A/N: Hey guys! Thank you for reading. I've worked really hard on this fic, and I'm excited to get it out, so as of right now it's unbeta'd until I find someone who's interested! Inquisition spoilers will be inbound, but not readily. I'm trying to focus on the companions and Nikita's interactions with them, as well as her love interest. *Wiggles eyebrows*
This will be an OCxCullen fic, and it will be a slow burn. I was also planning on making it pretty NSFW, but not until much later. This is a pretty extensive fic, and it should run pretty long. This is the shortest chapter but the others are running much longer so far. I ask that you make it to the second or third chapter to give it a chance, unless it's unbearable. Thank you again!
The first thing her groggy mind registers is the cold biting at her face. She sucks in a breath and opens her eyes in a panic, only to find her hands in shackles. Pain registers in her left hand and she stares at it for a moment before it flares green. An angry red line stares back at her.
The door flies open with a thud and Nikita vaguely recognizes she is not alone in this room. Guards surround her with swords pointed at the ready and a scarred woman walks in proudly, anger bubbling from her like a tempest. A second, quieter woman walks in behind her and with a motion of her hand the swords go back in their sheaths.
Adrenaline floods through Nikita's veins. Swords and armor? Where the hell was she?
"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now," the woman demands angrily, circling her like a predator. "The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you." She pauses in front of her, staring down at her accusingly.
Nikita looks around at the guards around her. Faces pale. They're nervous. She tries to connect the words to memories in her head but it doesn't work.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She makes eye contact with the scarred woman that walked in first and frantically looks to the other for assistance. "Where am I? I don't know where I am."
"Explain this!" The woman grabbed Nikita's hand and it flared green again, fire shooting through her nerves. She grunts in pain as her hand is slammed down and connects with the hard stone ground.
"I can't!" She begins to plead, "Please, I don't know what that is or how it got there!"
The woman lurches forward, hands ready to strike out. She makes a slashing motion with her wrist. "You're lying!"
The silent woman intervenes, grabbing the angry woman's shoulder gently and pulling her back, away from Nikita. "We need her, Cassandra." Her voice is soft, reasonable. Nikita looks to her pleadingly, getting the impression that the woman wants to hear nothing of what she has to say.
"Please, can you tell me where I am? What's going on? I don't understand!"
The quieter woman moves towards her. "You remember what happened?" she demands almost haughtily, and continues, "How this began?"
Nikita closes her eyes in a desperate attempt to remember anything. "I was at home, then I remember… running." She pauses. In her mind's eye she sees spiders but they look wrong. Giant and distorted. "Things were chasing me and then… a woman?" She struggles to grasp at the threads of the memory but can only seem to remember the sickening stench of the green mist swirling around her and a woman seemingly made of light.
She opens her eyes. "She reached out to me…" She searches the other woman's eyes for any acknowledgement that what she said is right.
The other woman, Cassandra, moves forward again, seemingly calmed by this information. She speaks quietly. "Go to the forward camp Leliana, I will take her to the rift."
Cassandra reaches down to unlock her shackles and motions for the guards to go. Nikita rubs her wrists and stares at the long scar on her hand in shock. Cassandra motions for a guard to bind her hands with rope and then grabs her shoulder forcefully and pushes her ahead down a hallway, the accompanying guards behind her. The other woman's strides are longer, more self-assured than her own and she struggles to keep up. "What did happen? Where am I? Why won't anyone answer any of my questions?"
Cassandra pauses for a moment, almost imperceptibly and regards her for a moment, seemingly searching for something before speaking. "It will be easier to show you."
Nikita furrows her brow in confusion and squints when the bright sunlight hits her eyes, and shivers when the even colder air hits her. Her eyes adjust and take in the rustic surroundings, wooden barricades made of cut down trees and logs, little buildings shabbily constructed of poorly cut wooden planks and stone. Her breath catches in her throat when she looks up to the sky and sees the big green glowing hole there.
Cassandra searches her face once more, looking for something. She speaks again, slowly. "We call it The Breach."
Words escape Nikita as she stares at it and her mind runs to catch up with her. Cassandra takes this silence as a sign to continue. "It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows by each passing hour. It is not the only such rift. It is, however, the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave. Unless we act it will swallow the world."
