Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age or any of its content. I do own the original characters that appear. I do not consider the Inquisitor to be an OC, but rather content owned by Bioware.
Also this is a story that a friend and I have been working on her account is Lady Audentium, the story title for her half of the story is "Warriors: Arryn Mauntelle". Please enjoy the story we have created together!
Please be aware that I have given this story an M rating for some content and language in this half of the story as well as content in Lady Audentium's half of the story.
"Alright! I'll be sure to grab some today so I can them to bring to you." I laugh to my great grandmother on the side of the phone. She's asked me to grab some select candies that she can't find on the other side of the pond in England.
"So your flight is the day after tomorrow in the afternoon?" her old and kind voice asked from the other end of the phone call. I really miss seeing her but once the research center's base of operations had moved from Canada back to the main branch in England I haven't seen her.
"Yep, my flight leaves at 1:40. Ethan and I are leaving Calgary together and we get to Toronto around 6 pm. We are meeting Elysia at the airport there but our flight isn't until the next morning. We leave from Toronto at seven in the morning, we're supposed to land at Heathrow around seven in the evening your time."
"I will be sure to soften your parents up before you all land, we both know what happened last time you saw each other. Well I'll let you get back to the packing I interrupted," her laughter sang across to my ear, how her laugh still sounded so great at her age was beyond me. "I look forward to seeing my light, as well as those twins, Misamel and Adhlea. Goodbye now, I love you my light."
"Goodbye, grandma, I love you too." I lower my cellphone from my ear and look around my room at the mess that had been created by my pitiful attempts to prepare for a whole month of travel on the other side of the world.
Unsurprisingly, I feel a bout of laziness strike me and I simply stroll out of my room ready once again to ignore my worldly responsibilities to slack off and do menial, useless tasks until I am practically out of time. Whelp I suppose that there is no preventing my inevitable use of the amazing skill of procrastination that I have carefully developed throughout my life.
I decided that I might as well use the time I won't use packing to do so at least a little useful, so I ventured to the grocery store to pick up the requested candy to bring on my trip.
I love Grandma Ella; I suppose that everyone is really close with their grandparents but I always felt that my grandma Ella and I have something special. She always calls my brother and sister by the names she gave them. Ethan's full name is Ethan'Misamel so she calls him Misamel and his twin sister's full name is Elysia'Adhlea and Grandma Ella calls her Adhlea. My full name is Sophi'Gaelea, the name that Grandma Ella gave to me, Gaelea, actually comes from her full name, something like Ellasin'Gaelashavuna, I think, but she has always addressed me as "my light."
Thinking about the trip also made me nervous. I am going to see my parents for an extended period for the first time in almost three years. The whole thing started with my sculpture class and my design class in university in the second term of my first year and I decided to switch degrees to go forward to be an architect rather than an astrophysicist. I am still taking lots of physics courses and astronomy courses but I still don't want to make a career out of it. My parents had always had my future planned for me and I suppose that I wanted at least one decision in my life to be strictly my own and have it belong to me. I didn't think that it would start a war of estrangement, but I guess they were really intent on my becoming a scientist for our family's company, Evanuris. They also cut me off from the substantial wealth that my family has, the deal was that if I wanted to go my own way, then I could make my own way. I also have no doubt that they will attempt to get me to go to school for science again. One thing that kind of adds insult to injury from my perspective is that Grandma Ella is the person who founded Evanuris and she is completely fine with me not working for Evanuris. I just hope that they can accept that while I was doing well with the physics and astronomy courses but I felt like I couldn't commit to it for the rest of my life. But I do regret what it has done to my relationship with my parents, we used to have a really good relationship so far as daughter to parents goes. Now all I have with them is a call maybe once a month and that I didn't even go to visit them when they went to stay with Elysia in Toronto for Christmas the past couple of years. With all this time since then, that I've had to think about it. I have looked into going for a split degree but I haven't spoken with an academic advisor about it yet.
