Growing Up the Hard Way. Again.
Chapter 1
Nights at Skyhold were generally quite festive. Nights meant another day survived and one day closer until the time the Inquisitor will defeat the Demon and save everyone. They were a celebration of the lives of those who have past, lives of those still living and the lives still yet to begin. They often began with a brief update of events and decisions made throughout the day, followed closely by the Inquisitor either running in, late; or being physically dragged through the doors leading to his room. After that, the Inquisitor gave a quick, often awkward toast to those present and lost before he would sit at the head of the table. Then the meal would begin. Every night what was essentially a feast would be placed all along the tables within the Great Hall and larger tables outside in the courtyard. The grandest of all foods were set along these tables, as the Inquisition insisted that the Inquisitor eat as well as a King or Emperor, while the Inquisitor insisted that he would not eat anything the rest of the Inquisition didn't eat. Merry-making was had until late in the night when everyone was ushered to their respective rooms or tents to sleep until the next day. The next opportunity for success, and the next opportunity to lose more of their own.
It wasn't a particularly different night from those that had come before. In hindsight, some people had realised that something wasn't quite right. A woman none had seen before had been hovering around not only the kitchen, but the head of the table itself. At the time, it was not something that drew too much attention. Many people were fond of the Inquisitor, and he nearly always made the time to simply spend time with them. So it was not unusual for a member of the Inquisition, no matter how known or unknown they were, to hover around were everyone knew the Inquisitor would be at any given time. What was unusual, everyone had later agreed, was how she left the moment the food arrived without a single attempt to talk to him. However, nights were times of merriment and the strange woman with long black hair was soon forgotten in the wake of fabulous feasts, expensive ale and the company of friends. At least, she was forgotten for a time.
The night was in full swing, the Inner Circle a mix of war stories and awkward situations as ever, trying to beat each other in the best stories when it occurred. No-one really noticed at first. The Inquisitor himself barely even knew something was wrong when his head started spinning until he realised that he hadn't been drinking any ale. The dizziness came first. It was easily ignored for a while, as he was very tired and dizziness was a sign that one needed rest. It's when his very bones and organs began to almost clench up inside him that he realised that all was not as it seemed. Leliana noticed first, as she always does. The Inquisitor had curled into himself slightly, face tight and breathing strained. She climbed to her feet slowly and casually, before walking towards the Inquisitor. She nudged each member of the Inner Circle as she passed before slowly pulling the almost completely limp Inquisitor up to his feet. The room went silent, every eye turning to the front of the hall. Those members of the Inner Circle Leliana had not been able to notify quickly recognised the situation for what it was, remaining as they were. Leliana let out a small smile, one even those who knew her would not believe was fake.
"It appears that our most esteemed Inquisitor seems to have lost his tolerance for good ale." She explained, pulling the Inquisitor's right arm over her shoulder. A chorus of laughter filled the air as everyone returned to their food, ale and conversations. Any curiosity they may have had sated. Leliana quickly led the Inquisitor from the hall, heading towards the Inquisitor's own chambers. Dorian, Vivienne and Solas were in quick pursuit, the remainder of the Inner Circle lingering at the feast so as not to draw suspicion. The moment they entered the sanctuary of the Inquisitor's rooms, Leliana lowered him to the floor, no time to waste getting him to the bed. Before any of the mages could even touch him, the Inquisitor seemed to erupt with light from the inside out, the white light blinding the four in the room with him and signalling to the others outside that something was seriously not right. Mere seconds had passed since the flash before the rest of the Inner Circle appeared in the Inquisitor's main rooms. Each pushing past one another to try and get a glimpse at their leader. Who was no longer there. In his place, was a small child, perhaps even a newborn swamped in the clothes the Inquisitor had been wearing.
"What… what is this?" Josephine managed to voice first. As if her speaking had broken a vow of silence, everyone else erupted into panicking noise.
"Enough!" Solas shouted, leaning towards the child and gently placing his left hand on its brow. Silence fell.
"It is the Inquisitor." Solas stated simply, pulling his hand back and sitting back on his heels. Dorian and Vivienne each took turns confirming this for themselves.
"How?" Cullen asked, leaning over Sera to stare at the now very young Inquisitor a strange expression on his face. Vivienne slowly gathered the Inquisitor into her arms, wrapping him tightly in what used to be his shirt.
"It appears to be a simple aging potion. It will not harm him and will wear off in a couple of days' time. Unfortunately," she continued as chatter began to break out once more, glaring at the culprits. "It is not the sort of curse one should attempt to break. It has been placed on him by a powerful being. It would be safer for him for us to let it 'play out' as it should." She explained.
"Do you know how it works exactly?" Iron Bull asks, tilting his head curiously at the small creature that was now the Inquisitor.
"No." Dorian stated easily, poking at the Inquisitor's stomach gently with one finger. "We'll be able to figure out the specifics of the spell as time passes."
"Oh," Sera said, frowning. "That's rather inconvenient isn't it?" She asked, gazing vacantly at the Inquisitor. Everyone went silent for a moment, staring at the child in Vivienne's arms.
"He's rather cute isn't he?" Varric asked, finally addressing the elephant in the room. There were murmurs of agreement as everyone crowded in closer. In adulthood, the Inquisitor was a tanned, dark-brown haired, light blue eyed, rather roguishly handsome man. As a child, he was smaller than average, pale and had soft features that added to his charm. What little hair was on his head seemed to be light brown and he had yet to open his eyes.
"Can I hold him?" Sera asked, arms already held out. Everyone turned to her with frowns on their faces at the exact time.
"No." A couple of people said. Sera frowned.
"I drop a baby one time, and now I can't cuddle the Inquisitor," she grumbled. Everyone ignored her however as the Inquisitor began to slowly open his eyes, limbs shifting slightly and soft cooing noises coming from his throat. Everyone leaned in even further as he opened electric blue eyes, yawning.
"He's confused," Cole stated from the back of the group. Everyone turned to face him, surprised. Cole stared back at them.
"Wait," Cullen said. "You can use your abilities on him too?" He asked. Cole nodded, slowly moving forward.
"He's tired, but not. He doesn't understand how to feel properly yet." Cole explained, leaning over Vivienne's arms to stare at the Inquisitor. There was silence for a moment before choked sob left the swathe of clothing in Vivienne's arms. Everyone stared at Cole, faces ranging from confused to outright panic as the Inquisitor burst into tears.
"He's figured out how to be hungry now." Cole stated, stepping back. Immediately everyone looked around at each other, expressions of unease on their face. Varric peered over towards the Inquisitor, an unimpressed look on his face.
"So, anyone know how to feed a newborn child?"
Okay, this will be essentially a short story, so multichapters that are a lot more connected than my one-shot series. Also, a bit darker than them as well, but not so much.