A/N: Okay, so I have quite a few things to touch upon before we begin. First of all, the story title is taken from an episode of the TV-series 'Penny Dreadful'. The musical theme of the same episode also works as the perfect musical arrangement for this story. Please, do a youtube search for Abel Korzeniowski Penny Dreadful Closer Than Sisters, I promise that you will not regret it.

As you will quickly notice, some of the character backgrounds are changed for the purposes of this story, the biggest difference being that William lives and Joyce is sadly no longer with us. There are reasons for this, trust me.

Will we see some Dragon Age characters, or is this purely LiS characters in DA setting? Some DA characters will show up, but in minor roles. I would encourage you to read on if you like Cullen, though. :)

How will time travel be handled? By it not being time travel, actually. Max's magic will work a little differently here, it's definitely reality altering, but not exactly by traveling back in time.

Please, read on and let me know what you think!

Chapter 1

Year 9:22 of Dragon Age

Highever, Ferelden

Maxine 'Max' Caulfield idly watched the foam capped wave of the Waking Sea rolling in and reaching the tip of her boot before flowing back out. She took in a deep breath of the rich, fragrant sea air, listening to the cry of the gulls as they flew above them, making the young girl envious of the freedom that the birds seemed to possess. Still, walking back and forth the beach, hand-in-hand with her best friend forever, Chloe Price, Max felt like she could never trade the life she had for the freedom to roam the skies as free as a bird. After all, this was the 'Max and Chloe Hour' of the day, almost a sacred time for them both, something that the girls eagerly looked forward to during their respective chore-filled days, spent working and helping their parents.

At her age of thirteen, Max was old enough to be aware that their life in Highever, while still not easy by any means, was not as challenging as most people in Ferelden had to endure. Certainly, her family was not rich, not even wealthy, but at least the bakery her parents owned and had invested their lives in, just as her father's parents before that, brought in enough money to allow them to meet their ends. Her parents were respected in the community, and supplied the household of Teyrn Bryce Cousland, the ruler of Highever in the nearby Castle Cousland, with fresh bread every morning, a badge of pride for her parents. And being the only child of the family, Max was expected to one day take over the family business, already being groomed for it, spending long hours in the bakery every day as she learned the craft from her parents.

While Max was not particularly thrilled about the life that fate seemed to have in store for her, she had outgrown the phase of bitter complaining about it, having come to realize that many young people her age, even in the relatively wealthy city of Highever, would be extremely jealous in having the kind of stability and security that her parents had provided for her. Max had often dreamed of having a sibling who could fulfill the dreams of their parents while leaving her free to pursue the calling of her heart, the young girl dreaming about traveling to either Val Royeaux or Antiva City to study art. And her parents had tried for another child, at least for the first few years following Maxine's birth, but at some point her parents had abandoned the idea, perhaps realizing that to feed another mouth would be too much of a strain for their household.

Max had been fascinated by art from a very young age, ever since she had first noticed the beautiful stained glass in the chantry of Highever, far more appealing to her than Mother Mallol's recitations from the Chant of Light. She dreamed of one day owning a proper easel, canvas, a set of oil inks and brushes, but this was an investment beyond that which her parents could afford, and so it remained a distant dream. Still, Max refused to give up. She created her art by using whatever she could find, which often involved using things that the Waking Sea gave up, beautiful seashells, smoothly polished pebbles or pieces of wood, maybe even pieces of amber or ancient coins washed up from the sunken ships that the bottom of the sea was supposedly rife with. Max had a rare talent in arranging all these different objects on a canvas so that they combined into something uniquely beautiful, and she had gained something like a minor notoriety when during the local fair of last Satinalia, Teyrn Cousland himself had bought one of her 'paintings'. Only for the servant's quarters, of course, but it was still a great honor and the memory made young Max swell with pride up to this very day.

"Think you can use this?" Max smiled and nodded eagerly, when Chloe bent down to pick up a beautiful star-shaped seashell in a rare pinkish hue. "Anything to support my favorite artist," the taller girl grinned goofily as she reached out to deposit the shell in the little pouch that Max always carried with her everywhere, just on the off-chance that she would come across something interesting.

