103 Saying Goodbye

{That chapter title is rather ominous isn't it? Imagine if this was all one big prank and I dropped right here, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha jk.}

The lovely ladies that slew Alduin had discharged their transformations and stored their arms, then taken their love's hand and felt fulfilled if not a tad bit winded from the affair. With a whoosh, Yuri took everyone back to the top of the world. Tsun and the three age-old heroes looked dumbly at the empty spot that once hosted the unbothered heroes who left without explanation or any attempt at seeking credit.

"Now that's a true Nord..." Tsun said.

"None of them were Nords!" Gormlaith Golden-Hilt shouted with her raspy fervor, not really in a racist way but throwing her shock somewhere else.

"I said what I said." Tsun would not be cowed.

The bitter cold couldn't be recognized as anything but a mild breeze to the ones who just appeared on the peak of Snow Tower. A conversation began concerning the future of the five people in the snowy winds.

As the most human-like facsimiles they could be, Dremlaashon was undeterred from joining the trio as a proper world-walker. Convincing Paarthunax was a different story. He loved his gift, so much so that he was willing to use it to the fullest and walk among the mortal world to actively guide the course of a more peaceful history, especially in the tumultuous times that were a-comin'. He would not change this stance, but promised to be involved with any endeavors Yuri has in the Aurbis in the future. With a good-natured departure, and after being given the shout to return to his form, Paarthunax went down to surprise his Greybeards before walking among the mortals he cherished further.

Yuri put Drem in Avalon at his request, then asked the girls who they needed to say their goodbyes to and got fewer answers than he assumed.

"I can't believe it's finally happening..."

"We can come back," Toni said with a visible lack of interest in coming back.

"I know, but I'm not sure that I'll want to. I only want to say goodbye to the Companions, but we've already grown somewhat apart from them. There is only one person I wish I could've said goodbye to..."

Yuri let his brow wrinkle a bit. If he had managed to become a god the normal way, recovering the soul of her deceased boss would be little to no issue, but the moment the Record crystallized the Aurbis, death for the faithless became much more permanent. But even if Yuri could bring her back to life as some weird betrothal gift, he wouldn't. A loss that has already been accepted should be permanent, it shaped her character and gave her a trial that led to her tempering, to where she was today. Backtracking all that would be the real loss, and Alera wouldn't come out of it the same.

But he could certainly memorialize her someway in Avalon, that sounds like a good gift...

"It's best to do it anyway," Yuri lightly replied. "If only to make it clear and have no regrets. Besides, they're good people and I know we had fun with them."

Ally breathed out her feelings and smiled again to let him know she was ready. Yuri cleaned her up with Light magic, then transported her to Whiterun, and he then turned to Toni.

"The guild..." Yuri offered.

"Has remained exactly how it was, and will not benefit from seeing me again besides asking me to stay. It's a den of nasty spiderwebs and I don't want to get covered in them even if I know I can escape." Toni flatly pointed.

Yuri smiled a little and knew she had a point. But he also credited her resilience. From Hammerfell to Riften, from Riften to Avalon, she never broke into even a bit of melancholy or homesickness. She found a passion and she leaned into it full force, and she had faith that she could build something more with her efforts. With Yuri, that mentality was easy to maintain as results came day by day, so she expanded into every avenue her talent lied and found herself. A masochistic, submissive, shadowy, telepathic, and surreptitious sword-singer.

Yuri wasn't aversed to reading her mind just as she read his. They both knew exactly how often it was done, like a nonverbal probing into the emotions to make sure the other was fine. Curious how hard it was to convey the truth of the heart and how easy it was to just let somebody in to see it when you love them. Being blocked even a little would stop either of them out of respect, but they hardly ever did except playfully. Alera, too, was slowly adjusting to this telepathic culture of theirs while understanding the merits.

"I like the old man enough. And I had a few people that I sometimes hung out with at the College. That Serana girl could also stand to know we left, at least."

