Disclaimer: Bioware owns Dragon Age, Sean and Caress are my own
Anders' Clinic was a bit cramped with so many people in it at once. I was forced to sit on the edge of a bed and wait to be checked out until everybody with worse injuries and sickness went first. Which meant I was last. I think this was Anders idea of payback for last night. In any event, I was suddenly reminded of home and hospital waiting rooms except this was dirtier. Much dirtier. If I was vindictive I'd withhold my knowledge of the human body and medicine from him but that would just hurt innocent people.
Anders wouldn't let Bethany help until he was sure she could pass muster. Once she had correctly identified what was wrong with ten people he had let her begin working. The red-haired girl was still at her side and acting as an assistant of course. She would whisper questions and such to Bethany but wouldn't even make eye contact with anybody else.
I was left alone after it became clear that it would take at least an hour before Anders even got around to me. Carver and Varric had went to the Hanged Man for a pint or two and I was really wishing I was with them. Aveline had returned to the Barracks to report the raid on the Slavers. She was hoping to get us a discretionary bounty for taking them down but it was unlikely with Jeven in charge. She had fussed over me a bit before she left and it was uncomfortable to say the least. Aveline doesn't fuss over people like Leandra. She is a lot more vocal in her displeasure and she was sure to lecture me on the carelessness of allowing that assassin to get close enough for his poison to be effective. Apparently, I didn't measure up to her standards and she made me promise that I would join her at the Barracks for a few training sessions before she left me in peace. I really wasn't looking forward to that.
Hawke said she had a few errands to run and that she would be back in an hour or so. She gave me a quick kiss before leaving. No doubt Hawke wanted to get the 15 sovereigns or so that were in the chest. She probably also wanted to head to the Gallows and get the rest of those letters. It didn't bother me that I wasn't there for that. The less time I spent there the better.
No what did bother me was Anders. He had been glaring at me since Hawke left. It was like she was the only thing holding him back. He didn't have any right to judge me or anybody else and if he said anything I'd tell him exactly what he could do with his opinions. This goes without saying but I hate hypocrites and double standards. Anders is full of them. He seems to have this insane notion that what he did with Justice is just fine but even associating with demons in our case and he goes over the top in some sort of self-righteous outrage.
He also seemed intent on making me wait as long as possible. All he needed to do was give me a check up. A minute and he'd be done but he just had to prolong this. No doubt, he was hoping Bethany and the girl would leave when everybody else was fixed up so he could lecture me. That wasn't going to happen and he really should have known better. Did he really think I would let Bethany and this girl leave without protection of some kind. It was protecting the two of them that landed me here in the first place. He had finished up with his final patient and went to help Bethany despite the fact that she had things well in hand. I had enough at that point and jumped to my feet. If he wasn't going to see me then I wasn't going to waste my time.
"Bethany, I'll be waiting outside when you're done here?"
"What do you think you're doing?" Anders responded then.
"I'm done wasting my time. You seem intent on ignoring me until we are alone or some other crap but that's not going to happen. Do you really think I'd let Bethany walk home alone from Darktown? Save the lecture you seem intent on making, check me out and then I'll be on my damn way." Anders opened his mouth to respond by I simply held up my hand.
"Shut it! I really don't give a damn. Whatever you think is you're entitled to say, you are not."
"You're going to hurt her."
"And who the hell are you to say that? You know nothing about me."
"I know you're as good as possessed by a demon."
I took a step towards him and he started to glow blue. Bethany took a step between us.
"This is neither the time nor the place." She said then. I merely glared at Anders who returned it with the full glow of Justice in his eyes. Bethany had placed a hand on each of our chest to keep us separate. I let out a deep breathe and stepped back.
"You're not worth it. People like you never are." I said then and turned and walked out the room.
