"You dealt Corypheus a significant blow, Inquisitor." Leliana glanced back at him.
"Huh." Kathan shrugged. "At the time, it felt like a lot of runnin and escapin. With occasional bits of screamin."
A trace of amusement showed on her face. "Either way, Corypheus lost the army he would have used to conquer Thedas." She looked up at the birds flapping about the rookery. "You took an army from Corypheus, but that will matter little if Orlais falls into chaos."
"They might lose a hat." Kathan spread his hands. "Muss their clothes, even."
"Speaking of which..." Leliana took a deep breath. "Josephine asked me to..."
He grabbed the railing and launched himself over, swinging down to the next level to land only a couple feet from Dorian, who let out a yelp and dropped his wine. "Hey, Sparkly."
#
Varric was waiting for him in the entrance to Skyhold. "Hey Scribbles, whatcha..." Kathan's eyes widened when Varric held up a book. "You finished it?"
"On the way back from the Western Approach." Varric nodded. "So..."
"Thanks." He smiled down at the dwarf. "Could use some good news." He tilted his head. "Hawke make it out alright? I mean, nobody bothered him or nothing?"
"A couple folks actually asked for his autograph."
Kathan snickered. "Was one of them Rose?"
"Nah, she couldn't bring herself to ask." Varric held up another book. "But, what are friends for?"
#
Cassandra glared when she saw the Inquisitor leading Varric over to her. "What have you done now?"
"I get it, Seeker, you're still sore after our spat." He gave her what he probably thought was a charming smile.
It was a bit odd to realize that she was nowhere near as 'sore' over that as she should be. Still. "I am not a child, Varric. Do not suggest I am without reason."
"A peace offering." He held up a book. "The next chapter of Sword & Shields. I hear you're a fan."
Her stomach lurched. And then her eyes went to the grinning Kathan. "This is your doing."
"Oh, yes." There was no shame on his face at all. "Do you really think I'd miss this?"
"Well..." Varric waved the book. "If you're not interested, you're not interested." He actually started walking away, still holding up the book. "Still needs editing, anyhow."
Her will abandoned her before he'd gotten more than five steps. "Wait."
His grin mad her want to smack him. "You're probably wondering what happens to the knight-captain after the last chapter."
"Nothing should happen to her." Her heart was actually in her throat. "She was falsely accused."
"Well, it turns out the guardsman -"
She lunged at him before he could finish the sentence, snatching the book out of his hand. "Don't tell me!"
Varric laughed, then nodded at the man who was still standing there, watching them with an amused look on his face. "This is the part where you thank the Inquisitor. I don't normally give out sneak peeks, after all."
"I..." She turned towards him. It took her a moment to make her mouth work again. "Thank you." For just a beautiful moment, she considered kissing him.
And then, he spoke. "This was everything I'd hoped."
A satisfied sigh came from Varric. "I know how you feel."
There was a stick leaning against the wall of the armory. She could pick it up, give them both a sound thrashing. But... She looked down at the book in her hand. "I wonder if I have time to read the first part."
#
She'd made it through only a couple dozen pages before Kathan found her again. A smile came to her face when he told her that they had a lead on the missing seekers. Cassandra carefully tucked the book away, and followed.
#
"Odd that the trail leads here." Cassandra shielded her eyes as she looked around her. "Bann Loren is a pious, unassuming man. What has he become involved in?"
Kathan shrugged. "He's involved in 'crazy', just like everyone else these days." He glanced around at his companions. Blackwall and Vivienne were still on opposite sides of their little group, as he'd ordered when they wouldn't stop sniping at each other.
"Truer words have never been spoken." She took a deep breath. "Let's see what lies within."
#
They hadn't made it far when the violence started. The people in the entry attacked them on sight. Kathan flung a dagger into the throat of someone charging at Vivienne. The mage immediately sent a spray of ice into another attacker. Cassandra brought her shield down a moment later, shattering the man.
