2. Things Are Never Easy

We, of course, run into a snag pretty much straight out the gate: Hadley-very politely-refuses to hand over the key to the repository door. Ariane is bristling, so I speak up quickly to bypass another exchange like the one when we arrived. "What's wrong?"

"The sentinels are behaving erratically, so we've locked the repository for everyone's safety. It's not necessary for the daily function of Circle life, so we're leaving it until we can spare the men."

"Anything I can do?" I offer. Always something to be killed, and always me around to do it... "I'm quite good at fighting and killing things."

He laughs. "I'm sure you are, my lady. But I'd hate to ask you to risk your necks. What's so important down there, anyway?"

I look over at the mage. "Finn? What're we after down there?"

"The statue," he explains to Hadley. "It knows things about Tevinter, and I need to speak to it."

"Why?" Hadley presses.

"I'm, uh, assisting these lovely ladies with research about an elven artifact. The most recent information we could find was on a Tevinter scroll," Finn elaborates. "I think the statue might know more."

"Ah. Very well." The templar nods, handing over the key. "I know you can be trusted, Finn. Just try to keep the mess to a minimum, hmm?"

"Of course, good ser. Wouldn't dream of doing otherwise," Finn assures him as he passes me the key.

"You know talking to inanimate objects is a sign of insanity, right?" Ariane needles as we head down the stairs.

Finn just smirks. "Not when it talks back."

She stares at him like he grew an extra head. "You... think the statue talks to you?"

"It's complicated," he retorts. "She wasn't always a statue. You'll see."

I roll my eyes at them as I slide the key into the lock. It turns easily, the large, carved door swinging open on well-oiled hinges. I'm beginning to feel ever-so-vaguely like I'm chaperoning another Anders and Velanna snipefest, just slightly more tame. "Which way?"

"Through that door, then straight, then... left," Finn replies, pointing at the imposing wooden door to the left of the stairs. "Easy as pie."

It's not. There's a weird cloud of reddish mist hanging in the center of the room through the second door. It looks awfully-ominously-similar to the Veil tears in the Blackmarsh. Only those were green.

"Warden, look out!" Ariane shoves me aside, swords rising to block a strike from the animated suit of armor that's attempting to slice me in half.

I yelp, drawing my own weapons by instinct as Fade tackles another suit of armor. "These wouldn't be the sentinels, would they, Finn?!"

"Erm... Yes. Yes they would." He winces apologetically.

"This is not what I call erratic behavior!" I grouse, batting aside another strike from the nearest sentinel. "More like homicidal!"

"It must be the tear in the Veil!" Finn calls across the room. "If we can get rid of that, they'll most likely calm down!"

"Most likely?!" Ariane protests, fighting one to a standstill against the wall.

"D'you have any better ideas?" he retorts, staff flaring with the light of a spell.

"Well then, how do we get rid of them?" the warrior huffs.

"Cause enough damage, and they'll go away," I fill her in. Hopefully. Long as these work the same as the ones in the marsh...

Fortunately, they do. Also fortunately, Finn was right; as soon as the Veil tear is gone, the sentinels return to stand along the walls.

"Right, then..." I glance around the room, breathing hard. "What is this place, anyway?"

"It's a storage room," Finn explains. "Or, well, it was. They used to keep the apprentices' phylacteries down here, 'til a few years ago."

"What happened a few years ago?" Ariane probes as we take in the empty, dusty shelves.

He shrugs. "Escape attempt. Made the templars realize this might not be the safest place to keep them."

I smirk behind his back as we file up the stairs to the repository. If it was who I think it was, wasn't just an attempt. Makes me even more glad I talked Jowan into staying behind. I don't think the templars would be too happy to see him. Not that they could do anything about it, him being a Warden and all, but in the interest of not ruffling feathers, it's good that he's not here. A fact I'm going to be forthright in pointing out to him when I get back.

"Alright, here we go." Finn interrupts my train of thought, approaching a statue of a woman holding a spear. "Hello? Hello, can you hear me?"

"The prison is breached! I sense the encroaching darkness!" Its voice trembles with unrestrained fear.

Ariane's jaw drops, and she stares. "Wow. It does talk."

"Eleni?" Finn tries again.

"The... the shadow will consume all..." the statue replies in a quavering yet still musical tone.

"Something is causing it distress," Finn sighs, waving a hand through the red wisps that surround the statue. "Probably the tears in the Veil. It'll be useless to us until the Veil's mended."

Maker, it's never easy, is it? I gripe with a sardonic chuckle. "Well... let's get to work, then, shall we?"

"Yes. I want to get this over with..." the mage agrees.

Fade chooses that exact moment to emerge from a far corner of the room with something held delicately in his jaws. He lopes up to Ariane and deposits it at her feet, then sits back on his haunches awaiting praise.

"Oh, look, Finn, he fetched me a flower!" She bends and scoops up the well-preserved violet. "How thoughtful! It's so pretty! Slobbery, but pretty."

Finn eyes her skeptically. "Should just ask him to fetch us a Morrigan. Would make this a lot easier. And there'd be less fighting involved."

