Evelyn finds herself in Thedas with no knowledge of how or why. Her knack for languages somehow translates in this strange world. With it, she is able to become a central part of the Inquisition. It also doesn't hurt that she knows how the game unfolds. With no magic or fighting skills to speak of, she relies on her knowledge from her Dragon Age gaming experience to survive.. The only catch lies in the fact that she has to make sure the choices the current Inquisitor makes match the ones she made: mages over Templars, exile of the Grey Wardens and... romancing Solas. Logically, Evelyn knew that an absolute guaranteed victory over Corypheus was to stick with the original path she took as Inquisitor. This includes orchestrating the romance option she had played out in DAI: Solas and Lavellan. She rationalized that it might make him easier to reason with after Trespasser, if she was still stuck in Thedas after that. Now if only her emotions concerning a certain apostate elf would stop clouding her better judgement...
All in all, she becomes an unwilling player in Thedas politics and a reluctant matchmaker. But what she finds out about herself will not just rock the Inquisition to its very core but the whole of Thedas.
Warning: strong language and possible smut... eventually.
I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING DRAGON AGE!
I brought the steaming cup of hot coffee up to my lips in a feeble last ditch attempt to keep my eyes open so late at night. I was going through the latest chapter I had added to my doctoral dissertation for the 20th time now and still disliked how it came together. Frowning, I used my free hand to flip a page from one of the many opened books that had taken over my small kitchen table and reread the paragraph. A weary sigh escaped my lips as I glanced back to my computer screen with squinty eyes. I was having difficulty in translating the last couple of passages of the Coptic text. Tsking out loud in frustration, I shut the laptop screen down with more force than necessary and sat back on my not so comfortable chair. I really wasn't satisfied with today's work. I'd have to see my supervisor at the Religion department at the university in the morning to get his help with this. I was finishing my PhD in ancient religions and had chosen to devote my thesis on one of the texts from the Nag Hammadi Library. Yes, it was obscure and not a mainstream choice for a religion student but it had fascinated me since I first discovered it in one of my undergrad classes years ago.
I looked out the far window of my living room and watched as the thunderstorm raged violently outside my apartment, the rain hitting the glass loudly. Running my hand through my long messy mousy brown hair in an effort to release some tension, I pushed myself off the chair and walked over to better see outside. Glancing briefly at the clock on the wall, I noticed that it was well passed midnight but I didn't care. I had gotten used to these long nights.
I sipped the dark liquid, pleased at the familiar bitterness as I casually leaned myself on the wall. Caffeine barely had any effect on my sleep anymore. My body's acceptance to my java addiction was quite clear. I turned slightly and looked around my small apartment, noting the mess I had made throughout the last couple of days. Empty chinese takeout cartons were randomly lying around my small place alongside dirty clothes that were just waiting to be picked up. I sighed loudly, knowing that that was going to have to wait for when I actually had the free time to clean. My eyes automatically went to my ps4 under my TV and the many games whose stories were just waiting for me to discover. But I was nearing the end of my thesis and would be presenting it in a couple of months. I didn't have the luxury to game right now either.
Suddenly lightning flashed brightly momentarily flooding my apartment in white light. This was immediately followed by a loud crash of thunder that plunged me into total darkness. Had this power outage happened during the day, I would have been royally pissed but right now I took it as a sign that I should finally go to bed. To be honest, I was struggling to keep my droopy eyes open.
Placing my empty cup somewhere among the hefty piles of books and articles and I made my way to the only room in my apartment, the bedroom. I changed into my pj's mechanically while I fought back the sudden yawn. Letting myself practically fall into the inviting embrace of my single bed, I wrapped the sheets all the way up to my nose and drifted off to sleep very easily.
The sounds were the first thing that stirred me from my very deep slumber. They sounded far away and indistinct but quickly I could make out they were women's voices. Ugh, the neighbors were being unusually loud this morning. I made to turn around but something stopped me, namely a solid yet cold weight around my wrists. I tried to open my eyes but they wouldn't cooperate. The more I struggled to move, the more I sensed that my body's lethargy was unnatural, as if it only affected me physically but left my senses intact. I kept trying but it was futile. Just these few feeble attempts at movement had me sweating as if I had just run a marathon although I had remained lying down.