The company my family runs, Evanuris, is a research company that works with almost every science under the sun. Through their research they produce all sorts of products that are sold all over the world. So naturally the company is very successful and quite rich. Hence my family's wealth comes from being the direct lineage of one of the main people who founded it, my great-great grandma Ellavana. Yup. But hey, I got as disowned as one really could be, no money, no connections except those I make myself and no fast track anywhere. Although I never felt right when my parents used their name to get me somewhere or something. I have been really liking working for myself and learning how to live on my own.
I feel a shudder go up my back with the nerves getting to me over the whole situation. The silver lining? After I deal the shit-storm that will be my parents, I get to travel Europe myself. It is going to be amazing. I just have to get through the visit with my parents, luckily, Grandma Ella will be there, and hopefully her presence will keep things calm.
Although I also feel the excitement of travelling with Ethan. It is always lots of fun to travel with him, I mean he's my brother and built rather strongly. He has the strong wide stance along with the muscles he got from his daily workouts. Along with all of that is there is the fact that he is fully and totally gay. With the specific combination of bits means that I can travel with a guy and gush over the cute guys that walk by or are on the plane with us. It is too much fun to be with him, especially since he is more invested in flirting with guys than I am.
Once I got home from the store I eyed the pile of stuff that still had to be packed up and I could just feel the procrastination monster rouse from its den to rear its head and… Yup. I'll do that later. Hmmm… I think I'll go watch a TV show for a while before all the people that my roommate Arryn invited over. Her full name is Arryn Mauntelle but due to the more than five years of friendship and four years of roommate-itude. I look around the apartment that Arry and I rent together. My room is at the end of the hallway on the right and is the master bedroom of the place, Arry's is the room just before it and is a bit smaller. The main difference is that I pay a hundred dollars more a month to rent the place. Our bathroom is at the end of the hall opposite from my bedroom. Coming back down the hallway towards the front door on the same side as the bathroom at the beginning of the hallway our kitchen can be found. Just past that is the dining room. Across from it is the living room, modest but I find that it is perfect.
I head to my bedroom to make sure that it is presentable in the case that it is viewed as people go the bathroom. As I pick up my stuff from the floor I spot my suitcase on my bed and am guilted into finishing that whole getting ready for a trip.
After I finished what I could I put my suitcase on the floor and walk out to the living room. As I walked through the entrance to the living room and it feels as if I walked through a veil of thick air that is hard to breathe in. I feel a wave of dizziness and minor nausea roll over me. Feeling as if I can't breathe I turn around and down the hallway using the wall to steady me. The world turns around me and I fall over in the hallway onto my knees. Leaning against the wall I manage to pull myself back to my feet. I make to my bed and lay down facing the ceiling. I barely lay my head on the pillow before I fall into a deep sleep.
Blackness followed by a blinding green flash, images of frightening creatures, swarms of spiders, a mass of living lava. Another green flash brings me to a vision of a grand building that almost looks like a temple, with lines of people walking towards it before a huge green explosion destroys it all. Everything fades to an impenetrable black and I hear a voice ring through my mind. It sounds like glittering glass tinkling onto the ground. I finally make out what it is trying say but I can only make out parts of what is said at first, "My Light…" What… Is that Grandma Ella's voice? "My Light, Sophi… I fear that I will not see you before it happens…" What is she talking about? Before what happens? "I now give you the rest of my power, it will now become fully a part of who you are." Power? Grandma, what are you talking about? "You will face many hardships in the time to come. Please be strong my Light and do not give up living" I could hear her voice beginning to fade away sounding more and more like the tinkling glass again, "Goodbye my Light, I love you…"
A blinding flash of white wrenches me from my sleep and causes me to bolt straight up out of bed. Disoriented I look around, my bedroom. What on Earth was that? That had to be the most vivid dream I have ever had before. I sit up properly on my bed and put my hand on my face trying to orient myself again.
I get up and walk over to look at myself in the mirror. Yikes. My golden blonde hair that reaches almost to the middle of my back is all over the place and I definitely needed to get into something that isn't stained and stinky. Not to mention that I look kind of like a ghost… Hmm… Maybe if I grab a light snack… Like crackers or something… I go to the kitchen and grab just that, a handful of crackers and two little cheese snacks. I look at the oven clock and realize that Arry will be done her shift in about half an hour. That leaves a little over an hour to get ready for her get together.
