Ariel quickly realised herself and settled down when Meesei started talking. She sat down at the table with them, though her smile shrank when it dawned on her just how immediately Meesei wished her to visit the clan.

"Well," she started, leaning her arms on the table. "It is on rather short notice, but...By the way you speak of this matter, it does not sound like you wish to find a counter to another poisonous weapon." She quickly added on. "You know I am always willing to help, however I can! I...perhaps a better question would be how I can help?"

Meesei smiled back gratefully. "Thank you. For the most part, I would just like to hear your advice. I would certainly be glad for any other help you might give, of course, but we can have you back here in a few hours, if you cannot spare any more time. I wanted to tell you, my pack, and another that might be able to help me all at once. It is a rather complex issue, so it might take some time for me to explain, but I think you are the most knowledgeable expert on lycan souls in all of Tamriel."

While Meesei had given a hint as to the nature of the issue, she did want to wait until she had gathered everyone together to give the full explanation. "By no means do I want to rush you. Again, I know we arrived rather suddenly. Just whenever you are ready, I can take us to our camp in the Hunting Grounds."

Although he was not nearly as well-versed in the matters of lycans as any of the others present, even Rukeewei turned his head towards the table upon that remark.

Ariel blushed and averted her eyes at the compliment. "Oh, no, I am sure there are more qualified people amongst you..." she said with an uneasy laugh.

The next thing Meesei said gave Ariel pause. "Oh? Which hunting grounds?" she asked.

Sabine answered. "Hircine's."

Ariel's eyes flicked to Sabine, then to Do'rhajul, Tarna, and then Meesei again. "The Hunting Grounds?"

Sabine nodded once, smiling lightly.

Ariel worried her brow and pressed the tip of her finger on the table. "You have a camp...in the Hunting Grounds, Hircine's plane of Oblivion itself...and you need my advice on lycan souls for a few hours?"

"I promise there is no danger, sister," Sabine assured. "Meesei has not told me what her matter is. But the matter with the Hunting Grounds is to do with the mission I alluded to before. It will make more sense when we are there."

At first, Ariel looked so uneasy that she might have fainted. But as her shoulders lowered and she stopped to think, the colour came back to her cheeks and she turned her head to Rukeewei. "This does sound urgent. Could you finish up tonight, Rukee dear? I will make it up to you, I promise."

Rukeewei exhaled deeply, running one hand back across the top of his head. "You want to take a late-night trip into one of the Planes of Oblivion? I...feel that is a statement that should surprise me. Should I be worried that I am...not terribly surprised?" He replied with a nervous, somewhat forced laugh. After a moment, he stepped away from the oven and approached Ariel at the table. He took hold over her hand, then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Just let me know if I need to have someone cover for you at the shop, okay?"

"Thank you. Both of you. I really do appreciate your help." Meesei remarked. "You do not need to rush, but whenever you are ready, I will make a portal for us."

---

Meesei was patient to allow Ariel to get ready in any way she needed, making no attempt to speed her along regardless of how she took. Inwardly, Meesei felt the deadline of the invasion encroaching ever closer with each passing second, but that was not enough to convince her to be too demanding of someone like Ariel, who had earned every ounce of respect that Meesei could give her. Besides which, if she could not find a solution within the next few days, a few minutes likely would not matter.

Once Ariel was ready, Meesei created a portal for them back to the cavern, as close as was safe to their gate. Indeed, the very first sight that Ariel would see upon stepping through the portal was the imposing form of an Oblivion gate towering over them. The physical portion of the gate may have been different, but the portal itself perfectly matched stories and illustrations from the gates of the Oblivion Crisis.

"Sabine, could you gather up the rest of the pack and take them to my tent with Ariel? I just have one more person I need to speak to first, then I will be right there." Meesei asked once they were all in the cavern. Normally, Meesei would not have cared too much about her own accommodations in the camp, but in this case, she had borrowed one of the large, officer's tents from the Imperials to ensure she would have enough space for just this purpose.

Ariel did not take terribly long, even without being rushed. She took a few minutes to get changed and put together a day-pack of some notes, a book or two, and another change of clothes. Rukeewei was told to cover for the shop if she was not home in four hours, but she was understandably not certain how long the business would take.