I walked over to the rail that overlooked the water and leaned against it. I let out a sigh. I shouldn't let that idiot bother me but he seemed to get under my skin. He really didn't see what he did as wrong but simply talk to a demon and it set him off. The only difference between spirits and demons is labels and perception. Caress simply was not a demon. To me demons sought to possess somebody while a spirit did not. A spirit could be benevolent and help people. Justice didn't help anybody. He talked about freeing mages but in the end he made it worse. No doubt the veil between our world and theirs will be torn when the Mage War finally began.
"Are you alright?" A voice asked that I didn't recognize. It was soft and high pitched but you could tell that the person had seen more than anybody should have to suffer. I turned and was surprised to find it was the girl.
"I'm fine. I shouldn't have let him get to me." I chuckled softly. "You know, I should be the one to ask you if you're fine." Her soft, pale features lost what little color they had.
"I'm sorry," I said then. "That was insensitive of me. Let's just start over. I'm Sean ******, it's nice to meet you." I offered her a small bow to which she responded automatically with one of her own, almost as if she had been raised from a young age to respond as such.
"Rhiannon ..." she halted whatever she was about to say. "Rhiannon, just Rhiannon."
I maybe a lot of things but stupid isn't one of them. Whatever she was about to say had been very important. My eyes narrowed as I took in her features. Her red hair was wild and curly and her blue eyes were wide and soft. Her nose was narrow and tapered down to a small mouth will full lips. She had a light smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her build was lean but her arms were slightly defined.
"You are an archer, are you not?" I asked then. She looked slightly surprised at that.
"Yes, it's something my parents had ..." She cut off then and I could see the heartbreak in her eyes. This girl had no family in this world. Not anymore. Whatever happened couldn't have been pretty either. Her eyes were haunted and it made me wonder if being raped was the worst she had to deal with lately.
"I understand. Don't think about it. Whatever happened is in the past and it can only control you if you let it."
"My father used to say such things." She said with the ghost of a smile on her face. "My mother taught me to use the bow. She felt that a woman should always know how to defend herself."
"That was wise of her." I responded but her face was bitter.
"Not that it helped me when they stripped me of my weapons. If there wasn't so many of them," She finished harshly. I didn't know whether she was blaming herself for letting them take her weapons or if she was mad that it took so many of them to subdue her.
"Nothing can change what happened. Those men who hurt you are dead. They can never hurt you again."
"Not all of them," she said darkly.
"Look Rhiannon, I can't say I know what you're going through but I understand losing everything. A little over a year ago, I was in your position. I had lost my life, my family, everything I had ever known and loved. It was gone in an instant. In a lot of ways, I'm still looking for answers but I've come to realize that it is not as important as it once was. I've found a reason to go on and live. You can too, if you want to."
Rhiannon was looking at the ground when I started my speech but by the end she was looking back at the Clinic and towards where we could hear Bethany laying into Anders.
"Do you think so?"
"I know so. Hawke ... she helped me. She was there for me through everything. It didn't matter whether I was depressed or angry or simply lost. She was there for me. For a long time she was my best friend and now ... well now she's everything." I finished softly.
"You remind me of my parents. The way you look at her and she looks at you reminds me of what they had. I miss them." She looked up at me then. "Don't ever let her go."
I smiled softly and responded, "I won't. I'd be lost without her."
Rhiannon joined me at the rail and looked out in the magic-made harbor. From here we could see the Gallows and several ships making their way to the docks.
"Well, isn't this quite the sight," A voice said with a playful lilt. We turned to Hawke.
"Hawke, allow me to introduce Rhiannon. Rhiannon, this is my beautiful girlfriend Marian Hawke."
"Pleased to meet you, Rhiannon," Hawke then turned to me. "So did you check out alright?" I snorted in response. Hawke didn't looked pleased about that but Rhiannon stepped in.
"It's not his fault. That man ignored him for over an hour and when he was done he ignored him until Sean had enough. When Sean got up to leave the Clinic, and wait out here for Bethany and myself, Anders attempted to draw him into a verbal conflict ... about you. Bethany stepped between them but Sean walked away before anything else could happen." Rhiannon explained to Hawke, who looked at me questioningly.
