The twins followed the warmaiden outside of the dungeon into what appeared to be-
"Is this the town chantry?" Apollo asked incredulously.
"It is. Why do you ask?" Cassandra returned with a quirk of her brow.
"Nothing much. I was just wondering why your chantry has a dungeon. Like, do all chantries have dungeons? Honestly, I'm curious."
"Have you never been a chantry before?" Asked Cassandra as they walked towards the entrance. She stopped at the door.
Artemis answered. "We're Dalish. We've lived in the woods most of our life. We've barely stepped foot into a village before, let alone a chantry."
The warmaiden furrowed her brows. "I see," she eventually said, and paused with her hands at the doors handles. "Well, you're about to see a whole lot of village in a moment. But be warned. The people of Haven have decided your guilt. They need it. They mourn our most holy Divine Justinia, head of the chantry. The conclave was hers. It was to be a chance for peace between the rebel mages and the templars. She brought their leaders together. Now they are all dead."
"That's a cheery thought," murmured Apollo, only loud enough for Artemis' keen ears, which resulted in a sharp elbow in his ribs. Then, in a louder voice meant for Cassandra, "Okay, then. Lets get this over with!"
Cassandra opened the massive chantry door and ushered them outside. Artemis blinked at the sudden light, blinded for a moment upon glancing up at the sky.
Apollo whistled softly in perplexed amazement. "What in the great beyond is that?" He held a hand to his eyes as he gazed at the gargantuan green hole in the sky.
"It is exactly that," Cassandra said, shocking them both. "That is what your people call the Fade, correct?"
Apollo nodded absently, still enraptured by the monstrosity looming above them.
The hole grew brighter as they watched, and let out a massive explosion, rattling the ground. Both elves let out a cry of pain and dropped to their knees as the marks flared brightly. They watched in horror as the marks grew on their hands, nearly escaping their palms and creeping towards their wrists.
"Shiiiit. Shitty shit-dick-ass on a fucking halla!" Apollo ground out as he cradled his right hand to his chest.
"We call it the Breach," Cassandra said as they caught their breath. "It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It is not the only such rift" She had been staring at the Breach as she spoke, but turned to look at them as they stood. She motioned for them to follow as she continued to speak. "It is the largest, however. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave."
"A-an explosion can cause that?" Artemis tripped over a pile of snow as she walked, too focused on Cassandra's words and the glaring looks of the townspeople to pay much attention to the ground. Apollo grabbed her arm and steadied her, which earned him a grateful glance.
"This one did. Unless we act, the Breach may grow until it swallows the world." Cassandra paused in her walking. "Each time the Breach opens, your marks spread, and it is killing you both, "she said grimly. "But your marks may be the key."
"Key to what?" Apollo gulped audibly.
"To closing the breach, idiot," Artemis hissed lowly, and then slapped her brother lightly on the head. Then she turned to Cassandra and said, "We understand."
"Then you'll..." Cassandra trailed off, unsure.
"We'll do whatever we can to stop this madness." Apollo said.
"Thank you," the warmaiden said with a slight smile. "Now come. We must get to the breach as quickly as possible."
The three jogged through the beaten path for a short while, dodging fleeing soldiers and snowdrifts.
"Lovely scenery you have out here," Apollo said after a few moments of tense silence. "I just love all of this snow and trees, and more snow, and more trees, and fire. Did I mention the fire? Gives the whole area a real surreal, cozy glow. Honestly, it's quite rustic."
Cassandra sighed, "Can we please just focus on reaching the forward camp?"
"Of course! But may I ask one more question before I metaphorically zip my mouth shut?"
"One question, elf."
"Alright, first of all, it's Apollo. Apollo of clan Lavellan. And my lovely sister here is Artemis. And second, the real question- what happens if we actually manage to close the breach? Assuming that we don't die in the process, of course."
"I apologize, Apollo," Cassandra said, abashed. "That is actually a valid question. I can promise a fair trial. That is all I can do for you."
"Better than nothing," Apollo said.
