Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from the game.
Author's Note: Yes, I know this is super mega ultra late. I am deeply sorry but I had tests and stuff. Should be better from here on out. Anyway, this chapter is a bit of an oddity. I just felt that our friendly neighborhood dragon gods deserved a chapter to themselves eventually. And it's a good way for me to transition into the final leg of this tale. I hope you enjoy it and do leave your feedback.
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Chapter 37 – Worlds That Never Were
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A single idea, if it is right, saves us the labor of an infinity of experiences.
~Jacques Maritain
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"The spark is exposed," Dumat says plainly. "Our release is close."
"She will have to break out of her mental prison with magic," Razikale's clear voice sounds pleased.
"Is there no other way?" Toth growls softly.
"She would need a sufficiently strong anchor," Lucasan replies carefully. "She does not have one."
"I would be inclined to disagree," Urthemiel sings.
"You refer to the witch, Morrigan, then," Zazikel sighs.
"Insufficient," Andoral snaps coldly. "It isn't real, just like every other mortal bond."
"What if it were?" Urthemiel persists.
"Then," Razikale pauses for a moment. "The spell would break. You must admit though, it is highly unlikely."
"I say it is what you fear," Dumat's echoing voice causes a stir of discomfort. "I believe the critical encounter would have remained unchanged at its core even if we reversed things."
"Inconceivable," Lucasan says automatically. "Do you truly think it could work the same way? She is not the same."
"She doesn't need to be the same," The god of silence says patiently. "Only the bond between them need remain the same. I further insist that the encounter would be independent of what led up to it."
"The incident you speak of may not even occur in a million cases," Zazikel says quietly. "I do not see how it is relevant."
"The relevancy is not in question," Razikale responds. "Lord Dumat only mentions it in particular because it is… isolated, so to say."
"You mean because of no outside interference," Toth muses. "I suppose it holds for an accurate test, when it occurs."
"It is also an absolute in itself," Dumat says. "There are, in any realistic case, only two extreme outcomes."
"If it would proceed similarly after reversal, we have no choice but to conclude the obvious," Urthemiel's celeste tones speak out.
"How is the reverse even possible?" Lucasan demands. "Morrigan is a mage."
"And her mother's soul is symbiotically bonded to a demon's," Razikale shoots back.
"And how does that matter?" Andoral inquires.
"Her soul is both normal and abnormal," Dumat replies softly. "Due to Flemeth's nature, Morrigan would have to be a mage. Similar to how we forced magic into Leliana, and she can still interact with the magic that seals us away."
"Essentially, you are saying that the witch could interact with the gate," Toth barks. "Why did we not use her instead?"
"Prevailing conditions dictated otherwise," Razikale snaps. "There needs to be a convenient way of getting her here. Roysten was the only way and Leliana worked better with his choices in mind."
"Still, Morrigan is power hungry," Urthemiel sings softly. "She would have torn Thedas apart if we gave her that power."
"You are wrong," Dumat replies flatly. "She is power hungry because Flemeth raised her to be. Remember that she was to be our tool before we found a better way. She desires power, but I assure you she has no idea what to do with it."
"So she thinks of the goal and not beyond," Razikale laughs. "Understandable, for a mortal. In any case, I doubt she would have trusted us. She was raised to not be that either."
"And yet she seems to trust Leliana," Toth hisses.
"This is strictly undesirable," Andoral sighs.
"I still insist that it is not real," Lucasan replies.
"Then let us see," The lord of silence says coldly. "The way we ordinarily do. I have read their minds inside out. We construct a situation and see what occurs. If it is as I believe, then they are compatible either way."
"Very well," Urthemiel says softly. "Let us merge minds then."
The dragon gods re-imagine the world to answer their musings. A different decision of their own, in essence. What if Roysten had not turned to the chantry at all? Instead, he stole the ancient scrolls with the simple intention of releasing his gods. Dumat knew what he would have done then. Use Morrigan instead of Leliana. Equally well positioned, of course, as they were to travel with the same group. And as far as he is concerned, a valid conduit is a valid conduit.
