EXTENDED SUMMARY:
'You suggested we should sneak into the temple in the middle of the night!' he yelled.
'Yeah, but it was you who heard the screaming!' she countered.
'And you run to check it out!'
'And you thought that touching a creepy-looking glowing orb was a good idea!'
Dani hated snow, and now he was stuck in Haven. He loathed religion even more, and people went around kneeling and calling him "The Herald of Andraste". And what about the nasty green mark that had taken residence on his hand? UGH.
Callisto hated religion as much as her brother did, and now she too was stuck with the Inquisition. Which basically was like the Chantry but with less Templars and a bit less Mages. Lucky her there was history in buckets, otherwise she might have left her twin to his destiny and run back to Rialto. Because, it's not like she could wiggle her fingers and close rifts as her brother did, right?
Inquisition AU: everything is the same but the Herald of Andraste and the Inquisitor are twins! From Antiva! Plus some plot changes, because I can.
CHAPTER ONE
'Remind me again why we're here, Calli.' The man asked, a thick accent rolling off his tongue. The young woman walking next to him huffed and a cloud of cold puffed in front of her half hidden face.
'We are here because I wished to be present to an event that will, most likely, shape the outcome of the war and Thedas in general for the years to come.' She answered, trying to bury herself in her furs even further.
'That's why you're here.' He pointed out between gritted teeth.
The woman huffed again.
'Mother wouldn't let me go by myself, said I'd only be allowed if you'd come.' She said, managing to whine about the stubbornness of her mother in the process.
'I'm not surprised…you're basically a walking danger.' The man snickered, earning himself a shove from his companion.
'I am not! I just have some problems with my balance!' she retorted, trying to defend her pride.
'Your scarce balance, your poor eyesight, your ever-running mouth, your slow reflexes, your-' he was cut off by another shove, this time a bit more violent than the other.
'Hush! I'd like to remind you that half of my genes are the same as yours!' she shot back. 'Also, it's not like you're not gaining anything by being here. Uncle promised you a fair amount of money to be his personal guard, did he not?' she eagerly pointed out in an accusatory voice.
She was particularly bitter about it; she was the one that wanted to go and he the one getting paid, not fair!
'That he did.' He said, his smile broad as he called to mind all the things he could have bought with that much money. ..
'Dani! Callisto!' a new voice joined their conversation from ahead of them.
Brother and sister lifted their heads to meet their Uncle.
'Yes? What is it?' Callisto asked.
'We're here. Haven.' He announced, and the woman's eyes shone with excitement.
'Really?! Can I go explore a little?' she asked, looking at her uncle with pleading eyes.
The man chuckled and allowed her to go running around.
'Try not to bother everyone, dear!' he shouted to her back as she run towards the village's entrance, though he was sure she probably didn't even hear him, so absorbed in her surroundings as she already was.
Haven was white. And white was a colour she was not used to see, back at home.
There was so much snow it was almost blinding! Fortunately there were so many people dressed in so many different ways that all the white was toned down a bit.
Callisto scouted ahead of her group, taking in every detail of the scenery : outside the gates there were soldiers practicing with shields and swords, wearing green, brown and orange uniforms that she didn't recognize – why are there soldiers practicing, anyway? - , while a man, that looked like he had killed the animal he was wearing over his armour, shouted something about using a shield properly. From the other side came the noises of horses and that of a smithy – a smithy too? What for? Maybe the Orlesians are worried about their dresses! She giggled - . All was mixed together with the buzz of hundred of voices crossing each other in the fray, and the final result was overwhelming to Callisto's senses. But all in all she felt alive and full of energy, in fact she was barely restraining her enthusiasm!
She was in Haven, right in the thick of history! She was going to attend the Divine Conclave in the Temple of Sacred Ashes and see who and what was going to shape the future of the world!
How exciting!
With newly re-found anticipation, she sped up her pace, making her way through the crowd into the actual core of the village. It was a bit difficult to run around with all that people in one place, and her anxiety didn't help either, but all was worth for history.
Dani was not impressed in the least by Haven.
What was so exciting about a Maker forgotten shithole in the middle of the freezing mountains he could not say. But of course Callisto had already disappeared on him, always so eager to explore and collect information about any new place they visited.
And she's the lazy one...he thought to himself, shaking his head and helping his uncle and his men unload their carriage.
Soon after a man wearing a uniform and a banner he could not recognize, approached the group and saluted them with a fist on the heart and a nod.
'Welcome to Haven my Lords. This way if you please, I'll show you were you can set up your tents.' The young man said – he could not have been older than seventeen and had a particularly deep and frustrating Fereldan accent.
Obediently, he followed the young soldier and his Uncle's men and helped with the preparations of their small camp; just another in the midst of a sea of colourful tents.
Soon after they were done, snow started to fall.
'I should not have let Calli drag me into this...' he sighed to himself when he spotted the first flakes coming down a sky that was as white as the soil he was standing on.
'So much fucking snow...' he grunted, definitely disgusted.
Snow was gross, all that white and that cold, it was so wet...and it crunched! UGH.
'Hold on Dani, this will be over soon...' he mumbled before he shot one last glance over his head and dubbed inside the tent.
'Have you seen what a good job they have done in the Temple?' Callisto asked.
Dani grunted in response.
'Oh how would I've loved to be here when the Hero found it for the first time!' she went on ranting.
'Oh yeah, with all those cultists that you could have talked to death!' her brother mocked her.
Calli scoffed.
'At least, I can appreciate the work of art this place is' she grumbled, crossing her arms and lifting her head to watch the ceiling.
'I'm here to protect you from yourself, not for admiring the view.' He said, and marked his words by taking her from one arm and pulling her to his side to save her from a corner she had seemed so intent to cut with her whole face.
'And if you go on like this, this temple will have a pretty nasty stamp of your face too, together with all these fancy Chantry paintings.' He added.
'They are rather pompous, aren't they?' she laughed, stopping right in front of one particularly detailed painting of some Cleric whose name had probably been lost in time.
'This one was probably Orlesian, look how pretentious it is!' she snickered, making faces at it to imitate the stiff pose the subject had been represented in.
Dani watched his sister making fun of the crappy Chantry cleric and soon joined her laugh.
How could someone who was so full of pride over her own intelligence act like such a fool all the time?
She was hilarious.
They were still giggling between themselves when they heard it.
A scream cut through the silence of the Temple.
Brother and sister looked at each other and hesitated for a couple seconds.
'We should check it out...maybe someone's in danger...' Callisto suggested.
'Calli, I don't have my sword! And you don't know how to fight! What can we do?'
Her head started to spin.
'We should go get the guards!'
'Not an option! Should I remind you that we sneaked in here without permission?!'
Callisto was about to object to her brother when another scream reached them.
'Someone! Help me!' the voice cried out in pain.
That was it.
Calli took her chances and raced towards the voice and, obviously, Dani followed.
Whatever was going on in that room was bound to remain a mystery, though, as when they both woke up, every memory of it had been erased from their minds.
This is not much of a first chapter, and I can't say when or with what frequency I'll be updating since I have another story going, but as soon as the idea hit me I could not leave it in my head.
So here you go, let me know what you think!
