Aedan had never been a fan of riddles. They made his head ache in a way few things could, but thankfully, they had all been rather simple. They'd breezed through the first room, one of what the guardian said would be four trials, before they would be deemed worthy of taking any of Andraste's Ashes.
If they were all that easy, this would be a breeze.
"I'm glad you're not an idiot," Elissa whispered as they made their way through a set of doors. "I never—"
Her words caught in her throat as their eyes fell on what would be the sickest sight Aedan had ever seen. It was a spirit. It had to be. There was no other way to explain how their father was here, standing before them.
His gray hair was brushed neatly, combed to the side in the same style as usual. Every wrinkle on his face was in the exact place Aedan remembered, and that smile, it made him hurt. That was their father, smiling at them like they were the greatest thing anyone could ever see. He looked so proud that it almost made Aedan sick.
"What kind of cruel vision is this?" he demanded.
"Oh, dear child," came the same rough voice, though it sounded...unclear, as if he was speaking through smoke, "I am no vision."
He regarded Aedan heavily, eyes roaming over him, and suddenly, Aedan felt just as small as he did when Duncan pulled them from the fire. He felt lost and alone, isolated, devastated all over again. Seeing his father... It hurt more than it should have. Seeing him should be a relief, right?
"No more do you have to grieve." For the first time, his gaze shifted to Elissa, standing only a few short inches behind Aedan, almost as if she was hiding. "You know that your prayers will not bring me back. Take the pain and the grief, acknowledge it, and let go. You know it is time.
"You have such a long road ahead of you, and you must be prepared. And so I leave this in your hands."
Seemingly from thin air, a small amulet materialized in his hand. Upon closer inspection, Aedan realized his hand was barely visible. No matter how real this illusion looked, that was all it really was. An illusion.
He took Aedan's hand, pressed the necklace into it. His father's grip was like iron, cold and icy, but at the same time, non-existent.
"I know you will do great things with it."
And just like that, as quickly as he had come, Teyrn Cousland was gone, evaporating into the air.
Aedan was shaking. His eyes were drilled into the necklace, staring at the empty pendant with a rage he hardly knew. He could feel eyes on him—Elissa's, Morrigan's, Leliana's.
"I don't want this," Aedan said, sticking his hand out to his sister.
She jumped, surprised, and frowned. "He gave it to you, Aedan, not me."
He swallowed past a lump in his throat, and then shook his head. If he could've shoved the necklace on her, he would have. He didn't want it. He didn't want any part of it. For all he knew, it was a test, or Bryce hadn't been speaking to him at all, or something.
It didn't matter. Aedan did not want the necklace. He didn't want to think about their father, or their mother, or the rest of their family, or anything. He wanted to forget about all of them. He wanted to forget it had ever happened.
Slowly, he felt Elissa's hand close over his, and very delicately, remove the chain from his grasp. Good. He didn't want it.
And then, somehow she had put it on him, and he was shaking all over again.
"Elissa—"
"This is all very touching, but aren't we supposed to be saving an arl?" Morrigan demanded.
"Have some humanity," Leliana snapped, exasperated. "Wouldn't you be upset if you saw your dead mother standing in front of you?"
"I would likely celebrate," Morrigan retorted.
Aedan made a face of disgust, but again, it didn't matter. Morrigan, for all her attitude, was right. They weren't here to mope or be sad; they had a job to do, and Aedan could handle that better than his emotions. It was easy to go here and do that, but trying to process his grief like father had suggested? Nope, way too difficult. It would be easier to just numb himself to it.
"Remind me to never ask you anything like that ever again," Leliana commented, taking a step away from the witch.
To Morrigan's credit, however, she didn't return fire with a snarky reply of her own, and instead looked to Aedan. Her eyes were always so unsettling. He hated looking at them, hated talking to her. How Elissa had ever held a conversation with the witch, he would never understand.
Aedan took a deep breath to steady himself, calm his nerves, and then nodded. "Morrigan's right. Come on."
If they were lucky that was the second trial.
They resumed down the corridor in a rather broken formation. Elissa was on his right, her usual position, with Leliana and Morrigan bringing up the rear, but at a distance shorter than the norm. It was staggered—when he brought Elissa or Leliana with him, they typically positioned themselves around him differently than Morrigan and Alistair would, and if he was being honest, he preferred Morrigan and Alistair's distance.
As they approached a large, vaulted door, the floor and walls creaked around them. Aedan stuck an arm out to stop the others as dust fell all around them, but it was just the door opening for them.
He swallowed nervously and his hand drifted down towards the hilt of his sword. After a few cautious steps, he was in the antechamber, and he saw more spectres, similar to the ones who had given them riddles.
Except these were different. They were animated, almost as if shadows of real people, and that was when he recognized them.
All four of them had a mirror image standing across from them. There was another Aedan, another Elissa, another Leliana, another Morrigan. They wore the same armor, carried the same weapons, had the same stances and posture.
