2:30 PM
Before I had left for Dalaran, I had written a letter to Marenus and a letter to Khadgar about the current situation I'm in. Finding my parents and the constant fighting between me and Ludwig has taken a bit of a toll on me, but I'm not letting it drag me down. Even Seanna came by for a little bit and we had a talk about what happened back at Dalaran.
3 hours ago...(Light trigger Warning: Mentions of suicide)
Seanna had come over to check up on me to fill in for Broll as he had some business to do with the Druids. I was in the middle of writing reply letters to Edua and my parents at the dining table while I had a cup of piping hot peppermint tea and when Seanna came over, I had to stop writing and I put away the written letters in a nearby drawer in the kitchen bench. I offered Seanna a tea but she politely refused as all she wanted was to just talk to me.
"So you and Ludwig have been fighting a lot lately, haven't you?" She asked worryingly, noticing I've been on edge lately. "Varian told me what happened at Dalaran back at Stormwind so I caught a portal to the Rut'theran Village and made my way here since I'm off-duty for a little while."
When I came back to Azeroth, I had been told that Seanna had become an agent of the SI:7 after she revoked her lessons of priesthood. I noticed that quiet a handful of night elves have turned away from priesthood lately! I wonder why though? It can't just be because Tyrande is leading the Night Elves on her own without Malfurion around.
Seanna tapped my hand and I realised that I was staring off into space and I remembered her question. "Yes." I simply answered.
"Why is that?" She asked again. "Is it because he's your ex-husband? Or something more?"
I had to swallow a lump that swelled in my throat. "Lately, I've been having trouble letting go of what he has done to me 5 years ago. I mean how can you forget what someone did you that was so traumatic and when you see them again, they act like they did nothing wrong?" I questioned her, trying to hold in incoming tears.
"No one should expect you to forget what happened, although you could ease up on reminding him since it seems to be the trigger that puts you two in an emotional arena and the only weapons you have to fight with is by screaming and spitting venom at each other." The night elf sighed. "However, if what he did traumatised you that badly, you have every right to question his motives and you don't have to forgive him right away. Does Marenus know about him?"
"Yeah, he was there when we saved our son from that terrible floating citadel." I added. "However, if Marenus still wants his father in his life, then that's his choice but I don't want to be anywhere near him after this is all over."
"I know that but what I meant was does Marenus know about what Ludwig did to you?" Seanna asked me again, empathising the last remark from the question she asked before.
"I'm pretty sure he knew when he heard I was coming back." I chuckled. "But after we saved him, it felt like Ludwig must've said something to Marenus that made him quickly turn against me. It wasn't me who dramatised what Ludwig did to me and it was true what he was planning to do with me right after I gave birth to Marenus. Unless Ludwig has forgotten what he did..."
Seanna then reached into her pocket and brought out a worn piece of paper, handing it over to me. "He was planning on raising Marenus to be a living weapon for the Scourge under the Lich King's control. This was given to him at the time after your wedding from what I've uncovered."
I gave her a confused yet shocked look and I started to read the paper.
"Acolyte Holton,
We would like to give you a proper congratulations on your marriage to the mage, Alyssana Runelight. We would also like to give you a new mission to pursue as it will be presented to the Lich King himself. It will require a little procreation, if you catch my drift, as it's a project that our Shadowpriest wants to develop as a gift to Arthas.
Yes, Holton, the Shadowpriest has reopened that project and he needs a fresh newborn from a powerful being such as your new wife in order for this project to work. Any newborn from an ordinary woman would be useless!
You know what happened last time with the previous woman. She discovered your secret and she took the easy way out!
But we have discovered something special about your wife. She is rumoured to be born from a cult, yes? That very cult dabbled with Fel magic and therefore, she was fed the Fel as a newborn, hence her shaky reputation growing up in Dalaran.
Do your duty as part of the Cult of the Damned and when the time comes, bring us the newborn, without being discovered this time.
P.S; I'd hate to unveil this to you but your wife mustn't know about your child's disappearance. When she's vulnerable, dispose of her.
Father Porustal."
