Lonely Day - Chapter 7: Cheydinhal

Trish woke up next to Fugo, who was still sleeping. The last thing she remembered was the last room in Fort Blueblood, fighting that one man. Trish got out of bed and realized she was still wearing the same dress she wore yesterday. She quickly changed into her new one and woke the golden blond up.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“Probably seven or eight in the morning,” she answered. “I’ll see if Giorno is up. We’ll be downstairs.”

Trish left the room, and Fugo slowly got out of bed. He was still tired, but he changed anyway, no matter how slow his pace was. Fugo got a headache and touched his head in response. Dressed up, he left the room to meet up with Giorno and Trish.

Downstairs, they were sitting at a small round table, eating breakfast. Fugo sat down with them.

“Giorno,” Fugo said, “your enemies are strong.”

“And your enemies are mysterious,” he replied, referring to Prosciutto.

“Did I miss something?” Trish asked.

“That’s somebody I work with,” Fugo said, talking to Giorno.

“Is he someone from the arena?” he continued asking questions.

“No.”

“Is there some other job you’ve taken?” Giorno knew he wasn’t a part of the Thieves Guild because then they would’ve known each other. “Perhaps the Fighters Guild?”

“I’ve never been a part of the Fighter Guild before.”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t have the time.”

“You know,” Trish added, “I’ve been wondering how you’ve been making a lot of money. There’s no way you get all those coins from the arena alone.”

“I help others. People need help sometimes, and when people need some help, it improves my image when I help them.”

Giorno didn’t have the heart to tell him the members of the Mages Guild still gossip about what he did and wondered what he was doing besides fighting in the arenas. “Oh,” he commented. Giorno couldn’t think of him working for a group except for the Dark Brotherhood, but Fugo seems like a great guy. Maybe he did help others, but it didn’t improve his image as he thought it did.

“So, Trish,” Fugo said, “which road are we using?”

“Does it matter?” she asked. “And what are you going to do once we get to Cheydinhal? Didn’t you want to avoid that city?”

“I’m not afraid anymore. I’ll happily join you.”

“We don’t we use the Yellow Road?” Giorno said. “We should arrive at the Imperial Bridge Inn when it starts to get dark.”

“What about the dangers on the road?” Fugo asked. “There aren’t any cities on the road.”

“Doesn’t seem to be a problem since we can all handle ourselves.”

-

It was just as Giorno said. The three managed to get to the Imperial Bridge Inn right when the sky darkened. While they were on the road, there were some bandits and undead on the road, but it was nothing they couldn’t handle. However, once they were at the inn and rented the beds for the night, they noticed all the beds were in one room.

“We should’ve taken the other road,” Trish complained.

“We won’t look, Trish. It’ll be like when we traveled to Skingrad, and you got kidnapped and had to change clothes.”

The two blonds turned around, letting Trish change into her nightwear. Then it was Fugo and Giorno’s turn to change, and she looked away, giving them privacy. Afterward, they all slept.

-

Giorno woke up first and changed into his robes, going downstairs soon after. Then Trish woke up and looked into her bags for clothes. She sighed, looking at her old clothes. She had clothes of all the colors in her bags, but she didn’t feel like wearing them again. Fugo woke up and noticed Trish on the floor.

“Good morning. What are you doing down there?” Fugo asked.

“Figuring out what to wear. I’ve already worn all of these.”

“Just wear the same dress.”

“The same dress? No! I must wear something new.”

Fugo sighed. “I’ll be downstairs.”

He changed first before going. Once down, he spied Giorno from outside the window. He went outside and stood next to him in the garden. The view of the river and hillside was breathtaking.

“Morning, Giorno,” Fugo said.

“Good morning. Where’s Trish?”

“Trying to figure out what to wear.”

“Oh. By the way, how’s your new armor? It looks heavy.”

“I was trained to wear heavy armor. Anyways, I like it. It could use some enchantments, though. I might need someone from the Mages Guild to enchant it for me. Speaking of which, I’m thinking about rejoining. I’ll probably have to speak to Raminus Polus.”

“I don’t think you have to.”

“I still should talk to Raminus to let him know I rejoined.”

They decided to sit down for a while and wait for Trish.

“So,” Giorno spoke, “what will you be doing once we’re finished with this?”

