A/N To everyone that is familiar already with my story Scorpio's Legacy, this is- its kinda- well- I was- going to publish this AFTER I finished books 1-4 of Scorpio's Legacy, but then I realized how difficult it is to get inspiration for a Mass Effect SI series when all the hype is about the new Dragon Age game coming out. It's pretty much this; I have terrible writer's block when working on Scorpio's Legacy right now so I'm allowing a bit of a Time Shift to occur so I can keep my sanity.

This story is set AFTER the events of the fourth Scorpio's Legacy book, after Scorpio had already finished his journey with Shepard and his whole gang to destroy the Reapers. I STRONGLY suggest that any people currently reading the unfinished first book of Scorpio's Legacy take EXTREME caution when reading this, a lot of the references in this first chapter draw back to events that may or may not have happened yet in Scorpio's Legacy and as such nearly everyone reading this will be a bit confused.

At the beginning, Dylan David Scorpio received information through various sources about a new garden world out in an unknown part of the Terminus Systems. He decided to investigate the disappearances he has tracked, but also discover if what someone said about him finding his past on the planet's surface was true. He wiped all records of the planet from the Galactic Community and set off alone in a one-man ship he designed to find if what his friend said was true and discovers an energy signature on the planet's surface when he arrives. He lands a few hundred meters off in a clearing just outside a small forest the energy signature is detected from.

This is what happens when he gets through the small forest on foot...

...I step into the dark clearing only to have my breath sucked from my lungs. A mysteriously powerful crack in... something was over a small altar with a bloodied corpse laying there. Out of curiosity I step forward, one hand on my Katana HVB blade I named Dir'Eck and the other building my Dark Biotics just-in-case. The Tear flashes with pulsing green energy that-

"What the fuck?"

Is that...? No... No that's impossible!

I dash forwards out of a panic and roll the corpse over to find it mangled and rotted from years of decay, a dagger sticking out of it's chest that no doubt caused the person's death.

No...

The hand I hand on Dir'Eck flies to the hilt of the dagger and carefully outlines the soft grooves of the hilt. I close my eyes in horror that Death was actually telling the truth and let my hand touch the empty sheath on my hip wearingly. "So that bitch actually did it..." I mutter before taking grasp of the dagger and ripping it from MY chest.

Rest in piece Dylan...

A whisper of a word catches my ear and I look up to nearly gasp at the swirling green tear that was right in my face. The soft flares of unknown and strangely familiar energy nearly blinding my senses and overpowering my biotics. I reach out and touch the edge of the tear curiously, I hand heard about these Tears before but had never actually seen them in person myself. The green wisps of energy curl around my gloved fingers and crawl up my arm, gently brushing against my armor like the soft caress of a lover.

"Interesting..." I form a pulse of biotics and raise an eyebrow in surprise as the energy reacts by forming around the ball of black energy in my palm, giving it a swirling green hue. I toss the ball into a nearby rock, expecting it to simply rip the rock apart. A low boom pulses through the area as the ball rips another tear into the fragile fabric of the universe. I gasp as it lets a shadowy figure through before closing. I ready my biotics and take a combat stance to prepare for battle as the creature approaches.

"Well, I had expected another mage to greet me, but you look more like a warrior than any mage I've seen." I keep my face devoid of emotion as I analyze the creature's patterns of energy using my connection to Acerbus Infinium. "Oh, you are clever. Plucking at the Fade's strings so easily as to ascertain what I might be. Interesting you aren't already familiar with my kind." The shadowy and hunched figure states almost lazily. "I am Pause, a pleasure to meet you Drifter." The hooded creature dips low in a strange display of respect I understand.

Recognition dawns on me as I realize I haven't seen one of his kind in over twenty years. I smile slightly before subduing the emotion and speaking, "I am called Dylan in my home universe." I say calmly, unfazed by the Demon as I finally recognize the energies pulsing around me as Veil tendrils. "I would ask you why you are here if I didn't remember how I just tore a temporary rift into the Veil. I would instead ask you how I was able to do so."

He laughs slightly in a slow, drawn out way that seems to annoy me just slightly more then I expected. "The other Demons, as well as Death, suspected your power and knowledge would cause ripples. Death was unsuspecting and foolish to think he could control the first Drifter seen in over eight Ages."

