Mission Complete?

On the border between Skyrim and the Cyrodil, two figures creep through the shadows, one shorter than an average adult, and one appearing to be the same size as a child. They easily traverse difficult to climb terrain and make their way onto a tall rocky outcropping that overlooked the road.

Just as they arrived, they are greeted by a peculiar sight... A large cart was being pulled by three horses, its cargo seeming to be some sort of large metal tube... Though, the figures could only see small parts of it from under the cloth concealing it.

No, the strangest part was the jester sitting atop it, his red and black costume making him stand out like a giant in a flat field.

"Is this the target?" Eleril asks, summoning a Daedric dagger from Oblivion into her hand.

The little girl, Babette shrugs her shoulders, "I'm not too sure, our instructions were not the most detailed..." she mutters before pulling a rolled-up sheet from her knapsack and proceeding to read it again. "Deal with the situation concerning the jester on the border road... Hmph, Astrid sure doesn't make things easy."

Eleril hums, "Well, we are assassins, speaking in plain terms isn't something we do... From what I've seen...?"

The little girl just nods and chuckles, "Its as you say, it wouldn't be a first to have accidentally killed the wrong person. Comes with the profession I suspect... Let's observe the jester for a time until we make a judgement." she says and Eleril nods.

And so the duo does just that, following the jester and his cart for a couple miles. And soon enough, their reason for being there becomes readily apparent. From further ahead, four soldiers in red and black imperial armour jump out, blades already drawn.

Eleril had no idea who they were, but Babette had run into them a number of times throughout her life. "Those Penitus Oculatus fools? What are they doing here?"

Eleril stands and stealthily runs to get behind the group, "Who knows, but this is probably what we've been called for!"

Babette nods, following just as the group of Imperial soldiers reach the cart. The jester was screaming at them, half being rather brutal obscenities, while the other only seemed to be jibberish. His madness seemed to have lulled the soldiers into a false sense of security, and two attempted to restrain and capture the jesture... Only for the clown to stab one in the throat with a hidden dagger, barely escaping the other soldier's blade afterwards.

"You madman! We would have taken you alive!" the soldier angrily shouts after seeing his colleague go down.

"You will ne-ever catch meee! HE will not allow it! SHE will send friends! Dearest friends!" he exclaims in a morosely cheerful town.

Unfortunately, while the guards were attempting to find reason in the jester's mad words, they were completely taken unaware as they were attacked from behind. A young woman in dull red and blade armour springs forwards from the shadows, her conjured Daedric dagger slashing the throat of the nearest imperial while another suddenly starts screaming in terror, patting his arms, shoulders, and chest off as if he were on fire.

The last guard alive, the nearest to the cart turns his attention towards the new attackers but has the jester jump on him, forcing him to the ground as the madman begins relentlessly stabbing him. Most of these strikes aren't even fatal, leading to what could only be called a prison shaking to occur.

Babette releases her illusion on the imperial as Eleril slits the man's throat, she was happy to see that covering the man in illusionary spiders was an effective tactic... However, it'd need further optimising before she'd call it 'perfect'.

"Frieeee-ends!" the jester cheerfully shouts, holding his blood-covered arms out with a wide smile on his face.

"Friends...?" Eleril confusedly parrots, unsure how to react to this man.

"YES! Friends! THANK YOU-so much for saving poor, weak, Cicero, from those stupid, stupid people!"

Eleril scratches the back of her head, "Erm, you're welcome Cicero... Are you the one we were supposed to help? Our leader wasn't clear on the details."

Cicero nods his head vigorously, a mad gleam in his eyes, "Yes, yes, yes!" he gestures frantically at the cart, "I am transporting Mother to the Sanctuary! The last safe place for her! You are family, yee-es!? Then help Cicero to your Sanctuary!"

"Wait a moment, Jester. Just who is this 'Mother' you speak of?" Babette asks after draining a corpse of its blood, filling a couple of vials that'd tied her over for a bit.

Cicero's eyes widen, almost bulging from their sockets, "You don't know!? She doesn't know, doesn't know!? The Nightmother! Surely you know her, the Mother of us all, HMM!?"

Babette pauses in shock, "You have the Nightmother? But I heard she'd been missing for years!"

Cicero nods, "She has! Those dirty, stupid Imperials found her! They found her sleeping beneath the statue... But Cicero, Cicero found a way to escape with her, to save her!"

Eleril glances between the two, "Sorry, but who's the Nightmother?" she asks, shocking Cicero by her lack of knowledge.

"W-w-whaaa-at!? How does a sister not know of her own Mother!?" he points an accusatory finger at her and looks to Babette, "Y-y-you've brought an outsider here!? Why does she wear our colours!?"

...

Babette lets out a sigh, "This is going to get very irritating, very quickly." she mentally sighs. "She is just a new member to the Brotherhood, Cicero, we will have her educated once we return... For now, shouldn't we leave this place before more rats arrive?"

Cicero glares at Eleril for a couple more seconds before jumping atop the cart and having the horses begin moving again, "Then, let me teach you, sister, of the glory of Sithis and the Nightmother!"

...

"A long journey indeed." Babette whispers under her breath, quickly tuning out the lecture Cicero had spontaneously prepared for Eleril...