*REPOSTED*
AGAIN.
Reason kinda on my wall but also will be obvious in future chapters.
NOTE: This is not my first story, my old account was hacked and everything was deleted. Shit happens ya know?
A/N: It seems the whole modern day hero/heroine gets transported somehow to Dragon Age story is becoming pretty popular. I think I should let it be known that I have been dreaming of being that heroine since I completed Dragon Age: Origins when it first came out and then when I discovered fanfiction, it fueled that desire even more. And when I die sometime in the faaaaar future, my 'heaven' will be centered around Thedas. Yes, I am a diehard DA fanatic. And this idea is more than some plot bunny, (even though that is part of it). So now you have a glimpse of my insanity and you know the origins of this story, we can proceed to the repeated summary, rating, disclaimer, and chapter. Happy reading!
P.S. If you like looking up things you have never heard of before, you might want to save your energy for many unknown and unheard of things in here are made up. It adds more to the AU and OOCness of my story. If you would like to know what is real and made up, just PM me.
Extra Information: If there's anything I hate more than that ridiculous politically correct bullshit, it's people who give advice, and are assholes about it. If there's an extra letter, repeated word, or run-on sentence you may inform me but do not leave a review about it. Nicely PM me about it, I'm only human am not yet out of school! If you're rude, I will warn you upfront, I will BITCH YOU OUT. You may of course leave reviews full of appraise for grammar, but no corrections. Annoying and stupid people ruin it for the rest of us. Also why my anonymous reviews thingy says DISABLE. If this offends you, SOD off. You're an insult to Fanfiction and DA. Now I'm done ranting. Another warning, you're reading work from a conservative and atheist. I love satire and allegory so naturally many of my works will be full of it. Proceed with caution.
Summary: Diane Jamison MacPherson, friend, sister, and Wiccan High Priestess, was just out in the Himalayan Mountains studying some rare tombs and scriptures, when she came across a familiar person and a certain mirror…
Rating: M for mature. This means to me if you can handle it. This chapter only holds mention of drug and alcohol use and few curse words. Nothing all that bad.
Disclaimer: We all know I wish I owned Dragon Age but alas, I only own the plot and any non-DA characters. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Among the Woods
I often wonder if I will ever be able to find those other dimensions that are now scientifically proven to exist. The bible-thumpers say the only way, is through their beliefs. Me? I think we will see. It's not like finding these other worlds will bring him back.
I sighed. There I am thinking about him again. Gone for two years and yet he still haunts my mind. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Nicholas was my husband anyway. In all honesty, with all the thinking and wondering I do about it, I never once thought of using Magick to help, for that is not what it's for. Magick is the essence of life, not anything to do with death. How did the Catholics God 'create' this world? Magick. The Salem Witch Trials was one of the most hypocritical things I have ever heard about. Given, people were very ignorant back then, but aren't they still now?
I sighed again. I should really get back to my findings. Thinking about the impossible will be of no help now. Then again, how many more opportunities will I have to be up here? On this cliff, on top of the tallest mountain in the world, over-looking everything there is to see. It is pretty chilly up here though, I thought to myself. Why, oh why, didn't I listen to Andrew? Oh that's right, because I'm far too stubborn to listen to anyone. Again, I blame my parents.
Okay, back to my mission. I turn from the cliff and start venturing east to the caves in the higher areas of the mountain. What was it Elissa said? Tombs of Dark and Scriptures of Light? Or was it the other way around? Gods damn this is confusing! Focus! I take a deep breath and start drawing energy from the woods around me. If I'm able to draw enough power I will be able to send a message back to the hotel to Liss. At least, I hope I'm able to.
I sit down to be closer to the source of all witches power and start preparing to ground myself from casting such a spell. The Earth and all life was created from Magick as I had said before, so in return to be able to use such a power, you need to draw from a place that Magick touched. Casting spells and watching them come to life, it's one of the reasons I converted from Catholicism to the Wiccan way. That and my parents.