"What am I going to do about the two of you?"
"I'll be fine as long as he learns that I'm not about to sit and listen to one of his hypocritical rants."
"And he's jealous of you," Rhiannon added. This caused both of us to turn to her. She fidgeted a bit, reminding us that she still wasn't completely comfortable with attention. Hawke hummed in thought.
"Still this is worse than what goes on between you and Aveline."
"That's because we have philosophical differences. I believe right and wrong should be judged by the person while Aveline believes in written law. I actually respect Aveline's opinion even if I don't completely agree with it. Anders is judging me based on things I haven't done. Hell, he's judging me on things he has done but refuses to see as wrong. He's holding me to a completely different standard then himself but he considers himself morally right in this case. I can't promise we'll get along but I can work with him. He's not a bad guy just slightly delusional."
"Alright. Well, I think it's time we get out of here. We have a potentially long night ahead of us."
Hawke went into the Clinic to get Bethany but she had a few words for Anders before we left. We made our way out of Darktown and towards our favorite place, The Hanged Man.
The Hanged Man smelled like it always did. Sweat, piss and stale ale permeated the very air. It was always wise to take a deep breath of fresh air before entering the Hanged Man. It was a rule I lived by. Our first step inside was not what I expected. Instead there was a scuffle taking place by the bar. Hawke stepped closer and I followed while Bethany and Rhiannon made their way up to Varric's room where he was waiting with Carver.
I couldn't help but smile as I watched Isabela single-handedly take on three men. Of course she probably wished she was taking three men on in a completely different way. Isabela ducked one man and he laid the other out with a bottle. Isabela laid into the man with a flurry and soon there was only Lucky to deal with. He reached for his blade but Isabela was much quicker and had her dagger at his throat.
"Tell me Lucky, is this worth dying for?" Lucky and friends quickly departed to Isabela's chuckle. "I thought not."
Isabela went back to her whiskey while Hawke and I shared a look. We walked up to order our drinks and to meet the Pirate Queen. Truthfully, I had been waiting for this moment. For the most part, I liked every companion in DA2 however Isabela was always my favorite.
"You're new around here aren't you? Welcome ... and keep your wits about you. You're nothing but tits and ass to the men in this place. And they won't hesitate to grab at both."
"Speaking from experience are we?" Hawke responded and Isabela chuckled in response.
"After a few broken fingers, here and there, they got the idea. I'm Isabela. Previously Captain Isabela. Sadly without my ship the title rings a bit hollow." She paused briefly before continuing on. "You're Fereldan, aren't you? You have that look about you. I was in Denerim not too long ago. I even met the Heroes of Fereldan ... if you know what I mean."
"What? All of them?" I couldn't help myself from asking to which Isabela chuckled softly.
"Sadly, no. That would have been quite the experience. All that raw energy ..." Isabela trailed off as she shivered in delight at her thoughts. It took her a minute before she got herself back under control. "I have a problem that I could use some help with."
Isabela then proceeded to explain about Hayder and their duel that was supposed to take place later that night in Hightown. Hawke looked thoughtful. If she agreed to help then it would definitely be a long night. Between Isabela and Fenris we'd be spending a great deal of time both in Lowtown and then finally Hightown. Hawke didn't hesitate in smirking.
"I could stand watching your back." Oh! I really didn't know how to think to that.
"I'll bet." Isabela smirked at Hawke and looked her up and down. And you could cut the sexual tension with a knife. Isabela then turned to me and gave me the once over as well.
"Oh, I could have so much fun with the two of you." She said as her smirk widened. Hawke and I shared a wide-eyed look. I think we were both caught off guard with this flirting. This was an entirely different situation than the one with Anders. He centered Hawke out but Isabela had no such standards. She would flirt with the both of us until we inevitably gave in. That was just Isabela's style. Hawke decided to redirect the attention elsewhere.
"As much fun as that sounds, we unfortunately are rather limited on time. We need to take care of something here in Lowtown tonight before we can deal with your problem."