Cassandra knelt, examining the symbol painted on one man's armor. "The Order of Fiery Promise."
"A cult. Raise your hand if you're surprised." He looked around. "Put your hand down, Sera." Kathan shrugged. "Anythin special about this one?"
"The Order of Fiery Promise is a cult with..." Cassandra accepted his hand as she got back to her feet. "Strange beliefs about the Seekers. They've hounded us for centuries." She looked around. "That explains why the Seekers might be here, but not the connection to Corypheus."
He put his hand on her shoulder. "Let's keep looking."
#
He snarled when they found the first body. "A seeker." Cassandra shook her head. "Did they torture him to death?" She let out a snarl of her own. "The Promisers will pay for this."
"Damn right." Kathan shifted his grip on his long knives.
#
He came off the roof to land in a group of three. Well, on a group of two, after he used one of them to break his fall. Er... Group of one, after Sera followed him down. Can one really be a group? That sounded like a grammatical question. Maybe he'd ask Solas later. Kathan flung one of his knives into another attacker.
#
"'As the Seekers of Truth have proven resistant to the effects of Red Lyrium, the Elder One has seen fit to place them in your care.'" Cassandra read aloud from the parchment she'd located on one of the men. "'Reclaim your destiny, and know that the Elder One expects your devotion as repayment.'" She looked up to see Kathan walking over to her. "Signed by Lord Samson, Commander of the Red Templars." She shook her head. "Does Corypheus not realize the Promisers want the world to end? What use are they to him?"
"He's got a fetish for crazy?" Kathan waved a hand. "Corypheus is prolly going to betray them afore they can do too much trouble. And near as we can tell, he is kinda tryin to end the world himself."
"But this doesn't explain how he captured the Seekers in the first place, or what's been done with them." She sighed, and touched the hand he'd put on her shoulder, drawing some comfort. "We must keep looking."
His hand kept her from moving away. "The letter said Seekers could resist that red lyrium shit?"
"Our abilities grant us many gifts, but a resistance to red lyrium's corruption?" She frowned. "That seems strange."
"Nah. Don't surprise me at all to learn you're special." He smiled at her before continuing to head in. "Come on, let's go rescue your folks."
#
They killed some more dumbasses, and headed upstairs. Kathan was about to ask Cassandra another question when she rushed forward towards a man laying on the ground. "Daniel. Daniel, can you hear me?"
The man sat up weekly. "Cassandra?" He stared at her. "It is you. You're alive."
Relief shown on her face. "As are you. I'm so glad I found you."
"No, they..." He coughed weekly. "Put a demon inside me. It's tearing me up."
Kathan knelt on the other side of the man. He could see traces of red in the man's eyes, and the red veins beneath his skin almost seemed to glow. Shit. Cassandra was shaking her head. "What? You can't be possessed. That's impossible."
"I'm not possessed. They..." His cough was wet. "Fed me things. I can feel it growing."
He saw the horrific realization enter Cassandra's eyes. He touched Daniel's shoulder, and kept his voice gentle. "The Promisers will pay for what they've done."
"No." Daniel raised a hand before letting it fall back down. "The Lord Seeker."
"Of course we'll find him." Cassandra hurried to reassure the young man. "If he lives, we'll -"
"Lucius betrayed us, Cassandra." Daniel swallowed. "He sent us here, one by one. 'An important mission,' he said. Lies. He was here with them all along. He's still working with them."
"We met the..." Kathan blinked, and then shook his head. "Weren't him in Val Royeaux, was it?"
"No. It was a demon, masquerading." Daniel coughed again.
"What?" Cassandra's eyes widened. "How could that be?"
"The Lord Seeker allowed it. He let the demon take command, while he..."
"But why with the cultists?" Kathan frowned.
"I intend to find out." Cassandra started to stand.
"Wait. Don't leave me like this. Please..."
Tears shone in Cassandra's eyes. "You should have come with me. You didn't believe in the war any more than I did."
