Zeriah wrinkled her nose at the fleshy decay that coated the walls of the tower. The first floor hadn't been so bad, but as soon as they reached the second it was as though death was growing on the walls and columns. Traven and Wynne had joined their little party, wanting to see this horror end. Zeriah felt bad for them. They were going through what she had gone through, losing everything they had ever known. She was walking at the head of the group, Traven by her side. Wynne and Dane were in the middle, and Leliana and Alistair took up the rear. Her old friend nudged her in the side.
"So what's the deal with the cute one?" he muttered. Zeriah glanced back and raised an eyebrow.
"Leliana? She used to be a lay sister but that's all I know about her, really." She said quizzically. Traven laughed.
"I was talking about golden boy." He chuckled. Zeriah blinked.
"Uh…he's a Warden like me…He's quite nice." She said awkwardly. Traven snorted.
"Quite nice? Maker, Zeri, you have feelings for that man. I would know." He said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. She felt the blush creeping up her face and she turned away from him.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She denied. He chuckled.
"You are a horrible liar. Glad to know some things haven't changed." He teased. She elbowed him playfully.
"I am not." She retorted. He shrugged and ignored her protests.
"Well, as a man, I can tell you that he is crazy about you." He said quietly. She tripped at his revelation.
"What? No he isn't. Is he? How do you know? Never mind, I don't care." She rambled. He chuckled.
"Do you want to know, or not?" he asked. She bit her lip and nodded.
"Yes." She admitted grudgingly. He grinned.
"When you hugged me earlier, I saw it in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to kill me, but then he could see that me dying would upset you and he changed his mind. So just to make sure I wasn't making a mistake, I kept touching you, remember? Your shoulder, your arm, your waist, oh, he went absolutely mad." He drawled. Zeriah gasped and glanced back at the object of their conversation, who was in a deep conversation with Leliana.
"He did not!" she hissed. Traven nodded emphatically.
"He did. That's probably why he keeps glaring at me. He thinks I'm competition." He said proudly. Zeriah shook her head.
"But we ended it years ago!" she cried in a hushed whisper. Traven laughed.
"Does your lovesick friend over there know that? I didn't think so." He said. She was blushing furiously now. "See, he hates me. He sees that I am the one making you laugh and smile and blush, and if looks could kill I would be dead on the floor right now." He said out of the side of his mouth. She glanced back at Alistair, and she saw the look Traven was talking about. As soon as he noticed her staring, he blushed and smiled widely. She returned the grin before turning back to Traven.
"I…I don't know what to say." She whispered. Traven chuckled.
"You were never this nervous with me." He pointed out. She glared at him.
"The circumstances were different then." She snapped. He raised an eyebrow.
"True, but I think the main difference is that what we had was…a companionable attraction? It wasn't love." He reminded her. She blinked and shook her head.
"Don't say love." She begged. Her old friend frowned at her.
"Why not? What would be so terrible about loving him?" he asked, all joking gone from his tone.
"I…I can't love anyone. I can't do that again." She said softly. Traven's brow was furrowed.
"Of course you can." He assured her. She shook her head again.
"No. Bad things happen to those I love. I won't do that to him." She promised. Traven was silent for a long time.
"Zeri…if you deny yourself love, you don't have a chance." He finally said. She frowned, but said nothing. She would think on his words. She had no real chance to respond, because, as they entered the area before the stairs to the next floor, they were attacked by an abomination and a group of demons and corpses. The battle was difficult, but she had fought worse creatures. The abomination was the hardest to kill, and it took all six of them to finally take it down. The pair of Tranquil mages that were in the chamber stared at them with those empty expressions. She shuddered. Was that how she had looked before Ostagar?
"Thank you for killing those creatures. We would prefer not to die." One of them said in a hollow voice. She nodded and hurried up the stairs, not wanting to be around the uncomfortable husks. The third floor was even worse than the one before, with the repugnant corruption coating the floors and walls. Zeriah fought the urge to retch at the sight and the stench. As they picked their way through the mess, they heard a sultry, seductive voice coming from the room on the left. Their party entered the room to see a scantily clad, violet-skinned woman running her hands over a bewitched Templar. Zeriah saw the hatred in Traven's and Alistair's eyes at the sight of the creature and she did not hesitate.
"Die, demon!" she growled, throwing herself at the half-naked creature.
"Help!" the desire demon crooned. Her Templar prisoner immediately began to attack them, while the demon raised corpses to come to her aid. The battle was over quickly, with no major injuries to account for. Zeriah nodded to her group and they went across the hall. She blanched at the beast that awaited them.
Putrid, rotting skin like the corruption that covered the halls of the Circle coated the creature's lopsided face. It wore a heavy robe that hung off of parts of its body, revealing more disgusting flesh. Its gaping mouth quirked into a smile at the sight of them.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" it said in a low, soothing voice. Zeriah began feeling exhausted, like everything would be well again if she just took a nap. She could feel herself sinking to the floor.
"…No….demon…release us…" she slurred. She could see that her companions were in the same state as she was.
"Why resist?" it said before blackness overtook her.
She woke with a yawn as the sun filtered in through her window. She stretched languorously on the bed before rolling over to run her fingers across Alistair's fine blonde chest hair. She felt more than heard his rumbling chuckle and…
"Wait, what? Alistair? Why is Alistair in my bed? Why am I in a bed?" she thought to herself. The man in question kissed the top of her head lovingly.
