Chapter 8: Therinfal Doubt

"What do you mean?" Obsinion asked.
"I'm saying you stay here. I chose this path, I should be the one to go talk to the Templars."
"But Faize . . ."
"Please? I want to prove I won't be a burden on the Inquisition." Faize smiled at his brother, but it was only half-hearted. He was still scared.
Obsinion could see it meant something to Faize to do this, though. "Who do you want to go with you?" he asked.
"Iron Bull."
"Given." Cullen muttered, only for Josephine to elbow him.
"You said she's a mage?"
"Who?" asked Leliana.
"Vivienne."
"Yes." said Obsinion.
"Well, then her."
"You still need another person." Cullen pointed out.
"Blackwall." Faize finished. "That good enough?"
"Yeah." said Obsinion. "Just be careful, ok?"
Faize nodded. "I'll do my best to bring the Templars back with me."

Ten Orlesian Noble Houses were all Josephine could come up with, but it was better than nothing. It made the Inquisition look important, that was the main thing.
"You must be the Herald of Andraste they sent." said a stuffy-looking man wearing a mask.
"And you are?" asked Faize. He hated not seeing the noble's face, but it granted the ability to imagine something resembling a Nug on the other side of the golden object to try and keep his nerves about him.
"Lord Abernache, one of the Noble Houses of Orlais. I see that you have at least some standing, if the First Enchantress is being seen with you." the pompous man said.
"Hello, Darling." said Vivienne. "Be a good dear and walk with us."
Faize was tempted to roll his eyes, but merely sighed softly and kept walking.
"Quite a show of authority, getting this many houses to come in such short notice." said Lord Abernache.
Faize clenched and unclenched his hands several times in order to not punch the man in the face, his nasally voice and snobbish attitude already grating his simple Elven nerves.
"But the Lord Seeker won't speak to any of us of Noble Birth until he's spoken with the Inquisition." the Lord said. "Of all the nerve."
"Darling, you must remember. In this case, the Noble Houses are here to make the Inquisition look good so the Templars may join us to close the hole the sky." reminded Vivienne.
Beside Faize, Iron Bull rolled his eye. All the way there, Vivienne had complained about his slouching, his attire, his speech. It was enough to make the Qunari walk the last mile, and take their Herald of Andraste with him, given the Elf's frayed nerves at the time.
Blackwall just kept silent, observing. He was good at that. As a Grey Warden, he was used to just fitting in the background, only stepping into the fray when needed. And this was one of those step-back-and-watch times.
A young Templar walked over to meet them at the gate. "Knight-Templar Barris." he said. "I was asked to come meet you."
"Knight-Templar? That's a fairly low position. And Barris, the second son of the noble house? What are they trying to do, if not mock us?" scoffed Lord Abernache.
"Good to meet you." said Faize. He liked this Templar. He was the one that seemed offended back in Val Royeaux when Mother Hevara had been pushed aside. "I'm Faize, of Clan Lavellan, and one of the Heralds of Andraste. This is First Enchantress Vivienne du Fer, Blackwall of the Grey Wardens, and The Iron Bull."
Barris nodded. "This way."
Iron Bull looked around the courtyard as they walked in, having to duck to get through the door, or risk bashing his horns into the brickwork. "Impressive." he said.
"The Lord Seeker at first refused to see the Inquisition at all. Then, all at once, your Noble friends started arriving, and he wanted to speak to you. It was like a sudden change, and it unnerves me." Barris told them. He paused at three flags, each controlled by one of three wheels. "Um, but first, there is a ritual the Lord Seeker would like you to fulfill."
"And that is?" asked Faize.
"A waste of time!" snapped Abernache.
Vivienne glared at him, and he shut up.
"There are three standards, each representing the Templar Order, Andraste, and the People. You may raise them however you like, with the highest being the one you honor most."
Faize looked at the three standards. Of the three, he honored the People most, and then Andraste, even if she was the reason many of his people were slaves. She had united all, or at least most, of Thedas. So that was how he raised the Standards. With the People first, and then Andraste, leaving the Templar standard where it was.
"It is customary now to reveal why you raised them in the order you did." said Barris.
"I do what I'm doing for the people. Nothing's going to get better for them as long as the Breach exists." Faize replied.
"If it wasn't to impress the Lord Seeker, I see no point."
"And that's why he didn't ask you to do it." said Vivienne. "He wanted the Inquisition's true opinion."
Abernache snorted. "Well, Barris. Take us to the Lord Seeker."