I frown as he laughs again and wait for him to calm down before asking, "What is a 'Drifter'?"

He shuffles forward at the same moment I grab the hilt of Dir'Eck, feeling the curves of dark energy I infused into the metal react to my touch and set it aflame instantly. "Now now, what use would attacking you be to me when you have already proven yourself by resisting the Elder." I don't let go of the hilt, not do I take my eyes off of the Demon of Sloth as he shuffles up to the Tear and takes a string of its energy into one of its claws. "Perhaps only the Maker himself could truly stand against your power now. No I wish to teach you in the ways of our realm Drifter, otherwise your fragile mind would be instantly lost among its currents."

I watch him for a moment, weighing my options and deciding that it might be beneficial to learn how to use this strange new form of energy. Even if I don't trust him just yet.

I know I wouldn't complain about having the ability to open up a Tear at will. I sheath Dir'Eck and point a sharp, gloved, mechanical finger from my artifical left arm at him. "Alright, but if you try anything I will personally make sure your nightmares haunt your mind for eternity."

The Shade visibly shivers in fear, "Y-Yes, I had also heard about your domination of the mind, it is unfortunate that such a skill would suffer... permanent consequences to your victims, it might be interesting to see how it might change someone's outlook on life and death"

I scoff and turn to walk back to my ship, "Just get your training underway, I need to collect some things from my shi-" A flare of fade energy tears open in the distance, followed my a low explosion and a wave of flames that shoot up into the sky to be sucked into the Tear just as it closes. I gawk at the smoke and rubble that WAS my ship before running a hand down my face and wondering why I was even here. "Why?" I ask in exasperation as I turn to see him trying to hold back his laughter. He fails miserably and bursts out laughing.

Fucking great, stuck on a pre-spaceflight planet, in an uncharted part of the Galaxy, with no way for anyone to find out where I am due to my paranoid secrecy. Why did I agree to this again?

Pause settles down and composes himself with ease, something I was surprised by for some reason. "A drifter is someone who can willingly pass through the Tears, who can control the fabric of the universe they drop into and use them to pluck at the strings of fate. You are one of these creatures. The last Drifter nearly killed herself trying to return to her own realm. Alas it is impossible since your world is the most compact of them all, energy-wise, even more so then the Fade."

I look at him, her, it, with a calculated glance, trying to understand what it means. "So what you're saying is that it takes a certain amount of energy to 'Drift' into another universe, depending of how compact that universe is compared to the one I'm currently in?" It nods and I whistle in understanding. "Damn... who was the other Drifter and where did she end up?"

Pause, well, takes pause at this and seems to stare at me for a moment before answering, "She was a person of great power, but limited mental strength. One who chose to dance over the plots of her universe and not pluck the strings of fate. That cost her much of her alloted power and when she was finally ready to leave..." I wait as he dramatically pauses. "She killed hundreds of thousands in the resulting pulse of pure magical energy needed to tear the Veil on her world. She was permanently scarred and as such never could survive the transfiguation process of the Fade. She instead chose to use the power of the Fade to destroy herself, rather than be forced to live with the guilt of what her desperation cost her people. She is thus a martyr, a reminder of all who dwell in the Fade of what a weak mind could do without proper... restraints. Thankfully you seem beyond overqualified in that department, a... relief to the rest of us from the Fade."

I sigh as I take in this new information.

A Drifter? And apparently I'm already stronger than the last one by not causing too much death in my wake? How does that work?

Pause seems to know my thoughts as it says, "Your power grows with every life you destroy, but unless you can truly master your guilt, most Drifters simply go mad with chaos and never truly learn how to Drift like the Elder did." I nod after absorbing the new information like a sponge.

So I'm seriously a Drifter? I mean the Protheans had theories about such things, so did the Thesek before it had to return to the Eternal Weave. Am I seriously THAT strange? THAT rare minded? I think I might just be even more insane then I thought I was before ME1.

"What does a Drifter do?" I ask cautiously, still wondering if it's too late to just take off and leave this planet.

Pause shifts forwards quickly and lays a clawed hand on my shoulder, I freeze at the contact, "A Drifter... Drifts though different Universes in an effort to hold a peace between them and make sure the Veil never gets torn. I'm afraid I cannot speak more then that for now, you must go and stop something that could destroy EVERY universe, including your own."

