I own nothing of Dragon age. Just Amilee.
"We stay up every night, we fade away, but now you're living in a dream, I'm torn apart from the one I love, oh my baby where have you gone, you know I'm sending angels to watch you sleep, cuz I'm always on the run..." -If I Lost You by Shiny Toy Guns
When Amilee had been thrown back to the past, it hadn't just been a simple teleportation. She had gone somewhere else, a limbo of sorts. A voice had spoken to her, asking what she would do, if presented the chance to change her future. Her answers, and her conviction, seemed to satisfy... whoever it was, and she'd promptly popped back into existence.
It wasn't until after the defeat of the Archdemon, when Amilee had followed the Warden Commander to Amaranthine, that she realized what the voice had meant. Anders, young and funny and not merged with Justice, was the first person they encountered while trying to beat back the darkspawn.
He'd enchanted her with his humor, especially his banters with their drunken friend Oghren. He seemed to genuinely like her and over the course of a couple of months, she had helplessly fallen in love all over again... But then they found Justice.
Admittedly, she had missed him. He had been her stoic guardian, a quiet presence that watched over her when she would visit the Fade in her dreams at night, as she'd slept next to an older Anders. It was through talking with Justice as a separate entity, she'd come to a dreadful realization.
If she stopped Anders from merging with Justice, the spirit would die. And Anders would never have gone to Kirkwall. Reasonably, this revelation would make one think, well shit, do it! In theory though, time would find a way to balance itself. She would never have met Anders in Kirkwall, he would never have blown up the Chantry... And she would never have gone back in time to stop him in the first place.
On the night Anders proposed to her, she accepted his ring and with Velana's help, she cast a spell to make everyone forget her. Everyone except Aedan of course. With a heavy heart, she explained her reasoning briefly, instructing him to send word to their former companions not to speak of her, and left to wander the Ferelden alone.
Years passed. She'd become increasingly agitated with herself for hiding away, knowing there were people who missed her, wishing she could see Anders one more time.
As fate would have it, she reached Kirkwall the very day her life had been turned upside down. She disguised herself and handed him a ring that would return his memories. She asked him if he would stop, despite the knowledge she would most likely disappear, but he had refused. He told her he valued his memories of her and their time together more than his own life and that the fight for freedom of all mages was more important as well. That she should move on and find someone else.
Unable to do anything more, she left, brokenhearted and watched from afar as the grim events repeated. Meredith and Orsino fought, the Chantry blew up, and Garrett killed Anders. Then they went to the Gallows to protect the mages and younger Amilee was thrown back in time.
As she saw it, Fate hadn't been very kind to her.
Now the unbearable silence had returned once more as she floated in nothingness, lost to the Void. But instead of feeling at peace, she was angry and panicked, struggling to move, to see, to hear something, anything. Cole, she thought urgently, I have to get back, I have to protect him! I can't go like this, please! Let me save at least one person I care about!
She knew this wasn't just a means for time travel. Outside of time, in this limbo, the call of forever stretched to blanket her as she wrestled against the oncoming lethargy, death's grasp. As it was before, her memories flashed in her mind, but her focus remained solely on the intent to fight with all her being, to will herself awake once more.
Such strength you have, that you would cling to this life, even now, a familiar, disembodied voice whispered. "Be at ease, your time has not come yet. You still serve a purpose, although it will not be what you imagine... Return, that you may yet fulfill your destiny."
Relief and gratitude filled her as a heavy weight lifted, heat returning to her limbs as she took a great gasping breath. Her dry eyes blinked against the stagnant darkness, body stiff and aching from however long she'd been lying in the same position on the cold, stone floor.
As she sat up, her voice cracked as she called out, "Hello?"
A yawning emptiness was her only answer. From what she could tell, she was still at the bottom of the first flight of stairs to the basement of Adamant Fortress, but there were no signs of her companions. How much time has passed? she thought with dread.
Stumbling up the steps, she found her way to the entrance, noting the remnants of the great doors were filmed over with a thick layer of sand and dust.
Shit, she thought, knowing that didn't bode well. She looked down at her runestone, gleaming bright red back at her. What was it that watched over her, that could not only restore her body, but her focal point as well?
Staring out into the desert sands, she set aside that concern for later. Right now, she had to find supplies and track down the others.
"My agents went to retrieve your body but it was nowhere to be found. Where the hell have you been?" Leliana demanded accusingly. "Wynne was certain you had died!"
Amilee paled at her friend's tone as she stood in the doorway of Sister Nightengale's room at the inn. "I-I was... kind of. But something happened and now I'm not. Where is she? I heard there was trouble at the Spire. Is she alright?"
A grave silence fell between the two. Amilee became confused and worried by Leliana's lack of enthusiasm that she had not in fact passed on.
She'd been dead for almost a week. And it had taken her three more to find her way back to Val Royaeux. Three weeks of wandering the Approach almost starved and dehydrated, skirting along roads overrun with templars and soldiers alike, and making her way around the whole of Lake Celestine before finally getting back on track. All the while she'd been kicking herself for not studying the map of western Orlais.
She'd finally made it back, but only to discover the city in chaos, a passing templar informing her none too politely that the mages at the Spire had escaped, the Order on high alert and the Spire on permanent lock down. They wouldn't even divulge information as to whether or not Wynne and her companions had made it back safely.
Now she stood before her former comrade as she was informed that Wynne had died in the sewers beneath the Spire, while they were helping smuggle the mages to freedom. She'd given her life to save Ser Evangeline and afterward Rhys and the former Knight-Captain had fled to the outskirts of Orlais, to a ruin called Andoral's Reach.