Daniel actually managed something approaching a smile. "You know me. I wanted that promotion." He coughed again.
Kathan glanced up at Cassandra, then drew one of his knives. Cassandra slowly nodded. "Go to the Maker's side, Daniel." She wiped at her eyes. "You will be welcome."
#
"He was my apprentice. I have never known a finer young man." Cassandra choked slightly on the words. Kathan touched her shoulder, and then pulled her to him. She buried her face in his chest for a moment, and took a couple deep breaths. When he let her go again, she looked up at him and saw the calm fury in his eyes. "Now we find Lord Seeker Lucius."
"Yes. We will." Kathan nodded.
#
They walked out in sunlight to find the Lord Seeker waiting for them. Cassandra glared. "Lord Seeker Lucius."
"Cassandra..." Lucius took a few steps towards them. "With a man I can only assume is the new Inquisitor."
"And you're the traitorous asshole." Kathan narrowed his eyes.
"I presume you know we Seekers of Truth were once the original Inquisition." The Lord Seeker adopted a lecturing tone. "Oh, yes. We fought to restore Order in a time of madness long ago, as you do now."
"Blah blah blah. Now you're howlin at the damn moon." Kathan shook his head, and gestured back in the direction they'd come. "Gettin good people killed."
"There was no other choice." Lucius actually sounded sad.
"No other choice?" Cassandra, on the other hand, sounded furious. "Have you gone mad?"
Lucius sighed. "We Seekers are abominations, Cassandra. We created a decaying -"
"No one wants to hear the crazy psycho speech." Kathan shook his head.
"You don't believe me?" Lucius held out a massive tome. "See for yourself. The secrets of our Order, passed to me after the former Lord Seeker was slain. The war with the mages had..."
"He ain't gonna stop talking, is he?" Kathan glanced down at Cassandra.
"No." Cassandra drew her blade. "He is not."
"Alright. Let's go stab him."
#
"He could not have destroyed all of us." Cassandra stared down at the corpse. "I won't accept it."
"Then we'll find them." Kathan brushed a bit of hair back from her face.
"Let us return to Skyhold." She squared her shoulders. "I wish to see what's in this 'book of secrets'."
#
"Hey Shiny."
"What is wrong?" Solas immediately asked.
"I say, hey..." Kathan tilted his head. "And ya ask me what is wrong?"
"At no point since our arrival in Skyhold have you walked through this chamber without examining the contents of my work area." Solas gestured at the desk. "What is wrong?"
"Three things, I guess. Only I ain't so sure of the third one yet." He leaned on one of the unpainted walls. "Talkin to Pup, he's off. I don't mean that as bad, he just is..." Kathan shrugged. "But we talked to the Lord Seeker in Val Royeaux, remember?"
"I do." Solas nodded.
"Turns out, that was a demon. Only I didn't catch nothin. What about you?"
"I..." Solas frowned. "No. Though I will grant that neither of us had ever actually encountered the Lord Seeker before, and had no reason to suspect the man before us was anyone other than who he claimed to be."
"But others..." He sighed. "There are a lot of jackasses among the templars, but there's also folks like Cullen and..." He folded his arms and bowed his head. "The Lord Seeker, he'd have had to kill them ones, wouldn't he?"
"Almost certainly." Solas leaned on the table. "Along with any who questioned him."
"There are templars who joined us. So some of the good ones made it, at least." He shrugged. "Who was the first templar?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean, the whole drinkin lyrium thing. Somebody had to look and say, here is this poisonous shit that fucks up people's heads, let's drink..." He waved a hand. "Nah, cause the mages drank it first cause of the magic thing, so whatcha think, somebody thought, if'n I drink this, I'll get magic of my own?"
Solas smiled. "I imagine it went something like that, and was then refined over the years."
"Makes ya wonder what other weird shit people have drunk over the years." He rubbed at a horn. "What'd they drink in like the ancient elven places?"