I stare into its dark eyes for a moment before closing my own and nodding, I had no-one left here, I made my goodbyes and made sure that everyone knew I might not come back from this mission. I step forward, up to the Tear in the Veil and stop just before the opening. I frown and turn to ask Pause a question, "Did my life-force power the initial rip in the veil in my own universe? Is that why I died?" It simply nods. "Do I have to do it again?" I ask worriedly.

Pause shakes its head, "No, you simply have to use your power just as you did to pull me into this world. Only, it will be much more taxing on your soul now since you aren't simply leaving the compacted Fade, your entering it, and leaving out another exit. It will require much power and without the proper concentration it WILL kill you."

Oh, well that's just perfect.

I turn back to the Tear and swallow nervously, "Just- make sure Liara stays safe while I'm gone, she's dealt with so much over the years since we've met and I don't wish to do her further harm." I feel more then see Pause nod in agreement. I let out a sigh of relief and fear at what was to come. "Where am I to go?" I ask finally.

Pause shifts up to just behind me and places his claws onto my armored shoulders. "Where do you think? Where might we need you most?"

I feel something melt and flow across my skin and I shiver at the strange contact before ripping myself away from his grasp and looking down to find my armor fusing into something else. I gasp as it stops melding and forms into the blackest leather armor I've ever seen. My dagger siting comfortably in it's new holster along my left collar bone. "Holy fuck." I breath, the material is smooth to the touch and holds a weightlessness my other armor didn't have, giving me immense flexibility.

A crackling ripples though a fallen tree behind me and I turn to impulsively catch the piece of wood flying at me. The dark and ancient wood hums at my touch and I can FEEL the energy it holds within.

An explosion surprises me from behind and I turn to gasp as I barely catch a longsword by the hilt, its weight nearly throwing me to the ground.

"You are now a new person, with new powers, but the same mind. Your skills with biotics have been appropriately transitioned into beginner talents of your choice." Pause tosses a roll of paper at me as I sheath the blade in its housing and let the staff snap to my back with a strangely natural energy. I catch the small scroll easily. "This is a list of Specializations you might already know. Please choose two you wish to master, or six you wish to begin in with no prior knowledge, or lastly three where you aren't a master but control enough of it to be called an expert." I open up the scroll and see a list;

Arcane Warrior

Assassin

Bard

Battlemage

Berserker

Bloodmage

Champion

Duelist

Guardian

Fade Spirit

Force Mage

Keeper

Legionnaire Scout

Ranger

Reaver

Shadow

Shapeshifter

Spirit Healer

Spirit Warrior

Templar

Oh. My. God. I'm seriously going into Dragon Age?!

I grin like an idiot and look over the list again, mad laughter nearly breaking through my throat as I realize my luck.

TWO Bioware games in a row! Awesome!

I frown as my eyes rest on 'Fade Spirit'. "What is the 'Fade Spirit' Specialization? I've never heard of it." I ask Pause.

It looks at me for a second, seemingly amused. "That is the only Specialization that gives you control over Fade energy, as you have seen already it can be very useful." Its smile drops. "There is only one problem with it, the energy has to come from the Fade, Which means you have to pair it with Spirit Warrior, Arcane Warrior, Bloodmage, or Spirit Healer to properly control the fracturing of the Veil within your own body. A Spirit will have to guard you from Demons as well from the other side so you can freely use the Fade energy to your own gain without being possessed." Pause shuffles over to the Tear and takes another wisp of Fade energy. "The Fade is full of power if you know how to contain it..." He flicks his wrist at a nearby tree and it's torn apart instantly, the shards of wood spiraling around a brightly glowing green spot before blasting outwards in a flare of Fade energy.

I gasp as the shards stop just before even touching me and just float there.

"Manipulation of the Fade is very... powerful. As such it only requires a small bit of energy to do much, as long as you don't let it fall apart." It waves its hand and the shards fly into it, bursting into a brilliant green flame over it's black palm before burning out. "It is a useful talent, if not the most threatening. Your dreams will be nightmarish as your power over the Fade would rival that of all the Demons and nearly match that of the Maker himself. Your life will be a living hell if you choose this, as Templars will sense the thin Veil that shrouds around you if you do not hold your magic under a tight vice. Mages will flock to you as your power will no-doubt cause them to think you are a Demon physically manifesting in their Realm. Distrust will appear as common as breathing..." Pause watches me intently as I listen, seeing my lack of reaction. "You are not deterred?" His voice is slow, yet surprised. "I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. I suppose your past lives have given you a certain strength of will towards your dreams, but know this." It shuffles forwards to look me directly in the eye. "You WILL need to train. You are NOT a Spirit of the Fade, you are NOT born with this power, you must be taught to use it before your journey truly starts." Pause steps back and waits for my reply respectfully.