"Savos, colleagues, and Serana, huh? I guess our destinations remain the same, then. Let's go!" Yuri held out his arm like a gentleman and she took it like a lady as Yuri snapped his hands and changed them into expensive and luxurious mage robes while cleaning up their appearance. He didn't change Alera's clothes because she wouldn't fit in over there if he did.

Before the College, they popped into being and strutted like two phoenixes up the stairs and through the halls while they, or more specifically Yuri, was being stared at like he had grown a second head. He did just make the declaration of an Era, they knew his name and often his voice from the few lectures he participated in. Toni broke off to teleport to a few dorms and meet up with a few people.

Yuri continued and-

"Yuri?"

The entire college started popping from the woodwork to see the Grandmaster, now Herald of Change, but none spoke a word to call him out. Yuri sensed them first.

'Ah, how shameful of me to neglect the bond I had with them. Well, who keeps every friend they met in College? Time to say goodbye.'

Bjorn and Cynthia were among the scattered cells of crowds parting the way for him in varying levels of worship, but Cynthia broke through the commotion to see what the source was and blurted out his name right before facepalming herself and trying to squeeze the air back into her lungs. Bjorn took a finger in his collar and tried to air out his neck while grimacing. Yuri was not on their level to interrupt anymore, all eyes were on them.

Yuri gracefully stopped and silence fell, he tilted his head and looked at the twins before lightly approaching them and outstretching his arms to hug them both as they were a bit stiff and shocked.

"It's good to see you both again. And in Expert robes, too!" Yuri released the hug and beamed. "Won't be long before you sit at the highest seats in this College and give Savy a hard time for me."

"For you? Are you going somewhere?" Cynthia continued with some concern.

Yuri smiled mysteriously and projected his quiet voice across the crowded hall, "I've done what I set out to do, learned almost as much as I needed, taken more than enough. I'll be leaving, and I'm afraid I won't be found no matter how hard you look." Yuri turned and continued on his way with a final wave, "Do take care of yourselves, now," and vanished before the crowd in a way not even a host of mages could understand.

In the Arch Mage's Tower, Yuri collected and arrived without a single disturbance in sound or space. Warding himself has become a thing of the past, in the Record space unraveled for him and as an Arcane Spirit such concerns were meaningless. As Yuri approached the table where Savos and Valerica were having a candlelit dinner, he was finally discovered when the old man gave an unseemly gasp and Valerica whipped around to action.

With a wave of his hand the room was alighted. "Was I interrupting something?" Yuri asked.

""Yuri!""

He smirked, and with another wave, Serana and Mirabelle were brought in the room from god knows where.

The conversation took a while to stop being a string of startled confusion and questions about why he projected that announcement, but while Yuri's odd and patient sobriety in this situation could be credited to enlightenment for some, Savos felt that Yuri was acting as if he was out of place in the room. As if...

"You're leaving, aren't you...?" Savos lightly intoned with a tinge of sadness. He had felt this coming somehow, but didn't know it would be so soon.

The ladies in the room looked at Savos before looking back at Yuri for confirmation. Mirabelle was the most devastated but confirmed it before Yuri said anything by the guilty smile he shed. Yuri felt for Toni and knew she was done, so he brought her into the room in a flash and they began to say goodbye.

"I still don't know what you really are, and I don't think I would even if you told me, but I want to say good luck beyond those stars, son." Savos didn't shake his hand, he hugged Yuri like a man and wasn't ashamed. Yuri returned it in kind with no small amount of reminiscence before releasing it in an appropriate amount of time.

"Use that heart ritual I left you, Savy. The world needs you for as long as you're willing. And Saarthal is definitely clear by now, go ahead and take it."

"Hmph, I don't need you to tell me that. With you gone I have full rights, you hear!"

The girls didn't get to know each other that well, but they liked Toni for what they had gotten to know of her. They shared the same sort of goodbyes and finally Toni got to Savos and said, "Now you have to go creep on another couple, though they'll never match up to us."