Get far away from Cyrodiil. “First, I’m going to see if I fit in the Mages Guild. If not, I guess it’s back to the arena with me.”

“Trish will probably be busy. Let’s spend as much time with her as we can.”

They heard someone enter outside, walking over to where they were sitting. It was Trish.

“Hey, is it okay if I sit in the middle?” she asked.

The two gave her room. While sitting with her, Fugo and Giorno grabbed her hands.

“What a nice day,” she commented. “I want to be here forever.”

They sat on the bench for a while, letting the gentle breeze cool them off, and watched the river flow. ‘Twas a pleasant Second Seed day.

Trish stopped grabbing their hands and got up from her seat. “We should move on.”

-

The three were at Cheydinhal, the last place for Trish’s recommendation. The pink-haired High Elf looked at Fugo’s reaction when they entered the city. He was calm. Inside, they wasted no time chatting with strangers and headed straight to the guildhall. There, they spoke to Deetsan, an Argonian, who was upstairs, making potions. She heard their footsteps, stopped what she was doing, and turned around to face them.

“Greetings, Giorno!” she said. “Oh, hello, Fugo. Who’s this High Elf?”

“I’m Trish,” she answered. “This is the last place for a recommendation.”

“There is one thing you could do. Lately, a necromancer has been raising the dead along the Yellow Road. Southeast of here is Hame, an Alyeid ruin. It should be near Boethia’s shrine. If these two weren’t around, I’d ask you not to engage in combat and report back to me. However, since you have these two, your new task is to clear the ruins of necromancers. And Trish, before you go, here’s a spell tome. Study it for a bit. Good luck, you three.”

The three left the guild hall and chatted outside.

“Fugo,” Trish said, “I noticed you were inside the guildhall. Normally, you stay outside.”

“I want to rejoin the Mages Guild,” he replied.

“Since when?”

“Ever since we went to Bravil.”

“Really? Whatever for?”

“I want to spend more time with you and Giorno,” he told a half-truth. He wanted to, but he was going to complete that contract.

“Oh. Anyway, let’s head to Hame. I’ll be studying this spell tome.”

-

In almost two hours, they arrived at Hame. The grass around the ruins was dry and dying, and three skeletons guarded the area. The skeletal archer guarded the stairs while the other two patrolled around the ruins.

Trish used her staff’s power at the archer. The other two faced her and charged, but Giorno took care of the two with an explosive fireball, sending their bones and weapons flying. Fugo took point and went down the stone stairs, heading inside the ruins.

The three were in the corridor of the ruin and walked ahead, stopping at the iron windows. Fugo peaked and saw nobody on the floor below them. They went down to that floor, leading to two other rooms.

“There’s someone in the room to the left,” Giorno said.

Fugo sheathed his sword and took out his bow, sneaking into the room on the left. A Breton necromancer stood idle and had not spotted them yet. He drew his bow and let loose his arrow, aiming directly at his head.

“Is it alright if I check for any treasure?” Giorno asked.

“Make it quick,” Fugo said.

And Giorno did.

“That fast?” Trish commented. “What did you find?”

“An old ring and some coins. Nothing special. Let’s continue forth.”

They went into the other room and spotted a High Elf necromancer from across the other side, blocking the path behind. In front of the elf were two traps: one spike pit and one ceiling spike. Just as Fugo did with the first necromancer, he shot at his head.

“Nice shot,” Giorno commented. “How’d you get so good with those headshots?”

“Practice.”

Avoiding the traps, they headed into a corridor that split into two paths. To their left was a room with some treasure, while straight ahead led to more stairs. Fugo tried to go to the left, but somebody locked the gate. He tried opening the lock, but his lockpick broke.

“Damn it!”

“Let me try,” Giorno said. He tried opening the lock with magic and then lockpicks. “I think we might need a key. Well, let’s find it. Let’s head down the stairs.”

A zombie approached them as they went to the stairs, attacking Fugo first with its frail arms. He decapitated it, but the body still moved. Then he seared its rotting flesh, killing it, and then he and the others descended the stairs.

There were on the lower level now. A caged Varla stone was in front of them. To the left was another door, probably locked. Straight ahead was a corridor leading to somewhere, and to the right was a button and a room around the corner.

“Do you think that button on the right activates the cage?” Trish asked.

