#[oOF this was a doozy to write glkhdf]

[gvildmastcr]

     The cistern is quiet, save for the waterfalls nearby. Early morning light filters in through the ceiling, beginning to illuminate the cobblestone and warm the chilled air. Movement follows not long after; Elona has woken, and she takes a moment to stretch before getting to her feet and shuffling about the room. Mercer lifts his head long enough to regard her before his gaze falls back to his ledger. The argonian’s muffled footsteps are the only other sound within the guild’s hideaway below Riften, and the guildmaster draws in a deep breath. In only another hour or so, other guild members would begin to stir, and the solace of silence that he revels in during the nighttime hours would be taken from him. For now, he’ll enjoy it while he can.

     Fleur’s bed is nearby, and he can see the boy’s figure from his peripherals. Sleeping peacefully, from what he could tell. Had barely stirred all night, which the breton had taken as a good sign. ‘Maybe he found his cure after all,’ he muses to himself, though he can’t help the nagging feeling at the back of his mind. A sort of anxiety clawing at his senses, making his heart race even though he was convinced nothing was out of the ordinary. Maybe he was just overworking himself.

     Elona shuffles past him on her way towards the training area - or, more specifically, the large table settled nearby it. When she wanders by him again, she’s carrying a multitude of wooden bowls. No doubt she’s making some breakfast for when the others wake. It was something she’d always done, like a mother caring for her children.

     It’s only when her shadow is cast over his desk that he glances up again, sharp gaze softening when he sees the bowl of stew and the smile on her face. Straightening from his desk, he takes a moment to work out the kinks in his back before taking the offered bowl with a murmured thanks. Her grin widens before she strides away once more, back to the cooking pot that was settled near the guild’s secret entrance. The guildmaster makes short work of his meal; setting the bowl aside, he takes a moment to stretch his legs with a quick jog around the cistern before returning to his desk. There was work to be done, after all.

     When Elona shifts away from her crouched position at the cooking pot, it’s with another bowl of stew in her hand. Fleur is the first she’ll wake with an offer of food, and he was likely to stir before long anyway. “ Fleur, ” she trills, stroking his knotted hair with one hand. “ Wake up, dear. ” She sets the bowl on the bedside table, careful not to spill any of its contents on the book seated there, before turning back to the boy. Brows furrow when she notices that he hasn’t shifted even slightly, worry beginning to settle in her stomach. “ Fleur? ” she calls again, once more moving to run a hand through his hair. Once again, he doesn’t stir at all. “ Fleur...? ” Her tone is becoming more desperate as she crouches at his bedside, reaching out to caress his cheek gently. Surprise flickers across her face when she realizes his skin is pale and he’s gone cold.

     The sudden, stifling silence doesn’t go unnoticed by Mercer, who lifts his head so quickly he nearly gives himself whiplash. His gaze, at first, shifts towards the cooking pot, where he expected Elona to be. When he realizes she isn’t there, his eyes continue to search until he sees her at Fleur’s bedside, crouched on the floor. For a moment he thinks that maybe she’s waking him, but then he sees her shoulders jerk with a sob. Suddenly that sinking feeling in his stomach from before hits him full-force. His foot catches one of the legs of his desk as he lunges forward, sending the lantern perched there crashing to the floor with the harsh clang of metal against stone and the shattering of glass.

     When he comes to a stop at Elona’s side, she’s taken one of Fleur’s hands in her own. Her sobs are choked - even from here, he couldn’t hear them over the waterfall nearby. “ Elona? ” he begins, his tone soft. When she lifts her head to acknowledge him, he can see the pain in her expression, and he already knows what she’s going to say well before the words have ever left her mouth.

     “ He’s gone. ” The way her voice cracks has his heart aching for her. “ Fleur is gone, Mercer. ”

     “ There wasn’t anything more we could have done for him. ” The guildmaster keeps his voice gentle, and he places a hand on her shoulder. “ We did what we could. ”

     “ We didn’t do enough! ” The snap to her tone takes him by surprise, and he pulls his hand away as she hastily gets to her feet. “ We could have helped him! I could have helped him! ” Mercer opens his mouth to argue with her, but she’s turned her back to him in order to grab the book from the table. When she turns back to him he’s finally able to get a good look at it. The cover is black all the way through, the pages incredibly aged with time. On both the front and the back cover is, what he can only assume, some sort of tentacled creature. Even without touching the thing himself he can feel the immense magical energy pulsing from its very core. It almost makes him sick.

     “ I have all this knowledge at my fingertips- ” Elona’s voice cuts his thoughts short- “ and I still couldn’t do anything. Nobody at the College knew, nobody in Cyrodiil knew, and the only one who could have-- ” Frustrated, and with tears streaming down her face, she throws the tome to the floor. The noise reverberates across the entire cistern, causing some of the other guild members to jolt in their sleep.

     Mercer blinks, slowly, at her as she collapses to her knees, sobbing brokenly and slamming her fist against the stone. He wishes he could feel her grief, her anger, but... he just feels numb. Like none of this is real. He and Fleur hadn’t parted on the best terms, but he still felt as though maybe there was more he could have done to help.

     His gaze eventually settles on Fleur’s face, and he realizes now that this is probably the most peaceful the young nord has ever looked. As if death was his only real solace, and everything else was just a means to an end. When his eyes travel back to Elona, she’s clawing at her temples, overtaken with sadness.

     “ Elona. ” Her name being spoken causes her to look up, and she can see in his eyes that Mercer’s trying to keep himself together. “ Wake the others. Let them know we’ll be holding a small ceremony when I get back. ”

     “ Get back? ” she questions, brow creasing. “ Is this really the best time to- ”

     “ I’m going to bury him, ” he interrupts, and she blinks at him. “ Next to his sister, like he requested. I know where it is, I won’t be long. ” He offers her a hand as she struggles to her feet, taking one last, forlorn, look at her adopted son before nodding.

     Grateful that she wouldn’t argue the point further, he presses a soft kiss to her forehead. “ I’ll take you out there tomorrow, ” he murmurs before moving past her. Heaving a sigh, Mercer shifts the furs away from Fleur and lifts the boy into his arms and heads for the flagon. Nobody would be awake yet, except for Dirge, but at the very least their bouncer wasn’t known to ask too many questions.

     He touches down in the cistern within the hour, only to see that the guild has gathered apprehensively waiting for his return. The guildmaster draws in a deep breath and presses forward to the cistern’s middle. His guildmates let him pass without hesitation, turning their attention his way as he pauses at Elona’s side.

     The ceremony they hold in Fleur’s memory is brief, but it’s easy to tell that the others aren’t taking the news too well. Emotions run high among all of them, even if most never got the chance to know Fleur the way Mercer and Elona had.

     “ We’ll use this day to mourn his passing, ” the breton announces. “ Tomorrow we’ll return to our work. This is a sad time for all of us, but we can’t allow it to stop us. I don’t think he’d want us all sulking around; he’d want us out in the field, giving it all we’ve got. ” His gaze scans the familiar faces of his family, and for a moment he feels like he’s about to collapse. “ Dismissed. ”