AN: From the Summary alone, you probably know that you won't be getting any POV's from the SI, meaning you'll never get to see his thoughts or what he's doing behind the scenes.

It's been years since I last played dragon age series so don't expect me to get everything right. Also, I never played Dragon Age Inquisition because my PC can't handle it back then. By the time I got it upgraded, I kinda lost interest already.

With this out of the way, I hope that the plot bunny that caused this story to be written will hop away so I focus my attention elsewhere. Also, depending on reception, I'll either continue with this story or leave it alone for now.

-0-

Flemeth (I)

-0-

The Witch of the Wilds had just finished deposing of some nosy bandits that ventured too deep into her territory and is on her way back to her hut. The land around her was all mashes and trees. There's not much to look at but at least it does a wonderful job of hiding her home away from anyone stupid enough to entered the swamp.

As she trek through the marshes, she noticed something moving at the corner of her eye and she turn her head to see what it was.

Surprisingly, she saw a figure of a small child in the middle of one of the mashes. He looked about her daughter's age with short black and spiky hair. The clothes he wore are the typical peasant clothes from a poor village with green shirt and trousers and his head was frantically looking around as though searching for something. It takes no genius to figure out that he is lost and has no idea which way to go.

What did catch her interest is that these swamps are filled with danger, wild and hungry creatures lurks about and yet this child managed to reach so deep into this place with nay a scratch on his body. Normally, he would've been eaten by wild wolves or other ferocious predators already.

And so, Flemeth approached the boy, feeling curious about his presence here and wondering what she should do with him.

"Now what are you doing so far out in in the swamp boy?" Flemeth asked as she stalks closer to the boy, her yellow eyes gazing at the object of her interest with curiosity shinning in them. "The Korcari Wilds isn't some place for someone your age to play in."

The boy before her jumped in surprise, quite literally, when her voice called out to him and he quickly turn around to face her. Flemeth saw a pair of blue eyes filled with panic when he was turning but that panic quickly morph into fear when his eyes landed onto her.

The boy took a few steps back from her, his feet sloshing through the mud as he put a bit of distance between them as he studied her warily. Flemeth raised an eyebrow at the amount of caution the boy was showing. Normally, someone his age should feel relief when he sees another person when he's lost deep in the woods.

"Well that's rather rude." Flemeth commented with a smirk. "Didn't your parents teach you to speak when spoken to boy?"

Her words caused the boy to flinch but he didn't reply, instead he subtly glance around the trees as if in search for a way to escape while continuing to inch backwards. It's a shame he wasn't looking at where he was going or he'd have noticed the tree bark that's sticking out. Predictably, he tripped over it but what comes after that brought Flemeth a bit of surprise.

As he fell, the boy flail his arm in the air and Flemeth saw a brief spark protruding from his hands. The boy landed on his arse, mud and gunk staining his trousers and shirt and the sparks on his hands faded. He lifted his mud stained hands up towards his face and stare at them in surprise and a hint of fear on his face.

"Ah, I see now." Flemeth said as she came to a conclusion as to why the child's here. "Did you ran away from home after discovering your magic? Parents drove you off or scared of the big scary Templars that's going cart you off to join the Circle?"

The boy didn't respond. Instead, he kept looking at his hands with confusion spread across his face. Feeling impatient from the lack of response from the child, Flemeth spoke up with a slightly irritated tone. "Are you going to say something boy or are you going to stare at your hands all day?"

That got him startled and he quickly look back towards her in fear. Flemeth saw him opening his mouth to speak but she heard nothing. She thought that he was speaking too softly at first but after a while, she come to realize that it wasn't the case.

The boy is a mute.

-0-

After finding out about his inability to speak, Flemeth started a new approach and only asked questions that can be answered with a nod or a shake of his head. She did attempt to find out what was wrong with his vocal cords but found nothing amiss there.

