I do not own Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

And here it is. It's a lot longer than I thought it was, so that's a pleasant surprise for you guys.

Enjoy. Pick it apart. Figure out the secrets that I hid within it. There's a few, several foreshadowing things that will happen in the future.

*evil laughter*

Reviewer Responses (the last one!):

Nina: Yeah, Ziris was pretty destroyed over what she had to do. No doubt it'll keep weighing heavily on her shoulders, and maybe even... change her? Who knows.
Good news, though, the epilogue is longer than I'd originally, though, but it's only about 2,400 words, so. Enjoy it all the same. Thank you for sticking with me throughout this.

Manu: Here is the more you asked for, and the last of it. I hope you enjoy the epilogue, just as much as you seemed to enjoy the rest of the story. Hopefully I see you in the next one.

Epilogue: Shadows

Ziris watched the other thieves move around the cistern, going about their business. Sapphire was biting out a sharp rebuke to yet another one of Vipir's advancements. Clearly, not everyone knew that she and Rune were an item, not yet at any rate. Cynric and Niruin were going over plans for a job that Delvin was sending them on together. Brynjolf was stationed behind the Guild Master's desk, looking over a few things in a journal sitting in front of him.

Everything seemed to be exactly the way it had been before all the mess had begun, but Ziris knew that nothing would ever be the same again, even as the Guild was flooded with the income of all the luck that they had lost returning.

Already, there was an apparent shift in the amount of goods and wealth that adorned the cistern, and the Flagon. The thieves had all been awarded with more comfortable beds, and the shelves around the edges of the room were filled with delicious food and glittering prizes.

The one thing that had changed the cistern most, however, was the statue of Nocturnal that rested on one side of the room, looking over all the thieves, and everything that they were doing. Ziris didn't know if she was comfortable with the obvious worship the Guild was now giving to the Lady of Darkness, but she supposed that, as long as no one started preaching, she would be able to deal with it.

Thrynn, who was busy showing around the Guild's newest addition, a Nord named Garthar, finished up with his task, and then headed over to where Ziris was sitting at the table in the kitchen. He sat down across from her, and grinned.

"It's weird, how little's changed, but how everything has," he said, and Ziris nodded in agreement.

"No one is outwardly addressing it, that's why."

"Yeah, but we all appreciate it," Thrynn told her.

No one had been told about the Skeleton Key, but they all knew that Ziris had had a hand in the sudden influx of luck that the Guild had been blessed with. That was what Delvin told her, anyhow. Ziris didn't know if she believed it, but Thrynn was grateful enough for everyone else.

"I suppose so," she said, and then she slid her still partially full bottle of ale towards him. "Here, finish that off for me," she invited, standing. "I'm going to go take a walk up top."

"You don't want me to come with you?" Thrynn asked, watching her, and Ziris shook her head.

"I won't be gone long."

She left him at the table, and headed for the ladder. She climbed up it, and ducked out of the secret entrance, heading for nowhere in particular.

She paused in front of the statue of Talos, hidden in the grove behind the Temple of Mara. She sighed to herself, and slid down against the wall beside it, settling down in the grass. Idly, she picked a strand and curled it around her pinkie, then untwisted it, and watched it curl back up.

It had been a month since she'd returned from the Twilight Sepulcher, and she'd settled back into her routine without much stumble. She went back to helping Delvin regain the Guild's footing in the remaining holds, and the jobs went a lot smoother than they had prior to the events that had occurred.

Ziris missed Mercer more than she would admit to anyone. She'd hoped that the special jobs would distract her, but they didn't, not nearly as much as she thought they would.

She'd even gone so far as to look for him, in the shadows. She had yet to find him in any of them, however, and she was ready to stop looking all together.

She glanced at the shadow that the statue of Talos was creating against the ground, and considered reaching her hand into it, just to see.

Before she could make up her mind, she heard movement come from the direction of the hidden entrance, and she glanced up in time to see Brynjolf approaching, his hood pushed down. He smiled at her, and she forced herself to return it as he sat down on the grass next to her.