"Ha, I have my own efforts to make in that area," Savos glanced at Valerica who gave a slight blush. Yes, she blushed, she was now a living woman like her daughter. They were both spending their days teaching and/or learning in the College as distinguished guests. Serana was prepared to leave to start her own story somewhere else very soon, but she might get a little sibling in the very near future.

As a parting gift, Yuri gave them books for Elvish and Draconic and extended the same heart ritual he gave Savos to the two who were joining his family. A lesser version of his, but greater than anything he gave the college normally and fully capable of being performed by someone with only a limited amount of Magicka gradually. It had no slots, but they would live and grow more powerful for thousands of years.

Yuri took Toni's hand and they vanished, arriving right in front of the steps of Jorrvaskr as Ally was descending them.

A certain Olava the Feeble was going around saying that Alduin was slain mere moments after it happened, so when the Dragonborn arrived and confirmed it, the city was abuzz with fervor. Tales would soon be told of the battle that none of them witnessed, and Ally had a civilian entourage keeping a respectful distance that was close enough for people to offer trinkets, food, and gratitude until she got to Jorrvaskr where it was even more merry.

Navigating people who either wanted to spar her or pay their respects, while the still-living Kodlak was toasting in her valiant honor, was quite the undertaking. A few people were looking at her longingly but wouldn't dare cross the man who was now being rumored around here as the Herald. Ally finally made her peace with the entire crew who promised her to keep hunting the last of the Dragons in her name, and thanked her and her husband for helping arm them all. Which led to the present.

A deathly stillness arrived as Yuri's presence cut through the murmuring crowd unnaturally quick. Jarl Balgruuf halted trying to descend the steps from Dragonsreach to invite Ally for a formal dinner and make political connections and the crowd that was now scattered jovially among the Wind District came to a hush.

"Goodbye, everybody. We wish you all well." Yuri spoke with regality.

"Goodbyyyyeee!" Ally waved cheerfully.

"Peace!" Toni gave a peace sign, and they vanished for the last time.

The citizens of Nirn would later come to know that the mysterious Forgotten Vale had abruptly disappeared and left a hollow gorge in the earth between Skyrim and High Rock. What they would never know due to being cut off from Oblivion, was that one of the Daedra had managed to escape into the Record and the unknown beyond to seek out forbidden knowledge and new strings of Fate. Like many octopuses, Hermaeus Mora had skillfully escaped captivity and would return at a later time.

───※ ·❆· ※───

The gang didn't immediately leave. Yuri was delighted to find that since he had the Record, and since Avalon had the Record of the Aurbis, the Eye of Magnus still operated perfectly inside his inventory and in Avalon. Yuri had spent a bare minimum amount of time settling the Forgotten Vale near the most northerly parts of his world and making sure none of the Skaal wanted to leave.

They had constructed log cabins in little to no time, and remade their village with the All-Maker stones at the center. When asked if any of them had second thoughts and wanted to leave, the only flight risk decided that this world was his new adventure and became a bootleg explorer that came home now and then but enjoyed hunting and living off the marvelous land that was full of surprises.

The All-Maker stones seemed to be doing some kind of enriching to the area they stood on, so Yuri decided to plant a seed in the middle of the six stone encirclement and see how it would turn out. But that's a story for later.

Yuri then went to work.

Since the Aurbic Record was now tied to Akasha's Record, Yuri took advantage of the mana that was slowly replacing Magicka and operated on the Eye of Magnus with the intention of upgrading and duplicating it.

The Eye operated on its geometry and its esoteric Ehlnofex to gather Magicka into a vessel of singularity that would continually gather and expel pure Magicka straight from Aetherius and into the World. Magicka came from the Dreamer's understanding of the Laws and was slightly tainted by his will, it was Mana that was warped and filtered through a vessel of a singular being's experience the Eye was using. Mana, on the other hand, was the child of Laws. Not one Law, all of them. The Law of Space opened a hole in the Firmament, the first and final layer of reality, and the rest of the Laws dived in for a slice of the pie. The action and collision of every single Law in the the Firmament is responsible for creation, and Mana is the energy created when they all overlapped repeatedly in an environment that wasn't the Firmament and continued to do so. Two Laws were born from the act of creation itself, and then many more followed, but that's a story for another time.

