Chapter 769: Lamae’s Offer
"YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE! UNBEARABLE."
Alina stord away from Jon, who stood alone on the balcony overlooking the devastated city.
Much like the current state of his mind, the city was suffering from a battle that had swept through it like a storm. Life was never easy, and mistakes were inevitable, but ti can heal what is curable. As for what is beyond repair, mortals can do nothing but live with the consequences.
Serana, driven by Jon’s inability to have children through conventional ans, manipulated fate and forced a child’s conception through arcane thods.
If Jon were to be honest, she was ingenious for figuring out that approach. Jon was averse to using magic for child conception, as the results were invariably unstable, but Serana’s thod was both natural and unnatural in a way that would fascinate Restoration mages.
However, that placed him in a precarious situation with Alina, who was understandably upset about the whole matter. In fact, she wasn’t entirely sure what specifically upset her, but it seed that Jon’s reaction to the situation wasn’t what she expected, and that, in turn, upset her further.
Regarding Jon’s reaction, he was indeed surprised and disturbed by how things had unfolded with Serana. The fact that she switched allegiances to the Scions of Lamae Bal was the last thing he expected, since Lamae was only a lore character, not soone featured in the ga.
Yet, the funny thing was that Jon felt sowhat relieved about it.
Why?
It was because of the new level he had attained: the realm of Oblivion Separation. This realm wasn’t like any conventional realm of power, as it had no real power progression. Its sole feature was the Eight Gates of Aethereal Understanding; passing through them would elevate one to a true CHIM.
Before the fight with Kungosvern, Jon only had two gates open, but afterward, four more gates opened, leaving only two. Jon had initially felt that his worldly attachnts would impede his rapid advancent into CHIM, but he was mistaken, as it seed that his pursuit of power had a more potent effect than he had anticipated.
However, things took a turn once he received the news of Serana’s pregnancy. Suddenly, everything felt appropriately slow.
He no longer advanced too quickly. Sohow, his priorities had shifted.
He didn’t know precisely how, but he was certain of the reason, and it had sothing to do with that feeling from the previous night before the dragon cult attacks. He felt as if sothing was burning into his blood, and he sensed a connection so weak and distant, yet so deep and profound. If he were to speculate, the baby seed to have started to awaken so of its innate powers as well.
It made Jon smile unconsciously. The one who didn’t share those feelings with him was, naturally, Alina, who was tolerant enough of the idea that he was having a child with another woman. However, the fact that the child was conceived through unnatural ans worried her imnsely, let alone being gestated in the womb of a vampire.
While her concerns were valid, Jon wasn’t preoccupied with potential negative outcos and chose to focus on the future. He needed to prepare, and he needed to do so swiftly; the world is unforgiving to those who are slow, and up until now, he had been focused on developnt and prosperity while neglecting so of the most critical matters requiring attention.
Miraak was dealt with; what remained now were both Harkon and Alduin: the strongest vampire and the strongest dragon. Still, it turned out that Lamae Bal wanted to participate in the ga, or rather, she wanted Jon to participate in her ga.
Now, Jon had to decide what course of action to take, and the first step he needed to take was to speak with Serana. Luckily, she had agreed to stay in the tower, and all Jon had to do was teleport himself to her balcony.
Without even a hint of resistance, the balcony’s door opened lazily as the master of the tower approached, and the white curtains were pushed aside by a light breeze. Jon could see Serana sitting naked in a tub of red blood, imrsing herself in it, as the scent of iron perated every corner of the room.
Jon had never known vampires to engage in such a practice as bathing in blood, but what Serana was doing seed like a distinct process altogether.
"Only warm red blood can heat up the cold body of a vampire." Serana spoke without turning to Jon, then barely turned around.
Her stark naked body was the only bright thing in the dim room, and as Jon caught a glimpse of her eyes, he noticed that they had beco unbelievably red.
"Damn!" He chuckled before walking into her room. "Is that how you transfer nutrients to the little one?"
"Are you repulsed? You didn’t seem so repulsed when you made bite you," she asked.
"I was never repulsed by you." Jon said, stepping to her side before putting his hand on her swollen belly.
"Then why did you keep toying with ?" She asked with a hint of anger in her eyes. "I believed in you. You said you were different."
"I did, didn’t I?" Jon looked away and sighed, but as he did so, he felt movent stirring in her belly.
Both of them looked down at her belly at the sa ti, but she moved his hand away and placed her own hand over it.
Jon took his hand away, and with a gentle flow of Magicka, his hand was sterilized by a pure white fla.
"That blood is no good for the baby."
"What do you know about blood?"
"Apparently more than you do."
Jon and Serana seed as if they were about to argue, but Jon left no room for argunt as he imdiately used a spell to vanish the blood from the tub with one wave of his hand. ṝἈＮꝊ฿ƐŚ
He then hovered his hand over the tub, and his flesh moved strangely, as if distorting by itself until his skin opened and a drop of blood fell.
Serana gazed at it, feeling the magnetic pull of Jon’s blood as it cascaded downwards, a crimson jewel shimring with captivating allure in the dim moonlight.
All expectations pointed to an anticlimactic end as the blood drop touched the base of the tub and nothing happened. But that scene was bound to be climactic, as one drop of Jon’s blood was different from any mortal blood Serana had used so far. In fact, it was wildly different from the blood she took from him at the beginning of her plan to conceive a child from him.