"I haven't really gotten to speak with you, since you got back," Brynjolf commented after they'd sat in silence for some time. "How're you doing?"

"I mean… as good as can be expected," Ziris replied absently, pulling up another blade of grass. "I keep thinking I'll see him behind the desk when I walk into the cistern." She shook her head. "I guess I need to just get over it."

"I know it's going to take some time," Brynjolf said. "Don't feel like you have to pretend that you're all right. Everyone knows how it affected you, and they understand."

"They aren't worried?" Ziris asked, glancing at him, and he shook his head.

"They are all more focused on the fact that the Guild is reaching that high point again," he said with a small smile, "and they all know you have quite a bit to do with it."

Ziris sighed, and leaned her head back against the wall. "I miss him," she admitted quietly.

"I don't blame you," Brynjolf returned. "He made an impact on your life, no matter what else he did." He reached out, and slid his hand into hers. Ziris let him. "I'm sorry it had to end the way it did."

"Me too," Ziris murmured, glancing sideways at him. "Thank you, Brynjolf."

"For what?"

"I don't know," she said, "but…" She trailed off, and managed a grin. "I'm sorry I was… the worst to you, these last few months. You didn't deserve it."

Brynjolf chuckled. He lifted her hand, and placed a kiss on the back of it. "Don't worry about it," he said. "It doesn't matter now. Besides." He grinned at her. "We're going to have to learn how to work together."

"I don't think that'll be too hard," Ziris replied after a moment.

"Me either," Brynjolf agreed, and then he leaned forward a bit, and kissed her, softly.

Ziris didn't mind it in the slightest, and she kissed him back.

When he pulled away, they met eyes, and Ziris laughed.

"What?" Brynjolf queried, grinning, and she shook her head.

"Are we going to actually get any work done, if we're distracted by things like that?"

Brynjolf's grin grew. "We'll figure it out."

Ziris nodded in agreement, and he kissed her again, before he stood up, still holding her hand.

"Come back down," he suggested, and she shook her head.

"In a few more minutes."

Brynjolf offered her a nod, and then he let her hand go, and turned to go back to the cistern.

Ziris watched him walk away, and then she looked at the shadow again.

Without thinking about it, she slid her hand into it, winced as the coldness went up her arm, and then her vision went black.

"Always taking a risk, aren't you, little raven?"

She opened her eyes and found herself standing in Riftweald Manor, down in the hidden room in the basement. Mercer Frey leaned back against the desk there, his arms crossed over his chest, and a scowl on his face.

"You might freeze to death, with no one watching you to make sure you aren't in the shadow for too long," he grumbled.

"I can't believe you're actually here," Ziris said, ignoring his tone and the expression on his face. "Karliah said that the dead Nightingales become shadows, but…" She stopped, and shook her head at him. "I've missed you."

Mercer rolled his eyes. "For what purpose?" he asked. "No use in missing dead people; they can't come back." He moved away from the desk, dropping his arms. "You haven't been named Guild Master in front of everyone, yet. Why not?"

"I asked everyone to wait," she replied. "I didn't want to take on all that responsibility so soon." She tilted her head. "I still think Brynjolf should be Guild Master, don't you?"

"No," Mercer said immediately. "He's no leader, and has never wanted to be." He seemed resigned when he said this next part: "You were always the one for the job."

Ziris smiled. "That's all I ever wanted to hear from you," she told him, and Mercer glanced up at her.

"Was it really?"

Ziris hesitated, and then she shook her head. "No, I guess not," she replied, and then she glanced around. "Why can I talk to you in this vision, when I couldn't even interact with anything in the others?"

"This isn't a memory, for one thing," Mercer responded. "That makes a big difference. And…" He shrugged. "I guess the shadows felt like letting you."

"How nice of them," Ziris said.

"Indeed," Mercer agreed tersely.

Ziris had to smile. She really had missed him. "Do you regret any of it?"

Mercer was silent for a moment, merely staring at her. "No," he said at last. "I don't."