Whenever I start to think of them I feel anger inside of me, just because of the unrighteousness they had done me. And the fact that I didn't know it until Nicholas came along. It's a twisted version of a Cinderella story. My mother and father had me and two other girls. I was the oldest, and then came Hannah and then Maria. I helped my mother watch my younger sisters while my father worked long hours day and night to keep us from going under. When I was eight I started sweeping, planting, cleaning and other minor chores, while my mother yelled and beat me for not doing enough. At eight years I just wanted to please my mother and have her proud of me, but all her appraise went to my younger sisters. At ten I started doing harder work. Constructions, dishes, laundry, cooking, and still my old chores. The only time I had a break was when company came over and my mom made us look like a happy family. The only ones I began to put my faith in were my grandmothers and my aunts. They saw my cuts and bruises. One time I got a broken arm from construction. My mom was furious she had to spend money for a doctor. This life continued through elementary and middle school. My first friends Andrew Dient, Stephanie Briar, and Devyn Yung helped take my mind from things. Helped me rebel in ways my mother never found out about. At thirteen, I was drinking, smoking, and doing marijuana. The only thing they did was take me away for a few hours. But it still wasn't enough. That's when I decided to experiment with Magick. The little time my father was present we had had a discussion about such practices and he greatly expressed his disdain and hatred towards it, claiming it was a scam. I saw it as another way to rebel. It was hard at first. Conjuring and casting, getting the proper materials. When I started high school, I had been able to light my hand on fire without doing any harm. A cool trick but not enough. I became sister to Elissa Fakowsie and she introduced me to the former love of my life. Nicholas MacPherson, Nick to his friends, practiced the same things I did. He taught me patience and the history of Wicca. One day, I went crying to him about my mother and he sued her. I was shocked. This boy I had known for about a year sued my mother because she caused me emotional and physical harm. That's when I knew, I wanted to be with him forever.
I sniffed a bit at remembering what happened. I can't think about it right now. That story is old and long forgotten, do not think about it Diane! It will only wreck you even more emotionally. Besides, enough power has been drawn send the message before it slips! I took another deep breath and whispered the spell's words and then said, "Liss! Sorry to bother you but what were the names of the relics again?" And waited for her response. Naturally it was not a happy responding. "You DOLT! Don't you know not to bother me at this hour? I was SLEEPING! Now as an answer to your question, it's Tombs of Light and Scriptures of Dark, goodbye and good day." Then the message cut off. Well okay then, it was the other way around.
I continued east occasionally stopping to pick up any unknown samples of things or re-fill on missing ones. The life of a witch is a pretty tiring one. As I'm collecting some more herbs I hear a very loud branch snap. Far too loud to be an animal, this means either new species or a human. I turn my head in the direction of the noise and a fallen figure is seen. Most likely the latter of the two possibilities. Again I draw energy from the earth, but this time, to identify the fallen figure. This action had been drilled into my head it was practically second nature, so my immense confusion is understandable when I felt nothing. And by nothing I mean exactly what one would feel if they never had done Magick in their life. I tried again and nearly cried at feeling nothing yet again. I got up from my kneeling position and went over to the person, half-certain it was them who were causing this.
Upon approaching I noticed it was indeed human, as well as a woman. She looked unconscious, or I figured she was because she'd been laying there for about five minutes now. She had short, black hair tied up in an unusual fashion, pale skin and was wearing odd garments. Come to think of it she looked very familiar, like she was someone I had met before. I picked her up and somewhat dragged her to a close and open area to set up camp. "Shame I didn't get to find the relics today though, hopefully I'll be able to tomorrow if I can fix her up."
Once the fire was built I pulled out my sleeping bag and layed the woman on it. Upon examining her body I found only a handful bruises which could mean she just fell. I tried again to draw power from the earth but this time I felt a blockage of sorts. Like someone or something was preventing my Magick. I'll deal with that later, right now I need to wake her up. I tried a different Magickal route and instead of taking power, I gave it to her. Nothing blocked me this time and I saw the bruises start to fade and her hand twitched. She would come around soon.
About an hour later I saw her sit up and I rushed over to help. "Wait, take it easy, I can't fully tell whether you have any more injuries or not and I don't want you to be even more hurt." Especially since my Magick is somewhat muted right now. She looked at me and I saw her eyes for the first time. Pure golden, unmistakably familiar eyes that stunned me into silence. Any more objections died at my tongue as I realized exactly who this was. One of the many I have dreamed about meeting. "Morrigan." I finally uttered, still shocked. Her hawk-like eyes turned suspicious for a moment. "And how do you know that name?" She demanded. "I know it, because it is yours. Or am I mistaken?" I shot back. Wordplay is one of my strongest and deadliest traits I've been told. Morrigan may be able to destroy chantry boys, but me? Not likely.
