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"You came, come in. Someone is waiting for you."
"For… me?"
"Yes, come in."
Bothela invited Jon into her store. In there, Jon saw two beautiful ladies one young and one old. The were in yellow priest habits and looked quite peaceful.
"Ladies, this is the man I talk to you about. He was a merchant traveling and got attacked by some Hagravens who trapped him in a Briarheart Tree. He managed to break free but he got some vines leeching on his body and they are weakening him greatly. I thought to bring him today for Lady Sybil to see him." Bothela spoke to the old woman.
'Sybil?' Jon looked at the old woman and understood who she is.
The Sybil of Dibella, the spiritual leader of the Cult of Dibella in Skyrim. A very respected and generous figure.
The old woman nodded and spoke.
"Child, can I see that?"
Jon hesitated for a bit but he then removed his shirt and showed his upper half to the priestesses.
"Dibella!" The young priestess gasped from shock and the old one narrowed her eyes.
Around Jon's body, a large vine grew like a lively external organ. It was red and green with thorns growing from it. One can tell that the vine was having blood flowing through it.
"How strange!" The Sybil of Dibella concentrated on the vine and thought.
The young priestess, however, kept looking at Jon's body with a daze. The left half of Jon's body was paler than his right half, his left foot and some fingers of the left hand were missing, there were many wounds and claw marks that barely healed as well as over twenty stab mark one of them was…
"In the heart! You got stabbed in the heart… and lived?" She looked at Jon as if he is a monster.
When he entered, she was about to cuss at Bothela for bringing a beggar-like man in the presence of the Sybil of Dibella but that was not the case anymore. Jon seemed like a survivalist who just has been through a tough experience.
"Have you been through Oblivion by any chance?" The priestess asked.
"Three times… without a scratch… this is all our... dear planet Nirn." Jon said in self-mockery.
"He hasn't lost his sense of humor. Haha!" Bothela said. "Last month, the guards picked him from the gates with many wounds. I treated him from over a dozen infections and curses yet he seemed to not be even bothered about them and kept cracking jokes."
Bothela meant to ease up young priestess's worry only to find her face turning pale.
"My goodness! A dozen infection and curses? You are still alive."
Jon smiled and didn't reply.
"He also suffered a concussion that caused him to not be able to talk and hear properly. Still, he lived through it."
"..." The young priestess wasn't willing to ask anymore.
Jon's well-endowed body could tell that young priestess a lot already. This man was both a warrior and a rich person. A Priestess of Dibella can tell, after all, they are the ones versed in the ways of love, art and beauty after all.
"I see." The Sybil of Dibella seemed to have finished her diagnosis, she looked at Jon and spoke.
"I am sorry, child. I can't help you. Compared to the Temple of Mara and the Temple of Kynareth, our temple is the least versed in the ways of healing. Still, that is too advanced for any healer. If my estimation is correct, those vines are already a part of you rather than the tree they grew from. Your blood flows into them and your power is sealed by them. It is like a harmful being that grew attached to your blood, also, your blood seems to be very special." She said.
Jon felt a bit tight in his chest, he nodded and replied.
"I am aware of… my blood."
"You do?"
"Yes. But… do you mean that… the Vine is part of my Astral Body?"
"Astral Body?" The Sybil didn't understand the term.
"My soul… is this Vine sharing my soul with me?" Jon asked.
The Sybil's face became long but she nodded in the end.
"I didn't think you would understand it. I didn't want to worry you from the start."
Jon nodded.
"I am… a mystic. I understand. Thank you."
Jon's voice was a bit depressed as he said so. He didn't want to show it and turned his head away.
"It is okay, child. I wish you luck." The Sybil said and stood up from here seat to talk with Bothela.
"I talked to you about that girl, right? The one our temple picked some time ago. She is really stubborn and very picky about food. She eats the meat raw sometimes and can be very violent. She speaks a few words and sometimes has a fever or a fit of anger. Can you come and see her, Bothela? I am not sure if she is some Reach native or lost traveler."
"Yes, Lady Sybil. I will make sure to visit you after I finish with the Mister here."
"Thank you. I am off." The Sybil turned around and left but before she gets out, she turned to Jon.
"I don't want to give you false hope but there is a young friend of mine who lives in Eastmarch or Winterhold, she is an excellent healer and someone I recommend to anyone with a state like yours. She is known as the Sybil of Kyne."
"Alina?" Jon was taken aback from the woman's statement and she was taken aback from his question.
"It seems you and I have some mutual friend, child."
"Yeah… I just… I can't let her see me… this way."
Jon's voice was filled with sadness and his hand hung down.
"I see."
The Sybil said and spoke again but something strange happened. Her voice was hers but her tone and aura were different.
"Child, you are bound to Walk the hard Way and carve the hard Fate. Your Fate is your Dream and your Dream is your Way. Walk the Way as we of old once did and wish upon the Stars as your wish is a will granted on your body and land. They are the same and one they ever will be. Dragons you may rob, their might you may claim, their hearts you may conquer, their way you may walk, and stars you may reach. Walk and Dream."
The Sybil said something the none understood. Her voice was ethereal and captivating, it kept ringing in Jon's mind.
Still, once she was done, her aura returned normal and she looked around for a bit then smiled and excused herself out.
Jon was still captured at the moment, last time he heard such an ethereal voice was not too long ago. Just once a month ago on that day.