"Various varieties of wine and..." Solas chuckled. "That cannot be what you actually wanted to discuss."
"Right." Kathan blinked. "What did I want to discuss?"
"You had concerns regarding what you learned at Caer Oswin."
"How does Corypheus find his crazy?"
"I..." Solas shook his head. "Will need you to translate that question into a language I speak."
"He wants to burn the world. Where do you find folks who look at somethin like that and say 'hey, I want in.'" Kathan waved a hand.
"He does not wish to burn the world, he wishes to remake it. That it will burn is to him, merely incidental." Solas glanced up at one of the murals. "Those who follow him do so because they believe the world he remakes will be one more suitable for them."
"So the nuts..." Kathan slowly nodded. "And a fair bit of the desperate. A being they consider a god has finally come to answer their prayers. Might not be the god they thought they wanted, but..." His own eyes went to the mural. "It's the first real hope they've ever had."
"Yes."
"That fucking sucks." Kathan banged his fist into the wall.
"Yes." Solas's voice was quiet.
"Maybe when we're done here, we can fix that." Kathan shook his head, and then headed up the stairs.
#
"You're eyeing the lady Seeker, aren't you?" Kathan turned at the sound of Blackwall's voice. There was amusement on the man's face. "I can see why, she's definitely..." Blackwall rubbed a bruise on his arm. "Striking. A little stern, though."
Kathan started to roll his eyes, and then sighed and turned back to Blackwall. "You're experienced, I assume." He hesitated. "Got any tips?"
"If I say the wrong thing, she'll probably have my head." He shrugged. "Cassandra is a warrior. That's all she's ever known, but that's not all there is to life." He looked up at Kathan. "Show her that."
#
Cassandra was sighing over the book when he found her. She looked up when he entered. "This tome has passed from Lord Seeker to Lord Seeker, since the time of the old Inquisition." She touched the book's covers. "And now it falls to me."
"That's a lot of..." He tilted his head. "Not very exciting reading, apparently."
"On the contrary, it's a delight. I'm riveted."
"Rose..." Kathan grinned. "Was that sarcasm?" He sat down across from her.
She smiled back, and it slowly faded. "Do you know what the Rite of Tranquility is?" When he nodded, she continued. "The last resort used on mages in the Circle, leaving them unable to cast but depriving them of dreams and all emotion. It should be used on those who cannot control their abilities..." She put her hands palm down on the table. "But that has not always been the case."
He'd heard the rumors. And the stories that were more than rumors. "Does the book say it was used for other things?"
"No. As a Seeker, I looked into..." She couldn't quite meet his eyes. "Abuses. Mages made Tranquil as punishment." Cassandra sighed. "What finally began the mage rebellion was a discovery the Rite of Tranquility could be reversed." She looked up at him. "The Lord Seeker at the time covered it up - harshly. There were deaths. It was dangerous knowledge. The shock of its discovery in addition to what happened in Kirkwall..." Her hands both rested on the book now. "But it appears we've always known how to reverse the rite. From the beginning."
Kathan felt like beating his head against a wall. "And for what brilliant reason was that kept secret?"
"We created the rite of Tranquility." She rubbed her arms. "I told you of my vigil - the months I spent emptying myself of all emotion? I was made Tranquil, and did not even know. Then the vigil summoned a spirit of faith to touch my mind. That broke Tranquility - and gave me my abilities. The Seekers did not share that secret. Not with me, not with the Chantry. Not even with..." She rose, and walked to the railing. "There's more. Lucius was not wrong about the Order. I thought to rebuild the Seekers once victory was ours. Now I'm not certain it deserves to be rebuilt."
"Bullshit." Kathan shook his head. "If anyone can rebuild them into something worthwhile, you can."
She stared out the window. "But are they worth rebuilding?"
"You could make them worth it."
"I..." She sighed, and nodded. "Will think on your words." Cassandra turned back to him. "Thank you. I could not have done this on my own."