"Tis indeed my name and since you know mine, I would like to know yours." Far enough I suppose. "Diane MacPherson pleased to meet you." Her eyes widened in shock, most likely mirroring mine when I realized who she was. "Diane? High Priestess of the Wiccan faith?" Definitely mirroring me. "Yes, did your mother tell you about me?" I had never met Flemeth of course, I never thought I'd meet Morrigan but hey, maybe they know of me as well. "Yes, I was sent here to retrieve you, little did I expect to be nurtured by you as well. I thank you for your assistance." I was taken back at her politeness, she can be very friendly but it's not really in her nature to be so.
"You're quite welcome, why did you need to find me?"
"You are needed to help with the blight, you and the rest of your coven."
"I understand, but I have a few questions naturally."
"Tis to be expected, go on."
"How did you get here?"
"An Eluvian, you know of them yes?"
"Of course, I just didn't think there were any here." There shouldn't especially since she's from a gods damn video game I played when I was sixteen! "Why is my Magick muted right now? About two miles west I was perfectly fine."
"I can only assume it's because of my arrival, you were right about there being no Eluvians here, so my mother had to use a great deal of hers, mine, and your magic to create one. Such a spell would put a damper on our magic. I'm surprised you had any energy left to heal me." There's a boost on my ego.
"So it will come back, yes?" It has to, without my Magick, I am nothing.
"Of course, it put a damper on it, not a drain."
"When you said my coven was needed, do you mean it? I would prefer not to bring them to any danger. My heart couldn't take it if they were to die." A true statement.
"Tis not necessary. They do not hold the power that you do, I only thought you wouldn't want to leave them behind." In all honesty I don't, but I have a feeling I need to go on this journey, and I always trust my instinct.
"Honestly I don't, but what must be done..." I trailed off knowing she'd understand.
"Then let's get underway. We have until sundown, and then we should rest."
Many things were confusing to me, things which Morrigan explained in a vague sense, had confused me even more! When I asked her why I was needed to defend Fereldan when there was going to be two Grey Wardens already forming armies. Her answer was exactly this, "You speak of a different Ferelden, the one we seek to travel to is yet to have had a blight." Yet to have had a blight? How would there be a Ferelden, if the first blight hasn't happened yet!
"So, you're telling me that we are to travel to Ferelden to defeat the blight, but it's a different Ferelden than what I know because the blight that's going to happen, is the very first one?" I was still processing this through my head.
"Yes."
"There will be no ogres yes? I mean because the Qunari don't exist until about 300 years before the fifth blight if my memory serves correct." Or if the Dragon Age Wiki was telling the truth. I have no idea how I'm remembering any of this.
"No, there will be ogres as my mother predicts, just very few, fewer even than when you last fought them." What? I hope she's not referring to that bloody game again!
"When I last did what?"
"Don't you remember? You were the warden that defeated the fifth blight. Not in the world we seek to travel to but the one you're used to."
"But, that was a game...I wasn't actually there!" She looked at me.
"But weren't you?" And with that she turned back in the direction we had been heading in for hours now and said, "We're here."
'Here' could have been anywhere for it looked like exactly where we were about an hour ago. I'm no expert, but to me it looked like we went in a total circle for gods' sake. I looked up to ask Morrigan what we were doing when I saw her pushing against an old cave in. "Morrigan what are you doing? That cave in could have been there for months now, we should find a place to set up camp for the night."
"Patience Diane, the way we seek is through here." Of course it is, it's that way through the movies, books, games, etc. And then we wind up dead. "Morrigan," I sighed, "let me help you with that." She knew what she was doing I hoped.
I walked over and she directed me stand back. "There is a piece here known only to me and Flemeth, if anyone else disturbs it, it could disappear as an alarm of sorts." I nodded. "Understandable, let me know when you need my assistance." While she worked I just remembered that I was in the direction of the relics! Maybe I could collect them quickly and take them with me. We all know that nothing ever turns out the way we hope. "Morrigan?"
"Yes Diane?"
"I'll be back in about a half an hour. There's something I need to retrieve before we go." She gave a nod and continued her work. I started running that way I'd be able to be back soon. About five minutes of that I realized one thing. I seriously can't run. I'm not obese, I don't have a bad heart condition, I don't have asthma, but I can't run. Whenever I try my breathing gets heavier, my legs feel like weights, and I get overly paranoid. I have minor anxiety, which the doctors say, could be the cause this anti-running thing I have inside of me. I don't believe that, it's minor anxiety, keyword minor. I have in the past, reduced down the possibilities to one thing. I've been spelled in a way.
