Chapter Text
Why the hell did crypts have to be so goddamn dusty?
That was what Tommy wondered as he ducked under a swath of cobwebs, holding a hand over his mouth to block out some of the dust that showered down when he bumped into the wall. His boots echoed against the stone floor, goosebumps rising along his arms as a cool breeze rushed over him.
The grip on his crossbow was tight as the ceiling stretched upwards, opening into a large cavern. In the distance, Tommy could see figures moving, and grit his teeth as he lifted his crossbow into an aim-ready position. How many goddamn vampires were in this place? Tommy had been expecting a few, but not this many. It was getting a bit ridiculous at this point how the feral bloodsuckers kept pouring out of the shadows.
Techno’s words still rang in his mind, his instructions for what his purpose was in coming to Dimhollow today.
Niki’s contact with the Vigilants told us that the vampires who attacked them were after something in Dimhollow Crypt. Go check the place out and try to find out what they’re looking for.
The mission wasn’t too complicated. Check out the creepy crypt, find out what the vampires were after, boom done. Ranboo was supposed to come with Tommy, but he’d woken up this morning feeling sick to his stomach, and Tommy figured an information gathering mission was something he could handle just fine on his own. So he told Ranboo to stay in bed and went out by himself.
Now, Tommy was definitely starting to regret that choice.
As he plunged further into the cavern, he heard shouts and cursed as footsteps echoed off stone steps. Another vampire came sprinting down a set of stairs that led to a large platform, where Tommy could see the rest of the vampires forming a circle. Shit. That looked like some kind of ritual. Tommy should probably stop that.
Swinging his crossbow up, he shot the vampire running at him, hitting the bloodsucker right in the heart. The creature gasped and fell to his knees, amber eyes fading back to a natural shade of brown.
A chorus of hissing echoed down from the platform. Seems like the other noticed Tommy’s presence.
The next few minutes were a haze of fighting and letting his training take the lead. Techno was a hard mentor to have, but in situations like this, Tommy was insanely grateful for how unforgiving his training was. His body knew the movements he needed to make to avoid every bite, to dodge every hit, and to slice his way through the vampires trying to attack him. It definitely helped that all the vampires seemed to be on the hungrier side right now, their rabid energy making their moves less calculated and easier to avoid.
Tommy felt claws scratch his arm and whipped around to shoot the offending vampire in the head with a crossbow bolt. Someone else tried to bite at him, but he pulled back just in time. Taking out his dagger, he stabbed the creature in the heart, the silver blade sizzling as it entered the undead flesh.
Slashing and shooting. That was all Tommy focused on for the next few minutes. Blood was dripping down his arms from the claw marks, and sweat was beading on his forehead, but soon enough he was the last thing standing on the platform.
Tommy watched as the vampire corpses dissolved at his feet. He pushed the remaining ash piles around with his boots, pocketing a few gold coins that were left behind. Then, he took a bandage out of his satchel and wrapped it around his arm. The last thing he needed was to be leaving a trail of blood in a cavern where more vampires could be hiding in the shadows.
Once that was settled, Tommy looked out onto the stone platform he was now standing on and blinked.
His first thought was that it looked like some kind of ritualistic altar. The stone platform had several rings carved into it, with a circle of arches surrounding the outer edge. In the center of the rings was a square pillar, and even from this distance he could see the claw marks marring the outside of the stone itself. As if hundreds of people had struggled to get that thing open over the years.
Glancing back down at the ashes staining his shoes, Tommy figured he’d found whatever the vampires were looking for.
An icy breeze wrapped around him as he approached the square pillar in the center of the platform. Torchlight flickered off the walls, creating dancing shadows that set Tommy on edge. As he stepped over the grooves in the floor, he noticed how there was one thick rut in the floor leading out from the square pillar and towards one of the outer arches, as if it was some kind of pathway.
There were large, metal chalices scattered around in different rings, with some kind of strange, shimmering liquid sloshing inside. When Tommy walked over to the nearest one, he nudged it with his foot, and was startled when the chalice moved easily within the ringed groove it was resting in.
Slowly, the puzzle pieces fell into place. He eyed the long, straight rut leading away from the square pillar and towards the edge of the platform, and then eyed the different chalices in each of the ringed grooves. He had to move each chalice so it was sitting in its proper place, either in the rut or somewhere along the grooves. There was a pattern he had to find.
Great. He came here to kill vampires. Not do stupid dungeon puzzles.