The portal back to Blackreach was met with some mock disappointment from Tarna. The humour put Ariel's guard down before they stepped through and beheld the Oblivion gate again.

Ariel's mouth hung slightly open as she stared fascinated at the distorted light around it. Strangely, she did not seem shocked or scared, just hushed. "I get a feeling, looking at this," she said. "It reminds me of home."

Sabine looked to Ariel curiously. "It reminds you of Thorn?"

"No." She slowly shook her head. "It reminds me of the coven, though...never so overwhelmingly like this."

With a smile, Sabine took Ariel's hand and led her and her pack into the Hunting Grounds once more. "We will wait for you there, Meesei," she said behind her.

In the Hunting Grounds, the camp was every bit as busy as when they had left it. While Sabine was rounding up the rest of their pack to meet in Meesei's tent, Meesei herself went back to the Silent City to request the presence of the last person she needed to speak to. The rest of the pack was in camp and ready to retire for the night, so it was not difficult for Sabine to find them and bring them to the tent. As it was an officer's tent, it was large enough to have enough room for them all, even with Meesei's belongings. Aside from her bed, there was a decently-sized table and a few chairs in the center, along with an enchanting table and a small collection of books tucked into one corner.

There would be enough time for Ariel to get through greetings and briefly catch up with a few members of the pack that she had not seen in a while before Meesei rejoined them. Though, with Hal-Neesa in tow behind her, Meesei supposed that was not who Sabine expected would be joining them. Most of the pack went silent and seemed more guarded the moment they saw her, with the exception of Ahnasha. Meesei was not sure if Sabine had told Ariel anything at all about the vampire, but she supposed it might be best not to tell her anything more.

As opposed to taking any of the chairs, Hal-Neesa opted to move to the corner, standing with arms crossed while casting a disinterested gaze across the others. Meesei, however, moved right to the nearer end of the table. "I apologize for the wait, and...I think I will avoid keeping you in suspense any longer. It is probably best that I just get straight to the point. I recently visited Artaeum, and learned something both illuminating and troubling about myself."

The mention of Artaeum was almost casual by Meesei. She did not dwell on it, but it was enough to raise even Neesa's brow as she continued. "It relates to my soul. I learned it is not nearly so normal as I had thought. I am sure most of you know that, unless there is something else that draws them in, Argonian souls naturally return to the Hist upon death, and their memories and experiences return with them. My soul, it seems, was forged intentionally by the Hist with the latent memories of hundreds, maybe thousands of previous Argonian lives. I cannot recall these memories consciously, but they allow me to re-learn anything those lives once remembered very quickly."

Meesei hesitated, just for a moment. It was painful for her to deliver this news to her pack, but they deserved to know about it. She had considered that it might be better for the battle ahead that they not know, but she did not feel that this was a secret that would be right to keep from them. "But there is a cost. A soul was not meant to exist in this way, and it is unstable. My living body is all that is holding it together, meaning that, if I were to die, my soul may be destroyed entirely."

Before Meesei and Hal-Neesa arrived, the atmosphere was fairly pleasant with Ariel greeting, hugging and talking with everyone. Even with Sabine letting her newer packmates go about their business in the camp, Meesei's tent felt crowded in short order. Although, what Meesei said suddenly made it feel less abuzz.

Reactions in the tent were quiet, but varied. Sabine grew silently shocked. Janius was confused and worried. Ariel covered her mouth with her hand.

Fendros glanced at the faces around him. He did not look happy, but he kept his emotions to himself. "Destroyed?" he repeated. He looked down at the table for a moment as if searching and then looked back up at Meesei. "Did you learn this from the Psijics? Surely they knew something that could be done about it."

For most of those present, their first reactions were naturally surprise or concern for Meesei, though Hal-Neesa's narrowed eyed told of her skepticism. "You claim to have gone to Artaeum for this? I'm not sure what-"

Meesei quickly, and rather boldly, cut Hal-Neesa off mid-sentence. "Yes, I found a way to bypass Artaeum's defenses and decided to visit. Zyausak recommended seeking you, specifically, to help."