After a long period of questioning, she had learned that the boy had no home nor any family he could return to; an orphan it would seem. When asked how he got here, he merely shrugged and look just as surprise at his arrival here as she is. Oh well, a mystery for another time she suppose.

Seeing that the boy has nowhere to go and that she had nothing better to do, she offered him a place to stay at her home. He would have food and shelter and she could teach him to better control his own magic while he's there. She's also quite proud to admit that she could teach him a lot better than the Mages in the circle could.

There's also something she'd like to try for once and is that she had never experienced raising a son before. She had daughters yes, but never a son because there's never really any need for one. She might as well use this chance presented to her to see what it would be like and besides, she's sure that he'd be great company to her daughter. Flemeth can already imagine the annoyed look Morrigan would have when she learns about this.

The boy was hesitant to follow her at first but in the end, his stomach convinced him to go with her as it growls quite loudly like a whale's mating call.

As they walked, Flemeth gave him a quick and brief explanation of the Fade, what he would experience should he go to sleep and the do's and don't's if he were to find himself there. It's not much but it should suffice for now so that he doesn't fall in to any demons' hands. She'll give him a more detailed explanation later on and a much better way to protect himself from possession.

It wasn't long before her hut came into sight. The old building looked like it had seem better days as parts of it were patched up with planks of wood to block holes and prevent any drafts from getting in. One would think that it's stupid and dangerous to even attempt to live in this kind of place but Flemeth had already saw to that long ago. The barrier she had cast over this area when she first arrived will prevent any intrusion of wild animals and Darkspawn alike and it still held up well even after so many years, and most likely will continue to do so long after she's gone.

And unsurprisingly, she saw her daughter there as well, standing in front of their hut and looking rather impatient. Flemeth had promised her that she would teach her a new spell today after all and that little girl is just hungry for more knowledge.

The eight year old was wearing a dirty brown one piece dress and leather boots. Her hair was cut short so that it'll be more manageable and easily clean when living in a swap. Her yellow eyes instantly zeroed in onto Flemeth as she walk past the bushes and into view, gazing at her impatiently with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Her impatient gaze soon turned into one of surprise before settling on a confused look as she saw what Flemeth had brought along with her.

"Mother, who's this?" Morrigan asked when Flemeth and the boy reached her. The young girl was studying the boy rather intensely, as if picking him apart piece by piece with her eyes alone. The boy's only response was to hide behind Flemeth's back and stare shyly at Morrigan.

Flemeth pushes him out of his hiding place so that he's standing in front of her. She could feel his body tense up upon her touch and he stood rigid when face to face with her daughter. Flemeth places both her hands on the boy's shoulder and smiled.

"Why Morrigan, allow me to introduce you to your new brother."

And as Flemeth had predicted, Morrigan was not impress, not even the slightest bit.

-0-

A few days had passed since the new addition had joined her family and Flemeth could say that things are going quite well. As well as it can be anyway.

Flemeth had given him some fresh batch of clothing that she had acquired through magical means (she stole them from other kids) and left him on his own devices after that so that he may adapt to the new environment at his own pace. She did left him a warning that he should never attempt to practice magic without her supervision and come to her when he's ready to learn how to use it.

But what he didn't know is that she was stealthily observing him, seeing how he would interact with this sudden change in his life. He's a very meek boy so it would be interesting to see just how he would adjust to the incredibly hostile land and a very broody sister.

On the very first day, he was a nervous wreck. He just sat in the corner inside her hut, shaking while his eyes dart towards the direction of any source of sound he heard like something out there would jump out and get him. A day after that, he calmed down somewhat and started walking around the hut to explore the area but he never attempt to enter the woods or swamps as she had warned him from doing so.

It didn't take long for him to see everything there is to see as it's just a small patch of land and he was left with nothing to do. He then chose to find Morrigan, which ended just about as much as she had expected when one is dealing with moody girls who seem to be in a state of perpetual period. There's also the fact that Morrigan absolutely wants nothing to do with him at all.