Cursing under his breath, Tommy once again wished Ranboo was here as he started pushing the first chalice into a circular divet in the floor. Ranboo would be much better at this than he was. He was the one who actually liked doing all those old dungeon puzzles the Ancient Nords had set up for shits and giggles. Tommy would just rather stab a draugr than try to figure out which chain to pull down to open the stupid gate.
But Ranboo wasn’t here, so Tommy had to figure this out on his own.
It took a few attempts. He moved the chalices into different spots in the circular rings, trying to see how they all lined up with one another and if there was a clear pathway he was creating. It felt like he was just guessing randomly, but sometimes when he moved a chalice to a specific spot, he’d hear a soft click.
Listening for the clicks of the chalices reminded Tommy of being twelve years old, crouched in front of a doorway with Quackity kneeling down beside him. He gently coached Tommy to listen for the clicks of the lock as he turned the tumblers, reminding him that patience was the key to picking locks.
Tommy missed Big Q. He hadn’t heard much from the Thieves Guild in Riften lately, and took that as a good sign. As long as they stayed under the radar, that meant they were doing their job well. But at the same time, it made him want to travel to Riften, to visit the city he grew up in with its stinking ports and grime-covered cobblestone, all so he could find Quackity and see how he was doing.
But that wasn’t a good idea. Not after Tommy had torched all those beehives by accident, getting himself kicked out of the Thieves Guild before he could even officially join. Sure, Quackity had promised he wasn’t mad at him, but he still kicked him out anyway. Probably wasn’t a good idea to go back for a chat anyway, even if Tommy did miss the older boy’s teasing smiles and gentle shoulder squeezes.
Shaking his head, Tommy reminded himself of where he was. It wasn’t time to get lost in the past. He had a stupid fucking dungeon puzzle to solve.
Finally, after what felt like hours but was probably at most thirty minutes of struggling, the last chalice clicked into place, and a warm wind suddenly rushed through the cavern. Stumbling back, Tommy watched as the shimmering liquid inside the chalices drained out through the bottom, pouring into the grooves on the floor.
A purple light began to shine from the circular grooves on the floor. It was painfully bright, making Tommy wince as it lit up in a pattern that aligned with the way he had arranged the chalices. Then, an even brighter ring of purple light circled around the square pillar in the center, and the lights almost reminded Tommy of flames with the way they danced and shimmered.
There was another click as a small button appeared on top of the square pillar in the center. Stepping over the grooves in the floor with their shining purple glow, Tommy reached forward to press the button.
“FUCK!” Tommy yelped when a spike shot through the button, slicing clean through his palm and staining the metal red.
Yanking his hand away from the spike, Tommy saw his own blood staining the top of the spike, dripping into a small collection reservoir around the edges of the spike. Then, the spike lowered again, covering itself with that stupid fucking button once more.
Then, there was the sound of gears grinding.
Stone screeched against stone as a beam of purple light shot straight towards the ceiling of the cavern. Tommy clutched his injured hand to his chest as the square pillar in the center began to rise, lifting to reveal a much larger obelisk underneath.
When the gears stopped grinding, Tommy stared at the stone obelisk, trying to figure out what it could be. The outside was smooth and unmarked. No hint as to what could be held inside.
Then, there was another grinding sound, and Tommy watched as the front of the obelisk began to tilt forward. Yelping again, Tommy jumped out of the way just as the giant stone slab crashed against the platform, the resulting cloud of dust making Tommy’s eyes burn.
“What the fuck?” Tommy muttered, looking at the slab that had fallen, before his eyes trailed back to the obelisk and froze.
The inside of the obelisk was hollow. And standing inside of it, with eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest, was a man.
From what Tommy could tell, he was only a few years older than himself, somewhere in his early twenties most likely. Curly brown hair covered in dust fell over his face, and an expensive-looking blue silk tunic was stained with dirt as if it had been in that obelisk for decades. But this guy was… young. He didn’t seem like he could’ve been in the obelisk for that long.
Wait, was he dead? From what Tommy could tell, he wasn’t breathing and his eyes were still shut, but he didn’t smell any rotting flesh. Shit. Was he going to have to carry a dead body back to Techno? That was going to be annoying. He was so far out from the Fortress that the idea of carrying this tall motherfucker for that long was going to kill his back-
The man coughed, and Tommy’s spinning thoughts screeched to a halt. He didn’t open his eyes, but he started to lean forward, and Tommy barely managed to rush forward in time to catch the man before he fell flat on his face.