I started to hyperventilate as I read the letter and my tears came down, flooding my vision! Then I felt Seanna hold my hand and it calmed me down a little bit, however it didn't quell the rage within me as reading this letter confirmed what I knew all along. Before me, as told by Norwell himself, Ludwig had been with another woman and his task was to present a newborn for some sort of project the Cult of the Damned was working on. But when she found out about what Ludwig was truly doing, she killed herself with the baby inside!
"If you want to know, we've already found Porustal, but he had already been killed by the Scarlet Crusade when we found him on the floor all bloody." Seanna apologised. "We haven't been able to find the name of the woman that Ludwig was with either, it's like she never existed."
I couldn't find the words to even talk in general to Seanna. The Fel began to burn within my veins, but I promised Illidan that I wouldn't let my emotions get the better of my hold on the Fel magic and neither would I let the Fel activate because of my unending anger. With a deep breath, I was able to calm down and I felt the Fel within begin to cool down until I felt nothing.
"What will you do with this information, Alyssana?" Seanna asked me again, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Are you going to confront Ludwig about this?"
"No." I quickly said. "I've had enough of confronting that deadringer of an ex-husband."
Seanna nodded in understanding and she said her farewells then left.
Present time...
I made sure all four letters were sent out before I left Solitude Lookout to go to Dalaran. After going through the portal and arriving at Runeweaver's Square, I made my way to Antonidas' Memorial and sat on a park bench, admiring the statue of the late Archmage. I was wearing Illidan's robes that were modified for me by Vereesa Windrunner, I had my hair tied back in a high ponytail along with a fringe that was on the left side of my face and I had worn Illidan's hearthstone around my neck. As I was sitting at the bench and looking at the Antonidas statue, I began remembering my time here growing up. Before Arthas sacked Dalaran and killed Antonidas, I and many others who had an education here looked up to him as our mentor. He was still around when I mastered Frost magic and all others, however he was also unfortunately amongst those who protested against me being raised here in Dalaran. You'd think he'd be wise enough to accept a child in serious need but no, no he wouldn't. Even though I looked up to him, he always looked down on me along with Jaina. After a bit of a wait, I looked around and saw my parents walking up to me with a smile on their faces and like a little kid, I ran up to them to give them a big hug.
"You made it!" I beamed and I pulled away to look at them both. "How are you guys? Are you alright?"
"Yes, we're fine, child!" Duron chuckled. "We did get a few odd looks from the other Forsaken, but it's not so bothersome so we don't care. As far as we know, we can see you peacefully without the tensions of the Horde and Alliance. And between you, me and your mother, some among the Forsaken are envious about how you, our daughter who is alive, accepts us as your parents who are undead."
"Anyway, you said that two death knights you know personally are going to meet with us too?" Amari spoke up, asking me about my mentioning of Edua and Agronak in the letter I sent to them.
"Yes, they wrote to me that they wanted to help you eliminate the threat of the Shadow Fel Eyes cult, hence why I told you two about them." I answered my mother. "Apparently, there's something more I need to know about myself that you two know of?"
Both of my parents looked at each other with sorrow and I already knew that I wasn't going to like what I was going to hear. Before they could speak, a death gate had opened 10 feet away from us to my left and Edua and Agronak stepped through.
"Edua, Agronak! I'm glad you two could make it!" I acknowledged smiling at them. "Come, I know of a place where we could speak privately."
I gestured for both death knights and my parents to come closer together and I used my magic to teleport us to a secluded room in one of the buildings in Dalaran. There was a fireplace where we could all sit in front of to converse with one another and being the host of this group and having good manners, I offered everyone something to drink or snack on. My parents politely declined as they had brought themselves something to chew on whilst Edua and Agronak had both asked for glasses of Dalaran Noir and thankfully, a bottle of it was nearby and I served them both the weak alcohol. Obviously with me being pregnant, I can't have alcohol so all I could drink was either water, certain fruit juices and teas or coffee. I conjured some mana cookies to munch on, sat down on a couch chair and we all began to converse with one another.