Something in the air clicked, and Leliana's shadow snapped into action. An arrow came whizzing for his chest the same instant, but Morrigan was ready, and the air before him shimmered as a ward blocked the shot. She dispatched the ghost just as swiftly, throwing a chunk of the cobblestone beneath their feet into its chest. It exploded in a puff of smoke.
Elissa's ghost came charging at him even as his went for her. He ripped his sword free of its scabbard as the shadow descended on him. The sword that collided with his was...Elissa's. The Cousland sword. The same runes glowed along the blade, same leather strap she had wound across the pommel and hilt to improve her grip.
Hopefully this thing wouldn't kick his ass as handily as Elissa had.
But rather than stress over that fact, he grit his teeth, and went on the offensive. Elissa was guarded in fights and he could overpower her easily before; there should be no difference now.
It didn't appear the ghost could use the same magic Elissa did, so he pushed his advantage. She swung at his chest, looking to run him through, but Aedan sidestepped and smacked his shield off the flat of her blade. In one smooth motion, he slashed his sword through what should've been the ghost, but it dissipated as soon as his blade touched its shoulder.
He didn't even have the time to see Elissa kill his double—she was moving onto Morrigan's, but both the witch and Leliana had it handled. Each woman shot a projectile of their own into the spirit, and it exploded like the others.
"This is..."
"Disturbing," Aedan finished.
Elissa's eyes met his for a moment, and then she nodded. "This is making me uncomfortable."
"I imagine it was designed to do so," Morrigan said.
He gave the room a once-over before sheathing his sword. The hilt of the weapon clicked into place as the wood met the lacquered leather, leaving a sense of satisfaction radiating throughout his body. Nothing satisfied Aedan like that sound. It meant whatever conflict they'd gotten into was over, and that alone was enough of a relief the crisp noise was just icing on the cake.
Aedan inhaled deeply, savoring the cold air in his chest. "No point in dwelling on it now, though. We're halfway there."
As they continued through the halls, Aedan felt his heart getting heavier. Every step he took was sluggish, as if being weighed down by some invisible force. The others, though, they didn't seem to be having the same problem. He pushed on.
The next door opened for them as well, but instead of an empty room like the last, a gaping hole sat in the center, surrounded by square plates. At the opposite end, another door, but he couldn't see a way to reach it.
"Oh, this looks fun!" Leliana droned. "I bet we'll have to work together and join hands and sing a happy song to get across."
Aedan frowned when he looked at her. "Are you being sarcastic?"
Leliana simply shrugged and Elissa scoffed out a laugh. The way the two of them were always just...around each other was annoying enough. The fact that Elissa enjoyed Leliana making fun of him was even more annoying, but if it made Elissa laugh, then he was happy to be the butt of some jokes. It was so nice being able to just talk to her again.
He scanned the room a second time, and decided that however they were going to get across, they'd have to use the plates for it. He stepped on the closest.
Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.
He stepped over to the next, and again, nothing. He moved to the third, which also did absolutely nothing, but the fourth did. As soon as he paused, a grinding noise rumbled through the floor, and a stone platform materialized in front of the others.
Elissa knelt down to inspect it. From where he was standing, it looked hazy, like it wasn't really there, and Elissa confirmed those thoughts. She waved a hand through the image.
"We can't walk on that," Elissa said.
Aedan gestured across the gap. "Try the other side. Maybe those will do something."
She nodded and copied his approach, choosing to step on every single pressure plate until the bridge solidified. Morrigan took a step into the stone, and when she didn't fall through, Aedan knew they had it figured out.
Morrigan remained on the bridge while Aedan and Leliana tried to activate the next part. Elissa stayed in place out of caution; they didn't know what would happen if she stepped off the plate, so better safe than sorry.
"This is insufferable," Morrigan grumbled as she stepped onto another section of the bridge.
Once it was settled, though, that meant Aedan was stuck, so Elissa stepped off her side, and sure enough, as soon as she was gone, so was the bridge.
Leliana found the start of the third, and from what Aedan could tell, the side Elissa was on made the stones corporeal, so it was his and Leliana's job to find the plates that activated them. It was quick work once they'd figured that out—when Morrigan stepped onto the opposite side of the room, the entire bridge solidified.
"Finally," the witch said.
The three of them rushed across to meet her, eager to see this through, and when Aedan opened the next door, his jaw almost dropped. Never in his life had he seen anything so grand. Statues of who he could only assume were Hessarian and Maferath adorned alcoves along the walls.
And there, only a few short strides away, was the Urn itself. It sat atop a pedestal directly at the base of the largest statue of Andraste he'd ever seen. A brazier was lit in her hand, and he wondered exactly how long that fire had been burning.
"Wow," was all he could say.
He took a step forward, but Elissa yanked him back. Across the floor was a small groove, a reservoir, for fuel, and he'd stepped on the plate that activated it. Fire erupted and spread across the room, blocking their path.
"There is only one way forward."