Even Hal-Neesa's normally hardened exterior was uncharacteristically, visibly shocked by Meesei's sudden retort. For once, she had no insults or snide remarks, and instead showed just a hint of genuine worry.

Meesei did not waste another moment before continuing. "And unfortunately, no, they did not have any answers. My case is, from their experience, entirely unique. They were confident they could help and offered to allow me to join their order, but they felt it might take hundreds of years to find a solution. I...considered keeping this to myself, but this was not a secret I could hide from you all in good conscious. And, I would like your help. If I am only to have a few days before this invasion, then I do want to at least be able to say I gave it my best effort to solve this problem."

No one had any immediate solutions. Few enough had any idea of where to start. However, Janius held a hand up to speak what needed to be said first. "Now hold on just a moment," he said with his eyes up and sincere at Meesei. "First of all, there's no telling whether you will fall in the assault. Do not speak of it as if you're doomed." He looked around at the others for confirmation. "We have faced insurmountable challenges before. We've drawn dangerously close to death, make no mistake. But we're alive. You're alive, Meesei. And, frankly, we are at our most powerful. You're chances are not guaranteed, but they are good."

The more cynical Fendros had his head down throughout the short speech, but even he had to nod by the end of it. He breathed in to respond, but was cut off.

"Yoooou...found my book," Ariel deduced with descending embarrassment in her voice. "Didn't you? That's why I'm here, isn't it?"

The entire pack, including Sabine, turned around to Ariel curiously.

She could not look them in the eye. She brushed a few loose strands of hair back over her ear. "I know you said you would rather your attributes remained secret. I apologise. But, on the bright side of things, I am as motivated to help as I am curious to help."

Meesei grinned with a nod towards Ariel. "I did indeed. Recommended to me by a respected scholar in Summerset, no less. He described it as the most complete treatise on the subject that he knew of. I have not read through it completely, but I do not need to in order to know of the extent of your expertise. You were the one to first conceive of the suppression gas, and your work provided an antidote to it when Vile's followers further refined it. I can think of no other who would know more about lycan souls than you, Ariel."

Hal-Neesa, meanwhile, did not take too long to get over her speechlessness. She had regained her composure, but there was something in her visage that just appeared...different. Meesei no longer felt that perpetual air of disdain that Neesa radiated. It was an observation that was further confirmed when she finally spoke. "I will help you. I have some reference material that may be relevant; I will go collect them." She said, simply and directly.

While Neesa did start to leave rather suddenly, the outright ease with which she had agreed to help was a surprise even to Meesei. There was no arguing, no boasting or insults, no deals that had to be made. She had simply agreed...just like that. In contrast to Meesei's expectations, it felt bizarre.

Neesa's departure was as much a surprise to the others as it was to Meesei. The reaction was not lost on Ariel, though she was beaten to speaking by Janius.

"That was...easy," Janius said, turning back around to Meesei. "What was it about that 'Zyausak' fellow that got her so perturbed?"

Fendros shook his head. "Not to downplay the situation, but perhaps there are several things that could do with elaborating, Meesei."

"Indeed, I understand." Meesei replied. There was a great deal that had happened in the past day, from the others' perspective, and she could spend hours explaining every part of it. "I recently discovered how to bypass the defenses of Artaeum, and so decided to pay a visit to the Psijics with a...certain individual." Meesei began, giving a glance towards the closed flap of the tent. Despite the fact that Neesa had left, she still had to keep in mind that it was only a layer of cloth separating them from the camp, so she still had to be somewhat careful with her words.

"The Psijics, of course, expected it and allowed the visit to take place. They took it as an opportunity to explain to me the nature of my soul, and offered to me their aid and the chance to join their Order. Zyausak is a Nedic man who was once a friend to Neesa. They were both born slaves to the Ayleids in the same place. He joined the Order sometime after they were liberated, and he was the one got Hal-Neesa into the Psijic Order as well, centuries later. He told me that, based on what he knew of Neesa's beliefs, that he was sure she would be willing to help me. She does seem to genuinely care for mortals in her own, twisted way, but even I did not expect it to be so easy." Meesei explained. Even that brief explanation left much for the pack, and particularly Ariel to take in. "Though, I have decided that I am not going to join the Psijics. As much of a help as they would be, I do not believe it is worth losing the life I have here, and in any case, I will still need to lead this invasion. I think your help and support will be the best I could ever want to have over these next few days."