Instantly after the introduction, Morrigan had treated her new sibling with cold disdain and ignored him outright as she turn her attention to her mother and asked for her to teach her the new spell that she had promised. The boy visibly deflates when being treated this way but he didn't let that stop him from trying to befriend Morrigan. Things had been tense between the two ever since with the boy trying to gain even the slightest bit of favor from Morrigan and the girl trying her best to avoid him. But that part has proven to be quite hard for her as the place they live in is quite small.

With how she acted towards him, one might think that Morrigan must've really dislike the fact that she's no longer the only child for Flemeth to focus on. But the Witch believes that the girl is unsure of how to treat her new sibling and is reacting the only way she knows how when dealing with the sudden change to her life. Sadly for Alex, her way of adapting is by generally being a little bitch. It's almost cute to watch really.

She must admit that it has been very entertaining to see the boy trying to befriend her daughter but she did learn other things about him just by observing him.

While he can't talk, it surprised her to learn that he can read, something he did after a failed talk with Morrigan when she snapped at him for distracting her when she's busy reading or practicing her own magic. Flemeth would often find him huddled away in the corner, reading one of the books that she has. While she can't tell just how much of it he can understand but it looks to her that he's got a pretty good grasp on the book that he's reading.

It was then did she finally asked the boy if he had a name and he wrote it down on the ground for her with a twig.

Alex, that's what he's called. It certainly saved her the trouble for coming up a name for him herself and she can't quite possibly call him boy forever now can she?

Either way, those few days have been plenty entertaining for Flemeth but she has a feeling that today is going to be even more interesting than before. Her hunch was proven right when the boy finally came up to her right when she was busy making potions at her caldron.

"What is it Alex?" Flemeth asked the spiky haired boy when he came near her, something he had always avoid doing whenever she's around. It seems that the boy still fears her but not as much as when they first met. "Have something you want from dear old me?" She said while a slight chuckle.

The boy nodded hesitantly, his shoulders hunched and head lowered like he's trying to appear as small as possible before her.

"Well out with it boy, I don't have all day you know."

The boy tried to make some gestures but alas, Flemeth could not understand him. Communication would be a lot easier if he could speak but it looks like they would have to play a game of charades whenever the boy wants to talk.

The boy tried again and this time, Flemeth paid more attention to what he's trying to hint at. He gestured at his hands and then shot his palms outward like he's throwing something. It took a moment but Flemeth eventually figured out just what he wanted from her. It helped that it's one of the few things that she could actually give him.

"Ah, so you want to learn how to use your magic at last I see." Flemeth said and Alex nodded eagerly.

With a flick of her hand, the fire underneath the caldron died out and she turn her full attention towards the boy with a smile on her face. "Very well then, let's head outside." She told him as she lead him out.

She stopped midway when she remembered something and went to one of the chest inside her hut. She opened it and took out a very old looking staff that used to be Morrigan's and toss it over to Alex. The boy's eyes widen when the staff flew over to him and he quickly reach his hand out to grab it but missed. The staff fell to the ground with a clutter and he quickly scoop it up and studied it with a curious look on his face.

The staff is made out of oak wood, looking very worn out in various places, especially so in the middle where it was wrapped with a dirty brown cloth as it's so damaged from years of rough handling, one would get splinters if it weren't for it. When Alex held it upwards awkwardly, the length of the staff is almost twice as long as he is tall.

"That is a primary weapon or tool for a mage called a staff, it really depends on how you view it as others have their own opinion on that matter. It's generally used as a medium for mages to have an easier time channeling and controlling their magic." Flemeth explained to him as she reach for the door and held it open. She beckon the child over to follow her. "Come now, there's much for you to learn if you want to properly control yours." Alex's hands tightened around his newly acquired staff nervously before he nodded and followed.

The two headed out and Flemeth saw that her daughter was already in the clearing in front of the hut, practicing her own magic. She stood motionless with her hand in front of her, palms facing upwards as a ball of flame dancing above it. Instantly, an idea formed inside the Witch's mind, one that would no doubt be very entertaining for her.