The Breach let out another wave, and Artemis lurched to the ground, clutching her left hand in her right. She let out a cry of pain. Apollo stumbled into a nearby tree, leaning heavily on it. His face twisted in pain, and he grunted softly.
"Shiiit." He huffed.
Cassandra helped Artemis back to her feet and said, "The pulses are coming faster. We must get to the Breach as quickly as possible." They stumbled their way to a gate, and she waved her arms toward a guard, who in turn opened the gates up wide for them to pass.
They set back out in a slightly quicker jog this time.
"How did we survive the breach?" Apollo asked absently.
"They said you... stepped out of the rift," Cassandra replied. "Your sister came out first, then you followed. Then you fell unconscious. They said a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knew who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid to waste, including the temple of sacred ashes. I suppose you'll see soon enough."
They were crossing a bridge at this point. Cassandra froze for a moment as she glanced up at the sky.
"Move!" She yelled at them, ushering them back the way they came. "Get off the bridge!"
Her warning came too late, however, and a big ball of green light came crashing down, collapsing the bridge and sending them all tumbling towards the frozen river below them.
"Demons!" Cassandra cursed loudly as she hopped back onto her feet, unsheathing her sword. "Stay behind me." She shouted at them as she swung at shade that appeared in front of her.
"Will do!" Apollo said readily, until a second shade materialized right in front of him. He turned in a circle quickly, looking for anything he could use as a weapon. "Aha!" He exclaimed as his eyes uncovered a bow and a quiver full of arrows. Beside them were two bloodied daggers. He snatched them up quickly. "Not my preferred method of fighting," he said to himself as he flung the quiver over his shoulder. He threw the daggers toward his waiting sister, and together they made quick work of the demon. After the shade finished dematerializing, they turned towards Cassandra, who was dealing a final blow.
She sheathed her sword and turned towards the twins, and drew it out again almost immediately. She pointed it at Artemis, then at Apollo. "Drop your weapons." She demanded steadily.
Artemis threw the daggers to the ground and raised her empty palms up in surrender. Apollo, however...
"Aw, hell no." He seethed at the warmaiden. "She needs those daggers. I'm pretty sure the Breach isn't gonna be fucking sunshine and daisies."
"What about you?" Demanded Cassandra.
"I'm a mage. I don't need a material weapon." Apollo said. He waved his bow in the air. "But my magic is too unfocused without a staff. I don't wanna hurt Artie."
"I helped train him in the arts of a hunter, which would be more useful in the clan," Artemis said quietly. "It also helps if his mana pool gets drained. He has a backup plan. He's not the greatest with a bow, but he can use it if push comes to shove."
"That is... Smart." Cassandra eventually said after a moment. She sheathed her sword and glanced back up at the Breach. "Pick up the daggers, Artemis," she sighed. "I should remind myself that you come willingly, and I fear you will need them again."
Artemis snatched the dagger back up with a relieved sigh.
The warmaiden ushered them back towards the path. "Come. Let us continue."
The three continued on the beaten path, occasionally stopping to demolish any demons that stood in their path. They had been running for what Apollo felt to be a solid hour.
He opened his mouth to spit out his fourth 'are we there yet?' When he heard a muffled yell.
"We're getting close to a rift," said Cassandra. "You can hear the fighting."
"Who's fighting?" Artemis panted.
"You'll see soon enough."
And see they did. When they finished climbing the steps laid into the ground, the elves encountered an odd sight.
A bald elven mage in ratty travel clothing let out a shard of solid ice at an incoming shade right as a beardless dwarf with an open shirt shot at it with an arrow, all while two soldiers battled oncoming wraiths. To top the whole thing off, a glowing green tear in the air was pulsating, spitting more demons out at them.
"Shit." Apollo whistled lowly.
"We must help them," Cassandra shouted over the fighting.
She and Artemis jumped off the ledge into the fight, while Apollo shot arrow after arrow at the demons.