Ziris looked down.

"That bothers you, doesn't it?" Mercer questioned.

"A little," Ziris allowed, fiddling with a loose buckle on one of her belt pouches. "I guess I would like to hear that you regretted trying to kill me, at least."

"I would say that I do," Mercer began, "but if I hadn't, then things might be a lot different, and I would've been dead a lot sooner."

"I guess that's fair," Ziris responded after a second, glancing up at him.

Mercer gave her something that could've been a smile. "See, that's what I've always liked about you, little raven," he said. "You understand."

Ziris laughed. "I always did my best," she told him. "Will you stick around the Guild, or hop into whatever shadow pleases you?"

"Oh, I'll probably stay long enough to watch you take my title, and then…" He shrugged. "I'll go wherever I want."

Ziris dipped her head in acceptance, and Mercer glanced at her. "I'll always stop in, to check on things, you know. Keep that in mind."

"I will," she replied, and then she took a cautious step forward. Without thinking about it, she reached out, and was surprised when her hand actually touched his arm. Mercer glanced down at her hand, and then he looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked her.

"The one thing I didn't dare do when you were alive," she answered, and then she grabbed him in a hug before he could resist.

Mercer went stiff, but she persisted, hugging him tightly, and hiding her face in his shoulder. She wanted him to hug her back, and she wasn't letting go until he did.

"You should leave," he advised, not moving. "You're probably starting to freeze." Ziris didn't reply, and Mercer exhaled a patient breath. "It's best if you go now."

Still, she hugged him, and Mercer grunted a bit, and then his shoulders relaxed, and he put his own arms around her.

Ziris smiled against his shoulder. "Thank you," she said quietly, "for everything you taught me, and for bringing me to my home."

"Yeah, sure, sure," Mercer grumbled, patting her on the back. "You really should get out of here."

"You're probably right," Ziris agreed, and she finally let him go, stepping back. Mercer looked uncomfortable, and it pleased her to no end. "I'll see you again, soon," she told him.

"Sure," Mercer said again, under his breath. "Don't forget any of the things I taught you. They'll keep you out of a cell, if nothing else."

Ziris grinned, and nodded. "Right. Walk with the shadows, Mercer."

He rolled his eyes. "And don't say things like that."

Ziris laughed, and turned, leaving him behind as she stepped out of the room, and out of the vision.

She returned to the real world, and sat up, shivering a bit, but smiling to herself. She climbed to her feet, and headed for the secret entrance, feeling better than she had for a long time.

Things are going to be good from now on, she decided, pressing the button on the coffin.

She glanced over her shoulder, and looked at a shadow that was being cast by a nearby tree, and her smile grew.

Thank Nocturnal we have our luck back.

All right! Now that that's over, let's get to the chat about where these Skyrim universe of mine is going.

I'm currently writing what will probably be the last installment involving all of my OCs, which I don't expect to have done for quite a while because college, y'know. It'll be worth the wait, though, I promise. We're gonna talk about the King's Moot, we're gonna talk about a royal wedding, we're gonna talk about betrayal and attempted murder and actual murder, and not even murder committed by the assassins!

It's gonna be fuckin' fun, you guys. I can't wait.

And then, after that, I might write one final thing, pertaining to Cry and Farkas, because I never really got to write about their companionship, and I know that it's mostly because it didn't really fit in to the grand scheme of things, but this finally story will be just about them, because I love them. I love Farkas.

Hell, I love all of these stinkin' characters, including my own. I'm definitely going to miss them once I can't write about them anymore.

Ah, well. It'll be the end of an era, I suppose.

Ah? Ah? Anyone get it? Chapter 17's title? Anyone?

Oh boy. I'm gonna head out, folks. I'll see you next time. If you have any questions about anything, please don't be afraid to PM me, or leave a review on either this story, or any other story, but please, if you do that, make sure I can respond to you, because that's the whole point of asking a question, right? Getting a response?

I'll catch you guys on the flip side.

Later.