"I shouldn't have let him go alone." said Obsinion as he paced back and forth near the stable.
The horse and the Halla watched him go back and forth, one wondering what the Elf was doing, and the other wondering why it wasn't getting fed or petted.
"He didn't really give you a choice." said Cassandra, who was also watching him pace.
"I know, but . . . he's my little brother. What if something happens to him?"
"You can't protect him forever." Cassandra reminded him. "We did the best we could, sending the Noble Houses, and he chose his team. If anything, the Iron Bull won't let anyone hurt him."
Obsinion paused. "That's true." he said.
"Sit, before you make the animals dizzy with your pacing." Cassandra said, petting the bench beside her.
Obsinion sat, sighing again. "I wonder if he was nervous like this when I left Haven with you, Solas, and Varric to go to the Fallow Mire."
"We can only speculate." Cassandra answered.
"By the way." said Obsinion. "Do you have any family?"
"An Uncle." Cassandra replied. "He spends more of his time with his corpses than he ever did with me."
"A Necromancer?"
"Close. Mortalitasi."
"So, no parents?"
"They chose the wrong side of a political war, and were beheaded. The king spared my brother and I because we were family, and very young at the time."
"You have a brother?"
"Had." Cassandra replied. "Anthony. A true Pentaghast, he hunted Dragons. Said he would teach me one day, and we would go hunting them together, brother and sister, like the Pentaghasts of old. But he died."
"Sorry." Obsinion said.
"You didn't kill him. Somebody wanted Dragons blood for some sort of ritual, and he said no. They killed him, in front of me." She sighed. "I sometimes wonder what would have happened had Anthony lived? Would I still have become a Seeker? Or would I be married to some noble, a mother of three?"
"You want kids?" asked Obsinion, suddenly covering his mouth.
Cassandra laughed. 'Maybe when this is all over." she said. "I do not know." She couldn't hide the light blush on her cheeks though, knowing Obsinion was flirting with her the way he was. Had he really just asked her if she wanted kids? He'd made it sound like he was going to propose.
Obsinion tried to hide his smile, but it didn't work. "If my opinion means anything, I think you'd make a great mother."
That was it, and Cassandra pushed him off the end of the bench. "Flirt." she accused, and they both ended up laughing.

