden sword. Neither wanted to back down, and it took Babette interjecting to halt the standoff.

"Do you know how to contact your mother Lucia?" The look on her face, of surprise, and even a little abashment, drew a laugh, and broke the tension. She had the grace to look contrite, embarrassed even.

"I really should have a plan before I go about challenging the Matron's authority. My apologies, for any insult, but I really do want to only help." Astrid laughed, if coldly, and her icy blue eyes narrowed at the raven haired newcomer.

"You may go. I believe your intentions... this time. I believe there is a madman wandering the streets of Solitude. If you will return, I will have a job ready for you." The dismissal was obvious, even though they were in Lucia's own, if temporary, room. She nodded, and, ignoring Babette for now, turned to pack those few things she had unpacked, and soon left through the black door. She sighed, looking both ways. She was in for a long trek to Solitude.

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