Alexius didn't look like a Tevinter magister anymore. Stripped of his titles and the blood red magister robes, he looked like an ordinary man. He looked tired, his hair was longer and he had grown a beard, as if he hadn't bothered with his appearance in months. He was sitting at a small round table, ancient books and scrolls scattered across it. A quick glance at the titles showed it was the research her and council had assigned him on the Fade.

Back when Talyn didn't know what she knew now.

His dark eyes narrowed at her, his lips were drawn into a thin line. He shut the book he was reading and stood to his feet.

"Inquisitor, it is an honor to have you grace my humble prison." He said sarcastically.

Talyn took off her cloak and tossed it unceremoniously onto the back of one of the chairs at the table. Then she took the chair Alexius had been sitting in and sat down. Her dirty boots went onto the table, right on top of his books. She took joy in the annoyance she saw on his face at that move.

"How's Felix doing, Gereon?" Talyn asked him with true concern.

If Talyn didn't hate Alexius' guts, she would have pitied him for the pained look that crossed his face. She smirked when she noticed that there was still the ghost of a handprint around his throat.

"He's resting." He said, his tone ending the subject.

Alexius waved his hand and the books underneath Talyn's feet were pulled out. They floated to the poorly made bookshelves that were against the wall. Then he sat in the chair that Talyn had thrown her cloak on.

"How can a lowly mage like myself help the mighty Inquisitor? Shall I brew you a love potion? Enchant your blades? Look into your future?"

She narrowed her eyes at his tone.

"I want to know about your time magic."

Alexius' grinned arrogantly. He leaned forward and folded his hands on the table. "Ah, so that's why you're here. Do you plan on reversing time, Inquisitor? Or do you just want to skip ahead to the future again?"

Talyn raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "How does it work?"

"A pinch of lyrium dust and a willing sacrifice." Alexius answered sarcastically.

She looked down at her nails and started picking the dirt from underneath them. "If you don't tell me what I want to know, I'll execute you in front of Felix."

Obviously Talyn wouldn't do that to poor Felix, but it ignited the fear in Alexius that she wanted. His face was pale with it. His eyes darted towards a door behind Talyn's shoulder, and he licked his lips nervously.

"There's something different about you, Inquisitor. There's a lack of the naivety that I had seen in you last time we spoke."

"Corypheus tends to squash the innocence right out of you." She leaned forward. "You want to see just how far my lack of naivety goes? Or do you just want to answer my question?"

His eyes darted to that door again, and then he spoke.

"How much do you know of your own culture, Inquisitor?"

Talyn shrugged, and lied smoothly, "only what I've heard from others. We were subjected to slavery and prejudice for over a thousand years."

He nodded. "Yes, that's right. But what of your gods? The Evanuris, as you call them."

She shrugged again. "All I know is that they abandoned us."

But they didn't abandon the elves. Talyn and Solas locked them away. And with that simple action, the two of them doomed their world.

"The Evanuris were so powerful, because they created these orbs known as Foci. They were built with an immense amount of power inside of them, power that could only be used for certain things."

Like creating a Veil. And walking through the Fade.

"So, you found one of these Foci? And it allows you to travel through time?"

Talyn couldn't remember any of the Evanuris owning such a Foci.

"No, not exactly. Some tweaking had to be done to it."

"So you adjusted an ancient elvhen artifact to use it for your own desires? And you didn't destroy it?"

Alexius chuckled. "Oh, no, I absolutely destroyed it. Not on purpose, but magic that ancient is unstable. Only a sliver of it was left, but it was only a sliver that I needed. I turned it into an amulet."

Back when they were in the future, Dorian said that he needed the amulet around Alexius' neck.

It took all of Talyn's will to not let loose the rage inside of her. He desecrated a holy object for power.

"Whose Foci was it? The one you destroyed?"

It was his turn to shrug. "I pulled it from a ruined temple dedicated to your Elgar'nan. I assume it was his, long ago."

It all clicked for Talyn then. The Tevinter worm had stolen the All Father's Foci, the one he used to freeze time, and turned it into a time traveling device.

The rift she had walked out of, the one that had appeared moments before Divine Justinia was to be sacrificed… it was because Alexius had used that magic to keep time still. And because of her connection to Solas, and it was Solas' Foci that was being used to rip open the sky…

By the Nine, it wasn't her connection to Solas. At the same time that Solas was creating the Veil, a thousand years into the future, his Foci was being used to undo it. The rift had appeared because Solas had been in the heart of Skyhold, when Corypheus and Alexius were in the Temple of Sacred Ashes.

It should have been Solas who walked through that rift so long ago, not Talyn. That was how she survived that catastrophic night. That was how she ended up in his arms again, when she should have died.

"May I ask why you're so curious, Inquisitor?"

Talyn stood to her feet and donned her cloak.

She responded, "I'm only saying this to you because no one will believe a word that comes off your diseased tongue."