Confusion quickly made way to raw and unadulterated fear. My breaths began coming in quick gasps as panic set in. I had never experienced sleep paralysis before and it was not something I ever wanted to go through again. It felt like that was the most logical explanation but a small, more worried part of me whispered that this didn't make sense due to the simple fact that I didn't feel the usual softness of my mattress underneath me. Rather, I was lying on something cold and rough. I inhaled deeply through my nose and was assaulted by the worst smells that I've ever had the misfortune of breathing. A disgusted sound escaped me as I struggled to focus on just breathing through my mouth. I didn't want to risk catching a whiff of that again! To put it mildly, it was the stagnant stench of sweat, urine and dampness all mixed into one wonderful aroma. I wanted to gag but my body physically couldn't. That was probably for the best otherwise I would be covered in chunks of general tao chicken.
Although I was trying to make light of my current situation, the cold fear gnawing at my insides was pure, indescribable terror the likes of which I had never felt. Something had happened to me while I slept and I could not for the life of me remember what. The only thing I could think of was that I must have been drugged and kidnapped from my apartment somehow! I desperately tried to remember what happened but the last thing I could recall clearly was falling asleep and then nothing. No sounds or sights that could ignite some sort of dormant memory deep within my psyche. It was just plain emptiness.
My breathing accelerated in intensity and I felt myself grow light headed as a result. I knew I was on the verge of losing consciousness but I bit the inside of my cheek hard. I could use the pain to distract me from fainting. The metallic taste of blood reminded me that I was still alive and could do something. I would not allow myself to go down without some sort of fight!
With sheer willpower, I tried to force myself to calm my erratic breathing. If I was going to be useful to myself, panic had to go. Within what felt like hours but must have been mere minutes, my heartbeat settled down to an acceptable degree. Well, as normal as it could be considering just how dangerously unfamiliar my situation was. Next, I needed my body to start responding to my demands. I wanted to open my eyes so desperately but they still refused to move. What had I been drugged with? Elephant tranquilizer?
While I was vehemently swearing inside my head at my body's inability to do something as simple as a twitch, I unexpectedly heard a loud, accented voice boom from somewhere not far from me. Instinct kicked in and I froze like a hunted animal.
"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you right now?" she asked, her tone did not leave any room for misinterpretation.
WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK?
So far I had only assumed that I had been kidnapped but hearing those words broke any bubble of hope I held. What had previously been just conjectures and guesses swiftly became far too real. Oh my god, this was really happening! The realization kicked my adrenaline into overdrive because I suddenly found myself trembling violently. The shaking of my hands caused my wrist restraints to clink together and I found out I was being restrained by something metallic and heavy. A sob managed to escape through my gritted teeth as I finally got one of my fingers to twitch. I had to get out of here!
"I...I... I can't!" someone finally managed to reply, the tremor in their feminine voice conveying the fear they were also feeling.
"You're lying!" the woman yelled, her voice echoing all around me. I then heard the shuffle of steps and another feminine voice asking, this one much calmer, "What do you remember?"
Whoever was being questioned must have answered really quietly because I did not hear their answer. By now the feeling in my arms was coming back and I could tense those muscles at will, even lifting my bound hands off of the ground somewhat. Good, this was progress at least. If they were too busy with that other person then maybe I had time before they came for me.
"Leliana, meet us at the forward camp. I shall take the prisoner to the rift," the first woman commanded. I heard a heavy door open and quick steps pass by where I was. I tensed in anticipation but the steps continued on their way until they disappeared. So I continued to listen attentively to the remaining voices hoping to gain some sort of information. I heard the sound of chains but nothing else.
Eventually my fellow prisoner asked, "What did happen?"
"It would be easier to show you," I heard the woman answer simply. So they were taking her alive somewhere. I waited until I heard their footsteps completely disappear to loudly exhale the breath I had been unknowingly holding in. I had to make this opportunity count! I urged myself to move over and over again like a meditative mantra going through my mind. Eventually, my efforts bore fruit and I was able to roll myself onto my back allowing my bound hands to rest heavily against my chest. Slowly, ever so slowly, I was able to open my eyes and I couldn't stop the gasp that echoed around me when I saw where I was.
The fear that had held me in its grip since I woke up took a back seat to my sudden bewilderment. I quickly shut my eyes tight and fervently shook my head hoping it would make the hallucination go away. I carefully opened one eye silently praying reality would have returned but no such luck. The single fire torch still burned next to the massive wooden door as I remained lying in the middle of what appeared to be a medieval dungeon. I was trying really hard not to lose my frail grasp on my sanity right now.