The last demon fell, and Apollo put away his bow with a sigh. He hated bows. He hated any weapon that wasn't a staff, to be honest. But it was necessary. He had to keep telling himself that. He really didn't feel like frying somebody important by accident. That probably wouldn't go over well. Apollo was so focused on his self- pity that he almost didn't notice the bald elf grab his sisters hand and hold it up to the rift. Sliding himself off the ledge he was still on, he made to walk over to his sister.
"Hey! What are you-" Artemis froze as her hand reacted to the proximity to the rift. A thin thread of light attached itself from the rift to her hand, and she pulled her hand back after the thread started pulling her towards the rift, and the rift exploded into nothingness.
Artemis raised her left hand eye-level and stared in sick fascination.
"What in the Creators names did you do to her?" Apollo demanded, sliding in front of his sister.
"I did nothing," the mage said. "The credit is all hers."
"You mean the mark." Artemis said, still staring at her hand. "Do you think we can close the Breach like we did the rift?"
"Possibly." The elf said with a small smile. "It seems you hold the key to our salvation."
"Good to know." The dwarf spoke up from behind Apollo, who had almost forgotten he was there at all. "I thought we'd be ass-deep in demons forever."
Apollo was really starting to like the dwarf.
"Varric Tethras," the dwarf introduced himself with a flourish. "Rogue, storyteller, and occasionally, unwanted tagalong."
Apollo grinned widely, and said, with a sweeping of his own arms, "Apollo, of clan Lavellan. Mage, unwitting adventurer, and brother to Artemis-"
"Just a simple elf," Artemis interjected. "I'm a hunter."
"It's lovely to meet you, Varric!" Apollo continued. "That's a nice- is that a crossbow? Cool!"
Varric patted his weapon, still cradled in his arms. "Bianca is best thing that ever happened to me."
"You named your crossbow Bianca?" Apollo snorted.
He stroked the crossbow gently before fitting it onto his back. "She's one of a kind. And she'll be great help in the valley."
"Absolutely not!" Cassandra said loudly. "Your help is appreciated, Varric, but it is-"
"Have you been to the valley, Seeker? Your soldiers aren't in control anymore. You need me." He said smugly.
Cassandra scowled and stalked away.
There were a few seconds of silence after that, until the mage raised his hand.
"My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions," he said with a smile. "I am pleased you both still live."
Varric piped in, "he means he kept those marks from killing you while you slept."
"Well, um, thanks," Apollo said. "Hey, do you think my mark can do the same thing to the rift as Artie?"
"It is possible," Solas said. "We shall simply have to see." He opened his mouth to say something more, but was cut off by Cassandra impatiently ushering them all back towards the path.
They almost made it to the forward camp without encountering any demons. They did, however, have to make frequent pauses in their path because of the twins' reactions to the Breach expanding, and one stop was purely due to Apollo finding a staff on a corpse. He all but skipped to it, ignoring the body as he snatched the prize away.
The group had just made it to the gate, when they saw it.
"Another rift!" Cassandra shouted at the group.
They took their positions, and between the five of them they made short work of the rift. Apollo all but ran to the rift, right hand outstretched, and closed it with a resounding POP.
"Sweet! Mine works, too!" He said with a grin, raising his glowing right palm for everyone to see.
The gates opened after the rift had been closed, and they strode inside. Cassandra took the lead as they walked across the bridge the camp was stationed on.
Apollo spotted Leliana talking to a chantry cleric ahead of them, and could make out snippets of their conversation. The cleric seemed adamant about just abandoning the fight against the breach, and Leliana was reprimanding him for it. The bickering came to a stop as they reached them.
"Ah. Here they come." Spat the cleric.
Leliana glanced up at them and sighed with relief. "You made it! Chancellor Roderick, this is-"
"I know who they are," he said sharply. Then he turned to Cassandra and said, "As Grand Chancellor of the chantry, I hereby order you to take these criminals to Val Royeaux to face execution!"
Cassandra glared at the Chancellor. "'Order me?' You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!"
"And you are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the chantry." Roderick spat.
Leliana turned towards him. "We serve the most holy, Chancellor, as you well know."
