The water did not pull him under.
It simply swallowed the world.
One moment, Sivreth's hands were braced against the stone rim of the Wayshrine basin—cold, solid, real.
The next, the Forgotten Vale was gone.
There was no sensation of falling. No sense of movement. The transition was just like the last time.
Light returned first.
Not bright—sickly.
Green-tinged. Wet. Tainted.
The air smelled of ink and rot.
Sivreth's breath caught.
Apocrypha.
He stood upon a platform of impossible geometry, the ground beneath him formed from shifting black stone inscribed with writhing runes that crawled like living things. Endless towers stretched into a sky that wasn't a sky at all, but a churning ocean of sickly emerald light.
And in front of him—
Elika.
She was on her knees.
Her hands were bound behind her back with black tendrils that pulsed faintly, tightening every time she struggled. Her clothes were torn, her breathing ragged, eyes wide with terror as she looked up at the towering figure before her.
It was him again...
Miraak.
The First Dragonborn stood tall and composed, his mask reflecting the unnatural light of Apocrypha with dull indifference. Black tentacles of knowledge curled lazily behind him, linking him to the infinite libraries beyond.
He raised one hand.
"You were never meant to be here, if you never met her, she wouldn't have had to be the one to die now." Miraak said calmly.
Elika whimpered, shaking her head.
"S-Siv—"
The word barely left her lips.
"You think deceiving me with this shit would work! Auri-El! What kind of a test is this? This tisted illusion! If i never met her, her kidnappers would have taken her long ago, and it wasn't the first time either. They would have constantly kept going after her because of her father's knowledge about the prophecies, and two of them were not about me."
Despite his words, his foot slid forward—
And the world split.
The green light fractured like glass.
The sound of screaming metal and shouting soldiers crashed into his ears.
Snow.
Stone.
Smoke.
A mountain road choked with Imperial banners.
Sivreth staggered as his vision slammed into the second scene.
Faireth stood at the center of a broken courtyard, wrists bound in iron, blood streaking the snow beneath her bare feet. Her disguise was gone as Cirilla, no illusions, no masks.
A Snow Elf.
A pure Falmer.
Surrounded by Imperial soldiers within a large plaza as the crowd watched.
At their head stood a woman in blackened steel armor, her helm tucked beneath her arm. Ashen hair pulled back tightly. Cold, assessing eyes.
Commander Rella Ashenclaw.
"Your kind is nothing more than monsters." Rella said as she walked behind Faireth towards the execution stand.
Faireth's shoulders were straight despite her wounds and the chains she wore.
Her gaze was calm and unyielding.
"You don't even know the truth of what really happened." she said quietly. "Even if you do not, i do, who are the real monsters i wonder. The inicent parents and children that were slaughtered thereafter?"
Rella scoffed.
"Oh, then what about my family? As your kind abducted me, my sister and mother. I watchedyou abominations rape her, and she took her own life in the end while me and my sister barely escaped and wanderedfor days, two children straving and tired, being hunted by all mannerof creatures just to survive." She drew her sword. "On your knees."
"Hah, there's no point in explaining. But in short, I am sorry. But look at my son, my child and yours did something we would never be able to achieve. They found peace.
Sivreth's heart slammed violently against his ribs as Rella signalled the executioner to raise the Axe that would end Faireth's life.
He turned—
Elika.
Miraak's hand descended.
He turned back—
Faireth.
Rella raised her blade.
There was no barrier.
No illusion of distance.
No metaphysical wall.
Just like the last test, I wasn't as confident as I was that these tests did not have real world consequences, what if they actually did die if I didn't save them here?
If I did nothing, they would die, two deaths and one observer that did nothing.
Athring's voice did not echo.
No god spoke.
What the Hell is this?!
How is this meant to be a test of Sight.
Sight?
Sight?
...Sight?
But what could it be?
The Dark Mane appeared in the last test, he was tempted for Godhood and survival by the Nu Man forced to choose between Elika dying or taking the Nu Man's power in its pre awakened and birthed state...
If he accepted the lie that he could only act once to save Elika or Faireth over the other then...
Sivreth's hands trembled.
Then stilled.
"…I see," he whispered.
Not despair.
Not panic.
Understanding.
Something had been off, what is Sight. And what was the test trying to do by presenting this situation. It was to test his own resolve and character.
Well I see my path clearly, I do not intend to sacrifice or choose to favour one thing over the other.
If something was important to me, then I will defend it, if something was taken from me, I will take it back.
He felt it then—the quiet presence that had always been there, watching, waiting.
And one that helped him before in the last test.
The original Sivreth.
"I trust this isn't going to be a reoccurring thing?" A voice similar to his own came out, but this one had more elegance.
'Sivreth' the original one had materialised, like before, in the last trial against the Dark Mane.
"Wouldn't it be better if that's the case?" I replied back, to which he, the original Sivreth, simply shrugged.
After that, se didn't delay any more as we both gave a nod of understanding and rushed in opposite directions.
While he went towards Faireth, with a wave of his hand a powerful blast of wind struck and sent the Imperial guards flying.
He leapt up and over as he grasped the chains that bound Faireth down, within moments they had frozen on a molecular level turning into ice before shattering.
As for me I went over towards Elika as I hurled my spear at Miraak, to which he caught the spear effortlessly.
"You would seek death just so save this girl?" Miraak spoke, his voice muffled by the mask he wore.
My heart thrummed in my chest just hearing that cold and terrifying voice again from that day.
"She's my friend, I refuse to give up what I have, I won't repeat my mistakes again in this new life i have!"
Miraak stared me down as Rella did the same to 'Sivreth'.
Then both their voices overlapped with one another at a distance as they spoke in unison.
"Sight is not about seeing the path, it is seeing yourself and what will happen feom your choices. To have foresight from wisdom."
And then everything was engulfed by a bright light.
Sivreth, not the original occupant but Riku who was the one in control as he had been the last seveb years, gasped as cold water rushed over his face.
He jerked upright at the Wayshrine, coughing, water spilling from his hair and chin as Merril grabbed him instantly.
"Sivreth! Hey!"
"I'm alright." I said hoarsely.
His heart was racing, but steady.
Prelate Athring watched him closely.
"You have seen" Athring said.
"Yes." Sivreth replied quietly.
Athring inclined his head.
"And you did not avert your gaze, to walk the path guided by Auri-El, you must first see inward to yourself. You now know what Sight truly is, it can be so much more, and for everyone it is different. But for you, it is to know how your choices will shape others around you."