"Can I come?" Isabela asked to our surprise.
"You want to come?" I asked. "It's probably going to involve lots of fighting. We rarely escape a night without being set upon by bandits and thugs."
"Even better. It sounds like being friends with the two of you will be very entertaining." Isabela practically purred her response and the way she send friends and entertaining left little to the imagination of what she really meant.
With that in agreement we made our way upstairs to Varric's room with Isabela accompanying us. She was introduced to the group briefly interrupting Varric chatting with Bethany and Rhiannon. Carver pretty much fell in love with Isabela at first look. That would certainly make things interesting especially if Isabela continued to flirt with Hawke and myself. The next few hours passed relatively quickly as we all seemed to have a pretty good time. Varric had already started calling Bethany my Lady Sunshine and Rhiannon he had dubbed Fire. I wasn't too impressed with that one. It seemed lazy. It's like calling Anders, Blondie and Fenris, Broody. No originality whatsoever. At least mine was pretty cool.
After enjoying a few drinks and a light meal from the Hanged Man it was finally night and the group of us made our way out in to Lowtown. We could see Anso the second we stepped outside. We made our way to him and Hawke called out to him. Anso jumped in surprise and then panicked thinking he would fall into the sky. Hawke, Varric, Isabela, myself and surprisingly Rhiannon chuckled at the strange dwarf. Bethany merely looked concerned while Carver rolled his eyes. It didn't take long for Anso to explain the situation and Hawke agreed to help him as long as the coin was good. Carver didn't necessarily agree.
"Do we really want to draw the attention of the Templars? It just seems like a foolish risk." He said.
"For the time being, all we are doing is retrieving the Lyrium for Anso. I don't intend to deliver the stuff unless Anso makes us an offer we can't refuse. If that happens, Bethany and Sean will stay behind." Hawke explained. Carver looked between Bethany and myself to see if we would argue with that before he nodded in agreement.
"Very well. Lead on, sister."
We made our way back up the steps towards the Hanged Man and then made our way towards Gamlen's hovel. We were almost passed when Hawke stopped and turned back to us.
"Something doesn't feel right." She then turned and looked at me. "Sean are you getting anything?" She may not have believed the whole part of my magic thing but she never questioned me when I gave her advise based on feelings. Since this was her own it was even easier.
"This is smells. Who would use the Alienage to store lyrium? They'd find a better place then that. This is a trap." I finished and Hawke nodded and looked over at Bethany and Rhiannon.
"Perhaps, it's best if the two of you stay here for now and let us deal with this."
Bethany went to protest but Rhiannon simply laid her hand on her shoulder. Bethany looked into Rhiannon's eyes and there was some sort of silent communication going on between the two. How did they manage that? They'd known each other for hours. Even Hawke and I couldn't just look at each other and know. After several moments, Bethany's shoulders slumped a little and she turned back to Hawke.
"Alright, sister. We will wait here for now but come and get us after you deal with this ambush."
With that Bethany led Rhiannon up to Gamlen's and they went inside. I turned and looked to Hawke.
"Maybe now's not the best time but where exactly is Rhiannon staying? It's not like she's from Kirkwall." I asked Hawke.
"She can take my pallet for now that is if you don't mind company for the foreseeable future." She teased me slightly. Isabela definitely seemed interested now.
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She exclaimed then.
Hawke rolled her eyes in response and motioned for us to follow. So now it was only Hawke, Carver, Varric, Isabela and myself. We made our way into the Alienage warily. Something was definitely not right and Varric pointed out that it was too quiet. We made our way over to the house where the Lyrium was supposedly stored and took our places. Hawke would kick open the door and Varric would stand back and cover us as we made our way inside. Carver would lead the frontal assault even though his large sword was sure to be difficult to wield in such tight confines.