At this moment the giant gaping hole chose to explosively stretch even farther into the sky, and her hand feels as if it's caught fire again. She falls to the ground, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes.
Cassandra leans down to her her level and speaks softly. "Each time the rift expands your mark spreads." She pauses once more. "It is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time."
The words seem to echo in Nikita's ears for a moment and she stares at Cassandra's face, and the emotions playing across it.
Distrust. Fear. Anger.
She looks at the ground and tries to stand, the pain in her hand abating. She looks toward the sky again, mind full of unanswered questions. A guard shifts nervously at her side.
"I don't… know where I am. Do you think I did this?"
Cassandra stands as well, eyeing the breach momentarily as she speaks. "We are in the Frostback Mountains, near the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Where the Conclave was to be held." The hard look returns to her eyes.
The cold starts to affect her and Nikita begins shivering. "I'm not the best at geography, Cassandra, but I've never heard of any Frostback Mountains in America."
Cassandra's brows furrow in confusion. "America? I've… never heard of such a place. You're in Ferelden. You don't remember coming here?"
Her skin grows warm as adrenaline floods through her. "America, you know star-spangled banner? Red, white, and blue, none of that rings a bell?" She started to laugh little hysterically. "Ferelden. What kind of made up name is that? Seriously where are we?"
Cassandra stared at her, at a loss for words.
"What year do you think it is?" She replies after a moment.
"2014. It is 2014 right?" She asked, hope evident in her voice. Cassandra shook her head.
"The year is 9:40 Dragon."
Nikita looked around for any clues that Cassandra was lying to her. She didn't need much more proof than the hole glowing in the sky. She took a steadying breath and wiped her still bound hands across her face.
"This is going to sound crazy to you Cassandra, but I didn't make that thing," she pointed as best she could, "And I don't think that I'm in the same world anymore."
Cassandra seemed to take this in and then nodded solemnly. "Then they are right. Andraste herself has delivered you to us." She looked her over once more. "Come. We must make haste to get to the breach." She pushed her forward bodily towards a camp.
Nikita stumbled slightly, Cassandra's hand on her shoulder and walked her through the camp. People stood and watched her as she stumbled, confused and disoriented. They scowled at her and shouted as if she were some sort of criminal. She willed her legs to move faster but held her head high, not wishing to show the mob her fear. Cassandra began speaking once more.
"They have decided your guilt. They need it." People shouted and shook their fists at her as Cassandra pushed her along towards a bridge. "The people of Haven mourn Divine Justinia V. It was Most Holy's conclave you destroyed. It was a chance for peace between mages and Templars." Her voice broke and she stopped speaking for a moment. "She brought their leaders together. And now they are dead."
They arrived at the base of the bridge and Cassandra turned towards her and withdrew a knife from her belt. Fear exploded in her and Nikita took a step backwards. Cassandra scoffed and grabbed the ropes, cutting them in one swift motion.
"Mages as in people who use magic? You have mages?" Nikita inquired with an air of panic.
Cassandra leveled her with a look of distrust and motioned ahead for her to walk across the bridge.
"Yes. People who have magic go to a circle tower when their… abilities show. You really do not know this? Templars are knights who can take away mages powers. They are for their protection, or so they tell us." They started walking up the path. Nikita was rubbing her wrists together.
"I'm from a place called Earth. I lived in a country called America, and we were much more…" she paused and glanced at Cassandra's sheathed longsword. "…Advanced." She glanced nervously up at Cassandra's eyes again only to see her staring at her with a cynical expression. "But there's no magic."
"A world with no magic. You must tell me about it if we survive this. Come. We are on borrowed time already."
They continued walking. "Who put me into this armor? Last I can recall I was in something else entirely."
Cassandra shouted at the soldiers to open the doors at the end of the bridge before she continued speaking.
"When you fell from the rift and the soldiers found you, that's what you were in. Perhaps someone is looking out for you." Cassandra glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and started marching up the path. "Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the breach."
Nikita looked down at the still angry red scar on the palm of her left hand and flexed it a few times, feeling how stiff and sore the skin was there, before following behind Cassandra past the tone doors and onto a wilderness path. She started her way up it, past the barricades and flames and paused when she saw the bodies littering the ground.
Cassandra ran into her and leveled her with a penitent stare.