“I guess we’ll find out. I’ll press the button just in case,” Fugo volunteered.

He went to the hall on the right and pressed the button at the end, which lifted the cage. While he was at the end of the hall, he managed to see a large empty room with a hooded necromancer. They haven’t spotted him yet, but Fugo drew his bow, walking a bit closer to get a better shot. However, as he got close, he accidentally stepped on a pressure plate. A wrought iron gate appeared out of the ground, blocking his way forward. There was a hole he could shoot out from, but he didn’t want to risk it and went back to the others.

“So, what was over on that side?” Giorno asked.

“Just another room with a necromancer. A gate is blocking the way, though. Let’s go straight and see if we can find a way to bring the gate down.”

They went straight into the corridor where a necromancer was vigilantly on guard and spotted them right away.

“Intruders!” the High Elf woman’s voice echoed.

She summoned two skeletons, both wielding two glass claymores.

“Three versus three. A fair fight, don’t you think?” the necromancer spoke.

Trish attacked the necromancer with her staff, but she absorbed the attack with a ward spell.

“You’re using a staff? How pathetic. Learn to cast some spells, girl!” she insulted.

Fugo, angered by her words, charged at her, but one of the skeletons parried his blow. He then tried to kick one of the skeleton’s legs, hoping it would fly off, but the necromancer’s magic held it in place.

The other one was about to attack Fugo, but Giorno flung one of his spells at it, grabbing its attention. As he kept attacking with spells, the skeleton hissed, indicating it felt pain. However, it got close to him, causing Giorno to defend himself with an ax he conjured. It overpowered him and made the Breton fall to the ground.

Before the skeleton could finish him off, Trish cast a fire spell at it, killing it.

“I won’t be defeated by some talentless mage and her lackeys!” the necromancer cried before shooting a bolt of lightning at Trish, sending her flying to the end of the hall.

“Trish!” Fugo yelled and disengaged the skeleton, running to her.

Giorno was alone with the necromancer and skeleton. He summoned a flame atronach to even the fight.

“And why didn’t you summon help before?” she asked.

“Conjuration is not my thing. By the way, your skeletons hurt.”

He cast a spell on himself, making it look like he was healing.

“I grow tired of this. Die.” The necromancer cast a shock spell, but it deflected and hit her. “What?”

“Don’t be surprised. Your spell deflected and hit you.”

“A master of mysticism. I respect that. I think you would’ve been a great necromancer.”

“I have no interest in raising the dead,” Giorno said before landing a killing blow.

Once done with the necromancer, he went to Trish, who was lying on the floor. Fugo knelt beside her.

“Took you long enough,” the Imperial said. “I gave her a potion, so she’ll be fine.”

Trish groaned.

“Come on, get up,” Fugo said. “The sooner we’re done with this, the better.”

“I’ll heal her while we’re behind you,” Giorno said.

There was another hallway to the left that led to a big room. Worm Cult banners hung on the walls, and a lifeless body lay mutilated on top of a stone tomb. An alerted necromancer stood around, looking at the two entrances to the room. Luckily, the darkness concealed the three of them. Fugo shot and killed the necromancer, but a zombie hiding behind a wall noticed where the shot came from and spotted them. Trish used her staff to kill it.

With the room empty of enemies, Giorno scoured for some treasure, finding a button on the wall instead.

“I found a button,” he said. “Should I press it? Does it open that gate you mentioned before?”

“I don’t know,” Fugo answered. “Press it and find out.”

Giorno pressed the button, but nothing inside the room happened.

“I think the gate is down.”

They returned to the hallway to the right and avoided the pressure plate. The necromancer Fugo saw earlier was gone, probably to alert the people downstairs.

“Is Trish alright, yet?” Fugo asked. “There might be a big fight ahead.”

“I’m fine,” she answered. “I don’t know if I should continue, though. You guys know plenty of spells, but I can only cast a few weak ones.”

“You get better as you fight,” Giorno said.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just not the fighting type.”

“Trish, you’re so close to getting into the Arcane University,” Fugo said. “You’ve come so far.”

She sighed. “You’re right.”

The three went downstairs, going deeper into the ruins. They went down the hallway and stepped into an enormous chamber with a burning altar. There was also a counter with alchemy equipment. They stepped inside. If they wanted to turn back, they couldn’t. A gate closed behind them.

