Second chapter. I'd like to thank everyone that has reviewed so far. Everyone. Even if it was hard to hear. I meant it, thank you.

It should be pretty clear who this is and what's going on. Share and enjoy. Drop my a review if you have time.

Brother Mine

By the way, what made you think you'd have it your way - By The Way ~ Hinder

The door closes with a reverberating boom of finality.

"Goodbye, Brother, " I say. I look down at the idol in my hands. It has an oblong shape, like a bar of enchanted lyrium. It has a dark, glittering quality and is a deep cherry red. I think about how it reformed in my fingers after Varric tossed it to me. "You're a beauty," I tell it.

"Bartrand, the door closed!" Varric's voice drifts through the thick stone.

"Always were the smart one," I yell back.

"What's going on?" I hear Hawke ask.

"This idol will fetch some nice coin. I don't want to split it three ways." Why am I even bothering?

Soon I am walking alone in the Depths. Just the idol and I. Every time I close my eyes, Varric's stupid look floats before me.

Brother, if you hadn't invited that Fereldan you could be next to us. The idol and I, that is. You also could have been nicer to me. A lot nicer. And maybe less embarrassing. Also, that crossbow, Branka or whatever, seemed more important to you than me.

Is that what this is about? Revenge? For all the little things my brother ever did to me?

Suddenly I'm running back to the chamber the idol came from. I want to open the door and see the surprised looks on Varric's, Hawke's and those other idiots' faces. I want to laugh at their stupid gawping when I come back. I want Varric to laugh too, to tell me I'm forgiven for my stunt.

What does happen is different. I pound on the door. Scream myself hoarse, but no one answers. I try to twist a part of the door. Push it, pull it and kick it. Now my foot is sore, hands are red and I'm out of breath. I slam against the sodding stone. I slide to the floor of the tunnel. I realize that I'm crying.

Why? whispers a soft voice in my head. A moment ago you were happy without Varric. They're not coming back. We don't need them though.

I slowly stand. I want to go back to camp. The Deep Roads have gone eerily silent. Stories of lone dwarves picked off by deepstalkers lurk just beyond my present thoughts.

I wonder why everything seems shiny. I left Varric in the Deep Roads. The idol tells me he'll be fine. That Varric will be at out camp when I get there.

But when I get there and see he isn't, I'm not worried. And I'm not because the idol tells me not to be.

I wake up later and Varric still isn't beside me. Beside me happens to be walking through the Roads. On our route back to the surface. How did I get here without knowing? Where in the name of the Ancestors is my brother?

He is going to meet you topside. It's the voice from the idol.

I relax. Until we reach the surface. Varric isn't there. But the idol reminds me we're supposed to meet at the Merchant's Guild meeting next week. When next week rolls around, the meeting passes Varric doesn't show. The idol says Varric no longer cares about his brother. He's moved on to bigger and better things.

I hate him. I never want to see him again. I go home and go to bed.

As I lie awake, I think about Varric and I. We had a good run. This will be the last time I think about you. Hope you enjoy your life, Brother mine.

~ Bartrand