Hawke kicked the door open and Varric took aim. Carver then charged in followed closely by Hawke and Isabela. I was next in the room as Varric followed on my heels. There was nobody in the first room but there was two connecting rooms and Hawke opened the one at the back of the room and was met by a couple rogues. Varric took one down with a bolt from Bianca and Hawke took the other down with skill. Carver meanwhile had opened the other door only to be met by a handful of men. Carver and Isabela enjoyed two of them while I took on one myself. I deflected his first blow with my shield and froze him on the spot. Carver literally shattered the man with his sword but I wasn't happy about it.
"That was my kill, you just stole," I said with mock-anger.
"Be quicker next time," was his response with a smirk on his face. I slugged him in the shoulder while Hawke and Isabela went to open the chest.
"There's nothing here!" Hawke exclaimed then.
"Who put us up to this?" Varric asked.
"It doesn't matter. We need to tell Anso about this." Hawke responded.
"Ah, we're forgetting about the ambush. There is no way this was all of them. I think we're about to be faced with a large group of armed men when we open that door." I added and Hawke looked at me then.
"You have an idea?" She asked.
"Yeah, stay back while I unleash hell." I said with a glint in my eye. Isabela took notice and had to get some sexual innuendo in.
"Oh. Can I watch?"
We all laughed at this before heading towards the door. Sure enough when we stepped outside the courtyard was filled with troupes.
"There's no elf! It was supposed to be an elf!" Exclaimed the woman who led the group. The man next to her didn't really seem to care though.
"It doesn't matter. We were told to take whoever came out of that building," he turned to us then and motioned to his men to draw their weapons. I only smirked in response.
"Didn't your boss ever tell you that it's not smart to corner a mage?"
Several of the men took a brief step back at that but it didn't matter as I unleashed the full furry of my Blizzard. The spell was getting easier and easier to call upon since I, accidentally, used it for the first time. The men were yelling out in pain at the stinging cold while Isabela merely looked excited. Several men stumbled out of the Blizzard but were quickly cut down by either Hawke, Carver or Isabela. When the storm dissipated we charged forward and engaged what was left of the enemy. They still outnumbered us but only by a little and with a group as skilled as ours they were taken care of in no time.
We surveyed the carnage and everybody seemed to appreciate my efforts with the Blizzard. Hawke offered me the usual small smile. I returned it and then we headed out to tell Anso about all that had happened. A man in armor made an appearance then. He took in the destruction left behind us before glaring at us.
"I don't know who you are, friend, but you made a serious mistake coming here! Lieutenant, I want everyone in the cleaning ... NOW!" This guy was definitely not happy about our presence but none of us were worried. I think Isabela was actually turned on even more by all that had happened. She certainly seems to have a bit of a one track mind when it comes to certain things. A man stumbled into the courtyard covered in blood and dropped to his knees in front of his captain, where he bled out. The biggest elf I had ever seen, followed the man down the steps, and made quite the entrance. Fenris, at last, had joined us.
"Your men are dead and your trap has failed. I suggest running back to your master while you can."
"You're going nowhere slave!" The man said then and placed his arm on Fenris' shoulder. Fenris' hand glowed as he spun and punched a hole through the man's chest. HOLY CRAP! I know I shouldn't be surprised but ... DAMN!
"I am not a slave!" Fenris exclaimed. Note to self, never call Fenris a slave ... ever!
Fenris turned to us then and apologized for the deception. He needed help to deal with his former master, Danarius and would pay us for any assistance. Gold makes the world turn, as they say. Despite any anger we might have had over the whole deception bit it was forgotten in the face of sovereigns. With that decided we informed Fenris that we had a duel to take care of in Hightown but that we would met him by Danarius' mansion. Fenris left us, for the time being, to ensure that Danarius didn't escape. We made a quick stop to pick up Bethany and Rhiannon on the way. Rhiannon was probably better off being left behind after the day she had but she had put on Hawke's spare set of leather armor and had somehow found a bow and a quiver full of arrows. She, obviously, wasn't one to be left on the sidelines when something happened. Hawke and I exchanged a look and I knew that I would once again have to keep the two safe. It took us a few minutes walk but we entered Hightown and surprisingly met Aveline, who greeted us.