Fendros nodded. "You can count on it."

"Aye," Janius added. "Though if I didn't know better, I would call you a liar. Very few people alive can claim to have met a Nede before."

"Y-...you said that Argonian woman knew him as well?" Ariel struggled to ask.

"She's a vampire," Fendros answered quickly.

Ariel found a different question answered and then replaced by several more. She sighed lowered her eyes. "I feel as though I am somewhat out of my depth."

Sabine piped up with her hands clasped together. "At least Hal-Neesa will be less easily angered. I notice as much when she is invested in her work."

"Hopefully so." Meesei agreed. "Zyausak felt that Neesa would be willing to help me because I am at risk for the only 'true' form of death she recognizes. It seems he was right. So far, I have been trying to think of ways to make my soul more stable on its own. Being bound to my physical body is, apparently, the only thing that is keeping it from being torn apart. I have the memories and experiences of potentially thousands of lives imprinted onto my soul, which is bound to a Daedric wolf spirit, both of which are bound to my body. Between both of you in particular, Ahnasha and Ariel, you have a great deal of knowledge about mortal souls and lycan souls. I am not sure what parts of your knowledge would be important, if anything, but I am just trying to...put together all of the pieces I can to try and come up with a solution."

Ahnasha leaned back in her chair, letting out a soft sigh as she fell into her thoughts. It was reasonable of Meesei to think that some sort of soul-manipulating magic might hold the key to the solution, but she, off the top of her head, was not entirely sure of what to suggest. She had never applied her magic like this. "I've never really had to...think about this sort of a problem before. I know all about binding souls; I could bind your soul to a...spoon, but I don't know that binding your soul to any physical thing would actually help. Maybe if you were to become a lich, but...no, that would just end up with the same problem. You would be immortal, but you still wouldn't have an afterlife if you finally did die. I don't know, maybe some other kind of binding? Do any ideas particularly stand out to you, Ariel?"

Ariel had her fist pressed to her lips and her eyes down, only half-listening to Ahnasha as she paced very slowly around in her limited tent space. She was in intensely deep thought, the likes of which were familiar to anyone who had seen her trying to formulate her solution to the soul tearing gas, and as such her subsequent silence remained uninterrupted even with Ahnasha's question until she was finally ready to speak.

"I think the first stage must be exploratory," Ariel surmised. "There are so many unknowns. There are...possibilities of exploiting the sort of binding that naturally occurs between soul and lycan daedra in any werewolf. I call it the perennial binding in my book. It's has similarities to the binding between soul and a physical body but..." she gestured with her hands as if moulding a piece of clay. "It does not behave the same way. And I have no idea whether it would be strong enough. And..." She let out the rest of her breath and faced everyone with more determination. "If I have to make an educated guess based on my research, the soul tearing gas, and...my own previous projects with inhaled anti-animants, is you may have to undergo one or more of three things." She cleared her throat and quickly added. "If they are even possible, that is. And notwithstanding any new information." She took a nervous breath. "Anyway, the first is to make your werewolf spirit more powerful. To the point where it might become more of you than you. The second is to find a way to...sort of cut away a portion of your soul so a more stable remainder can pass on intact -- I would rather we not consider that if at all possible for I hope are quite clear reasons. The third is to find a way to stymie the process that causes one's soul to destabilise in the first place much like the inoculation to the soul-tearing effect, but finding a way to do that without any physical anchor, let alone a permanent solution, is hardly worth calling a theory."

Ariel pursed her lips together and swallowed, trying to force a smile to make herself feel less guilty. "Perhaps," she said with some mustered optimism, "your quite experienced friend can open up our options a little."

Lorag, standing in the opposite corner of the tent, gave a cynical huff upon Ariel's last comment. "Right..."

"'Friend' might be a...generous word for Neesa." Meesei elaborated. "But you might also be right. In speaking with the Psijics and...others, I did have some of the same thoughts as well. It is being bound to my body that is keeping my soul together, so I have wondered if I might be able to bind it to something else after death. My soul is already bound to my beast spirit, but...not in the same way. Not in a way that would keep it together, currently. Perhaps Neesa might be able to apply her experience to some of your ideas? I am certainly willing to try whatever might work, in these next few days. I am particularly interested in trying, well...something with my beast spirit, I am just not sure what."