"I guess I'll start." Duron cleared his throat. "First, I think you three deserve to know how me and my wife, Amari, remembered that we had a daughter in the first place. When we were risen into undeath by the Lich King all those years ago, our memories were foggy at first as we were just mindless undead. Then Sylvanas, the Banshee Queen, once an ally to Arthas who had broken free from his control, saved us from being mindless Scourge. Time had passed, then around 2 months ago, we had heard of a betrayal to the Alliance, being you Alyssana, and as soon as I heard that she was born in a cult, my memories began to come back to me all at once! It felt like I was hit by a stampede of Kodo in Mulgore and when I told Amari about this, she remembered as well about our past! So we were about to bolt to Sylvanas about this, but we also remembered that having such attachments would bring us to our final deaths. So instead, we just asked Sylvanas for her permission to travel to around Azeroth to search for more power to add to the Horde's armies, when in secret, we went looking for any trace of our daughter's whereabouts. We looked for weeks, until we gave in to frustration and made our way back to Undercity. That's when we learned that our daughter was alive and in Outland, conspiring with a demon named Illidan Stormrage."
"At first, Duron didn't want to believe that our daughter had conspired with a demon, fearing that the Fel that we were forced to feed her as a newborn might've taken over her mind as a fully grown adult. We ended up fearing of what could've become of Alyssana and it stressed out your father most of all." Amari lamented to me, holding Duron's left hand in her right hand. "When all hope seemed lost, we then heard of your return from Outland and we were going to go to Dalaran to see if you have maybe returned there, but your father insisted that we stay focused on the threat of the Shadow Fel Eyes cult before we make an attempt to introduce ourselves."
"Father, it's understandable why you thought I gave in to the Fel easily, but I thought I was in danger so I accepted Illidan's offer to teach me how to use the Fel like his demon hunters did in the ways of interrogation." I explained to my father, Duron and he nodded in understanding with an approving smile. "So mother, in the letter that you and father sent me, it's mentioned that you found a way to control the Fel within me? And maybe, just maybe possibly get rid of it?"
"Yes! I've also been looking for ways to ease the consequences and make them a little less harsh, but most of the methods to overcome such a struggle is terrible, especially with the end results." Amari answered and she brought out a book along with her glasses which made her look a little geeky but I found it adorable, especially from the adoring way Duron was staring at her. "One way would be to have a skilled warlock absorb all of your Fel magic but the con is that you'd either be very weak temporarily or there'd be a high chance that you'd die, so we're striking that solution from that list! Another way is that you would be the one absorbing Fel magic from a powerful demon and expel the overload of magic, but yet again, the con is the same except it's not weakness but a guarantee that you would die, so another strike!"
"It seems like no matter what Alyssana does, there would be a chance that she would die!" Edua exclaimed, lightly shaking her head.
"Ah-ah! There is another solution and it might be the best shot, unlike the solution I was thinking of." Amari added, muttering the last sentence under her breath but I could hear her clearly, yet I wasn't going to call her out for it. "There's a method here that talks of finding a crystal that could absorb Fel magic whenever you're about to use it and it'll only absorb it if you choose to let it absorb the Fel. The only problem is; with the crystal being filled with Fel magic, if your enemy gets ahold of it, it could grant them Fel corruption and possibly grant them a lot of power. And enemies drawn to Fel magic will most likely come after you."
"That doesn't sound too bad!" Agronak spoke up. "Alyssana's good at keeping things to herself, right? Plus, she can handle herself, she's a mage for crying out loud!"
I nodded in agreement with the Orc Death Knight. "Yeah, that doesn't sound as bad as the other solutions. What was the other one you were thinking about, mother?"
Amari looked at her husband and a sad smile formed on her face. "A blood relative of the person with the Fel would have to perform a ritual that would cleanse the Fel from said person and the Fel would be transferred to the relative. But here's the catch; it could either corrupt them, kill them or it won't have any effect at all." She explained. "Me and your father are willing to make the sacrifice if-"
"No!" I cut them off. "I only just found you guys yesterday and I'm not planning on losing you two again!"