"Hawke, what's going on?" She asked and was in full guard mode.
"Oh, this and that. You know how it is?" Hawke responded cheekily.
"Hawke, whenever you say something like that it normally means more paperwork for me in the morning."
"Just doing my part to keep the city guard busy." Hawke replied with a smirk.
"Fine, but I'm coming with you. If I'm going to have to write the reports I at least want to know what happened first hand."
Just like that we were walking around with a group big enough to decimate anybody stupid enough to get in our way. We entered the main courtyard at the steps leading up to the Viscount's Keep and next to the Amell Estate.
"This is the place but Hayder's not here."
"Really? You decided to have a duel right in front of the Keep?" I couldn't help but laugh.
"You'd be surprised at how long it takes guards to respond to anything going down here." Isabela responded and I couldn't help but compare it to home. The safest place to break any laws was always right in front of the cop station as strange as that may sound ... not that I ever broke any laws.
We didn't get a chance to discuss it further as a woman led a handful of men out.
"That's her. Kill her!"
Really? Did she not see how badly outnumbered they were? This battle wasn't even worth remembering. I literally sat twiddling my thumbs while Rhiannon and Varric each took down a man before anybody even engaged. Hawke, Isabela and Carver disposed of the others in no time. Aveline looked as bored as I was after that exchange.
"Check the bodies. Maybe they have information about where Hayder is." I sighed at this and Hawke was quick to respond.
"Wouldn't it have been better if we had left one alive to question?"
"Probably. HA! Got it. They're in the Chantry." Bethany sighed at this.
"How many people are we going to end up killing there? It's supposed to be a place of refuge."
"Look on the bright side, Sunshine, at least this while they'll be quick to join the Maker's side." This actually got a giggle out of Bethany.
Isabela didn't want to waste anytime and we were soon following her to the Chantry. We rounded the corner and were immediately set upon. This battle was better. I got to participate in this one. Of course they all seemed intent on getting to Bethany and her raw power. Rhiannon had her dagger out as she was protecting Bethany from the other side while I dealt with another man intent on her. I cut the head off the man I was engaging and then froze the man Rhiannon had been fighting. She slit his throat with a fierce cry and sheathed her dagger. She pulled her bow free and began firing shots off at those who had attempted to swarm Aveline. Not that Aveline really needed the help. Varric was picking people off with Bianca while Hawke, Isabela and Carver were dealing with their own group. There was too many of them though and they were pushed back a bit. The enemies were also bunched together. It was then that I noticed the man sneaking up behind Hawke. I let out a yell and froze him on the spot. I ran forward and sent his head flying with one blow from Frost Bite. I joined Hawke and engaged the others who sought to overwhelm her. We shared a quick look before returning our attention to these hired thugs.
After a few minutes, we finally dealt with the last of them and Isabela led us up the stairs and into the Chantry. We really were making a bad habit of killing people in the Chantry and I'm pretty sure that's sacrilege or something. There was a large group of armed men and women waiting for us and at their head was Hayder. He and Isabela traded barbs before Hawke cut him off.
"Your threats end here!" See even though Hawke is generally fun loving and sarcastic she also has a mean streak in her. Slavers should be wary of mentioning their business in her presence. Isabela had tossed a dagger into Hayder's female Lieutenant and that started the fun.
Hayder was good but Isabela was better. The two squared off as the rest of us dealt with Hayder's men. More were pouring in behind us and I sent a Chain Lightning into the mass of them. Varric and Rhiannon fired hails of arrows at them significantly cutting their numbers. Bethany added a Firestorm to the mix and the reinforcements were decimated. Hawke, Carver and Aveline were each dealing with one of Hayder's Lieutenants. Hawke cut into her opponent with a series of slashes that there was no way he could keep up with. The man was stunned for a second before he realized his throat had been slit. He bled out before he even hit the ground. Aveline used her shield to smash the other Lieutenant into submission before driving her sword through his chest. Carver literally cut the poor bastard he was dealing with in half. Note to self, do not fight somebody wielding a great sword with nothing but light leather armor standing in the way.