Faize led his group through the castle. The Templars had turned on them. Well, not all the Templars, but several that had red lines running across their bodies. Some had exploded into monsters with Red Lyrium crystals protruding from their bodies. Other had died before such things could happen to them, but had been tainted by the Red Lyrium.
The Knight-Captain Denam had been knocked unconscious, and was currently tied up like a Holiday Dinner, swinging from the rafters of the meeting room below.
"There he is!" called Blackwall, pointing to the Lord Seeker that stood at the top of the steps.
Faize approached him. "Lord Seeker!"
The man suddenly turned and grabbed Faize's face. There was green-black swirl around them, and then . . .
. . . and then Faize found himself standing inside a destroyed Chantry.
"You. I must become you." said a voice.
"A demon." said Faize. He looked around. He was alone. Swallowing, he started walking forward.
"See what my Inquisition can become." the voice said.
Faize started walking. He was scared. Everything was black and green and gross-looking, like the place he and Obsinion had been when they first met Muffy, Lotus, and Rose. Turning, he came face to face with a set of rotating fountains. Only instead of water, they spit fire.
"I need to see more." the voice hissed.
Faize made it past the first two fountains, but got burned with the third. There was a tiny alcove off to the side, and he stepped in.
It looked like a room. The colors were different. Browns, warm and caring, even thought the bed was on the ceiling, the fireplace on the side of the wall, and a tree was growing along the floor.
"He is Envy." someone said. It was different from the other voice.
"Who's there?"
"I used to be like him, but not anymore. I want to help. Make it better."
Faize looked around, turning and suddenly coming face-to-face with a young man wearing a large, floppy hat and dressed in a ragged Templar tunic and pants. "Who are you? Where are we?"
"In your head. Well, you've always been here. I was outside, and then, I came in. To help. The Demon is trying to take your face. He is Envy. Wants to be you, learn to be you." said the young man.
"Doesn't explain who you are." Faize said. "Or why you are upside-down."
"I'm Cole." the man said.
"Alright, Cole. How do we get out of here?"
"Go higher. Make it have to make more, try to learn more. Stretch it." Cole said.
"So, tire it out."
"Yes." Cole said, nodding. "I will try to help."
Faize stepped out of the alcove.
"Water." Cole said softly. "Think of water."
"If that's all I need to do." Faize said. He focused, and suddenly the flames on the fountains fizzled out. A loud scream filled the area, and then a door appeared. Faize headed up, coming out into a prison.
"Explain yourself!" came an echoed voice of Cassandra. Before Faize was an image of himself and Obsinion, kneeling on the floor, the way they were in the prison back near Haven.
"A prison?" Faize asked himself.
"More! I must learn more!" came the hissing voice.
Faize looked around. There were brazers, but only one was lit with a green fire. He shrugged and lit a torch. Around him, he heard people asking why they were in prison, why Faize had thrown him in there. "I wouldn't do this." he said as he lit a brazer from his torch.
"Denial? Interesting." came the hissing voice. It cursed as Faize lit another brazer. "No!"
"Keep going." Cole encouraged.
Faize continued to light the brazers, and suddenly, a wall pulled back, revealing another doorway. Faize practically ran through it, climbing the stairs. He hated dreams like this. He wanted out, needed out. He kept climbing the stairs, heading higher and higher.
All at once, a black shadow of himself grabbed him by the throat. "You didn't show me enough. Now I am nothing! This time, with more pain!"
"No!" shouted Faize. And suddenly . . .
. . . he was back in the real world, and the door before him had flung open. Instead of the Lord Seeker, there was a long, lanky, fleshy, four-armed Demon screaming at them, and then it fled to the other side of a barrier at the other end of the Great Hall.
"What was that?" asked Blackwall.
"Envy Demon." said Faize, trying to catch his breath.
"But, then where is the Lord Seeker?" asked Barris.
"He was never here." said Faize. "Was there someone beside me? A young man?"
"No." said Vivienne. "Just you, Darling."
"Please stop calling me that." Fiaze groaned. "Oh well. The Demon fled that way, after it failed to . . . to become me."
"Ew." said Vivienne and Blackwall.
"We can break the barrier, but we need the Templar Lieutenants, as well as the crate of untainted Lyrium." said Barris. "There are three of them. Lieutenants, that is. They should be out on the battlements."
Faize nodded. "Let's find them." he said.