Apollo was getting whiplash from the conversation, and he would've said as much if it weren't for Artemis digging her nails into his left arm in warning. She knew him too well, honestly.
Distracted by the breach opening yet again and causing searing pain to go up his arm, he missed the Chancellors next words.
"Can we just get on with closing the damn Breach already?" He ground out, after a moment of silence. "I'm real tired of just standing here while this mark eats away my hand."
Chancellor Roderick begged Cassandra to call a retreat, ignoring Apollo completely, which pissed the elf off royally.
"We can stop this, before it's too late." Cassandra said to Roderick.
"How?" The Chancellor said in a tired tone. "You won't survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers."
"We must get to the temple. It's the quickest route. These elves are dying, Chancellor. We have to get them to the Breach."
"But it's not the safest," Leliana said. "Our forces could cause a distraction while we go through the mountains."
Cassandra sighed. "We lost contact with an entire squad on that path. It's too risky." She turned to the twins. "How do you think we should proceed?"
"Wait, you're asking us?" Artemis asked in shock.
"You're the ones being put in the most danger, " Cassandra said. "I feel it's only right to ask your opinions."
The twins stared at each other in thought for a moment, and seemed to reach a conclusion.
"We should charge with the soldiers." Apollo said. "It's only fair. And it's the quickest route."
The group headed back out, following the road down to where the soldiers were fighting. They found another rift on the grounds spitting out demons comprised of rage and terror. Artemis went to work on a terror, and Apollo whipped out his newly acquired staff and started blasting a rage demon with bursts of ice. When the wave of demons had cleared, Artemis, closest to the rift, held out her left hand to close it, but no connection made. She flung her hand out again, and again, to no avail.
"Let me try," Apollo offered. He shot his right hand towards the rift, and growled in frustration. "What the fuck."
As he spoke, the rift came alive again, spawning more demons.
"What's going on?" Artemis cried.
"Let's exhaust it again and see if we can close it afterwards." Solas said.
They cleared the second wave of demons and Artemis tried again to close the rift. She raised her left palm towards the tear and closed it easily.
"What in the Beyond was that about?" Apollo panted, leaning on his staff.
"I think this rift may have been stronger than the rifts before. We had to weaken it before it could be destroyed." Solas offered. "Though I do not know for certain."
"Does that mean that the Breach is gonna be a bitch to close?" Apollo groaned. "It is, isn't it?"
A tall human in full armor strode over to them after the last of the demons in the area were cleared. "Cassandra. Thank Andraste you're here. We're on our last legs. Have you brought help?" He turned to the twins with curiosity sparkling in his eyes.
"Commander Cullen, meet Artemis and Apollo. They are the elves that fell out of the Breach. We're taking them now to see it."
Apollo bowed dramatically to the Commander, and Artemis nodded her head in greeting.
"We hope we can help," Apollo said.
"So do I," Cullen said roughly. "We've lost a lot of good men and women to this Maker damned thing." He waved them along to the entrance of the conclave, and turned back to the remaining soldiers.
They walked into the temple, taking in the horrors that were left from the explosion. Bodies had been petrified by the explosion, frozen forever in their agony. They walked forward, passing piles of charred corpses. Apollo almost retched at the sight, and he knew he's have nightmares for the following months.
He was so on edge from the current situation that he almost pissed himself when a voice from behind him exclaimed, "You're here! Thank the Maker."
He spun around quickly, as did the others.
"Leliana," Cassandra breathed out a sigh of relief. "Have your men take up positions around the temple."
Leliana nodded, and turned to her soldiers, shouting orders at them.
"Are you ready?" Cassandra turned to the siblings.
"As we'll ever be," Apollo said.
They took off towards the rift that was directly under the Breach, after Solas told them that that particular rift was the key to closing it once and for all. A few steps along the wall they froze in shock as they headed an echo of a voice begin to speak.
"Keep the sacrifice still."
"You guys are hearing this, too, right?" Apollo said shakily. He look to the others, who gave nods of reassurance. "Good, because for a second there, I thought I was going crazy."