Hayder, himself, was done for. Isabela was enjoying herself too much to simply kill the guy. I almost felt sorry for him. He knew he had nowhere to go and that he had no help to fall back on. The rest of watched Isabela as she got the duel she had originally wanted from Hayder. Eventually, she grew tired of the game as Hayder was exhausted from trying to keep up with her. Isabela kicked his knee causing it to buckle and then grabbed him in a headlock. She whispered something in his ear before stabbing him in the back.
Isabela began rifling through Hayder's things while I helped Carver go through the rest of the dead for their valuables. I had found out rather quickly that I had no apprehension of taking from the dead especially those who were foolish enough to attack us. While we were doing that Hawke and Isabela talked things over. Aveline shifted a little when they got to the part about the slaves. All in all, Isabela decided she had so much fun so far that she would hang around with us.
"I think I'll tag along for awhile. There might be something I could do for you. And I have a room at the Hanged Man if you're looking for company later," She said that last bit while looking at Hawke and then very deliberately at me. "The three of us could have so much fun together."
The others took that about how you'd expect. Aveline looked like she wanted to stab Isabela, Bethany looked a little sick, Rhiannon was neutral about it all, Carver was not happy and Varric had a smile on his face and was barely holding in his laughter.
"We'll have to discuss that at another time but I have no doubt," Hawke was being diplomatic on the subject but there was a hint of her being flirty there. Okay, I think I needed to have a talk with Hawke. I wasn't going to argue with her but I really needed to know if I was going to be tormented by this daily. She was certainly putting me in a mood and we hadn't even been together yet in that way.
"Come on, we need to go deal with that elf, Fenris' problem."
Hawke led us out of the Chantry and we made our way through Hightown. Thankfully, the mansion was close by and we didn't run into any of the Guardsmen Pretenders. It had actually been a relatively quiet night on that front.
Fenris was waiting for us just outside Danarius' mansion. He was leaning against the wall but pushed off of it when we showed up.
"Good you came. There's been no activity so Danarius has to still be inside."
We followed Fenris into the mansion and what we encountered then was not pleasant. For the first time we had to deal with shades. Most of our weapons turned out to be relatively useless in this fight but Bethany and myself were particularly successful with our magical attacks. Bethany killed the first 4 with a fireball directly between them. The next were tougher but after sustained damage from the two of us they eventually fell. I could see Fenris eying the two of us but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
The rest of the mansion was much the same. We encounter more Shades and even had to deal with a couple of Rage Demons. Finally we made our way to the main bedroom on the top floor. When we unlocked it there was no sign of Danarius however an Arcane Horror and even more Shades did appear behind us. I hit two of the Shades with a Cone of Cold that allowed Carver to deal with them. Bethany had again dispatched hers relatively quickly with more fireballs. The Arcane Horror was particularly difficult. No matter what Bethany or I did it just kept coming. Hawke and Isabela had been cutting it left and right to no avail. Varric and Rhiannon's bolts and arrows were also pretty useless. In the end, it took Fenris doing his glowy fist thing through the chest to finally kill it.
With all the enemies taken care of Fenris went outside and let us loot the place for valuables. It seemed like a good night monetarily as we had several sovereigns between the lot of us. After taking our time searching through the mansion we finally joined Fenris outside.
"It never ends. I escaped a land of dark magic only to have it hunt me at every turn. It is a plague burned into my flesh and my soul. And now I find myself in the company of more mages. You harbor vipers within your midst." Fenris said then much to my displeasure.
"You can talk to us. We are right here you, know."
"I say next time we let him deal with the shades and demons, Bethany." Bethany laughed a little at this.
"Bethany and Sean are stronger than you think."
"You tell him, sis."
"Aw, she does love me." I then looked to Fenris who didn't seem to understand my humor in the situation. The others were laughing though.