I head into the closet that doubles as a prep room with a mirror and counter. I first grab an outfit from the hangers. I decided on the dark emerald green camisole paired with the light orange t-shirt, not exactly nice but plenty good enough for the night ahead. I head over to the counter to get on top of the makeup situation. A slight nagging sensation in the back of my head gives me the feeling that Arry has something planned with Jordan that would involve someone who is a mutual friend of theirs. This friend, judging by past attempts at the same goal, is likely attractive, nice and extremely single. I do my best to at least give the impression that I am going to try, which is what she always pushes for but I never get the sense that it will ever go anywhere so I don't generally give it a whole lot of effort. With the whole business in mind I do my hair in my best attempt at a messy but chic side braid.
I go back to my full length mirror to gaze upon the finished product. My blonde hair actually kooks pretty nice in the braid, with the good outfit and the decent makeup it makes me seem at least slightly desirable. The make-up job was making my eyes look extra green and that I found very pleasing as my eyes are my favourite thing about me. At least I clean up pretty nicely. Although that hasn't ever seemed to help to this point. My five feet four inches have always seemed so insignificant and that hasn't changed. My build is the kind that most people try to get away from, almost bordering on the beginnings of overweight but never actually being there. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my body. I just have never felt at home in my body, almost as if something is missing or not quite right. It's really hard to explain but it likes my body stopped growing before it was supposed to.
The sound of the door's bolt sliding draws me into the hallway in time for me to see Arry come in and lock the door behind her. "Hey!" I shout down the hallway, "How was your shift?" She bent down to take off her shoes and her hair that comes down to about her mid-back and happens to be azure at her roots and fades into an emerald green at the ends. Standing up she reaches her full height of five feet and six inches. Of course our height difference is an area of pride for Arry, she loves, loves, loves that she has a whole two inches on me. She has an average build, not skinny but certainly far from any definition of fat. Nothing on her is too big or too small.
"Oh, it was alright… Same old, same old." She walks into her room to get out of her work clothes before showering to be clean and not deli-smelling for her guests. Luckily we had cleaned yesterday so that everything was ready before she got back because she wouldn't have time after she got back between showering and her getting ready. I went back to finishing the packing while Arry accomplished everything that she would need to do in order to shamelessly attempt to seduce her crush, who is her friend and will be in attendance.
"I see you went to get your hair dyed before your shift this time. How'd it go?"
She flashes a huge grin that displays how pleased with the new colour to her hair. "Yep, I sure did! It obviously went fantastically!"
"That's good." I smile widely at her trying to disguise that I had a dizzy spell and almost fainted in the hallway a little while ago. "It looks fantastic! You made good colour choices this go."
"Thanks! I'm really thrilled about the results for this go! Anyway, I am going to go clean up a bit before the peoples begin showing up here." She heads into the bathroom and closes the door.
Going back to my packing I double check that all of my required documents of international travel were securely packed into my backpack. I pull out my passport to check that it is in fact right. I open it up to that one page where the photo that makes me look like a serial killer. Blonde hair, check. Green eyes, yup. Height in at 5' 4", good. Sophi'Gaelea Mythalen, yup, that is still my name. Birthday putting me in at 23 and a half also a big check mark.
My last name, for my entire childhood, had always been a sort of green card to get anywhere. Oh, you want to go learn at this super exclusive school? Sure thing, would love to have you. Oh, you want to get into this career, let me guide you there. So leaving behind the weight of that name hasn't been easy. At first I had the worst time doing regular things, I had never had to go through the regular channels to get anywhere. Resume? Nope. Never did that. Luckily my trusty best friend/roommate was there to help me learn the ways of the regular people until after a couple of years, she still helps me with a couple of things but I have mostly got the hang of it. I am glad that I can now take care of these things on my own without much help, I have found that it makes me feel more independent from my family.