She could ask Morrigan to provide him with the basics instead. It would serve to gauge just how much knowledge Morrigan has about the arcane arts while she stay by their side to correct her if she had gotten something wrong or fill in something she had forgotten to mention. Who knows, it might prove to be a great sibling bonding experience as well.

When Flemeth and Alex reached the clearing, the Witch of the Wilds called out to her daughter in an oh so sweet tone. "Oh daughter dearest~"

Morrigan was knocked out out her concentration instantly by Flemeth's disturbing call and the ball of fire in her hand dispersed violently, almost scorching her hand had she not reacted quickly by pulling it away and jumping back. She then turn to glare at her mother for interrupting her and quite possibly endangering her but her glare soon wilted when she saw how wide the grin Flemeth has on her face.

"W-what is it mother?" She asked warily.

Flemeth's grin just grew wider as she pushes Alex in front of her. "I need you to teach your brother here the basics when using magic."

The look of pure disgust and annoyance on her daughter's face is one she would remember back to fondly.

-0-

Morrigan decided in the end that it would be faster for her to get her new duty over with as soon as possible so she can return to her own training. Alex was forced to listen to Morrigan's haphazard lecture on the arcane arts while she glared at him through out the entire thing. Poor boy looked so terribly afraid of his moody sister and so confused about what's being told to him. In the end, Flemeth had to interject a lot and explained to Alex about some of the concepts that Morrigan either skimmed through or outright ignored to save time.

Sadly for Morrigan, because of how terrible of a tutor she was, they ended up taking even more time to ensure that Alex had a proper understanding of what he's has to do to channel power from the Fade, something Morrigan isn't particularly pleased with.

Now that the lecture is over, Flemeth is watching her children from afar as they dabbled in magic. They all agreed that Alex should start with the simplest spell and he was given a list of all the basic spells for him to choose from and learn first.

He chose fireball, a spell that most mages started out with. And thus, Morrigan began explaining just how Alex should transform the power that he had drawn from the Fade into the spell that he wanted to cast.

"No no no, not like that you buffoon. You're holding it like a club." Morrigan admonished as she corrects Alex's staff wielding posture. "Hold it in the middle, you're going to use the staff to direct where you want the spell to go, not swing it like a barbarian."

The boy did what Morrigan had instructed and shift his hold from the end of the staff to the middle. "Good, now do what I've told you before and concentrate." Alex nodded at Morrigan's words and close his eyes, making Flemeth stare at his unmoving figure with curiosity, wondering just how well he would perform in using magic.

A full minute passed and nothing happened.

"Are you even trying to use magic?" Morrigan questioned the boy in annoyance while Alex just looked very confused as he stared at his staff. He did another attempt, eyes furrow in concentration as he point the staff forward. Like before, nothing happened. Alex scratch the side of his cheek sheepishly with a small smile while her daughter facepalmed in what Flemeth presumes to be embarrassment.

Seeing the lack of success on Alex's part, Flemeth beckoned him over so they can try and figure out what he did wrong. After a few minutes of questioning and multiple nods and shakes of Alex's heads, they've reached a conclusion. Alex himself had confirmed that he understood the concept of the spell and what he needed to do to draw power from the Fade. Yet, when he put it into practice, he's seem to be having trouble directing his mana to the staff to form the spell. Flemeth theorized that it may be the lack of practice that's causing Alex's failures but she wasn't certain. Either way, she suggested that he should keep trying to see if he could pinpoint the problem for now.

And so, the next twenty minutes were spent watching Alex waving his stick around (heh), Morrigan had already went back to her own training and ignoring Alex altogether because she thought it was a waste of her time. Flemeth could tell that the boy was getting extremely frustrated with the lack of results as his expression showed irritation as he glared at his staff. Then he started scratching his head, looking like he's mentally berating himself.