"Before you judge us maybe this would go a lot smoother if you knew that we already freed a group of slaves just this morning. We aren't exactly after anything except the right to live free."
"I've seen much that mages have done in the name of survival. I will watch you carefully." Fenris said then and I pushed off of the wall I was leaning against.
"And I refuse to be treated as a criminal for my birth! I don't have to justify a damn thing to you, you self-important idiot. Maybe you should go hang out with Anders, the two of you are so very much a like in judging people for things they have not done."
Fenris took a step back at my rant. He obviously didn't think I would take offense to his attempted invasion of privacy.
"I apologize if I seem ungrateful." I snorted at this and Hawke shot me a look begging me to be quiet.
Hawke then worked things out with Fenris asking him if he would have a problem with mages to which he said he would watch us closely. I threw my hands up in the air and watched away but not before getting in the last word.
"Watch yourself because I will not be gawked at like some freak. If I catch you invading my privacy we will have more than words. That I promise you."
I walked away before he could say anything in response. Carver, Bethany and Rhiannon were quick in joining me. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who was displeased with the newest addition to the group. After several minutes, Hawke and the others joined us but Hawke motioned to me away from the others. When we were alone she didn't look happy.
"What was that all about? I was smoothing things over and you proceeded to make it worse."
"Make it worse? I will not have him watching me like he's some damn Templar surrogate. I don't care what he has lived through that doesn't give him free reign to go sniffing around mages because they make him uncomfortable. We are people too and he needs to realize that."
"You're sounding a bit like Anders there with his freedom for mages talk and it worries me." I chuckled a little at this.
"What you're afraid I'm going to join his little revolution? Not likely. You've got nothing to worry about there. I just want to be left in peace. If somebody threatens that peace I will defend it." Hawke nodded at this in thought.
"Alright, I see your point."
"Good. The last thing I want is for you to be against me on this. He's not wrong that he was treated badly but he is misplacing the blame. He sees mages as being solely responsible for his plight but in reality it is people and society. He doesn't seem to realize that not one single person we dealt with tonight had magic. There are a lot of bad people that enable slavery to happen. Tevinter is not filled only with mages and the people there let it happen. What's the alternative though? The Chantry. That's not a solution to mages and it shouldn't be to anybody else. It's just more slavery but people are quick to overlook that. Only mages are blamed for slavery in this world and the slavery they are subjected to is completely overlooked by the common people. Maybe there is a middle ground but war will come before that happens and I have no doubt that it will be here in Kirkwall where it starts. Especially if Knight-Commander Meredith stays in charge."
"Are you sure you're not joining a revolution?" I chuckled softly at this and pulled Hawke to me in an embrace.
"I'd much rather live at your parents did then drag you into a war with me. No, I'm content with just the two of us." I lost myself in her eyes and then kissed her. We could have been robbed and we never would have noticed with how lost in each other we were.
"Just the two of us, huh?" She asked then.
"Well sure, for now. I don't think we're quite ready for anything more just yet."
"Not even Isabela?" Hawke joked and I shook my head.
"I'm happy with you. Just you, that's all I need." I finished with a small smile.
"You sure know how to make a girl feel loved." She said with a small smile of her own.
We shared another quick kiss and then returned to the others. It was an eventful night and we all needed some much need rest before we made our trek out into the countryside. Aveline left us in Hightown and the rest of us made our way home. We all split up at the Hanged Man going our separate ways. Varric and Isabela went into the Hanged Man while Carver, Bethany and Rhiannon turned left to head to Gamlen's. Hawke and myself went to the right as it was a little quicker despite being pretty much directly behind the Hanged Man.
A/N: As you can all see, I have introduced a new character into this story. Rhiannon's not really new, though and I'm sure some of you will figure it out before I finally reveal her identity. As I've explained to a few reviewers, I have planned this story out beyond DA2 and into the Mage/Templar war. With that in mind there will be more than just Zevran, Leliana and Alistair making appearances from Origins.
I'd once again like to thank everybody for their reviews and positive feedback it is very much appreciated.