He does not expect to be surprised; this is more to prove something to his brethren. He glances detachedly at the incidents that unfold before them. He notes that no set up was needed to inspire the witch to leave the warden's group. The promises and whispers of the gods were, of course, enough. For when you think about it, it was the reason she joined Alisa in the first place.
Teyrn Loghain and Arl Howe need not have died, for cleansing Ferelden was not on Roysten's agenda this time. Marjolaine, he couldn't find a reason to care. She was a tool to get to Leliana, and the bard was not the messiah this time. In return, the portals to the fade are torn open far sooner and the demons flood into Ferelden.
"You see, she destroys," Lucasan breathes. "Though I wonder why she has not confronted the warden and her group."
The dragon lord laughs. They ask questions which have obvious answers. Change one thing and you change everything, while simultaneously affecting nothing. Fate works in strange ways, Dumat is confident that both paths will achieve a similar final result.
"Because she has no need to," The god of silence responds. "She has no scores that need to be settled. She left of her own volition, unlike Leliana. One could even venture to say that Leliana made the more sadistic decisions."
The others stay silent but their discomfort is faintly audible. They let it progress to the point where the desired confrontation is before them.
"The circumstances that led up to this are incredibly specific," Zazikel speaks. "It would only happen in the rarest of cases."
"The point is that it could happen," Razikale says exasperatedly. "The interaction itself is all that concerns us. If Morrigan kills her, then we have nothing to be concerned about. If the outcome is similar to how it is in the reverse case, then we must think further."
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"Morrigan, stop!" Leliana's voice carried through the forest.
The witch turned around and glared. Her robes were the same as before but Leliana gasped at her beauty. While she had always been beautiful, now she was unearthly. She had let her raven locks loose so they fell down to the middle of her back.
"You should not have come," She snapped.
The bard drew her daggers just to be safe. Morrigan made no move for the staff on her back. That had changed too, it was now jet black metal with an unusual gem encrusted at the tip.
"Have you gone crazy?" Leliana demanded. "Why are you trying to release the old gods?"
"'Tis not like I have much choice at this stage," The witch shrugged. "Besides, the power is worth it."
"Morrigan, listen-" The bard began only to be cut off.
"Leave," Morrigan said plainly. "Unless you want me to kill you."
"Do it," Leliana snapped with narrowed eyes.
The witch's glare only intensified. "Do not test my patience. We were… friends once but none of that matters now."
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"Friends?" Andoral demands.
"Different realities, different conditions," Dumat replies airily.
"Obviously the result of this encounter will be different because of that," Lucasan responds.
"If you like we can try it with different conditions after this," The dragon lord says slowly. "I assure you, the results will be unchanged."
"This does not bode well," Razikale muses.
"We must react now," Urthemiel hums.
"Wait and watch," The god of silence says with finality. "I wish to be sure before making my decision."
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"Then do it," The bard said.
"Fine," The witch barked. She tossed her staff aside. "'Tis your death wish."
Leliana quirked an eyebrow at the staff on the ground. She raised her daggers.
"I wished to make it fair, so to say," Morrigan hissed.
The bard yelped as a pair of chains emerged from nowhere and snatched her weapons away. She felt herself lifted into the air and slammed hard into a tree. She whimpered unwillingly.
"What is the matter?" The witch sneered. "Does it hurt?"
Leliana struggled pointlessly against the binding magic as Morrigan just stood in front of her, smirking. The bard felt herself drawn away from the tree only to be slammed into it again. She grimaced as she felt blood drip down the back of her neck.
"Coward," Leliana mumbled. "Hide behind their magic if you want."
The witch quirked an eyebrow before calmly slapping the orlesian across the face and letting the magic slam her into the tree again.
"You really are not in a position to be mocking me," Morrigan whispered. "Now please leave, I have no interest in killing you."
"You won't," The bard mumbled as she struggled further. "Stop siding with them!"
"Why?" The witch asked before raking her nails down the orlesian's right cheek, drawing blood. Leliana hissed at the pain.
"You always were a bitch," The bard said softly.
"What did you call me?" Morrigan asked slowly.