"Oh, is poor baby not used to fighting?" Ariane cooes teasingly, smirking at him as she tucks the flower in a belt pouch.

"Ariane, I am a healer," he points out. "And I've never left the tower. The extent of my experience with 'fighting' is grabbing for the last sticky bun at the same time as three other apprentices."

"You've never left the tower?"

"What's the point?" he asks. "Long as you play nice and don't rile the templars, it's safer here than out in the world. Not all of us are chronic escapists, and there's nothing out there that I particularly want to see."

"That's a good point," I concede. "I just... the only mages I've known were Dalish, apostates, or Circle escapees. So it's weird for me to encounter a mage who's happy here."

"Well, we do exist," Finn shrugs.

"Yes, we see that. Now, can we get on with this?" Ariane prods.

"Right, sorry. C'mon, Fade." With my mabari by my side, I lead the way into the winding hallways that twist below the Circle tower.

oOo

The biggest headache in this whole mess proves to be the ghostly sentinels, the mage ones. Regular sentinels are just a lurchy, awkward suit of armor. They pack a wallop, but they swing their swords so slow, they're usually easy to avoid. The ghosty ones, however, are overly fond of paralyzing spells, and I narrowly avoid decapitation enough times I decide I'm definitely glossing over this part of this escapade when I tell the story back at the Vigil. No need to worry certain people.

After the last of the Veil tears has been mended, we make our way back to the statue to try again. "Hello?"

This time the voice that resonates from the stone is far calmer. "I am the essence and spirit of Eleni Zinovia, once consort-"

"Advisor to Archon Valerius, blah blah, fall of the house. Yes, we've been through that," Finn interrupts.

"Ah, Finn. Greetings." It sounds almost fond.

"I take it you two know each other," I tease.

"We've conversed before, on the Imperium," the mage explains. "It's hard to get answers out of it-requires parsing all the grandiose mumbo-jumbo." He turns back to the statue, enunciating clearly, as if talking to a child. "We know where a broken Eluvian lies. Can it still be used to find the others?"

"Scry," the statues affirms. "The broken glass, dagger-sharp, will be your key."

"You mean the broken glass from the mirror?" I probe, wanting to be absolutely clear before we leave.

"Yes. The lights of Arlathan will illuminate the scryer's path. The archons possessed them, but they were misused, befouled, and lost, like so much the Imperium touched. Some were saved, carried by fugitives from the elven city. Their sorrow awoke the Stone, and her children sheltered them. They found sanctuary in the deep halls of Cad'halash, now called Cadash. There the Light of Arlathan lie, shielded from unworthy eyes."

Ariane gapes at it. "The children of the Stone? I had not realized the durgen'len once aided my people when they fled."

"Deep halls of Cad'halash..." Finn mutters under his breath. "Must mean a dwarven thaig."

"Goodbye, Finn," the statue says. "We will not speak again." Instructions relayed, it falls silent.

"Will not speak again?" he repeats, panicked. "What's that supposed to mean?! I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"Not if we can help it," Ariane reassures him, tone perfectly balanced between teasing and comfort. "We're going to need you for the scrying thing, aren't we?"

"True," he concedes, somewhat mollified. "I guess we should go inform Hadley everything is back to normal down here, and then you can show us where this broken Eluvian is?"

She nods as we head for the door. "The other clan warned us where it lay so we could avoid it. I can get us there. But what about those lights she mentioned? What's important about those?"

Finn sighs, pinches the bridge of his nose, probably trying to figure how to explain this to someone who's not a mage. "The Eluvians are all connected. You can use one of them to find the others, if they still work. But since the one you know of is broken, corrupted, we need something to... amplify the magic. That's where the Lights of Arlathan come in."

"And finding an Eluvian will help us find Morrigan, since she's so interested in them," I mumble under my breath.

"What was that, Warden?" Ariane asks, eyebrow quirking upward.

"Just wondering how good our odds are convincing Hadley to let Finn leave the tower," I substitute.

"Oh, pretty good," Finn assures. "I don't cause trouble, and I'm on good terms with most of the templars. You shouldn't have much of a problem."

"You want to come? And leave the warm safety of your tower?" Ariane teases.

"Of course! It was thought all the Eluvians were destroyed. I can't pass up a chance to actually find a working one! I'd never forgive myself."

This should be fun, I think to myself as we climb the final set of stairs out of the repository.

oOo

Finn was right; it's very easy to talk Hadley into letting him come along. We just call it 'continuing research' and since the mage is apparently the farthest thing from a troublemaker, Hadley almost gladly grants permission.

"I'll explain to the Knight-Commander, should he return before you do," the templar assures us. He also insists on paying me for clearing things up in the repository, despite my protests.

I finally relent and take the sovereigns he offers. I'll donate them to the Amaranthine reconstruction effort or something. Soon as Finn's ready to leave, we're off for the Brecilian Forest.

A/N:Okay, here we go. Actually played around with the dialogue in this chapter, rather than just pulling straight from the game. And, yes, as always, I'm going to try and work in some party banters(specifically really want to use the ones involving Finn's full name *evil laughter* ).