A mage with no affinity for magic? That notion is absolutely absurd but yet, she's seeing the living proof right in front of her.

Eventually, Alex seem to have succeed somewhat as when he swung his staff again for the umpteenth time, the faintest puff of smoke came out of the tip of his staff. At that the boy's frustrated expression turned into one of gleeful cheer as he jumped excitedly on his spot at his success before turning to face Flemeth to see if she had seen what he had did. The Witch nodded and motioned for him to continue and he quickly did so.

Like before, nothing happened when he swung his staff at first but during the third swing, he finally managed to cast the fireball spell. The many things to note about it however, is that the fireball was pitifully small and doesn't have a proper form, looking more like a wobbly water bag instead of a ball. The most important tidbit is that Alex shot his spell out of the butt end of his staff instead of the tip, meaning that it flew at the complete opposite direction of where he wanted it to go. It just so happen that he was practicing in front of the hut.

Needless to say, their hut gained a new hole that needed to be patched up as well as some burns left by the fire that was quickly snuffed out with a bit of water magic.

Flemeth can tell that it's going to be a long and arduous road for the boy if he wanted to be a proper mage.

-0-

Time passes on without much happening, days became weeks and weeks became months with Alex living with them. Flemeth can say that taking in Alex has been a very good decision as the boy is changing their lives with just his presence alone, even if he didn't know it. They've also gotten a lot better at guessing what he wanted to say with his gestures so communication attempts with the boy has gotten a lot smoother. Even If they couldn't understand him, he'd just write it down on the ground.

As meek and quiet as he is, he would often times do things that would surprise even her. At times, he'd offer to clean the hut, something that Flemeth and Morrigan would never do and even cook meals for them. It's so very endearing and a new experience for Flemeth as none of her daughters had ever done these things for her before. Most of the time, he'd just be a very obedient child that would do everything you tell him to, something that Morrigan likes to take advantage of for her own gains and they more or less see Alex as their own personal servant now.

At any rate, Alex has been slowly improving on his magic. Now he has a 45% chance of shooting a simple fireball without any mishaps. That was the only spell that they had ever tried teaching him. It's the most basic one after all and if he couldn't even get it right then there's really no hope for him to learn the others. It could be a problem with his affinity but they tested that as well and found out that none of the different types of spells he had cast works properly. So for now, having him stick to the most basic spell is the most easiest way for him to improve. It's more for his safety than anything as the other ones require more complex steps and mastery over his mana manipulation.

While one would normally be plagued with doubts to even be able to use magic properly after being presented with so many failures repeatedly, Alex never gave up.

If anything, he's very eager to learn more. He's a bit like Morrigan in that aspect, always hungry for more knowledge and the same bullheaded stubbornness to never give up. When Flemeth explained something, he would sit very still and paid rapt attention. He would absorb the information presented to him like a sponge and understood it with ease; sadly, it doesn't help with his spell casting but at least he knows a lot now.

Aside from magic, he had also started learning about alchemy alongside Morrigan. The two seem to have struck some kind of rivalry at some point and both of them would compete at every little thing to see who's better at something. Morrigan would always win when it comes to spell casting for obvious reasons and Alex would never lose when it comes to cooking. Then again, Morrigan's cooking skills only consist of boiling water in the caldron and that's about it. That girl can't cook even if her life depended on it.

When Alex's not practicing his own magic or pestering Morrigan to get her to pay attention to him, he would be reading, watching Morrigan practice her own spells or just kneeling on the ground quietly by himself in front of the fire pit, seeming to be in a meditative trance. While she admit that the last one does seem like an odd choice for him to pass the time with, she didn't do anything about it as meditating actually does help one concentrate in spell casting. What's more is that Alex can last hours while meditating and Flemeth would often wonder if he had actually fallen asleep in that pose instead.

Today, however, he seem to be doing something else entirely.