They started walking again after a few seconds of silence. Solas stated that it was probably an after-effect from the explosion. Apollo noticed some strange red tinted lyrium growing on the wall, and he reached out to touch it. A quick yelp from Varric, however, stopped him in his place.
"That's red lyrium!" Varric said darkly. "What's it doing here? It's deadly, guys. Don't touch the stuff."
"Duly noted," Apollo said, and retracted his hand gingerly.
"Somebody help me!"
"That was the Divine!" Cassandra said.
They reached the end of the stone path, and dropped down to the ground. Suddenly, the air around them swirled with green clouds that took form in front of them. The Divine, held up by magic was being interrogated by a dark, shapeless form.
"Keep the sacrifice still," said the shapeless mass.
"Somebody, help me!" The Divine shouted, struggling against her invisible bonds.
Suddenly, another shape started to form.
"Woah, what's going on here?" The voice unmistakably sounded like Apollo.
"You were at the Conclave!" Cassandra rounded on them. "What happened?"
"Honestly, we know as much as you do! We promise! We told you everything we remember!" Apollo pleaded with the warmaiden.
Cassandra sighed, and turned away from them. "I apologize. Now, we must return our focus on the rift."
Solas spoke up then, "We will have to open it to truly re-close it. All manner of creatures could be waiting on the other side of the rift."
"That means demons," Cassandra shouted up at the archers that had made their posts surrounding the rift.
Artemis reached out to the breach with her left hand on Cassandra's signal, but nothing happened. She turned to Apollo.
"Why is it not working?" She asked Solas.
"I am not certain," Solas replied. He pondered for a moment, glanced at her left hand, and then glanced at Apollo's right. "Maybe... Try holding your hand out again, Artemis."
She did, and still the rift did nothing.
"Now, Apollo, you hold yours up as well. Maybe the two of you together can open the rift."
Apollo raised his right hand, and just as soon as he did, both of their marks flared brightly. A string of light wove between their outstretched hands, and then attached itself to the rift, tugging it open.
The string slapped itself back to them when the rift opened, knocking them backwards.
"Wooah," Apollo said, and then yelled, "SHIT," as the rift expanded drastically, pushing out a massive pride demon.
The battle took hours. Artemis and Apollo took turns disrupting the barrier on the demon, tiring them both out. Cassandra took the demon head-on, taunting it any time it laid its beady eyes on the elves. Varric and Solas hit it from a distance, both careful to keep its attention drawn to them.
Apollo had just finished snapping the rift shut for the third time when he noticed the shades appearing from the ground, heading straight for Cassandra. "Hey, shitbrains!" He yelled, drawing not only the attention of the shades, but of nearly everyone fighting close by. They paused in their fighting for a moment as he let out a stream of lightning towards the shades, and then shot out a series of fireballs at them. His mana pool depleted at that point in the fight, he let out a strangled, tired cry and ran towards them, brandishing his staff like a cudgel. Cassandra joined him, and together they took out the shades with a few last hits.
The battle carried on for a while longer, and with a final snap of the rift being drawn shut, the pride demon fell to the ground, panting. With a final blow dealt by Artemis' daggers, the demon lay dead.
"Phew. Fucking finally," Apollo was leaning hard on his staff, and he was covered in dirt and bruises. His short, messy black hair was covered in grime and soot, and his bottom lip was busted, with a line of crusty dry blood making its way down his sharp jaw.
Artemis wasn't faring much better. Her short, inky hair was a tangled mess, nearly colored brown from all the dirt. She had a gash along her right cheek that was still dripping with blood, and she was limping heavily, favoring her left leg.
"Close the rift! You must seal it now!" Cassandra said, tiredly.
The twins raised their palms to the rift one final time, and together, they worked to draw it shut. Artemis collapsed as the rift pulsed one final time, and snapped closed with a resounding POP.
Apollo took a staggering step towards her, and promptly crumpled to the ground as well.
"That... Was something." He said, and laid his head to the ground. The last thing he saw was the Breach, stable but still present, and then everything went black.