Yuri didn't have the understanding or ability to pull Mana directly from the Laws after experimenting with them, no he barely touched the surface of the Laws purely because he was in possession of Pure Mana. Creating a singularity was extremely difficult when there was hardly any Magicka being converted in the atmosphere yet, but what he could do is simulate it with his own.

Circuitry came into play here more than he could have planned for. With a pattern of circuits along the surface of the now alien-looking Nightingale Eye working in conjunction with spirit runes that bound commands of compression, gravity, and even conversion along with others that tied the Eye to a focal dock on Avalon, Yuri had manufactured a singularity without having one.

The circuits were acting a lot like rings that rotated the mana he fed it at high speeds through an array of formations that would help direct the mana it was collecting. These eyes were placed at the edges of the space set aside for Avalon where the Record bordered it and slowly fed the Aurbic Record its Mana. The Eyes now numbered seven and dragged mana into them via this method, which would then collect into an actual singularity and feed it to the dais dock connected in a similar fashion to the Staff of Magnus. These docks served two purposes. For three of the Eyes, they were the personal banks of Yuri, Ally, and Toni, and were connected to their Sigils. The other four were feeding Avalon with a faster conversion of Magicka to Mana, and accelerating the worlds saturation to make it closer to the Laws sooner. Or so Yuri surmised. The effects of this would show in themselves, as well as every creature on the planet, just as Yuri had warned Nirn while also being safe from outside attack in his inventory.

Revealing and finalizing this project gave him a great big glug of euphoria. 'It's like Infinite Mana in the Apocalypse, but it's not the Apocalypse...'

Next came the basics. Their house had to be fit for royalty, since they would be Avalon Royalty if it ever got that far, so he spent a good while shaping it into his vision of grandeur and a fair amount of RP on the decorations and additives. Castle Nightingale, name pending, was a white marble beauty jutting from a crescent-shaped summit and overlooking a pristine and lush valley. Towers with gold domes and spires that screamed aristocracy and wealth suspended themselves at the jointed intervals of the aggressive yet cathedral-like architecture that was also lined with gold at every window or prominent edge. Waterfalls spilled through bridges connecting courtyards through the mountain and the creation of man and man-made nature clashed flushly with the image. Yuri saw it and felt it was glorious. Decorating the spacious insides was more of an artistic effort than a monetary one, which the girls helped out with gleefully. With their small control of the creatia and their own magic, ceilings became a renaissance of war and sex, and halls were dedicated to hobbies or empty wall space that would later be given memorial paintings. Rooms were designated for forging, alchemy, martial practice and music, and many more. It couldn't all be filled, but they saved it for later. Most importantly, the bedroom was where Yuri spent the most RP to fill with furniture that would last through their level of loving and no expense was spared for comfort and style.

Yuri made a vault connecting to the bedroom secretly and leading inside the mountain, warded and bound so incredibly well that only sigil holders could enter for either security or precious items. This is where he placed the energy docks and anything that he found valuable and didn't need to be protected from rotting. His regular inventory space which led to who knows where is better for food and perishables, but the Vault would be the new home for anything else. The Vault was also bound to the Sigil holders in the same way their personal inventories were, but certain areas could be blocked off from each other in much the same way.

Yuri felt that he was ready enough, and it was time to head to the next world. He mentioned this to the ladies who were long ready, and he exited Avalon to float in space.

Yuri looked at Oblivion and backhandedly sealed Molag Bal and Coldharbour from outside influence for eternity, which is the worst punishment that corrupt man who only wanted to fuck with mortals could get. Not that he wasn't already pretty sealed, but he wanted to be certain.

'System, take me to the next world.'

[Hail, Archivist. May the mysteries of the next universe be wholly unraveled]

And Yuri blasted off again.

{YOOOOOOOO ITS OFFICIALLY A MULTIVERSE FIC. Might take a bit to collect my thoughts on the plot, but won't be long.}