Summary: On the eve of a beautiful day, Kye Tamm witnesses a tornado that erupts from the sky. With it, comes the dawning of her awakening, beginning with her death. When she wakes up, she finds herself transported to a world unlike her own; the world of Thedas, the world of Dragon Age. But she isn't the only one. Almost a hundred other humans have been sucked into the chaos with her...
Disclaimer: I don't work for Bioware (Boohoo) nor do I own Dragon Age (Doi) but I DO own this story, and its characters. Or at least most of its characters. Many (if not all) of the characters mentioned are my real life friends. And many (if not all) of the relations and events and drama that's mentioned are real. Just sayin (teehee).
Notes: So this takes place before Inquisition. Let's say... This is MY version of Inquisition. I had this whole idea of the sky being torn apart, and a tornado sucking everyone into it, since BEFORE Inquisition. I'm only posting it now because I didn't have the passion to continue it before. So please don't think this is a rip-off or anything. So yes, the Inquisition never takes place. Instead, this happens.
Thank you to those who're reading this! I've been really into this concept since I continued it after so long. I really hope I stick with this one.
Cheers!
Chapter 1
Marsha and Hannah are sitting just beside Evelyn, with all three of them hunched over Marsha's phone. Apparently a picture of a puppy riding on a polar bear's back is extremely intriguing. Kye Tamm is not as easily taken. She places her drawing books into her desk, and stands up to make her way out of the classroom. It feels too crowded all of a sudden. Especially with Michelle and Uzair sitting not too far beside her, making conversation and flashing charming smiles at each other. She doesn't care for them. But the wound's still a little fresh. Even though it's been a year. Idiot.
She's just about to cross the classroom threshold when Marsha calls out to her.
"Kye! Look at this!"
Of course, she can't refuse. Her two close friends, and one especially best friend, are coaxing her into being a frilly girl for a few seconds. She doesn't want to oblige. But, she can't refuse.
She makes her way to them, forcing on the best smile she can, and leans forward to inspect the phone.
Oh dear, that picture is rather hilarious.
It isn't of a dog on a polar bear anymore.
It's a candid shot of Evelyn's oblivious face. They must've taken it when she wasn't looking. Smart.
She flicks a glance at Evelyn, before smirking towards the other two's direction.
"You should send that to AJ."
Evelyn gasped. "Hell no!"
AJ. The new kid. Well, kind of. He transferred in this year. Not new. But new enough to be considered new. He's a pimp. A gangster. A guy who's probably handled a gun before. He's two years older. He stayed back in this grade.
Evelyn's ex.
Kye never knew what Evelyn saw in that douche. He's definitely not a gentleman, has no social graces whatsoever, and ditches classes ninety-two percent of the time. He isn't even that good-looking. Plus, he's short. That's a huge downer. But then again, Kye holds a bar to the people she finds interesting (despite falling in love with almost anyone who seems interested in her).
Kye looks at the door. "I have to use the loo."
"I'll come with."
"You don't have to."
Evelyn pulls a face. "I need to use the loo too, you know?"
Sure. Kye restrains herself from rolling her eyes, and vouches for her signature smirk instead. As Evelyn brushes past her, she turns just slightly to give her two friends last glances before heading off.
Then she joins Evelyn by the corridor and the two make their way down to the bathroom.
"I know why you left the classroom."
Kye keeps her voice steady. "Yeah. I needed to piss."
"No," Evelyn shoots her a knowing look. "Michelle and Uzair—"
"I do not need to hear this from you." With a shove, Kye marches ahead. She hears Evelyn's childish laugh, and sneers.
They reach the toilet soon enough, and the two enter different stalls in unison. Kye can't help but think back to the time when she still liked Uzair. She can't help but also think back to the time when she was dating Michelle.
Twist.
Kye used to like Uzair.
Before that, Kye dated Michelle.
Now Uzair and Michelle are dating. And Kye's left in the dust like some fat wannabe singer. She breathes out a silent sigh, and shakes her head. What a messed up triangle. Doesn't matter. She leaves the stall soon, and washes her hands before joining the already-finished Evelyn outside.
"Took you long enough. Did you shit?"
Kye's expression turns sour. "Ew! Gross and personal much? Did you shit? Gosh!"
Evelyn laughs loudly. "No, I didn't! But y'know, good to know you didn't either."
Kye purses her lips, rolls her eyes and walks off.
"Let's go."
Evelyn follows her, still laughing to herself.
Geez.