“Did we step on something?” Trish asked.

Before the two could answer, someone spoke. “Master Vanilla!” the necromancer Fugo spotted before yelled. He was at the far end of the room. “Where are you? Do I press this button? What will happen?”

“Vanilla,” Giorno whispered. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“Doesn’t matter. This one dies with the rest.”

Fugo’s arrow killed the necromancer.

“Where is this Vanilla guy?” the Imperial asked. He had his bow still out and moved slowly, watching the shadows for anything that moved.

“There’s something strange about these walls,” Trish commented. She got closer to the wall and then retreated to Fugo’s side. “I hear something.”

“Hey!” Giorno grabbed their attention. He was standing near a gate at the end of the chamber. “I think I found the way out, but we need a key. There’s also this button next to me.”

“Maybe that button will activate the walls Trish was talking about,” Fugo said. “I haven’t spotted the key, but maybe it could be behind one of these walls. Activate it.”

Giorno pressed the button, causing stones to scrape. The wall on the left Giorno activated released a skeleton. Trish blasted it with a fire spell.

“Do you think it held the key?” Fugo asked.

“Probably not, but I see a small Alyeid container and a button,” Trish said. “Want me to see what’s inside and press the button?”

“Sure, go.”

She went into the long narrow room, checked the container, and pressed the button, activating one of the walls.

A ghost and a headless zombie poured out of the opened room on the right. Fugo took out the zombie while Giorno handled the other one.

“I’ll see if there’s anything behind that room,” Giorno said. He went in. “No key, but there’s another button.”

“Again?” Fugo complained. “Press it. Vanilla has to be behind a wall.”

The Breton pressed the button.

“Has it been three days yet?” yelled Vanilla, walking into the middle of the room. “Wait, I know you.”

“Do we, necromancer?” Fugo said.

Hearing the two converse, Giorno and Trish quickly retreated to their lover’s side.

“Ah, I see we meet again,” Vanilla looked at the Breton. “As for the others, do you not remember me? Does Serpent Hollow Cave ring a bell?”

“The necromancer from before!” Trish remembered.

“Giorno, I will not kill you, but I will give you a gift once I defeat these two.”

“You won’t! They’re stronger than you think. I—” Giorno yelled before Vanilla’s spell paralyzed him. He landed face first into the cold stone ground.

Vanilla sighed. “Children, they just don’t know when to be quiet.”

Vanilla then summoned five ghosts to defeat Trish and Fugo.

“Trish, can you handle these ghosts? I’ll try to take this guy in a fight.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Before Trish could cast a spell at one of them, a ghost hit her with a frost spell. She fought back with a shock spell, having to cast her spell twice before killing it.

As for Fugo, he swapped his bow for a sword and charged toward him. Vanilla tried stopping him with a freezing whirlwind, hitting not just him but Trish as well.

“He hit me!” Trish yelled.

Four ghosts remained, and one of them hit her with a silencing spell. Unable to cast, she used her staff, taking out one of them.

Vanilla cloaked himself in an icy torrent and placed a rune in front of him. “You’ll be tired before you can reach me!”

He was right. As soon as Fugo stepped on the rune, he felt his stamina drain. He kneeled, trying to catch his breath. Vanilla cackled and began casting a chain lightning spell. However, Fugo looked at him and shot a stream of fire from his free hand. The necromancer cast a ward spell, but the flames broke through and burned half his face off.

Fugo sat on the ground and looked at Trish. She zapped the last three ghosts with her staff. She turned around and faced Giorno, rushing to his side.

The Imperial was still catching his breath. “How is he?” he asked.

“He’s still paralyzed,” she said. “What about you? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. See if you can find the key in the room Vanilla came out of.”

She went into the room on the far left. A book and key laid on a table, and she took both of them and returned to Fugo and Giorno. The paralyzing spell on the Breton had worn off, and he lay on the floor with Fugo.

“What did you find?” Fugo asked.

“Just a key and a book. I didn’t see what was inside. Hmm, I think it’s his diary. In that case, maybe Giorno should have it. Vanilla did know your dad.”

She gave the book to him.

“Thanks, I’ll read it once we get back. I’m tired.”

“Same,” the other two said.