"Thanks," Max beamed at her best friend. "How was the day at the forge? Same old, same old?" Chloe's father William was one of the best blacksmith's in Highever, and Chloe had ended up in the same apprenticeship situation as Max, albeit through more tragic circumstances. Chloe's mother Joyce had died in childbirth, leaving her husband alone to raise their baby daughter, and even fourteen years later, William would not tolerate any talk of ever marrying again. This had left Chloe without any chance of having a sibling, effectively sealing her fate in being destined to follow in her father's footsteps in a profession that was very much male-dominated. Still, despite it being physically punishing, Max rarely heard Chloe complaining about her lot in life, in fact her friend seemed to rather enjoy metalwork, discovering that she had a particular knack in creating different kinds of jewelry. As a result, Max now owned an entire box full with various knickknacks made by Chloe, rings, brooches, anklets, bracelets, bobby pins, faithfully holding on to every little thing that Chloe had gifted her, despite the other girl's urging to throw away some of her early creations so as not to embarrass her.

"Pretty much, yeah," Chloe frowned a little, rolling her expressive bright blue eyes. "Stole some time to work on a surprise for you, though," the strawberry blonde added with a chuckle.

"Oh... what is it?" Max gave the other girl her best pleading puppy stare, but Chloe appeared unimpressed.

"How would that be a surprise if I told you all about it, doofus," Chloe grinned, playfully punching Max in the shoulder. "You'll find out in less than a month, anyway," she added, referring to Max's upcoming fourteen birthday.

"Bah," Max grumbled good-naturedly, stopping and turning to face the sea again, looking at how the rays of the slowly setting sun reflected upon the waters, enveloping everything in a warmly glowing orange light. The dark silhouettes of the ships out in the sea looked particularly mystical in this light, and even if most of them were merely simple trading cogs, it was an old game for Max and Chloe to pretend that they were actually mighty caravels belonging to the pirate fleet that they both ruled as mischievous, deadly and beautiful pirate queens. "I don't think I will ever tire of this view," she spoke softly, unable to take her eyes away from the horizon.

"I guess that means you no longer think yourself too good for this town, huh?" Chloe winked at her, though in earnest she was just as mesmerized by the view as Max. "Let's face it, we're never getting away from Highever, Maxima. Then again... maybe there are worse places to get stuck in, right?"

"Well... duh. Those other places don't have you," Max grinned at her friend.

"True... and I'm still not letting you know what you're getting for your birthday," Chloe laughed, once again playfully bumping against the smaller girl's shoulder.

"My shoulder is going to hurt like mad if you keep doing that, Chloe," Max pointed out. "You probably aren't even aware of it, but you've become so much stronger as of late. You're not just my best friend, you're also my best bodyguard." While they both were of very lean builds, in Chloe's case it was very deceptive, her work at the forge having given her a considerable amount of hard muscles. And it wasn't just because of work. Unlike Max, who was horrified by weapons, Chloe could ramble on for hours about a particularly well crafted sword her father had made, and she had also received some basic weapons training as well, courtesy of some of her father's satisfied customers.

"Maybe we should trade places for a year or two," Chloe suggested with a wry grin. "You go work the forge with my dad. I'll hang out in the bakery with your folks and gorge myself fat on cupcakes."

"No, no, I think I'm good," Max smiled. "I wonder..." she began to speak, then falling silent, deep in thought, continuing only after Chloe had gently prodded her in the ribs. "Oh, right... I was just thinking... I'm starting to become comfortable with what I think my life will be like, and I'm wondering... am I not too young to feel this way? To accept that I'll never be more than what destiny has arranged for me? I would never want to leave you, though..."

"Ha! As if I didn't know you, Max Caulfield," Chloe mock-glared at her. "You're going to abandon me for Aedan Cousland at the first opportunity."

"No way! You're going to betray me first with Fergus!" Max laughed. It was a running joke between the pair where they constantly accused each other of being infatuated with the teyrn's sons, when in fact they were probably the only two girls at this age in the whole of Highever who did not harbor any true romantic notions towards the offspring of Highever's ruler.

"Well, he is a good looking young man," Chloe nodded seriously, then bursting out in laughter when Max punched her in the shoulder, a slightly challenging proposition considering that Chloe had stretched at least a good couple of inches taller than her younger friend. "Hey, who's being violent now?" she added with an amused chortle.

"Only because you deserved it," Max grinned. "Should we start turning back? I wouldn't want to miss dinner."

"Nah, you're just bored of me already," Chloe mock-pouted.

"I thought that you and your dad were supposed to come over for dinner at our place," Max sighed, shaking her head. "So, I'm stuck with you for the rest of the evening anyway, goofball." Her parents, Ryan and Vanessa, had befriended the widower William when both the children were still very young. While their parents worked to support their families, young Max and Chloe had been left in the care of the lay sisters at the local chantry, where they had immediately befriended each other and gotten into a whole lot of trouble together. Up to this day, instead of reverently praising the Maker's greatness, amongst themselves the two girls simply referred to the Andrastian deity as 'The Great Mabari In The Sky'.