***
*One Month Ago*
As Shadow returned to Jon, things became much better. From the beginning when the mountain collapsed on Jon, Shadow jumped into [Greed] and possessed it to try and keep Jon alive under the rubble. Following its policy of not interfering too much, Shadow kept an eye on the Forsworn as they took Jon and kept a montering where they went and how to get out of that place.
Once Shadow found a way for Jon, he leeched back on him and told him everything about his place.
He also kindly did some recon and planned and escape route for Jon.
Jon, on the other hand, was preparing himself for something big. Now that [Greed] is close to him, he could spread it under the Briarheart Grove and link himself to every Briarheart Tree and Sapling around. He started to invade them and take their Viral Padomic Energy.
In a few days, the small sapling and trees started to die in a charred state as if they were being burnt from the inside. The Hagravens panicked but none could ever guess that it was his doing. He was trapped in a tree and it started to grow and cover most of his body leaving only his face sticking out.
Also, his cultivation level advanced like a rocket. Last night, he advanced to the new stage of and his body filled with vigor. Still, he didn't break out from the tree.
The new stage is called the [Ebon Blood stage]. It focused on enhancing the Blood and its breakthrough came in the form of spitting out a mouthful of black foul blood.
When the hags saw that, they seemed happy thinking that Jon is finally dying and the large tree he was in is going to grow some mighty Briarheart Seeds but they can't be more wrong.
Jon's increase of power required a more Padomic Energy and he was consuming the Briarheart Grove at a maddened state.
He was focused but he had some annoying guests that would cause him a headache every now and then. First, there was Shadow, his talkative friend, there was Grosh and the Forsworn children who still come to play in the Briarheart Grove. From the looks of it, Grosh is tasked by cleaning the Grove and the children tend to sneak and play with him.
Jon's concussion would hurt the most around children.
(By the way, the fights around the area has started once again.)
'Seriously?'
(Yes, the midget Reachman was really annoyed and kept sending warriors here and there.)
'What is it this time?'
(Some warriors came a month ago and started searching for you and interrogating the clans around the Reach, the say a few fiery and bloody massacres happened. I guess you know whose style is that.)
'... My perants!'
(I seriously like those people, don't you think I picked the best parents for you to be reincarnated for.)
'Shut up. You are annoying.'
(Oh! Don't be shy. You like them a lot, I know you do. By the way, your father looks way better in battle. Conjuring ash storms and turning people into ash, you missed a grand sight.)
'And here you are, getting demoted from a voice in my head to an imaginary friend.'
(What? How rude! Just when are you going to break free already, you lazy bum?)
'When I can.'
(Humph! Back in my day, things were much simpler. I mean getting trapped by a tree would cause you a lot of shame.)
'Says the guy who let himself get killed like a dork.'
(What? I am a peaceful person. I was trying to talk sense into people.)
'Yeah, the bloody mad warrior who bathes in rivers of his enemies' blood just in a fit of anger.'
(Wait! My image is that bad?)
'Yep.'
(Fine, I'll shut up.)
Jon and Shadow arrived at a truce and Jon kept mediating. Two days later, the Briarheart Tree around him started to show signs of breaking. Jon kept struggling until its energies were depleted and it started to char from the inside.
'Yes, finally.'
Jon circulated his energy to the highest speed he can muster and started exhausting the tree before it could recover. Once everything was done right, cracks started to appear on the surface of the tree and it was completely charred.
Jon flexed his muscles and cracks sounded out, not only from the tree but form his sore limbs and neck. And finally, it broke.
'Freedom!'
Jon was all smiles as his feet stepped on land again. He almost tripped a few times but his body started to feel the life again.
Every bone made crack and Jon heard it like the sound of freedom, he was still dizzy and needed some time to adapt.
Things were nice and all but then he checked his body and anger kicked it.
'Fuck! Holy fuck shit!...'
All sort of curses came in his head.
His left side was completely less lively compared to the right side, the reason was simple. Jon wanted to preserve his body so he protected it from the inside but he still wanted the Viral Padomic Energy of the Briarheart tree to enter, the only way to do so was to sacrifice some places and these were his left pinky and little fingers. Now, those fingers are completely black and the left side of the body was pale as it was damaged by the invading energy.
Things didn't end here, there was a vine wrapped around his left leg and it also showed signs of turning black.
'Fucking Oblivion!'
He knew what that was, a Tissue Death, in some advanced cases, it was known as Gangrene.
There was one way to deal with such a thing.
Jon concentrated on his body and detected how far the case spread. Once he detected its area of effect. He shaped [Greed] into a blade and…
*Slash* *Slash* *Slash*
*Groan*
He mercilessly cut his own dying parts. Two fingers and one foot.
(Motherfuc…) Shadow was taken shocked out of his mind.
'Shut up! It was the only way!'
With that out of the way, Jon shaped some parts of [Greed] into some fingers and a foot to replace the ones he cut. Lost limbs are no problem to him, he can replace them whenever have enough energy to do so.
(Hey.)
'Shut up, man. I am busy here.'
(No, look behind you, you dolt)
Jon looked behind him and saw a person who shouldn't be here in any way possible. It was none other than his Labour's Prophet. Aranea Ienith.
"... Ara… nea?" Jon spoke.
Aranea looked at him smiling. As she spoke, her voice was the same but here tone was different. It was much more… ethereal if the word fit the description.
"So, you finally decided to move, young Jonhild."
Her voice echoed deep in Jon's mind and soul.
(Well I'll be damned.) Even Shadow was surprised.
Jon looked at Aranea and narrowed his eyes, he can almost swear that he can see an aura of light around her with a Star floating over a shoulder and a crescent on the other.
It was her…
"Azura!"
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