When I was about seventeen or so, I met a girl at a convention for witches. It was an educational one or so I was told. I went with Stephanie and we walked around for a bit, looking at the displays of Magick from different cultures when she approached us. Right away I felt something strange about her, but I didn't want to be rude and tell her to shove off like I was dying to. The feeling made no sense to me. And then when she opened her mouth to say her name the feeling got even more intense. I felt like I was in pain and I couldn't help myself. I used Magick to throw her ass across the room. The strangest part of it all was the spell I used, wasn't even a spell. It's like a Merlin spell where he just glowed his eyes and objects moved. The girl got up and cautiously walked back over to me, I spoke before she could. "I don't know who you are and quite frankly I don't care, you are to stay the fuck away from me. Understood? Good." And then I left with Stephanie pulling at my arm the whole time demanding to know what the hell happened.
I couldn't explain it, I mean what could I say to justify my actions. Nothing, and nothing is what she got. When I got into my car, I felt a weird and foreign feeling come over me. It wasn't an instinct it was more like a tingle seeping into my body, doing whatever it intended to do. Then I brushed it off as the adrenaline rush I felt when I threw the girl, but a week later I ran with Nick around the school track and I had something similar to an asthma attack. That's when the doctor gave me that excuse. Doctors lie people. It's their favorite pastime.
I immediately stopped running and plopped down trying to control my breathing. Since I wasn't running for long and not real fast, I was able to control it and get up to start moving again. "When I get back, I'm going to find that bitch." I'm still not sure why I have so much animosity towards her but right now, it's the least of my problems. I reached the cave and before I went in, I decided to test my Magick. It's been almost twelve hours since I met Morrigan so hopefully, everything's back in order.
I simply needed a light to help me navigate my way through so I tried a simple light spell. I didn't want to waste all my energy gathering Magick just for one little spell so I tried sending bursts of energy to my hand. I opened my eyes while doing so and was joyous to see that light was forming at the palm of my hand. Once fully lit I proceeded to go in.
About an hour later…
"GODS DAMNIT! MOTHERFU-", my swearing was cut off by being tackled to the ground. "Diane! T'would be a shame to bring down this damn cave that I worked so hard to open, don't you think?" Morrigan said not impatiently.
"Forgive me if I don't appreciate the un-fucking-dead right in my face!" She snorted. "I didn't say you would. Now if you're done...?" She trailed off. I got up and brushed myself off and gestured for her to start walking. I had retrieved the relics and came back just in time to see the 'cave in' open for us. We'd been walking in a dark tunnel with my still lit hand giving the dank place some light when walking corpses jumped out of nowhere attacking us. Morrigan pulled out her staff and burned the little shits while I pulled out my athame and started cutting off their heads. I'm no trained rogue, but cutting off dead heads seemed pretty easy to me. I always knew the damned zombie apocalypse was going to happen, just didn't think it'd be because of a type of necromancy. We cleaned out the tunnel of those rotten things when we reached a room that had magic just oozing out of it. I'm serious when I say that I knocked the door down by kicking it. Inside was the Eluvian we had talked about.
The only time I had ever seen an Eluvian, was in the game and that was only if I played as Mahariel. Sadly I never got the Witch Hunt mod. I guess I'm living it now, what luck.
I turned to Morrigan, "Are we just supposed to walk through it?"
"Yes, are you ready?"
"Of course." I was. I was ready to feast my eyes upon what once was my teenage desire. In all honesty I could feel that teenage anticipation flowing back into me like it never left. Where would we end up? In Denerim, Ferelden, where Alistair was king? Maybe Antiva, with Zevran the guildmaster of the Antivan Crows. Orlais? Would I run into Leliana? Oh my Gods. What about my magick?
"Then let us proceed." And with that, we stepped through the portal into another world.
Sorry if chapter 1 was boring, I just felt that we needed some background information and a look into my character's mind.
*Things that were slightly changed*
More grammar errors, -.- shaking my head right now. Edits to the ending ^^ Now I am feeling a lot more confident with this one. On to chapter 2! Where the f*ck am I going to start this one….? Shit.