"Are you sure it's up here?"
Hawke leaned on her staff heavily, letting her breath even out from the ridiculous climb up Sundermount that she and her party were forced to endure.
"Absolutely," Merrill said, "The rift in the Fade should be just around the bend now; I could feel it the last time we were here."
"Good," Anders chimed in from where he stood, "The sooner we can close it, the better. This may even solve some of Kirkwall's problems with blood magic."
Merrill frowned at him.
Hawke turned to their last companion Varric and asked, "Do you still have the lyrium we brought?"
"All right here," he replied, patting his stuffed jacket for emphasis.
"Alright," she said, "Let's keep moving."
They continued along the twisting path with Merrill in the lead, following one by one until they came to a cave. The opening was wide and smooth, and fog poured out from the inside, stopping only a few feet from the entrance. Varric handed a very large lyrium bottles to each of the mages. They looked at each other and downed their lyrium at the same time, then turned and disappeared into the mist of the cave, leaving the glass with the dwarf. Inside, the sensation of the Fade was oppressive and the lyrium in them left an obnoxious buzzing in the mages' brains. They spread out, Hawke towards the center, Anders far off to the left of her, and Merrill over to the right. Together, they reached out to the Fade and attempted to close the Veil.
Outside the cave, Varric took a seat a few steps back from the entrance, next to the ledge. He pulled Bianca over his shoulder and began to inspect the crossbow, his eyes flickering between his weapon, the cave, and the path the whole time. For a while, nothing happened, and he pulled out a rag to wipe down his weapon. Eventually, the fog began to thin out and, after his long languid strokes came to an end, fade completely.
Magic thrummed in the cavern as the mages reached and reached to close the Veil. No matter how much they pulled, it wouldn't budge. Their heads began to ache violently as they pulled and pulled and pulled and pulled. Their skin tingled and the cavern was practically screaming. Then, the three made a final push and the Fade pulsed, knocking all of their holds.
When Anders came to, the first thing he noticed was that he still had a massive headache. Then he noticed that the fog was gone, and immediately after that the sense of magic was not as strong as it was when they began. He stood up, holding his head and grimacing.
"Well," Anders announced, "That didn't go according to plan."
"That was incredible," Merrill breathed from her end of the cavern, "It's like the Veil was being held open! How did they do that? Someone had to do that." Suddenly she gasped and let out, "Creators!"
Anders looked over towards Merrill, but his vision cut off when he saw in the center of the cavern sat Hawke, her legs drawn in and crossed at the ankles, wearing only a silver collar around her neck.
"Definitely not according to plan," he muttered under his breath before he averted his eyes to the floor by her feet. Merrill ran up to her and kneeled beside the naked woman while Anders removed his coat and draped it over Hawke's shoulders.
"I've never seen one of those before," the elven mage said, looking at the collar, "Why would the ritual take your clothes away?"
"How are you so perky?" Anders groaned.
"I don't know," Merrill replied airily, "I think my body is still reacting to all of that lyrium. We should come back tomorrow! There must be some powerful old magic hidden in this cave! Oh, and the history! Just how old is this magic? It could be from Arlathan - maybe before! We-"
"Merrill," he raised a hand, his eyes glued shut, "Not now. I have the equivalent of a three-day hangover, at least, and I doubt you'll be much better soon enough. Let's all head back to Kirkwall and get some rest."
Anders helped Hawke up and Merrill stood, then the three of them left the cave. When they emerged, Varric stood from his rock and slung his crossbow along his back. The dwarf looked at Hawke and raised an eyebrow, but Anders waved him off. Varric shrugged and got in line with the other three as they began their return to the City of Chains. Along the way, Varric noticed Hawke's eyes wandered all over the place - from taking in the scenery to unsure glances at the three of them.
The sun had set hours ago by the time they returned to Kirkwall. They walked Hawke back to her estate first and parted ways at the door to her estate, then continued to their respective homes.