Kye stares out at the sky. Class is so boring. It's not fun to be a teenager stuck in a classroom with a boring teacher explaining the laws of electromagnets and whatever. Science, Kye thought, has always been an interesting subject to her. But sometimes it gets way too technical and way too unfriendly for her sad little mind. She can't help but not be interested. So instead she stares out the window, thinking about everything and nothing. Thinking about her games, more so. She's a gamer, yes. Quite an avid one too. As you can maybe already tell, Kye is a rather masculine girl. More masculine than feminine. More brawn than petite.
One of her personal favorite games just happens to be Dragon Age. It comes right next to Mass Effect. They both score equally to her chart. Either way, they're both brilliant games, and she's memorized both almost fluidly. She looks down at her empty notebook. Notes. Teacher hasn't given them yet. But she's sure to do so in the next few minutes.
What a bore.
Dragon Age.
She wonders how it'd be like.
To be in a world like Thedas.
With magic and Templars and war and Qunari.
Oh, Qunari's. Man, they are awesome. They're her personal favorite. Considering the fans know so little about them, the air of mystique just makes them even more alluring.
Kye ducks her head in between her arms and buries it. She just wants to drift off into unconsciousness for now. Evelyn is talking to Hannah. Marsha's paying attention to class. And Uzair, despite sitting right next to her, feels like he's a million miles away.
Somehow, she just feels so alone.
She doesn't remember what she dreamt about. Maybe Dragon Age? Maybe Mass Effect. Maybe the next Saints Row game. She remembers one thing though—Evelyn was in it. And she was pretty badass too. Waving around some kind of staff with glowing red eyes and a creepy glare. Something about that is completely off. Evelyn is in no way intimidating. She's petite, submissive and she teared once because Hannah held her wrist too tight. Why would she be intimidating?
But anyways, Kye doesn't remember anything else besides that.
But that doesn't really concern her.
Because what she sees when she wakes up,
Is pure chaos.
"Kye! Get up!"
She shoots up instantly, causing the chair she was sitting on to fall backwards behind her. The noise doesn't much attention, however, because everyone's too focused on the tornado ripping the ground outside.
Wait, what—
Her gaze flickers to the back door. Evelyn. Hannah. Marsha. They're all staring. Wide-eyed, with frightened expressions. Kye grits her teeth together and rushes towards them.
Bad mistake.
The wind throws a chair across the room, smacking Kye right in the head. She falls onto the ground, and Uzair notices.
He races to her, and bends down where she is. Before he even asks if she's alright, another gust of wind knocks the chair just a few inches from Kye's body. Uzair catches it before it smashes her face in.
"Kye!" He exclaims, throwing the chair away. He shakes her arm. No response. "Hey!" No response.
"Shit." He stands up and looks around to find the teacher. Where is she? She's gone. Crap, this is hell! As he lowers his gaze once again, he notices Kye's eyelids flutter. Just slightly.
"Kye?"
She's moving her lips. Mumbling something.
She opens an eye, and stares up at him. "Woah." Weak voice. She's obviously not aware of her surroundings.
Uzair bends down again, and attempts to put her arm over his shoulder. "We need to get out of here." He says. "There's a tornado coming."
"Tornado? That's impossible."
They both stand up, with Kye being far too weak to support casually.
"Where is everyone?"
"They're gone. Madame Chong must've led them somewhere."
Must've. Or else where could they have gone?
They both make their way to the door, and then out to the corridor. This weather is worse than Kye thought. When she looks up at the grey sky, with barely enough sunlight to decipher the whole thing, it almost looks as if... Something is tearing the sky apart.
What is happening?
From the corner of her eye, she sees something from the other class.
She unhooks her arm over Uzair's shoulder. "You have to go on ahead!"
Uzair doesn't oblige. "What are you talking about? We both have to go now."
"You go!"
"No, are you crazy?! I'm not leaving you!"
Kye glares and says, "Go! Get yourself to damn safety and find Michelle. She's waiting for you."
She walks away without hearing Uzair's response. She doesn't want to be 'that girl'. That spiteful girl who doesn't care about other people's feelings, who charges into blind danger without thought of her own well being and the feelings of others. She's considered a fairly nice person. But she can't stand being around him anymore. Seeing him with Michelle has made her a bad person. Jealousy. Human instinct. Even at a time of a crisis. She shoves the guilt off her shoulders, and quickly burst through the class next to hers. There, struggling with two chairs interlocked between her foot, keeping her at place, is Shereen Suhaili. Kye's bro. Best friend. Also occasional acting buddy. Fellow gamer.