Wow... power over the Fade? I'd be a Dreamer...

I look at the list and see it's been shortened to;

Arcane Warrior

Bloodmage

Spirit Healer

Spirit Warrior

I run through what I remember from over two decades ago about the Specializations, back before the Reapers, before my death, before Death.

Wow, it really has been over twenty years since I fell ass-first into the Mass Effect Universe. It's so strange to finally be done with it. I almost feel sad that I won't be able to see Liara again. She's pretty much the only one left in this galaxy that doesn't think I'm a monster worse then the Reapers. Or maybe she thinks that too and just understands my situation after... the 'incident' in the Galactic Core.

I shake my head and file the thought away for a later time. I was given an opportunity and I was going to take it in stride. I had only one option left... survival, at any cost.

I'm turning forty in a few days... I came here when I was eighteen and had to suffer through twenty two years of shit piled up on-top of more shit, but I think it was worth it to see the end, and live past it. God I fucking wish I could have just killed Saren back on Thessia, just to end his own suffering at Harbinger's hands, tentacles, whatever.

Again I shake my head clear and take in a deep breath, feeling my artificial lungs inflate and deflate with a plasticity I'm still not used to. "I choose to pair Fade Spirit with..." I look over the small list once more before nodding, I know what I need to choose. "...Spirit Warrior."

Pause nods before asking, "And is that what you wish? To become a master Fade-Warrior? Or do you want another Specialization to compliment your abilities?"

I blink for a moment and look down to see the entire list was back, except Fade Spirit and Spirit Warrior were crossed out.

Is that enough to fight the Blight? To fight the Archdemon? To fight through the multiple wars I'll have to face? I think that's enough.

I nod at Pause with finality.

Pause shimmers with veins of green energy and I can feel knowledge being not only ripped from my mind, but dumped in it's place.

God! It's almost as painful as having Harbinger scraping the inside of my skull out during that final push that ended the damn Reaper war!

Pause shivers before stopping and looking extremely weakened from the exertion, and it shows in its slower, lower-pitched voice, "Your settings have been put into effect and your Origins have been written. Your fate from here on out is sealed to your new realm. We will not speak again until it is time for you to leave once more." It's shadowy form seems to be getting smaller and smaller before I realize I was Drifting away from him. "Your paths have been made clear Bellanaris Falon Elgar!" My eyebrows twitch slightly as my mind instantly translates it to 'Eternal Friend Spirit'. It was deliberately speaking in Elvish to mess with me. "Goodbye Drifter, I will see you when-" It's voice is cut off as the swirls of beautifully sinister Fade energy entangle themselves around me. I gasp at the searing flash of light that chokes the breath out of me... everything goes white after that. This time I know in absolute certainty that the heat I feel was NOT from Mexico.

A/N NOTHING AFTER THIS CHAPTER WILL DRAW BACK TO SCORPIO'S LEGACY. I want to make sure everyone knows that this first chapter is just a bridge between Scorpio's Legacy and the Drifter's Journey series. I have no intension of making this an AU crossover. Scorpio is now officially stuck inside the Dragon Age series with NO powers or skills from Mass Effect at all. He is officially Me dropped into the Dragon Age Universe. I intend to keep writing Scorpio's Legacy and finishing it along side of this series by the end of 2015. At that point Scorpio's Legacy will dip into Mass Effect 4 with a different protagonist and the Drifter's Journey series will probably jump into another game universe. :)

Again, the only reason I'm writing this NOW instead of in a year or so is because Dragon Age: Inquisition comes out in a few months and I want a piece of that in one of my stories. :)

This Dragon Age Self Insert is officially started! Whoa! :) I'll be updating this thing semi-weekly, it really depends on what I feel like writing, Mass Effect, or Dragon Age.

Oh, and you see that button below? The one that will determine whether I keep writing this story? Yeah you might want to hit that. ;)