"Bitch," Leliana snapped. "It's not as though I haven't called you that before."
The witch proceeded to break her nose with a hard punch. The bard cried out in pain. She had expected a more favorable response, they had been friends, damn it.
"Those times are gone," Morrigan said plainly. "'Tis not that hard to understand. But you always were a fool."
"At least we're back to normal," The bard muttered. "Do you mind getting rid of this magic?"
"I asked you a question," The witch said softly before slamming her into the tree again. "Why?"
It had taken a while, but it finally hit Leliana that she might actually die. She swallowed slowly, trying to find her voice again. She had always assumed that Morrigan wouldn't actually kill her. The new revelation came with a good bit of unhappiness apart from sheer terror. Had their friendship been worth that little? And she, ever the foolish optimist, had hoped for even more.
"Do you want to destroy the world?" The bard asked weakly.
"It will happen either way," The witch shrugged. "'Tis better that I keep favor with the winning side."
"We can stop them," Leliana shouted. "Come back with me."
"Back where?"
"To the others," The bard replied. "They're recovering from the injuries of the last battle."
"So you left of your own volition," Morrigan murmured, stepping a little closer.
"I am not leaving you like this," Leliana snapped.
"Then I will have to leave you dead."
"Wouldn't you rather be on our side?"
The witch grasped a handful of the bard's hair and smiled at her faint whimpering. She drew extremely close.
"What's the point?" Morrigan asked softly.
Leliana shuddered involuntarily at the witch's breath caressing her face. She wished she had a dagger to stab with. She groaned as Morrigan calmly tugged harder at her hair before the magic slammed her into the tree again.
"S-stop that please," The bard whispered.
"Why are you stuttering?" The witch smirked. "And answer my question."
"Is saving the world not a good enough reason?" Leliana managed.
"You are planning to free the elven gods?" Morrigan asked.
"Y-yes," The bard stuttered, again acutely conscious of how close the witch's face was.
Leliana yelped in surprise when Morrigan drew closer, their lips almost touching.
"You have wanted this, I take it," The witch said softly. Her lips barely brushed against the bard's when she spoke.
Leliana felt like screaming. "H-how did you know?"
"I did not need any magic for this," Morrigan laughed. "The way you stare, 'tis pathetic really."
"I'm still pinned to a tree by magic, you know," The bard murmured.
"All the better."
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"This proves nothing," Lucasan snaps. "They were close before and this is merely a reflection of that."
"I told you we can try again with different conditions if you so desire," Dumat responds coldly. "You may not get the exact result, but it will be close enough."
"This is not in our best interest," Razikale mutters. "You were right, lord."
"I always am," The dragon lord says patiently.
"But this implies that Leliana can break free," Zazikel says. "Since Morrigan is a valid anchor."
"True enough," Andoral speaks. "What now?"
"Tell Blazt to intensify the attacks," The god of silence says in a commanding tone. "No more shrines, no more conversions. Tell him to destroy everything. With the spark exposed, nothing really matters."
"This feels like a knee-jerk reaction," Urthemiel sings softly.
"It is," Dumat responds with finality. "We have no choice, we have severely miscalculated."
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Author's Note: Yes, I am a fool and perhaps a tad mean to give you zero background on this 'what if' encounter. But I couldn't write the whole story again and this chapter is more about the dragon gods than Leliana and Morrigan anyway. Been a while since I released an elven god though. Next chapter, promise. And it should be a fun one hopefully. Hope you enjoyed it. Do leave your thoughts. The next update will likely come a fair bit faster.
To my reviewers:
Nightwish11606: Thanks! Yeah, Dumat's a bit of a bastard that way. And of course Morrigan loves her, was there ever any doubt :P Hopefully she'll break out before Morrigan's condition gets too bad. We shall know soon.
interesting2125: Thanks! Yeah, it's a bit of 'I r create super cool omnipotent god thing! ... Maybe not such a great idea.' Yeah, she probably will deny it but we know the truth. I suppose we'll wait and see when the two of them can live happily ever after, if they can live happily ever after ;)