She was left behind.
"Shereen!" Kye pushes past the fallen tables until she's by Shereen's side.
"Help me out!" Her voice, clear of her usual enthusiasm, is gaspy and fearful.
Kye quickly unlocks the chairs from each other's grasps, and pulls Shereen away.
"What happened?"
"They left. They—They didn't come back for me."
Of course they didn't. During a disaster, survival is priority. Self-centered emotions. Human instinct.
"Let's get out of here." Kye drapes Shereen's arm over her shoulder, and, imitating Uzair's movements, stands up. They both make their way out.
"I can walk." Shereen whispers, managing herself on both legs. Kye nods, and the two run towards the stairs.
As soon as they turn the corner, they see their classmates. Not just their classmates. But the whole school, in fact. They're all huddled together in a massive human traffic jam. Pushing, shoving, trying their hardest to make it down without being blown away by the tornado. Survival, no matter the cost. Human instinct.
Kye looks back, before searching the crowd for her friends. Precisely two seconds later, she sees Hannah's familiar face. They're safe. Thank God.
"Kye, what happened to your head?"
"What?"
"It's bruised."
"Oh." Kye purses her lips together. "Got hit by a chair."
Madame Chong spots the two, and frantically waves them over. Kye looks back once more. They have no choice. There is no back way. The gates are locked. The only way down is through these stairs.
No. The gate might not be locked. Kye slips past Shereen, without her noticing, and runs opposite the way she was originally headed towards.
She holds onto the railing to keep the wind from throwing her off like a rag doll. After it passes, she continues on her way towards the back stairs, where the gates are most probably locked. But she has to check it out. It's better than being just another one of those animals. Pushing, shoving, jumping their way down like wild beasts. Humanity can be a scary thing sometimes.
She turns the corner, and her heart lifts. It's open!
"Kye!"
She turns her head. Evelyn and Michelle are running towards her. Wait.
Michelle?
"What the hell are you doing?" Michelle's voice is as sharp as ever. Demanding and aggressive. Like Kye's always known her to be.
Kye avoids direct eye contact.
Two seconds later, Michelle sneers. "Stop ignoring me! This is serious!"
Serious. Like when you broke my heart?
No, Kye, that's petty. Goddamnit, there's a tornado and you're thinking about that now?
Kye doesn't respond. She shifts her gaze to Evelyn.
"What're you doing here?" Evelyn takes the initiative.
"I was hoping the gate would be open. I—"
"Idiot. The tornado's coming from this direction. If we try to go down from here, we could get blown away."
"The main stairs are blocked. We can't get through with a machete and bulldozer."
"No." Evelyn says. "But it's the only way."
Bullshit. Kye finally looks at Michelle.
Does she look hurt?
"I'm not waiting around there just to get blown away by the tornado. I'm getting down here."
Evelyn slaps Kye on the chest. "Don't be stupid!"
A figure appears just behind Evelyn and Michelle. It appears so suddenly Kye's momentarily stunned. She can't even react in time as the mysterious figure draws a blade from their cloak, pushes past the two girls and stabs Kye in the stomach. The grueling red liquid drips out of her body, onto the blade and pools all over the ground. And then in a blink of an eye, the figure disappears.
Kye drops to the ground, gripping her abdomen with her right hand. Evelyn's first to react. She screams. Michelle joins her not a second later.
"Oh god, Kye!" She bends down to try and take a look at the wound. But Kye's crouching position makes it almost impossible. All she can see is blood. "Kye, move your hand!"
She can't move. She can't even shake her head. Every nerve in her body is frozen up. She's too surprised. Too stunned. She doesn't know how to move.
"She's in shock, Evelyn. We have to help her!"
"How?!"
How, indeed. How do you help one who's just been stabbed? In normal circumstances, you can call the ambulance. But unfortunately, with this tornado drawing near, local authorities aren't going to be much help.
Kye looks past the steel railing beside her, through the gaps and down to the road and field below. She can catch a figure walking solemnly towards the field, with their hand outstretched, still holding onto that bloody dagger. She can feel the stingy pain in her stomach from where she was brutally stabbed. But everything stops, even the pain, once this figure pauses, turns around and looks up.
Her hair is of a dark ebony colour, with only a few grey strands. Her face, clear of any bruises or dark marks, is refined beautifully, with only a few wrinkles below her eyes and above her eyebrows. Her lips, full and soft and peach, are curled into an almost satisfied smile. She locks gazes with Kye. And time stops.
Morrigan.