"Move." She said harshly, pushing Nikita forward. Nikita stumbled and looked towards the sky as she hurried past the bodies. She was hurriedly walking forward when the Breach expanded again, setting her hand aflame. She fell to her knees in the cold snow. Cassandra walked up to her and helped her up, patting her shoulder in what Nikita assumed was a comforting way.
"The pulses are coming faster now. The larger the breach grows the more rifts open and the more demons come into our world."
"There are demons coming out of the rifts and… Doing what?" Nikita questioned slowly as they started to walk on, hand throbbing dully in the cold mountain air.
"Slaughtering our soldiers while we stand around making idle chatter." The sound of thunder rumbled threateningly as if to prove her point. Nikita tried moving faster, boots trudging across the frozen path.
There was a moment of silence before Cassandra spoke again.
"They say you stepped out of a rift and fell unconscious. They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you'll see soon enough."
Nikita chose to keep her mouth shut this time as they passed more bodies and a green flare hit the entrance to another bridge in front of them. The people on the bridge were running towards the other end when another flare hit the bridge in the middle, causing the stone to shatter and the two women to tumble down onto the frozen river beneath them. Green crystals shot out of the ground and a creature seemingly materialized from the ground. Cassandra unsheathed her sword and ran ahead to attack it, shouting nothing more than "Stay behind me!"
More of the Crystals exploded from the ground where Cassandra was previously standing and another creature rose from its remnants. It appeared to have one eye, and its skin was a sickly greyish brown color, its long lean arms ending in claws meant for rending skin in two.
Nikita looked frantically around for a weapon as Cassandra was busy with the other creature and happened to see two daggers on the ground near her. She grabbed them and spread her legs apart in what she hoped was a defensive stance before the thing got too close to her. She lunged at it with the dagger and it lashed out with its claws, tearing a hole in the right arm of her armor, and scratching the skin of her arm. She grunted in pain but raised the dagger again, lunging for its eye and sinking it in deep. The creature screamed, its voice a two toned screech that hurt her ears before seemingly disintegrating back into the ground from whence it came.
Cassandra turned towards her, sword raised at the ready as she moved towards her shouting. "Drop your weapon. Now."
Nikita dropped the daggers and raised her hands in acquiescence, trying to show Cassandra more through actions than words that she meant no harm.
"There was a creature. It came towards me and you were busy. I'm sorry."
Cassandra sighed heavily and sheathed her sword. "Wait. I cannot protect you and I cannot expect you to be defenseless. Your life is threatened enough as it is. Pick them up, you will need them."
Nikita leaned down and picked them back up, watching Cassandra warily the whole time. "I don't know how to use them. I've never fought a day in my life, especially not with daggers."
Cassandra nodded knowingly and motioned towards a path on the far side of the river. "I will help as much as I am able." She dug in a pouch at her belt and retrieved 5 small bottles filled with a shimmering red liquid. "Take these potions. Maker knows what we will face."
Nikita nearly laughed at the sight of the bottles in her hand, but tucked them away in a pouch at her belt anyway. "Potions. Do they really work?"
She gave her a strange look and nodded. "You really aren't from here." Nikita shrugged.
The green balls of fire were falling more freely the closer they got to the breach, and the sounds of fighting were getting louder. As they rounded a hill, two more of the creatures appeared and started skating towards them, their long sickly bodies gliding effortlessly across the ground. Cassandra jumped off the hill and started attacking immediately, both of the creatures attention was focused on her. Nikita ran around behind them and slashed at what she hoped was their neck, and stabbed her blade deep into the creatures flesh. It let out a sickening screech and disintegrated as Cassandra easily cut the other in two.
She watched in awe, amazed by the strength of the other woman. Cassandra wiped her blade and sheathed it. "They are called shades. They are lesser demons, come from the realm of the Fade. They will be worse the closer we get to the breach."
As they pushed ahead across the icy river, floating figures the color of toxic sludge began throwing more of the green fireballs at them. Cassandra deflected the fire with her blade easily enough, while Nikita had to throw herself onto the cold ground to evade it. Cassandra grunted and heaved her back up onto her feet, moving towards the glowing green figure quickly to finish it in one fell blow.
This continued for a while, Cassandra mostly finishing the enemies in one or two hits while Nikita stumbled along and attempted not to get hit by the creature's attacks.