"Oh. Right. I knew that!" Chloe exclaimed, blushing slightly as she rubbed the back of her neck. "You know what's the best part about that arrangement?"

"That you won't have to cook back at your place?" Max asked, rolling her eyes, especially when Chloe grinned broadly and nodded her head. "You're such a predictable dork," Max growled, lightly pushing the other girl, Chloe barely managing to maintain her balance.

"Hey!" Chloe protested, nimbly jumping away before an incoming wave had thoroughly soaked her knee-length boots. "Seriously though... I should let your mom know how much I appreciate her doing this. I know she does it partly so that I don't have to spend hours cooking every day and we can hang out more..."

"Yeah, mom is awesome," Max nodded with a happy smile on her lips. "And don't worry, she knows how much we both appreciate what she's doing. I try to tell her that every day."

"Good. You're my Super Max, after all," Chloe chuckled, putting her arm around the younger girl's shoulders. "Hey... would you look at that," she pointed a little in the distance, two other people walking by the seashore, a rather foppishly dressed young man wearing a silly cap with a feather in it, accompanied by a girl of similar age, dressed in a rather impractical long white dress the bottom of which had already become quite drenched in the seawater. "Some noble posers coming to occupy the beach of Max and Chloe? Unacceptable! Off with their heads!"

"Chloe... let's just ignore them," Max sighed, shaking her head. "The beach is big enough for everyone, right? You don't have to start anything."

"Ugh, I wasn't really planning to, doofus," Chloe rolled her eyes in reply. "Why would I want to mess with some nobles, anyway. They're trouble. Let's just move past them and be on our way."

Max increased her pace at that, trying to keep up with Chloe as they approached the young pair of nobles. The girl was certainly very pretty, with short, blonde hair, but a haughty and spoiled expression on her seemingly always pouty face. The boy was also rather handsome, and he somehow seemed familiar, though Max at first could not recall where she had seen him before. However, when Chloe and Max reached them and tried to walk by on the shore, the young man suddenly and purposefully stepped into Max's path, sharply tackling her with his shoulder and almost knocking her down into the wet sand.

"Hey! What's your fucking problem, shit-face?" Chloe barked, immediately looking ready to tear the young noble apart even as she reached out a supportive arm to help Max steady herself.

"Care to repeat that, peasant whore?" the young man growled dangerously.

"Careful, Chloe," Max warned, having noticed that an elaborate rapier was hanging sheathed at the noble youth's belt, the push also having jogged her memory so that she recalled where she had seen the boy before. "That's the son of Arl Prescott. From the Arling of Arcadia Bay."

"That's right," the boy nodded at them haughtily. "At least one of you dirty peasants know to address their betters with some respect."

"She called you shit-face, Nathan," the girl in the white dress told her companion. "Make her apologize!"

"Stay out of this, Victoria," Nathan scoffed at the girl behind him, then turning back to Chloe. "But yeah... yeah, you better apologize, whore," he growled at the strawberry blonde, drawing his rapier threateningly.

"Careful not to hurt yourself with that, moron," Chloe chuckled, not at all impressed, even if Max appeared very frightened and was trying to drag her away. "I could kick your ass with... with this very stick, if I wanted to," she laughed, picking up a piece of wood that had been washed ashore.

"Oh, you asked for this!" Nathan exclaimed, charging at them. Chloe quickly did her best to push Max out of the harm's way before she easily dodged Nathan's clumsy swing, the wooden stick hitting his hand with all her might, forcing the boy to cry out and drop the rapier. Chloe then stepped up and kicked the weapon several yards into the Waking Sea, where it promptly sank to the sandy bottom.

"What a loser," she chuckled at the seething noble, cradling his hurt arm.

"Let's get out of here, Chloe," Max spoke frantically, trying to pull her friend away. "He could get us into a lot of trouble!"

"You're damn right I will!" Nathan growled, turning around to face the path that was leading up the cliffs towards the gates of Highever. "Guards! Guards!"

"Shit," Chloe cursed, seeing a frighteningly large man barreling down the mountain path towards the beach, weapon already drawn. "Run!" she called out to Max, turning to bolt away, but Nathan shot out his leg and managed to trip her at the last moment. "Run, Max!" Chloe called out pleadingly when she saw that Max had literally frozen in place, the armed guard already upon them. "Save yourself!"

From Max's perception, everything around her seemed to be happening in slow motion. She could hear Nathan's angry bark, pointing accusingly at Chloe, still sprawled on the ground. She could see the guard nodding without a moment of hesitation, and then raising his sword to strike at her best friend. She could see Chloe desperately bringing up the wooden stick to absorb the blow, but it splintered in her hands as the blade cut through it, about to pierce her heart...