I managed, after several failed attempts, to slowly prop myself up on one elbow to get a better view of my unfamiliar surroundings. The stonework of the wall and the ground was no modern construction, that I would bet money on. But the state of it all is what kept my attention. Now, I was no medieval expert, far from it, but I was fairly certain that this was authentic. This was no artifact of a distant past; this looked like it was built only a couple of decades ago, not centuries like castles usually were. And obviously, it was still functional.
Where I was from, we had no castles, modern or old. Had I been kidnapped and transported to Europe? What criminal had that time and luxury? I wasn't trying to be facetious but a regular kidnapper didn't have a private jet waiting to smuggle a simple doctoral student to another continent. Airport security was too rigorous nowadays to smuggle an unconscious woman in a crate, at least I hoped it was.
Snapping myself back to my immediate problem, I finally tried to stand but unsurprisingly fell right back on my ass. My legs could still not support me. I wasn't going to let that stop me from trying. I could practically feel the passing of time but even with the dire need to get out, my body refused to do as it was told. I knew I had wasted a lot of time but I couldn't tell exactly how long because there were no windows to let me know if it was even day or night.
Breathing raggedly, I used what strength I had and dragged myself to the closest wall which just so happened to be the one facing the door to my cell. Using the wall as a crutch, I slowly and painfully climbed it in order to prop myself upright. That's when I heard the sound of multiple steps growing louder and closer. I hoped once again that they would pass me by but they did the opposite and stopped in front of my door. Fucking perfect! I don't know why I bothered but I looked around to see if there was anything that could be used as a weapon and of course there wasn't, I was in a prison cell. I tried to at least look intimidating but knew I failed miserably. I could just imagine the scene now. All they would see when they walked in was a fidgety mess of a woman struggling to keep her shaky legs from buckling from under her. Oh yes, I was the epitome of threatening.
I heard keys jangle and then the door swung open with a ominous wooden creak. Two soldiers barged in with torches which gave me a great look at their shiny armor and painfully real... swords? They placed themselves on either side of the door, their armor clanging with every step they took and stared straight ahead. My eyes were immediately drawn to the two women who followed after. Their presence made my small cell feel that much smaller with them in it. There was something about their presence that screamed danger. One was taller than the other with short dark brown hair and a scar on her lower cheek that was eerily familiar. The other one had her chin length red hair mostly hidden by the hood she wore. Little alarm bells were sounding in my head but I was too busy assessing the threat to pay too much attention to what they were trying to convey.
I tried to appear calm but my trembling started up again. I audibly gulped and tried to say something but my voice failed miserably. My mouth just opened and closed like a fish out of water. I must have looked like a complete dunce.
After them walked in a smaller woman, her lithe form quite different from the other two. Whereas the previous women had curves and height, this one was petite and svelte. Where she lacked in curves, she made up for in lean muscles. I couldn't help but feel like a giant next to her with my 5'9". Her long hair was pure golden blond with a single messy side braid framing her angular face. Her high cheek bones and big eyes made her look rather dignified. I couldn't help but feel like a peasant standing in front of this woman. I actually had to stop myself from rearranging my appearance. What was wrong with me?
Three pairs of eyes assessed me silently. The short haired one glared at me openly, the hooded one looked at me impassively and the blond one seemed to be faintly amused by something.
"This woman was found next to you. It would seem you both exited the Fade together," the short haired woman said roughly, at last breaking the long silence.
The blonde she addressed seemed to mull this over for a bit but then answered with a friendly smirk in my direction, "I guess that makes us Fade buddies."
I couldn't help it but the bubble of insanity I had been unconsciously keeping at bay quite literally exploded at her unexpected joke. Oh and did it ever explode! My laugh started out normal enough I'm proud to say. I clutched my sides and used the wall to steady myself as my laughter alone echoed sharply in the prison cell. I even had tears running down my cheeks at the sheer ridiculousness of everything that was happening. Much too quickly that turned and I began gasping as I struggled to get enough air into my lungs. I bent over as the panic attack I had avoided for so long finally ferociously clawed its way out. I clutched my chest as pain blossomed outward. Eventually, I couldn't keep myself up anymore and I dropped to my knees, the pain of hitting solid ground not registering. I could see black dots clouding my vision and a part of me knew I was going to pass out. I just had enough time to see the small blond coming to crouch next to me, her lips moving but I couldn't hear what she was saying. My eyes finally closed as I fell sideways, blissful unconsciousness claiming me.
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