Not long after though, the party of two saw others battling the demons and arrived in the middle of a battle.
Floating in the air above their heads was a ball of green crystals, similar to the ones the demons had been coming from before. There were two humans, a short man with a crossbow that Nikita supposed was a dwarf, and a man with pointed ears and a staff shooting ice balls at 4 shades.
Her steps almost faltered at the sight of the elf preforming actual magic, but she continued on diligently behind Cassandra. She rounded the first shade she saw, stabbing it in the neck and ducking as a different one clawed at her. She felt its claws snag in her dark hair and tried to roll away before the other human cleaved its skull in half.
She raised to her feet to see Cassandra and the elven man battling the other two off, with the help of the dwarf. They were dispatched quickly enough and the elf stalked towards her predatorily and grabbed her hand firmly, raising it towards the sky. Her mark exploded, causing the rift in front of them to close shut.
Nikita ripped her hand from his grasp and he turned towards her with a small smile on his face.
"What did you do?" She demanded.
The small smile was now a smirk. "I did nothing. The credit is yours."
She looked down at the scar and closed her hand into a fist.
"You mean this." She stated dryly.
"Whatever magic opened the breach in the sky also put that mark on your hand." He paused, taking a step back from seeing her obvious discomfort. "I theorized the breaches could be closed by it. It seems I was right."
"Are you an Elf?" Nikita asked bluntly, put off by the whole situation. Cassandra butted in quickly from behind her.
"You mean it could close the rift too."
He was still smiling. "Possibly." His attention turned back towards Nikita. "It seems you hold the key to our salvation."
"Thank the Maker." The dwarf spoke, shouldering his crossbow and smirking widely. "Here I thought we'd be ass deep in demons forever." He turned his attention to Nikita and introduced himself. "Varric Tethras: Rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwanted tagalong." He winked at Cassandra.
Nikita smiled at him. "You're with the 'Chantry' then?" Varric and the elf both laughed.
"Was that a serious question?" the elf joked.
Varric regained his composure much quicker. "Technically I'm a prisoner, just like you."
Cassandra spoke up. "I brought you here to tell your story to The Divine."
Varric chuckled. "Yet, here I am. Lucky for you considering current events."
Cassandra nodded and spoke once more. "I should explain something. The-" she stopped and blinked at Nikita. "I don't believe I ever asked you for your name."
Nikita looked at Varric and held her hand out to shake his hand. "Nikita Petrovik. It's a pleasure to meet you Varric."
The elf spoke up. "You may reconsider that stance in time."
"Aww, I'm sure we'll become great friends in the valley, Chuckles."
Cassandra moved towards him and made a slashing motion with her wrist. "Absolutely not. Your help is appreciated Varric, but-"
He cut her off. "Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker? Your soldiers aren't in control anymore. You need me." He smirk widely. Cassandra backed away from him and made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat.
The elf finally spoke up. "My name is Solas if introductions are to be made. It is good to see you lived."
"He means, 'I kept that mark from killing you while you slept.'" Varric said nonchalantly.
"As I was saying, Nikita," Cassandra butted in, "is not from Thedas. She claims to be from some country known as 'America.' She says her world doesn't have magic." She looked at Solas.
Varric chuckled again. "Hot damn, a world with no magic. So you really were hand delivered by Andraste?"
Nikita shrugged. "I don't even know who that is."
Solas shared a look with Cassandra and then nodded. "I could tell there was something different about you. The Fade shudders at your touch. I assumed it was because of the mark."
"You seem to know a great deal about it." Nikita stated blandly.
"Solas is an apostate, a mage outside of the Chantry's control. Well versed in these things."
"Technically all mages are apostates, Cassandra." He reminded her gently. "My travels have allowed me to learn the secrets of the Fade. Far beyond the experience of any circle mage. I came to offer whatever help I can give with the Breach. If it is not closed, we are all doomed regardless of origin."
"'Circle mage'? Why does your church control the mages? And put them in circles?"
Cassandra sighed. "I will explain once we have closed the Breach."
"Cassandra you should know this is unlike any magic I have encountered before."
She nodded once. "Understood." They turned to leave, assuming the other two would follow.
"Well," Varric spoke from behind Nikita, "Bianca's excited!" He then proceeded to follow after the others, leaving her alone with more than one question, but foremost was who was Bianca?