Meesei turned her attention to the rest of her pack in general. "I know it is getting late, and none of us should lose too much sleep over this in the next few days. We will need to be well-rested for the invasion. Ariel, if you do wish to stay and help directly, I would certainly appreciate it. You can have a tent here, or you can use my personal quarters back in the Silent City, if you would rather not stay overnight in a Plane of Oblivion. But, do not feel guilty if you have to return back to your home in Thorn. Even if you just leave notes, I would appreciate any help you can give. I plan on starting on this problem in earnest first thing tomorrow morning."

"Fendros, Lorag..." Meesei began, turning her head towards the two of them. "If it is not too much trouble, would you mind taking on some of my responsibilities here in the camp, so that I can focus more time on this?"

"I'll stay for as long as you need me to, Meesei," Ariel said with a reassuring smile. "I daresay it would be a simple matter to visit home once each day or two to make sure everything is going smoothly. I have had some practice multitasking lately, as you might imagine. However..." She tensely showed her teeth. "I may prefer to remain on Mundus whilst resting."

Fendros gave Lorag a glance before responding to Meesei. "Of course we'll help, Meesei, but...I hope it won't cause too much suspicion. Perhaps you could give us a pardoning for you, such as a magical project for the invasion or something of that nature? Something worth keeping a secret which isn't...well, as grave as this."

"I think your suggestion is believable, Fendros." Meesei remarked. "You can tell anyone who asks that I am experimenting with some enchantments that might be useful in the confrontation against Vile. I know this will put more of a burden onto you for the next few days, but I would not ask if I did not need to."

Stepping around behind Meesei, Lorag gave her a quick pat on the back. "We'll take care of it, no question."

Meesei chuckled for a few seconds. "Thank you, Lorag. I suppose we will all have more to do, starting tomorrow."

Kaleeth, meanwhile, appeared nervous. The others were talking about trying to find ways to solve this terrible problem of Meesei's, but she still found herself worrying about what might happen if they failed. "Meesei, what if...you can't figure it out in just a few days? What if you have to go through the invasion like this? Is there something we might do to be able to keep you safer during..."

"No, please." Meesei interrupted, holding up one hand. "That is not an option, and one of the reasons I was so hesitant to tell you all. In battle, you cannot treat me any differently than you would have before. We all take a certain amount of risk in any fight we take, and we all fight most effectively together as we are now. If we try to change things, to protect me, it can only make things worse for all of us. We need to continue fighting just as we have been. But...hopefully that will not be a problem. For now, let us just try to relax for the evening, and get enough rest to make tomorrow productive. Ariel, were you able to have your own dinner back home, before we visited you? If not, I am sure you will be able to find something most exotic to try here."

Ariel held a polite smile. "Thank you, but all this has put my appetite to one side, I'm afraid."

Sabine stepped up. "I will find you a place to sleep, sister."

Unnoticed by the others, Janius held Kaleeth by the hand by way of some comfort. While Kaleeth was the only one who spoke directly about it, she was not the only one who was worried.

"Very well." Meesei nodded. "Thinking about it, I suppose we probably should do most of our work in the Silent City, regardless. We will have more privacy, that way. We can go back to Mundus and find a room for you for the next few days. Although...perhaps we should wait for Neesa to return, first. She will be expecting us to be here, and seeing as she is being so refreshingly agreeable, I would rather not upset her. We can wait outside the tent, though, instead of crowding ourselves in here."

Once outside the tent, much of the pack rested by the nearest fire. Certainly, they would all have something on their minds to think about. Meesei, though she would have much to do ahead of her, had already had the luxury of time to mentally prepare herself for it. Even before she had gathered everyone together, she had known who she would want most to speak to after she had given everyone the news.

Meesei sat down beside Sabine. Ariel was, naturally, on the other side of her, but Meesei did not mind her listening as well. If anything, her presence might have been helpful. "Sabine, are you...alright?" Meesei asked softly. "This is not the kind of news I wanted to have to give you. Especially now, of all times."