The mont that drop touched the tub, it exploded with power, and blood started to multiply from a single drop. Like a bursting geyser, blood multiplied by gallons, filling the tub in re seconds and subrging Serana’s body as she felt an unusual sensation from every pore in her body.
Now this is blood! She thought to herself.
Jon’s blood is like no other, potent because he is an imnsely powerful Dragonborn. This fact alone made his blood so dangerous; add to that his complete control over it, once a vampire consus it, Jon can enthrall the vampire with his blood, an absurd situation that baffled Harkon Volkihar and even Lamae Bal when she heard of it.
But now, as Serana was imrsed in that blood once again, she felt the sensation that she had missed for so long, the addiction she was once used to when she had Gluttony for herself.
Then it hit her; she opened her eyes and looked at Jon, who simply stood staring at her. She shivered at the thought and tried to walk out of the tub, but all the power in her body seed to have left her from the mont she let the blood cover her.
"You…" she said as she realized sothing.
"Rest easy. It is good for you and the child."
"That’s too much. You may harm the baby."
"Don’t worry. My blood doesn’t like to mix with other blood. All that low-quality blood you used wasn’t good enough."
"You sound... just like... my father."
"Oh, don’t start." Jon said, crouching right next to her. "Your father is just another mosquito. The mont I move to eradicate him, there will be nothing left."
"No... you are... like him... you used ."
"Well, news flash, Serana: People use each other all the ti. It is called socializing."
"You made do things; you’ve used . I trusted you."
"Give a break. I rely gave you power and abilities. I was the one betrayed; I trusted you and gave you a role I didn’t give to anyone else. I turned a blind eye even when you acted by yourself and made your little vampire gang, and again when you took control of the Redwater Spring to control the Redwater Skooma. Why did I do that?"
"…"
"I have no interest in controlling you, Serana. I really liked you. That’s why I decided to let you be free and not bring you here to Winterhold. I thought to myself, you’d hate being held down here."
"…"
"But you see, I was wrong. I told myself I could help you, given your history of being used."
"…"
"What you were angry about wasn’t using you; it was leaving you to do whatever you want. For countless years you were used until you couldn’t tell the difference between it and freedom. You could have done anything—literally, you could have packed up your things and left—but you didn’t. You were angry I didn’t put a collar on you, so you found soone else to do it."
"…"
"You see, while I am very grateful for you bearing an heir, you have done sothing rather stupid, Serana. You have forced my hand, and I cannot let you go now."
That... that was it!
Everything he said suddenly made sense. She tried to deny it with her mind, body, and soul, but her heart could tell the truth.
She could have done as he said and left Skyrim and everything for good, yet she chose to find Lamae and strike a deal with her.
She thought that by bearing Jon’s child, she would finally have a family of her own. The child, herself, and maybe, just maybe, she could have made Jon hers as well.
The fantasy she played in her mind was quite elaborate. But as reality crashed down on her, Serana felt a strong sense of defiance growing within her.
She t Jon’s eyes and spoke:
"You are right, but so be it. Lamae won’t stand for taking from her."
"True." Jon shrugged and sighed before looking back at her. "But what if I accepted her offer? Lamae wants to be her ally if I am to be a divine being. You being the price would be a very satisfactory deal for her, don’t you think?"
"What?" Serana frowned.
"Think about it." Jon said, a smile appearing on his face as he asked. "Why did she bring you here from the beginning?"
Serana tensed as she felt Jon’s hand gently massage her belly, but at that mont, her body imdiately relaxed.
Then a different voice ca from her.
"I think that’s enough bullying, don’t you think?"
Jon looked up and t the vampire eyes of a totally different face. The body almost remained the sa, with the swollen belly still bearing his child, but the skin, face, and hair were totally different.
That was no longer Serana; that was Lamae.
"So that’s how you do it." Jon said, realizing sothing. "You were never here from the beginning. You simply take over the bodies of your followers by descending into them."
"You’ve always been a bright one, Jon Dare." Lamae said as she stood up in the tub, just as naked as Serana was.
Jon looked at her and walked away from the tub, pouring himself a drink from the nearby table and then pouring her another drink before turning to her, but he stopped midway.
"Alcohol wouldn’t harm the child, would it?" He asked.
"Don’t you worry, child. Your daughter is inside the womb of a goddess now." Lamae replied.
"Hm, fair enough!" Jon handed Lamae the drink as she walked out of the tub, blood dripping from her body.
"Quite the vintage." She said.
"Don’t you prefer blood?" He asked.
"Oh, your blood is already seeping into her body. Quite nice." She replied.
Jon approached Lamae and looked her directly in the eyes.
"I’ve always called my wife a goddess, but I have never kissed a real one before."
What he said made Lamae’s eyes widen. She took a step back, looking at the towering man, but in her mind, she realized that she, a goddess, had just retreated in front of a man who is not even immortal yet.
"I offered to be your mother, but you lust after ?" She asked.
"Mother? Hmph!" Jon asked, snorting. "You don’t even remotely qualify."
"Hurtful words, mortal." Lamae, angered, crushed the cup in her hands. "Now you must beg for that offer."
"Oh, I was agreeing to an alliance, and the kiss was to seal it."
"Impudent!" Lamae replied, then thought for a mont and shrugged. "Alright, I’ll allow it."
And they shared a kiss.
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