“Shit! Are you okay, dude?” Tommy asked as he helped the guy to the floor, watching as he just about hacked his lungs out. The man’s wire-rimmed glasses were also covered in a thick coat of dust, and the man nearly ripped them off his face as he ran his fingers through his hair, taking in large, gasping breaths.
“Wh-What the fuck?” The man spit out, his voice rough from what sounded like a long time of disuse. “Where am I?”
“Dimhollow Crypt. You were in this weird ass obelisk,” Tommy explained, gesturing to the now empty stone pillar behind them.
The man whipped his head up to look at the pillar, and that was when Tommy saw his eyes for the first time.
Glowing, crimson eyes.
Vampire.
Yelping, Tommy leapt away from the vampire, scrambling to his feet and trying to grab his crossbow from off his back. The vampire didn’t react, simply frowned at him while glancing between Tommy and the obelisk.
“What are you doing?” The man questioned, as if it wasn’t obvious.
“You-You’re a vampire! I need to kill you!” Tommy exclaimed, struggling to load another bolt into his crossbow. While he’d killed plenty of vampires before, he could immediately tell there was something different about this one. Whereas most vampires had dark bags under their eyes and permanent flecks of black staining their lips, this vampire had neither of those. The only sign of his vampirism were his intensely bright eyes, and Tommy knew what that meant.
This wasn’t just an ordinary vampire. He was powerful. The more human they looked, the more powerful the vampire was.
This vampire was very, very powerful.
He waited for the creature to stand up. To charge at him with his fangs bared now that he knew he had prey right in his grasp. But to his surprise, the vampire didn’t do this.
“That’s kind of rude, don’t you think?” The vampire asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “I have no clue where I am or what I’m doing here, and you’re just going to kill me? I haven’t even attacked you.”
Tommy blinked. Usually, the vampires he ran into would kill him on sight. He wasn’t used to them actually talking to him. Let alone call him out for apparently being rude.
“I’m a vampire hunter,” Tommy stammered, still fighting with his crossbow bolt. “It’s my job to kill you guys.”
“So, what, you came down here to clear the place out of vampires?” The vampire asked.
“Well… that’s not exactly why I’m here,” Tommy admitted, clenching his jaw. “I was told to try and find out what the vampires were looking for here.”
The vampire eyed the ash piles at the edge of the platform and snorted. “I’d imagine they were probably looking for me.”
Frowning, Tommy opened his mouth to ask why the vampires would be searching for some random vampire in an obelisk, when he noticed something on the vampire he hadn’t noticed before.
There was a leather strap around his chest, holding something on his back. With the vampire still kneeling down like this, he could see the golden tube encrusted with precious gems, spanning the entire length of his back, with the ends jutting out as if it were a scroll…
Oh.
Oh holy shit.
That was an elder scroll.
Elder scrolls, ancient artifacts said to be made by the Divines themselves. They were archives of the past, yet prophecies of the future at the same time. They were extremely rare, with only a few having been found throughout the course of history. Tommy didn’t know what kind of information they held, but he recognized the jeweled insignia against the clasp of the one on the vampire's back. It matched a drawing he’d seen of an elder scroll once in a history book as a kid.
That was why the vampires were looking for him. Because he had a fucking elder scroll on his back.
“Why the fuck do you have an elder scroll?” Tommy asked.
The man glanced over his shoulder at the scroll, before pushing to his feet and giving Tommy a knowing smile. “Why would I tell you all my secrets when you just said you’re going to kill me?” The vampire asked.
Tommy froze. Shit. While he knew that Techno would want him to kill any vampire he saw, this guy was kind of Tommy’s only point of information at the moment. Plus, while he could try to kill the guy and take the elder scroll on his back, it was impossible to read elder scrolls unless you wanted to blind yourself. The magic inside of them was too strong for mortal minds to process, and only priests who had studied their entire lives to read an elder scroll were able to do it without melting their brains.
If Tommy wanted answers, this vampire was going to be his key to getting them.
Fuck.
“If I don’t kill you, will you tell me why you were here and what’s going on?” Tommy asked, lowering his crossbow.
“I mean, I’d love to tell you why I’m here, but the problem is I don’t know why the hell I’m here either,” the vampire told him. “But if you take me to my dad, I’m sure he can clear things up for both of us.”
“Where’s your dad living?”
“Last I remember, his castle was located on an island off the coast of Solitude. Considering how much he hates moving, I’d imagine he’s probably still there,” the vampire explained.
Hm. Solitude. It wasn’t terribly far from the crypt, although it was certainly going to be a full day's walk.