And as for Cole? Lelianna couldn't recall having ever met the young man, nor had her agents spoken of him. She remembered someone else helping them, but she couldn't summon a face or a name. All she knew was that Wynne had passed on and the others were well away.
Amilee had collapsed to the floor then, her will to stand, after traveling so long without much food or rest, gone. After a quick apology from her friend for her curt behavior, she was hoisted up and brought over to the bed, in which she slept long into the next day.
After wolfing down three helpings of breakfast and briefly arguing with her ward over her getting up, she excused herself from Lelianna's quarters to find her way into the sewers. She searched them for hours. Tunnel after tunnel, she swept the area with a fine tooth comb, all the while hoping and praying the hum would start and she would find him. When she finally made it into the dungeon, it was deathly silent, empty. He was nowhere to be found.
More days passed. Leliana had sent a bird with a letter from her to Rhys politely asking if this young man had in fact gone with him. A simple reply came back.
To Sister Nightengale,
We have made it safely to Andoral's Reach. Every day more and more mages are arriving, thanks to your agents and their discreet assistance.
As to my friend you mentioned, I can appreciate that you remember the boy, although I daresay I am surprised by this. His uniqueness was one that caused most people to forget him.
Whether or not he is with me, I cannot say he is. I don't even know if he yet exists, as the circumstances of his disappearance were less than pleasant.
I honestly wish I knew where my friend has gone. If he yet lives and anyone under your wing meets him in passing, direct them to be kind. That is all I can ask.
Be well.
R.
"What do you think you will do now, sweeting?" Lelianna asked, after reading the letter aloud to Amilee. "My agents can keep an eye out, and I can make inquiries but I fear the trail will be cold."
For a long time, the small mage said nothing. A trembling began in her hands, the only sign of the turmoil inside, but it faded. Leliana watched sadly as her friend disappeared behind a mask of indifference. After a few more heartbeats, Amilee answered, steel lining her voice, "You know what I can do, what feats I am capable of. Use me for it. It is all I have left now."
Pursing her lips, the red head nodded. "Very well, Hawk. Let's see what we have."
9:41-Temple of Sacred Ashes
Striding swiftly and silently, Amilee passed through a massive cluster of mages and templars, tensions high between them as they waited impatiently for the Divine to emerge and begin the proceedings of the Conclave.
While Amilee would have liked nothing more that to leave these squabbling children to their own devices, Leliana had asked her to be here. Over the course of two years, she'd become the Left Hand of the Divine's second, Hawk the Preyer, an indispensable assassin and spymaster. Leliana knew if things went south here, Amilee would be able to handle it. She was more familiar with the temple than anyone most people here and very capable of halting any physical confrontations, if need be.
Making her way down a flight of stairs she began her patrol of the less used passageways. Ten minutes into her sweep, she turn down a path that led to the undercroft. The passage was empty save for the random horned figure that leaned against the far wall, probably a hired mercenary assigned to guard this particular hallway.
As Amilee made her way to pass the figure, her brow raised in surprise. "Huh, I've never seen a female Qunari before," Amilee noted as she stopped, staring openly at the woman.
The woman quirked an eyebrow back down at her in amusement, her voice rich and deep, "You've met many Qunari, I take it?"
"Yes. Well... more like killed many." She tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I was in Kirkwall when the Arishok attempted to take over."
"Ah, yes. That idiot," the woman replied, crossing her arms casually. "I hear they replaced him after that precious book was stolen a second time."
"Shit, are you serious?" Amilee cackled briefly. "With how long it took him to track down the damn thing, you'd think he'd have welded the safe to the floor. So I take it you're Tal-Vashoth then?"
"You assume correctly. You're pretty brave to even ask me. Most people here avert there eyes or run when they see me." She curled her lip in a wry smile. "Makes this job fairly easy."
"I'm not like most people," Amilee replied reasonably. She shrugged. "You're just another person, living a different life in a different body."
The woman seemed impressed by her statement, "That's an interesting outlook. The name's Saytie. Valo-kas mercenary."
Nodding her head politely, she replied, "Amilee. Although I am commonly known as the Hawk."
"I know the Champion was a man, obviously that's not you, so... Hawk the Preyer?" Saytie noted in surprise. "I've heard many rumors of your skills. Of course some of them seem outlandish. Can you really fly?"
Taken aback a bit, Amilee's expression became thoughtful. "I can float for a few seconds, but fly? I don't know, I never tried."
A muffled cry for help sounded down the hall and the two women whipped their gazes toward it. Without prompting they both hurried and threw open the doors to a large chamber to see what the commotion was.
Amilee gasped aloud. The Divine Justinia, Leliana's charge and dearest friend was being held aloft by a group of mages dressed in Grey Warden armor. A very tall, very deformed man stood before her, holding out a glowing green orb that seemed to be drawing from her essence. Killing her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Amilee shouted at the wardens, starting forward.
"What's going on here," Saytie demanded at the same time.
The man looked over at the two of them with mild disgust and Justinia took that opportunity to knock the orb from his hand. Saytie made a grab for it and cried out in sudden pain as if the orb were burning her. Amilee rushed back to her side, her hand on the woman's arm just as the orb flared bright and the world went white all around them.
Dun, dun, duuuuun! Reviews and Favs! Go to my profile and find the next part, The Hare and the Hatter. (Yes, all my titles are Alice themed but that's the extent of the reference) Hindsight: Cole was in fact at the Spire, wandering the upper floors, but as the dungeons were underground and littered with dispel wards, Amilee wasn't able to detect him. And it's a good thing too, you'll soon find out why.