"Good morning, love." He murmured fondly. She shook her head to clear her confusing thoughts.
"…morning…" she replied hesitantly. His brown eyes took on a look of concern.
"Something the matter?" he asked worriedly. She shook her head.
"I…I'm just having trouble remembering…" she muttered. He grinned.
"After the celebrations last night, I can't say I'm surprised. Now, we should probably get dressed and head to breakfast before anyone notices we're missing." He chuckled. She smiled and nodded. Food would definitely clear her head. She put on a simple grey dress before heading down the familiar halls of Highever Castle with her husband by her side.
"Husband?" she wondered to herself. She shrugged. It must have been a crazy night after all. Alistair was staring at her, and she noticed something odd in those familiar eyes of his.
"Something wrong, dear?" she asked. He smiled and shook his head, but the strangeness remained.
"Nothing. Everything is perfect. You are perfect." He said lovingly. She blushed and shook her head.
"I am far from it, but thank you." She denied. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, but she ignored it, content to wander with the man she loved. They finally reached the dining hall, and suddenly a flood of emotions hit her.
Bryce and Eleanor Cousland sat in their place at the head of the table, laughing at something Fergus had just said. Oriana was keeping an eye on Oren, who was running about with his wooden sword. Nan was just setting out more plates for the two of them, while Dane waited patiently under the table for some scraps to fall. Zeriah felt tears in her eyes. Alistair turned her to face him.
"What's wrong, my love?" he asked. She shook her head.
"I've no idea. I just love all of you so much." She whispered. He kissed her forehead adoringly.
"And we love you. I love you." He murmured. She beamed at him.
"I love you too." She replied. It killed her inside to know that none of it was real. None of it would ever be real.
Traven blinked. He was sitting in the Circle library with a book, but he couldn't quite remember how he had gotten there. He scratched his neatly-trimmed beard absently as he looked around. Nothing looked out of place. That is when she walked in and shattered the entire illusion. His heart broke all over again, seeing her mischievous smile and her bright hazel eyes. She quickly glanced around the room, checking for observers as she had always done. When she realized they were alone, she walked around to the back of his chair and wrapped her arms around him.
"Hello, love." She said in that familiar, smoky voice. He closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of her one final time.
"Hello, Neria." He replied quietly. She released him and moved to a place where he could see her. She brushed a strand of dark blonde hair behind her delicately pointed ear.
"What's wrong, Trav?" she asked worriedly. He smiled widely and shook his head.
"Nothing, darling. I just haven't seen you in a while." He said, opening his arms for an embrace. The blonde elf grinned and ran into his arms. She didn't expect it when he plunged the knife into her back. "I'm sorry." He whispered before her true demonic appearance took over and the world shifted into the hazy blur of the Fade. Losing her again was nearly as bad as it had been the first time. He sighed. It seemed he would have to go find the others. As soon as he thought of leaving, a shimmering blue pedestal appeared before him. He touched it, and was surrounded by a white light.
Zeriah laughed harder than she had in a long time during breakfast. It was then that Ser Gilmore appeared with a strange look on his face.
"My Lady Zeriah, you have a visitor." He said. She arched one of her dark eyebrows .
"Send them in." she ordered. The knight returned a few minutes later with a very familiar face. She sighed and walked over to him.
"Zeriah." He said hesitantly. She nodded.
"Hello, Trav." She replied. He smiled.
"Good, you know who I am. Look, Zeri, I have to tell you that all of this-" Traven began.
"Isn't real? I know. I knew the moment I saw my parents." She pointed out. He raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you still in your dream then?" he asked quizzically. She glanced back at the ghosts of her family before looking at her friend.
"Because I couldn't bring myself to kill them…Not when I've already watched them die once." She whispered. It was then that Traven noticed the copy of Alistair, and his lips twitched into a smirk.
"I knew you had feelings for him." He teased, nodding at the young warden. She blushed.
"No! It's probably just because we were talking about it…" she argued. He laughed loudly then, causing Alistair to walk over.
"Something wrong, wife?" he asked. Traven's eyes nearly bulged out of his head because he was trying so hard not to laugh. Alistair's copy glared at the mage. Traven cleared his throat.
"I didn't realize you were married." He said, a hint of laughter still in his tone. She glared at him and his gaze turned serious. "You know what you have to do." He said quietly.
"Who is this man? What is he talking about?" Alistair asked insistently. Zeriah did the first thing she could think of. She gasped and pointed at something behind the tall man's head.
"What's that?" she cried. He didn't suspect the sword that went through his back, killing him instantly. The rest of her family began to attack her, and tears poured from her eyes as she killed them with Traven's help. By the time the assault was finished, she collapsed to the ground in a heap of tears. She felt Traven's arms around her shoulders as she sobbed uncontrollably.
"It'll be all right, Zeri. I'm here." He crooned. When she regained control of herself, she met his impossibly blue eyes.
"What was your dream?" she asked quietly. A shadow crossed through the eyes that were generally filled with enthusiasm.
"Neria. She was an elven mage I met after I returned from Highever. It didn't take long for us to fall in love." He revealed. Her eyes widened.
"What happened to her?" she whispered. He sighed.
"She…she was killed in the initial attack on the Circle. I tried to save her but I was too late." He admitted. She hugged him tightly.
"I wish I could do something for you." She murmured. He pulled away from her embrace with a sad smile.
"You can help me find the others so we can get our sorry asses out of here." He decided. She nodded in agreement. She was definitely tired of the Fade.