"Obsinion?" Muffy walked over. "You look stressed."
"I just have this bad feeling." he said. He held his shield up. "Again!"
The recruit he was partnered with made a weak attack, and Obsinion pushed him back easily.
"Are you a soldier or a wimp?" he asked. "Seriously. Muffy here could block your strikes, and she doesn't use a shield."
"Oh yeah?" asked the recruit, taking a swing at Muffy.
She caught the sword in her axe. "Yeah. That was honestly the worst strike I've ever felt, or seen, in my life." Twisting her axe, the sword easily came out of the recruit's hand and clattered on the ground. "Pick it up, and follow Obsinion's instruction."
"He's just an Elf."
"And that's what's going to get you killed out there on the battlefield." said Krem as he walked over. "Thinking 'oh, it's just an Elf' is going to see your throat slit faster than you can blink."
"You're a man, and Human, so what do you know about Elves?" the recruit asked.
"Dalish is an Elf." Krem replied. "And she fights with more balls than you do." Krem drew his sword and shield. "Here, like this."
Obsinion fell into battle stance, bashing back with his shield when Krem attacked. He took a few blows before twisting around, leading with his shield to catch Krem's sword and then making his strike. It was just over Krem's shield, and if they hadn't been using wooden swords for the mock fight, Krem would have gotten more than just a few splinters.
"That's how you fight." said Krem. "You can learn a lot from an Elf." As he walked away, Obsinion noticed something.
"Hey, Krem. Wait up." He ran over. "Um, did I actually hurt you?"
Krem looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Did I hit your leg or something?"
Krem suddenly looked mortified. "Oh, shite." he said, looking down. "Forgot there are more women here than among the Chargers."
"Wait, what?" asked Obsinion. "You're a . . . damn. You make a good man."
"Thanks." said Krem. "And for the record, I am." He walked away, grumbling about having to do something about the blood.
Obsinion only stood there, blinking for a bit. "A woman." he said, still shocked. "Oh, this just gets better and better."

Faize shot another arrow, taking out the last infected Templar before sliding down the ladder.
"The barrier's down." said Barris. "Go get that bastard."
Faize nodded, leading his small group out into the rear courtyard.
The Envy Demon screamed again. "Why? I was supposed to be you! Now I am Nothing! If I can't have you, none will!" It went to attack, but they scattered.
Fiaze backed up the furthest, firing off arrow after arrow. He really didn't want to have to use his Overdraw. That took a lot of Focus, and left him with a 75% chance of fainting. Not a good thing with this creature around.
Vivienne set to work with her few magic attacks, mostly based out of the frost staff she was using, but occasionally lacing it with a shock of lightning or a blast of fire, just to piss the Demon off.
As for Blackwall and Iron Bull, they seemed to be taking turns as to who would attack. Iron Bull would charge in, lay a good smack-down on it, the retreat with the Demon following, only for Blackwall to charge in and lay in on it, and so forth. A good tactic, and one that wore the Demon out rather quickly.
And once it was worn out, all it took was an arrow in it's ugly face to kill it off for good.
"It's gone?" asked Barris.
"Yes, Darling." said Vivienne. "You have the Herald of Andraste to thank for that."
"We are in your debt." said Barris. "But, we are without a leader."
"You lead." said Faize. "Join us as our allies, and we'll try to our best to help you rebuild."
"Very well. The Templars will side with the Inquisition and help close the Breach. I'll send a group of our best ahead of the rest of us to help with the camp." said Barris.
"Thank you."

"You got the Templars to side with us?" asked Obsinion as the group gathered around the War Table.
"Just how did you manage that one?" asked Rose.
There was a puff of smoke, and the man that Faize had asked several times about at Therinfal Redoubt was crouched on the War Table. Cullen and anyone of the Warrior class tried to draw their blades, but Faize shouted, "Wait!"
"What is this thing?" asked Cassandra.
"This is Cole." said Faize. "He helped me against the Envy Demon."
"I'm here to help." said Cole, still crouched on the table. "I won't be in the way. Small, unseen."
"You can stay, Cole." said Faize.
"He might be a Demon." snapped Cullen.
"I said he could stay." Faize argued back.
"If Faize wants him to stay, I don't see why not." said Obsinion.
"Where did he go?" asked Cassandra.
"He does that." said Faize. "You'll get used to it."
"Well, whatever he is, it really does not matter." said Leliana. "Right now, we have the power needed to try closing the Breach."