Morrigan's here.
No, impossible.
No, this can't be happening. Morrigan is a fictional character made for the Dragon Age franchise, she can't possibly be in the real world!
Do Kye's eyes deceive her?
Could her pain and shock be playing tricks in her mind?
There is only one way to find out.
She stands up, feeling time regaining its usual tempo once again. The figure turns around and continues on her way towards the field. But Kye's determined to stop her.
Ignoring Michelle and Evelyn's protests, she pushes past the now half-closed gate and hobbles down the stairs, gritting her teeth together to keep from shouting out from the pain. Damn, this really is worse than food poisoning. She can hear her two friends' footsteps behind her, but she heeds no mind to them. She just needs to get down there. After registering an image like that, it's hard to tell the lines between fantasy and reality. She can't tell if her friends are calling out to her. Maybe her ears are numb, or blocked, or maybe the blood has all but spilled out of her wound. Whatever it is, she's not letting that stop her. She continues down until, finally, she manages to stumble her way to main ground.
"Kye!"
She regains her hearing. A sharp pull on her elbow causes her to wince and turn around. Michelle's glaring at her and Evelyn looks about ready to cry.
"What the hell?!" Michelle screams.
How can Kye respond? How can Kye explain that there is a fictional character from a video game come to life here in their school? She knows she's running straight towards the tornado, she knows she's risking her own life and theirs and she knows her friends are just worried for her. Worry. The same kind of worry that attacked her when Michelle started dating Uzair. She shakes her head.
"You don't understand." Her lips are numb, and she's finding it troublesome to open her eyes. Is she losing too much blood?
"No, you don't understand. If we don't go now, we are going to die." The way Michelle's talking makes Kye feel like a little girl. She hates it.
"Then go." She pulls her elbow away, forcefully enough to escape Michelle's vice grip, and turns around. She continues on her way, ignoring the guilt that had rose in her chest after seeing her friends' speechless and slightly judgmental expressions.
Life is at a turn-point currently.
Kye's halfway to the field.
But she can feel the warm, sticky substance drip away by her forearm. She's losing a lot of blood.
Her consciousness is starting to waver.
And her grip on reality is looser than ever.
Maybe she really did just imagine Morrigan. Maybe Morrigan isn't here at all. Maybe she's walking towards the tornado, leaving her friends behind at a potential threat of being whisked away and killed.
She swallows. It's too late to turn back now. Whatever the outcome of this drastic reaction is, she has to live with the consequences.
In the distance, she can just barely see a lone figure standing in the middle of the field. The figure isn't doing anything. She's just standing, with the dagger nowhere to be seen. Kye trips her way past the side-walk, and then takes a small but undeniably painful leap over the large drain, before stumbling her way, once more, towards Morrigan. She can feel herself falling. Her knees are shaky, her vision is blurry and she can barely keep herself together.
The closer she gets, the more she sees. Morrigan isn't just standing there. She's chanting. She's reading out words from a book that looks to be a thousand years old, with her hand waving at the air, and the dagger from before planted steadily on the ground. The whole position just looks too familiar.
She's casting a spell.
Kye reaches out, her fingers shaky, in an attempt to stop her. For a moment, she looks close enough to succeed. But then darkness overtakes her. Her knees give away, and her body falls flatly onto the ground.
She can barely breathe. The sun barely feels hot on her exposed back. And the grass below her doesn't tickle her like before. She can't feel anything. She can't hear anything. The only thing she can hear is the sound of her own fading heartbeat. Drifting off, ever so slowly. Is this the end? Is she going to die here? In school, of all places! She wants to smile. To laugh. But she can't. She can only lie there, breathing in the scent of dirt and grass and metallic blood. She is immobile. But she can still see.
Morrigan has stopped chanting. She closes the book and places it on the ground. Kye can just barely catch the satisfied smile on her radiant face. She places both hands on the dagger's handle, gripping it tightly, and bows her head down as if she's praying. Seconds later, she thrusts the dagger into the air, ripping it out of the ground and sending it flying upwards. And that's when Kye sees it. The second she raises her gaze just slightly, she sees it.
The sky is being torn apart.
And it looks all too familiar.
Because this sight was in Dragon Age, and Kye knows it instantly.
The Veil is torn.
She gasps, her sight fading quickly, like a terrified butterfly. The world swims around her, and as she takes her last breath and listens to her last heartbeat, the last thing that she sees, clear as day, is Morrigan's twisted and hauntingly beautiful grin. And then, seconds later,
The darkness overwhelms her.