Both Amari and Duron had a slight shocked look on their faces but I could tell that they understood what I said.
"So why exactly are you killing these cult members?" Edua asked them, breaking the silence.
"When Auralithia, I-I mean Alyssana, was born, me and Amari were in the high ranks with our leader." Duron began to explain, causing me to pay close attention as this is what I wanted to ask my parents. "That being said, we were chosen to bestow what they call 'a gift of honor' to our newborn daughter and this is why I think Alyssana is having such trouble with containing such magic."
"Father?" I stuttered with caution in my voice. "W-what do you mean?"
"We weren't thinking straight back then!" Amari sniffled. "If we knew the truth sooner, we would've escaped with you and maybe you wouldn't have to be cursed with the Fel."
'Cursed?!'
"What 'gift' did you have to give to Alyssana?" Edua pressed Duron as he held Amari's hand.
He took a deep breath and he had a sorrowful look on his face. "That 'gift'...was to christen Alyssana with the mark of Sargeras, the dark titan, as they had predicted that she would grow to become his Right Hand."
Agronak choked on his drink while I sat there, frozen in shock!
'Sargeras? The dark titan himself?!'
"Sargeras is the leader of the Burning Legion!" Agronak cleared his throat. "Are you saying that your cult was devoted to the Burning Legion, especially its leaders and overlord?!"
"Yes." Amari answered with a sad tone in her voice. "Besides, we couldn't just run away then and there since we were surrounded by the time of Alyssana's christening. When we saw the effects it had on her afterwards, the nights when she wouldn't stop crying until she was fed more Fel energy, it broke our hearts and we couldn't bear seeing our daughter in pain! So we decided on a plan to get her out of there and perhaps give her away to someone who could quell the Fel within her."
I still couldn't speak as I was too stunned to realise the truth of why I have the Fel in the first place!
"We had heard of a paladin named Tirion Fordring and I met with him in secret to give away Alyssana and I made him promise me the end of the cult and our daughter's safety as she grows." Duron explained again as he looked at me.
'Tirion? He was the one who saved me?'
FLASHBACK
'Alyssana? By the Light, is that you?'
Present time...
'No wonder he recognised me!'
"I told him about the Fel within her and that she needs help controlling it, but I never mentioned the mark of Sargeras upon her soul as I didn't want to risk her life any further." Duron continued explaining. "When we were under the banner of the Banshee Queen, we heard of the cult still being around and since this was after we found out about Alyssana being alive and in Outland, we tracked the members of the Shadow Fel Eyes cult and that's when we found this."
My father brought out an envelope, handing to me and I grabbed it to read its contents.
'Sister Haylie,
I assume you've heard of the child who escaped from this cult 2 decades ago is alive and she had recently been in Outland? If you haven't, you must meet up with me and I'll debrief you on the details, but I'll try to keep things short here.
The child who escaped is the one who was christened with the honorable mark of our Lord Sargeras and she was chosen to be his Right Hand. Unfortunately, someone took her away and she has grown up to be a mage with unspeakable power as our Lord once predicted the day was born.
Our Acolytes have already begun their hunt for her as we have learned she has returned to Azeroth.
Please meet with me at the Rotting Orchard within Duskwood and I'll tell you more about the mage who escaped.
Father Tancred.'
"What did you find at the Rotting Orchard?" I asked my father.
"We were able to sneak in and Amari voluntarily posed as Haylie with a disguise and she learnt that they know about your pregnancy." He replied, causing me to almost have a heart attack. "From what we know so far, they think if you being marked with the mark of Sargeras and having conceived a child with Illidan that instead of you, your child could be a servant of Sargeras. Hence why we're trying to wipe out every single cult member we can find so they don't harm you or our grandchild!"
"So wait, you knew that I was pregnant the whole time?" I exclaimed out of pure shock.
"We couldn't be sure if it was true." Amari debated to me. "Even the cult founders have their ways of lying to their acolytes! And because as we all know that when a cult is formed, it's usually built upon a bed of lies. Sweetheart, you've gotta believe us! We prayed that they were lying about hurting you and lying about the child if they ever found you! But now knowing that you are pregnant, you are in far more danger than you've ever been."