Flemeth found him sitting at the corner of the hut that was labeled Alex's corner that's just the opposite of Morrigan's corner. His back was facing towards her so she couldn't see what he was doing but she could hear the sound of wood being scrapped. Feeling curious about what he's doing, Flemeth approached the boy and peeked over his shoulder.

She saw that he using a small carving knife that he had requested from her days before to chip away parts of a wooden plank that he has on hand. He doesn't seem to be just carving the wood for the heck of it as Flemeth could recognize some of the images that he had carved to be letters. It's not just any letters but very old ones commonly found on runes.

Carving runes? Now that's a surprise. Flemeth then noticed a book on the ground with images of the runes that Alex is attempting to carve onto the plank. So he's using this book regarding runecrafting as a reference. Normally, you'd use a blank runestone for runecarfting but only if you know how to properly do so. For practice, Alex has the right idea to use a wooden plank so he doesn't accidentally activate the rune's properties by mistake and getting hurt in the process. Who knows what kind of effect a wrongly carved rune would do and Flemeth could guess that it's not going to be pretty.

Alex's runes doesn't look anything like the real thing as it's completely out of proportion, slanted or just plain look like something else entirely but that's something to be expected from someone who had never done it before.

Seeing just how focused he is at his task, Flemeth decided to leave him alone with his practice and left the hut to find her daughter. Hmm, she wonder just what Morrigan's up to today. Hopefully, not trying to make some kinda of new poison that she'd have to find an antidote for if the girl accidentally poisoned herself with it.

-0-

While life has gone by peacefully enough with the occasional bandit and Templar menace that she had to take care of, something occurred one day that would no doubt cause some changes around here; more specifically, with how her daughter and son would interact with each other.

It has just been a normal day for Flemeth. She woke up, eat some delicious meal cooked by her son and went on a small walk around the woods to see if anyone had wandered into the swamp before heading back.

Only this time, she came back to witness a scene where Morrigan was shouting at Alex. While that by itself isn't anything unusual from how they interact with each other, today seemed a bit different. Flemeth was still at a far enough distance to be unable to hear what was being shouted she can at least see how angry Morrigan looked. From how Morrigan was shouting, she can tell that her words were harsher than before,

Perhaps Morrigan was having a very bad day today. Maybe she woke up at wrong side of her bed, spilled some potions onto her dress or her spells keep going wrong that all lead up to this outburst. Either way, Morrigan snapped at Alex and she wasn't pulling any punches. Then she stomped away, leaving the boy behind with a hurtful and dejected look.

Flemeth wondered just how he would react but the boy just turned around and walked away, heading into the hut. Frowning at how the affinity between her two children aren't making any improvements at all, Flemeth began wondering just how she can mend their relationship as she walks back into her hut to check on Alex.

-0-

Hours later, Flemeth was inside of her hut, brewing some potions to sell to nearby villages, it's her main source of income after all and she does need to buy new things that can't be acquired in the Korcari Wilds.

Alex had already gone off while she was busy working, the boy doesn't seem to mind just how badly her daughter had told him off earlier but there seem to be something different about him. He has this rather determined look in his eyes as he head out so Flemeth presumes that he's going to keep training on his magic so she let him be.

But then, she heard her daughter shouting for Alex repeatedly outside of the hut. Feeling curious, she went out to have a look as to why her daughter is doing so.

Stepping outside, Flemeth saw Morrigan looked like she had calmed down some after her earlier outburst and is actively looking for her brother. Flemeth knows that they should be practicing their magic together around this time with Morrigan giving pointers for Alex but yet, the boy was no where in sight, hence the reason why Morrigan is shouting for him.

"Alex!" Morrigan called out with her signature annoyed tone but yet, Flemeth could catch a hint of worry in them. "Where are you, you oaf!? It's time to practice already so stop wasting my time."

The Witch of the Wilds narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the surroundings for any sign of the boy and that's when she saw a set of child size footprints leading into the woods.

Instantly, Flemeth gained a very bad feeling about what that would imply.