While I wait for Arry to be finished getting ready I chance heading out to the living room. Walking into the living brings another bought of dizziness but the affect is lessened from before so I just go and sit down in my recliner.
Before too long Arry comes out all ready, and yep, very nicely dressed, but not in an "I'm going to an interview" type way but rather an "I want to show off what I've got" type way.
"So how was your day of productive packing and accomplishing things?" She leans a pointed look my way.
I grin sheepishly, "Well, I did mostly finish packing but overall I accomplished little aside from collecting candy for my grandma." I laugh, maybe a little too much I mostly try to distract her from how face probably looks.
Unfortunately, kind of, when it comes to my health, or rather the health of anyone she truly cares for, she is unusually observant. "Hey… Are you alright? You look as white as a sheet…"
Shit. Alright time to cover up with… "Oh yeah, just a little nervous about seeing my parents that's all. It is also a little bit from this freaky dream I had while I was napping but I don't remember it very clearly…" Usually if I slip in a good excuse and a little bit of truth it sates her curiosity, I know she's just worried about me, but it really isn't anything. I mean what exactly am I supposed to say? Oh no worries I almost fainted in the hallway before having a trippy dream where my grandma told me that I am going to have hardship in the coming time? Because that sounds totally normal and not like I am losing my mind or anything...
She narrows her eyes at me, I know she suspects that I am not telling the whole truth but she lets it slide with "Alright, if you're sure. Besides, with your parents I don't blame you for being nervous, I mean they did cut you off just for making your own choice on what you want to do with your life."
We pass the rest of our time chatting about various subjects like we usually do when we are both in the living at the same time. We did that until the first guest arrived and isn't wasn't long after that there were more people arriving.
A few hours pass of playing Card Against Humanity and a bit of Super Smash Bros. It appears that this week most of my friends couldn't attend. However, my nagging feeling proved itself right as one of Arry's friends, Jordan, brought one of his friends with him. I figured it was likely him and Arry working together to set me up with this guy. Arry seems to think that six and a half years of being single was a little too long, so occasionally she gets together with anyone she can think of to "secretly" set me up with someone they know. Now, don't get me wrong, it isn't like I don't want to be in a relationship with a guy but I just haven't really met anyone that I have really liked so far. As it was, I decide to give this guy half a chance and I stick around for a few rounds of whichever game we decide to play.
After a while I figure that this guy won't work out any better than any of Arry's other attempts to get me with someone. I decide that since I will jetting off the Europe soon I could make use of a reason to escape the social obligation to stay around while Arry and Jordan attempt to force us closer together every other minute. I stand and dismiss myself to kitchen where I covertly sneak further, then down the hall and into my room. The linger dizziness has been steadily becoming more easy to ignore.
I get through the door and I take one look across the unsettlingly clean bedroom, which I usually have in a healthy state of disarray, to ensure that I haven't left anything that I may need before closing up my backpack. I also do plenty of double-checking every other area of my room in order to make certain that I won't have another left such-n-such important item on the other side of the Earth. I see myself in the mirror and stop to see if anything has changed. Nope. I am still just regular old me. Things that my passport doesn't say are how my hair is a nice shade of golden blonde, not platinum or dirty, I notice that my hair seems to have at least gotten a bit longer and reaches down to just above the middle of my back and still holds its array of various shade and tints of blonde from the wheat and gold blonde to a sort of coppery blonde and even a warm brown at the base of my skull where the sun doesn't bleach it. Also my passport doesn't say that my eyes are ice grey on the outside emerald towards the middle and hazel with orange specks in the centre; the passport just says green. If it wasn't already obvious my hair and my eyes are my favourite features of my body. While well-endowed at the chest and with fairly wide shoulders that almost perfectly line up with my fairly wide hips I also carry the typical issues of having slightly too much unhealthy tummy and back flab. I know that all the body positivity stuff is important and that you're supposed to love your body no matter its shape or size but I can't help feeling as if it's my body that keeps me single. I try to do the whole "love your body" thing but I find it really difficult when all my friends and family seem to have at least good-looking bodies. I mostly just hope that if I keep my diet healthy that someday I will be able to accept myself just as I am as impossible as it seems at this point. That and it seems that I can't motivate myself to go get a gym membership to become healthy; at least I have to do plenty of walking otherwise and haven't yet blown up like a balloon.