I was about to blow up in anger but I held it down and drank some water to rehydrate myself and reduce my rising blood pressure. "Father, why do you think that suppressing the Fel for too long is such a problem?" I asked Duron.
"Well, it was stated in a passage your mother read that explains that if one who has not used the Fel for a long period of time should use it again, the Fel would become ecstatic due to being unused. However, we did find a record of an unknown Vrykul that was fed Fel energy as a child and somehow, they were able to live with it for so long without the worry of corruption." He explained to me. "Unfortunately, that's all the evidence we could find of someone who could handle the Fel like that but what's worse is that Vrykul were known to be fierce warriors and they are the ancestors to all Humans. Simply, we don't know if you can handle it to that level, especially since lately you've been using the Fel."
"And if I stop using it now all together, it'll just become chaotic again to the point where I can't control it." I muttered to myself. "Mother, I think it's best that I find that crystal you were talking about that absorb Fel energy."
"That's exactly what I was thinking that would be best for you!" She agreed. "The problem is, I don't know what kind of crystal can absorb Fel energy, that's the thing."
Suddenly, I heard Illidan's voice ringing in my ears as my mother finished her sentence!
"Peridot. It's one of the many types of crystals that can absorb such energies!"
"If Peridot can absorb anger, it could also absorb Fel energy and magic." I said aloud, speaking my thoughts on the matter and I realised that everyone in the room all had their eyes on me. "W-what?"
"Peridot could work!" Duron acknowledged. "We'd just have to find out where we could get it first."
"It can only be found in Outland, but only I know how to get around that place." I remarked. "However, knowing I'm pregnant, I could be a target for many of the demons that reside in Outland, including Akama. And I can't forget about Maiev as she could still be hunting me down."
"What?" Duron barked with an angry frown.
"Maiev Shadowsong, she used to be Illidan's jailor but after she killed him, she tried to kill me knowing full well that I'm pregnant." I briefly explained to my father who's eyes started to flare out in Fel flames.
"Duron, calm down!" Amari demanded, tugging at her husband's cape with her bony hand. "I know exactly who you're talking about, Lithie. During our days in the cult before you were born, we had heard of a fierce night elf named Maiev Shadowsong and rumor had it that she was trying to take down our organisation. Thank goodness that we didn't have to experience her treacherous blades but knowing what she did to you AND was about to do you, just proves how ruthless she really is."
"All I'm going to say is that I'm glad she didn't hurt your baby!" My father growled, his Fel Flame eyes dying down back to his normal green eyes. "With that in mind, how are you going to get to Outland if you know you're going to be hunted down by that bitch and her allies?"
I took my father's words in deeply, then something clicked! "I know someone who could go there for me but I'm not sure if she's made it back yet." I spoke up. "I'll have to send her a letter and see if she can do a little errand for me and I'll obviously have to let her know about my situation."
The only person I know who could go to Outland unscathed is Faralana. But the last time I saw her was back in Outland after we summoned Norwell's spirit to talk to him about finding my parents and she went off to try and free some demon hunters from Maiev's prison. We all came to an agreement and Edua and Agronak were able to convince my parents to let them join on their hunt for the members of the Shadow Fel Eyes cult. As for me, the letter I've sent to Marenus was all about checking on him and letting him know that soon I'll have to talk to his foster parents about letting him move in with me so I can be a proper mother to him and to make up for my time away from him. Besides, I also have to demonstrate the Augmenta Arcana form to Modera and Rhonin just so they can see that it can be used but it'll have to be by someone as powerful as me. As my parents, Edua and Agronak left me by my lonesome, I suddenly started thinking about Ludwig! I wasn't sure if he was still around in Dalaran but I have a gut feeling that as much as I want to apologise to him, I think I'm the last person he wants to see after that fight we had yesterday. I hope that he's doing his best to break the mental chain from the Lich King because I know how badly he wants to be with Marenus and spend some time with him...yet, I have a bad feeling that it won't happen anytime soon.