Suddenly, Max felt her chest bursting with strange, powerful emotion, making her entire body tremble, an energy she never thought she possessed suddenly coursing through her light frame, almost like wisps of lightning crackling at her fingertips, struggling to break free. "Chloe! Chloe, no!" she screamed as she saw the sword biting into her best friend's chest, sending splatters of blood everywhere, and suddenly her world exploded in white fury, tearing the reality around her apart. Max had no idea what was happening to her, she had no control over it, she simply saw... shapes, events around her... changing. She saw the wooden stick and the steel sword exchanging hands, saw Chloe inexplicably trading places with the guard... before darkness overpowered her and she plopped down onto the sand, momentarily unconscious.

When Max finally came to and reared her head, she could see Nathan already well on his way up the cliffside path to Highever, yelling "Mage! Mage!" as he ran, Victoria struggling to keep up with her beau. Great Mabari! There's a mage nearby? We must escape too! Max thought to herself frantically as she rose to her feet, then regarding the shocking scene before her with immediate realization. Wait... I... I am the mage...

She bent down next to Chloe, lying in the sand unmoving, praying to the Maker that her friend would miraculously be alright. Max had seen the sword piercing Chloe's chest, inflicting lethal injuries, but now... now, Chloe appeared unharmed, unconscious, but breathing peacefully. The same, however, could not be said about the Prescott guard. The man had a... horrible looking deep hole in his chest, red leaking out of it and mixing with the seawater, staining the sand around him.

Maker! Was that... was that my magic that killed him? That's horrible, but... but at least I saved Chloe, right? Max thought frantically, but the sight and the energy she had expended quickly became far too much for her. Her knees grew weak and buckled beneath her, the young girl collapsing into the sand next to her best friend.

"We have to do something! We could... we could hide her somewhere! Ryan... please!" her mother's pleading voice came to Max as if through a fog, the young girl sitting by Chloe's side as she slept peacefully in her bed at the Price household.

"Calm down, Vanessa, please," her father tried to remain rational as always, but the desperation in his voice failed to escape Max. "William... what do you think?" Ryan looked up at Chloe's father, standing at the feet of his daughter's bed with a grim look on his face.

"Ryan, Vanessa... please, don't think me ungrateful for what I have to say," he sighed deeply. "I would gladly cut off my right arm if I thought it would help Max. I mean... she saved my Chloe! But... the entire city already knows what has happened. The news have reached the chantry, and... and I suspect they are on their way."

"Mom... dad," Max spoke up hoarsely, knowing all too well what William was referring to. The templars were coming to take her away, just like they did with every child who had manifested affinity for magic. She would be taken to the nearest Circle of Magi and locked away in a more or less gilded cage, allowing interaction only with fellow mages and the stern templars guarding them. "Please, don't take any risks on my behalf, I beg you. If I got you into trouble as well... I couldn't live with myself. Just... just let them take me," she sniffed quietly, continuing to hold Chloe's hand.

"My baby... I can't... I won't let go of you without a fight!" her mother cried, embracing her from behind.

"You must, mom," Max spoke softly. "You must... there is no other way." I'm going to be locked up in the Circle for the rest of my life... I'm never going to see Chloe again. But... at least I saved her life... and that is worth any sacrifice.

The dreaded heavy knock on the front door came soon afterwards. William eventually walked up to the entrance and allow the unwelcomed guests inside, four stern men in heavy templar armor, never raising the visors of their helms, never willing to display any sign of humanity or compassion, never allowed to show a shred of sympathy towards mages. As they strode into Chloe's bedroom where Max's parents were sharing their final few hugs with their daughter, Max could not help but to think bitterly of how quickly and suddenly everything had turned around in her life. The fate of being chained to a boring but secure existence as a baker in Highever now lay shattered on the floor, smashed by the heavy steel boots of the templars. Did it happen because I was complaining so much about what I had? Is this just the way the Great Mabari in the Sky shows his displeasure? Or... is it all just down to the cruel game of chance?

The templars, remorseless and uninterested in the family drama, did not give them much time before one of the men placed a firm, gauntleted hand on Max's shoulder and dragged her away from Chloe's bed, forcing her to release her friend's hand. Max's heart was breaking as the templars led her way, having to listen to her mother's desperate cries, but the sobbing girl's last glance at the life she was forced to leave behind was directed at her best friend, lying peacefully in her bed.

Chloe stirred in her sleep as the templars dragged Max across the doorstep, but she failed to open her eyes. Max never got to say her farewells.