After a while of relaxing in my room I hear laughing from the living room and feel obligated to at least join for a while until this party-stuff is over expecting to be finished as per mine and Arry's agreement. I come out and take the seat of someone who just got up from the couch and everyone laughs at his loss of seating space. Just a few years ago that alone would have caused me to go completely red but after some training and a few years of being in classes where I don't know most, if not all, of the people there I can now handle myself in most smaller social situations. However, right to the end of school I would still find myself keeping quiet even if I knew the answer because I would feel anxious and start to slightly shake just at the thought of being brought in front of a large class.
After a few minutes I find that the guy Arry's friend Jordan brought has ended up next to me. We engage in the regular type of conversion about the basic things; what are you doing right now, are you working, what about school. We got going about a video game that I am terribly in love with and that conversation went to one that he is anticipating the release of in the next couple of years. Next thing I knew it was time for everyone to be leaving. After many laughs and lots of goodbyes everyone had left.
After the door was shut and locked Arry turns around and approaches me with her signature "you missed something there" look and begins with, "You know, you could have at least tried to socialize with the new people... One of the guys who came with Jordan seemed like your type... I think he might even have been flirting with you a bit." She pauses and gives a decidedly judging look and continues with "And by a bit, I mean definitely without a doubt flirting with you."
Ah ha! There it is. If she said anything after it was drowned out by my internal sigh. I love Arry to bits, she is practically my sister, but I really get tired of her trying to covertly set me up with guys. "Arry, you know how I feel about you trying to secretly get me together with guys. Plus, I stuck around for a while and just figured I wasn't catching his eyes. We did have a good conversation but I truly don't think he was flirting. You are just bugging me."
"I am telling the truth! Without any doubt, he was flirting. Plus, even if you didn't 'catch his eye' right away you've got to at least try to get to know somebody Sophi..." She looked at me with the most I-am-not-sorry grin that she always puts on in these situations and I can't help be forgive her cause I know she just doesn't want me to be lonely.
"Yeah, yeah... I tell you what... Next time you do this let me know and I promise to try."
"So what you're saying is that the next time I 'secretly' set you up with somebody, you not only promise to go along but to even give them a decent shot at a relationship?"
"What?! That may be going a little far..." I look up to see Arry giving the most pleading puppy-dog eyes that I'd ever seen on her face. "Alright! Fine. I promise to not only go along with it but to give the guy a fair chance."
These words garner the reaction of an instantaneous grin and a more than suspiciously chipper "Yay!"
"Great. Now that I have sold myself to the next man of your choosing, I am going to go finish packing." Knowing her victory Arry pulls out her laptop to begin her nightly YouTube viewing.
I walk down the hall to my room to pack up the rest of everything that I'll need for the trip and to finish packing my carry-on bag from the stuff that I had organized on my bed. I slip the mesh bag for my emergency outfit, the travel size toiletries, snacks and those various articles, including entertainment, which one needs for the ten hour hop over the Pond.
Picking up the backpack with my new snazzy travel boots on my feet I head out of my bedroom with the destination of the front door in order to have everything ready for when Ethan comes to pick me up. As I get around the corner to head down the hallway I can hear a really unusual sound that is sort a cross between a sort of charging noise and an electric buzzing, in my head it all added up to Arry watching a video on her computer. I am about to ask her what she's watching when the dizziness struck with a whole new strength caused by an almost resonant feeling inside me before a blinding green flash is followed by a shock wave that knocks me over. Trying to right myself with the spots flashing in my eyes but another explosion puts me back where I started on the floor. Then I feel a breeze that swiftly picks up as though someone turned on a huge vacuum that lifts me and begins to pull me to where the explosion came from where there is still a large green light sparking and shifting. I frantically reach around in an attempt to grab hold of something but everything goes white-green causing me to sink into harsh blackness.