“I can do that. And your dad will tell me why you were in that crypt and why you have an elder scroll?” Tommy asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, he will. He’ll be grateful you brought me back. He gets so worried when I go out, and I have no clue how long I’ve been in that obelisk for so he’s probably freaking out,” the vampire said, shaking his head.
Take a vampire back to his father and get the answers he needed about what the fuck was going on in Dimhollow Crypt. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?
“Fine, let’s get going then,” Tommy said, slinging his crossbow over his shoulder and turning on his heel towards the stairs.
“Wh- hey, wait up!” The vampire yelled, stumbling on stiff legs to catch up with him.
It didn’t take long to find their way out of the cavern. There was a staircase that led away from the platform and to a small opening to get outside the cave. It was early in the morning when they crawled out of the shadows, the rising sun making the snow-covered peaks around them glitter like crystals.
The vampire threw a heavy cloak over his head before stepping into the light, surprisingly not complaining about the fact that they were traveling by day. Even if he had complained, it’s not like Tommy was going to wait until night for them to travel. He was doing this vampire a favor, and if he kept the vampire weaker by making him walk in direct sunlight, then that was all the better for him.
It took about an hour for them to reach the main road from the mountain that led up to the crypt. The scent of wildflowers was heavy on the breeze that was blowing from the valley below them, and the warm sun on his face was a welcome relief from the cold, dusty air of the crypt.
Pulling out his map and his compass, Tommy quickly tried to figure out which direction to go to get to Solitude from where they were, while the vampire glanced at the map over his shoulder with a frown.
“What the hell?” The vampire whispered, narrowing his eyes at the map. “This looks so different from how I remember it.”
“Uh, I don’t think this map has changed all that much for the past few centuries,” Tommy shrugged. “Maybe you were in that crypt for a while?”
The vampire frowned. “Who’s the current ruler of Skyrim?”
Tommy snorted. “Well, it depends on who you ask. Right now it’s kind of a tossup between High King George of the Empire, and a Nord named Sapnap who’s trying to take the throne for himself.”
“Uh, what empire are you talking about? I didn’t know there was an empire in Skyrim,” the vampire said, his frown deepening.
Tommy blinked. “The… The Empire? Y’know, the one that’s been based in Cyrodiil for, like, almost a thousand years now?”
Somehow, this only managed to make the vampire look more confused. “Cyrodiil is at the seat of an empire?” His eyes grew wide. “Holy shit, I must’ve been asleep longer than I thought. My father must be losing his shit.”
“Wh- you mean to tell me you were around before the Empire even existed?!” Tommy asked as the vampire suddenly took off down the path, his long legs outpacing Tommy without much struggle.
“Apparently! Which is really not fucking great for me!” The vampire exclaimed, swinging his arms around wildly. “Jesus Christ, a thousand years? There’s no way I could’ve been asleep for that long. My father would’ve found me by now!”
Tommy struggled to keep up with the vampire. “How did you even end up in that obelisk anyway?” He asked, panting a bit.
The vampire halted his steps, staring at the cobblestone path as he struggled to take deep breaths. “It-It’s hard for me to remember. It’s fuzzy, but I remember I was with someone, and she-” he cut himself off, wincing. “I think she betrayed me? I don’t know. It’s all so hard to piece together.”
Huh. The vampire sounded genuinely upset, clenching and unclenching his fists as he wracked his mind for memories he didn’t have. Tommy knew he was supposed to hate vampires and all, and while he still didn’t like the guy, he had to admit he felt bad for him right now. He could only imagine how confused he’d be if he woke up in a creepy cavern with maps not looking the way he remembered them with only a random stranger to keep him company.
“Uh, hey, look man,” Tommy began, folding his arms over his chest. “Don’t, like, freak out about it all right now. We’re gonna get you to your dad, and I’m sure he’s gonna explain everything,” he tried to reassure him, reaching out to awkwardly pat his back.
The vampire was silent for a beat, before nodding. “Yeah… yeah you’re right. My father will explain this.” He shook his head, and took a shaky breath before meeting Tommy’s eyes. “Um, I didn’t catch your name back in the cave. Who are you?”
Oh. Most vampires didn’t want to know his name, considering they weren’t planning on keeping him alive for long.
“I’m Tommy,” he answered.
The vampire gave him a weak smile and offered a hand. “Wilbur. It’s nice to meet you, Tommy.”
To Tommy’s surprise, while the vampire’s hand was cool, it wasn’t icy like he had been expecting.
“Nice to meet you too, Wilbur.”