She walked over to Alexius, who was still sitting, and stood behind him. She put her hands on his shoulders, and when she felt him try to stand, she shoved him back down into his chair. He was looking straight ahead at the door that must have led to Felix's bedroom. She saw him curl his hands into fists, as if he was trying to restrain himself.

"In the Redcliffe castle, when you sent Dorian and I into the future, that wasn't your intention, was it? You were trying to erase me from time so that I never interrupted Corypheus' ritual."

"Yes." Alexius answered honestly.

"But it failed. Do you want to know why?"

"Yes."

Talyn squeezed his shoulders, and she didn't miss his wince. She leaned down so she spoke in his ear, "my lifeforce is so embedded into the fabrics of time, that it would take a thousand mages to erase me from it. The blood that flows through me is far more ancient than you will ever understand. I was killing long before he was even a glimmer in his mother's eye. Know this, Tevinter. Your "Elder One" is no match for me and my Dread Wolf."

Alexius didn't move from his seat, even after Talyn shut the door behind her.

"I want more guards on him." She instructed the two men standing by the door. "I want two inside with him at all times. He is to have no privacy, at all. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Inquisitor!" They responded.

Talyn traveled back to Skyhold with no difficulty. No bandits attacked her, she didn't run into the bulk of Corypheus' army. There were a few rifts left over from when the Breach was still in the sky, but Talyn took care of those easily enough. She refused to sleep, so when her horse needed to rest, she went out looking for trouble.

So when she went through the gates of Skyhold, she looked like a bloody wraith. Even her pale golden hair was glistening with liquid rubies. She dismounted her horse and handed the poor beast to a stable hand. She couldn't look at the stables, because all she could see was the massive structure that used to house Solas' griffons.

She didn't look up at the battlements, because she could see the ghost of her friends patrolling, looking out for signs of the Evanuris. They had been ready for anything.

And they died anyways.

She caught a glimpse of Solas standing outside of his study before she looked away. She couldn't look at him either, because she couldn't see the worry in his eyes. She didn't deserve for him to care for her. She didn't deserve anything.

"Can you please find Cassandra and Leiliana for me? Tell them to meet me in the garden, as fast as they can." She said to a servant.

"Yes, M'Lady." The man said before swiftly leaving to find them.

Talyn should have went to her room immediately to bathe. But instead, she went to the garden to wait for Leiliana and Cassandra. She sat on a bench, and within a few minutes they were both walking towards her.

"Inquisitor, are you alright?" Cassandra asked with alarm.

Talyn plucked at her bloody hair. "Yeah. None of this is mine."

"What is it that you wanted to tell us, Inquisitor?" Leiliana asked.

"When I was in the Fade with the others at Adamant, I managed to recall some of my memories?"

Leiliana smiled. "Oh, that's wonderful news!"

"I don't remember much," she lied, "but… when I was in the Fade, the first time, and you told me there was a woman behind me? A woman you all thought was Andraste?"

Their faces started to fall. "Yes…" They said.

"It wasn't Andraste. It was Divine Justinia."

Cassandra had to sit on the bench beside her.

"What… what did she say?" She asked.

Talyn had remembered the night before that there had been more to what happened between them than what she originally thought. It was something urgent, something she had to say to them right away before anything else could be done.

"She said that I had to save Thedas. And she also said… to tell Leiliana and Cassandra that she was sorry."

Leiliana sniffled, and Cassandra held her head in her hands.

"Oh, Divine Justinia… there was nothing for you to be sorry about." Cassandra whispered, mostly to herself.

"I just thought that you should know." Talyn stood to her feet.

"Talyn… thank you." Leiliana said sincerely, before taking her spot next to Cassandra.

She walked away with her conscious clear… at least, concerning her promise to the human Divine.

She wanted to go to the tavern and have a drink with Iron Bull, to catch up on what she had missed since the last time they had actually spoken. But now that she had told Cassandra and Leiliana what they needed to know, it was time to bathe.

I know this one is kinda short, but I didn't want to make it too long, and the next chapter is gonna be juicy and filled with Solas/Talyn angst xD

Also, I'm planning out the prequel! I also recently started playing DA:2 again, and I've suddenly become inspired to write a DA:2 fic. It's going to have absolutely NOTHING to do with the FT universe, but just so you guys know, it's totally gonna be a thing. And it's probably gonna be about Hawke and Anders.

So, FT is also gonna have a sequel, but I want to post the prequel first because a lot of what I'm planning with the sequel involves characters from the prequel. When I post the next chapter, I'm gonna post the first chapter of the prequel so you guys will get to have a peek at it! But don't expect any more chapters until FT is done. I'm trying really hard to finish FT before I move onto other projects, but my mind is racing and it's sooooooo hard not to talk about it with you guys!

So, I'm sorry about how long it takes me in between chapters, but just know it's because I'm trying to sort out all the ideas I have for not just FT, but three other fics. Lmfao.

Let me know what you think of FT so far, guys!

And as usual, thank you all so, SO much for all of the faves, follows, and love you've shown Talyn! Her story wouldn't have continued if it wasn't for all of your guys' support!

C.J.