9:28 August 13th
We got hit with a late summer monsoon. I was stuck inside playing with Oren while winds and rain were pelting the castle since early morning. It wasn't letting up at all. It wasn't too different from where I lived but I never lived near the water. Highever was a coastal city and I could already guess the damage the storm was making.
"Nia, ink!" Oren said. He was still young but his tutor was already training him in trying to write. Mostly it was squiggly lines. I nodded while I lounged around. There wasn't anything to do and I was getting bored. I started to doodle along with Oren while his tutor just yawned.
Eren and Fergus came late, having to go to the coast and help with evacuating citizens from flooding. I was sent to my room where I did a few more doodles from the spare vellums and charcoal pencils. I was kept up late at night with the winds and didn't realize when I fell asleep until I noticed the unfocused world. I groaned and got up.
I woke up in my old neighborhood. I really didn't want to see this. I was still hurting from the fact I've been here for a year. Halo came on by and rested on my shoulder. I sank back on the ground. I watched as small wisps flew in the sky with the Black City in dead center of the sky. I sighed.
"Halo, how long is it going to take until I get back home?" I asked. Halo sank itself on my chest like a cat.
'Not sure.' Halo said. I huffed.
"Of course not. I just wish I knew when I'd be going back." I stared up at the sky. I didn't want to explore or find other spirits. I wanted to rest. I wanted to sleep and hope I would somehow wake up alongside my family. I miss them terribly but I had to keep hoping that one day I would see them again. I sang a few songs under my breath and wished that I can get back to the waking world.
9:28 August 14th
"Check for more survivors down Hunter's Lane. What's the status in the village center?" Eren was busy moving about checking the shacks that were torn down by the storm. I was helping gathering a few items that people had to leave behind in their homes. Most of them weren't of worth money wise but were very sentimental. I was also tasked to find any survivors.
Even though the evacuation was messy and hurried, Eren and Fergus were able to get most people out before the river bank flooded and took their homes. There was always the chance that someone didn't get out though. I fished through the wreckage, finding no bodies or even hearing any sort of life. As much as Eren wants to save people, even I knew it was a very small chance of them being able to fight against the water.
I noticed a few more bodies and I got the debris off them. I signaled another guard and I helped them carry the bodies to the Mother that was with us. She gave them their final rites before sending them to their pyres. Families found their own and were grieving in a corner as we found them. A few were swept away in the sea, never to be seen again. All Eren could do is console them that they are not in any pain anymore.
I gave a few family items back and they were grateful before continuing the search for more bodies. Everything was depressing me and it was hard to look at the cold, unmoving corpses. I vomited when we found the first one and now my stomach twists painfully at every single one we find. As I walked through the debris I heard a small whisper near my ear. I looked around but I didn't see anyone besides a few guards that were still searching.
'Over here.' I twisted around. Now I know I heard something. I strained my ears as I followed where I heard it. 'Here.' I stopped at some debris where the attic wasn't completely destroyed. I tried to lift it with no budge. I looked around but no one was close to me.
"Come on, please, someone help me." I whispered. Either it was my imagination or something else, but as I was lifting, something lifted with me. I grunted in effort as I lifted the roof and put it aside. There was a woman that I knew was dead but something was in its arms and it was pink and breathing. A baby.
"Hey! I found a survivor!" I shouted. I crouched down and got the small bundle in my arms. They groaned and started to cry. A guard found me and nearly cried. I rocked the baby trying to calm it down. I dipped a clean cloth in water and put it in its mouth. It suckled greedily.
"We found one." He cleared his throat. "Someone help me with the mother's body!" A few came by while I went to the families. A man started to cry in front of her positioned body, her hands on her chest.
"Excuse me, are you her family?" I asked. He wiped a few tears.
"I…I'm a merchant and was out to business in Denerim when I heard of the storm. I came as soon as I could but…" He blubbered on. I held out the baby that calmed down with some water.
"This one survived." I said. The man bawled as he held his child.
"Many…blessings…of Andraste upon you!" The man messily wiped his face before bowing and thanking me some more. I wiped a few stray tears and thanked him. I felt a pat on my shoulder and Eren was next to me.
"Good work." He nodded before going back to the search. We didn't find anyone alive after the baby but we were able to give everyone else a proper burning ritual. The burning went on until late at night and we returned back to Highever castle exhausted in more ways than one.
I retired to my room and took off my armor in a heap. I knew I wasn't supposed to do that since it lowers the quality but I didn't care. I went for my water and made myself a bath. I needed it after all I saw today. It was…a nightmare. I don't think I would be able to forget the bodies of the drowned. The worst part was that most of them just looked like they were sleeping.
After my bath, I knocked out on my bed and immediately woke up in the fade again. I groaned in exasperation and got up.
"Can't a girl get some sleep around here?" I complained before Halo settled on top of my head. "Hi Halo."
'Visitor.' He said. I looked around and there were two spirits that had human like silhouettes.
"Were you able to save the child?" One asked.
"Of course she did! She had me helping her!" The other one boasted. Halo led me to them.
'Strength. Compassion.' Halo introduced us. 'Halo, Nia.' I was surprised to find such rare spirits in front of me. I made sure to clear my mind as best as I can to not impression them.
"The child was given back to they're father. It lived. Were you the one that guided me?" I asked. Compassion nodded.
"And I gave you my strength to help you in your time of need." Strength gave me a salute.
'Ask and you shall receive.' Halo said.
"You are a curious one and we have been watching you. Your entrance to this world was something to behold! Many of us have come to understand what you are. Word travels fast young strength and you should do well in keeping with your training." Strength nodded. The more I talked with them, the more their forms became clearer to me. Strength looked like a man dressed in full plate armor but that was to be expected. Compassion looked more androgynous and had no clear human form.
"Thank you for both of your help." I bowed. I felt Compassion smile at me.
"I protected you from your nightmares after your deed today. I merely followed what you wanted. It is nice to see such a dear and caring human." Compassion said.
'Rest.' Halo said.
"Of course. Human bodies are unlike spirits. Rest young strength and find the will to continue on from today." Strength comforted me before I fell into a comfortable sleep. I had questions when I woke up but those I would save later for when I talked to Halo again.
9:28 Kingsway/September 13th
After some good training with my knuckle daggers, and some accidental cutting on my part, Eren has taken me out on some guard rotations. He said that these were easy ones. I went out with Jeffery and stood at attention in the marketplace while checking out if something went wrong. It was the stuff that other guards didn't like to do but it was required.
Jeffery was no longer a recruit but a full blown guard. He told me that his parents were both merchants but that business was going to be taken over by his older sister and her husband. He had a more active duty that he wanted to fulfill. We stood and looked over the shopping district of Highever. Each two guards centered on one lane and a few walked around.
Though there were only a few thieves to take care of, all in all it was an easy shift. Some guards disliked it if because it keeps them out of the outer city where the real action takes place. I was glad that all I had to do was catch a few thieving munchkins. Since I wasn't a full part of the guard, Eren only kept me there for a few hours until I went on his own rotations. After that it was back home and the schedule continued with training in the morning, guard in the afternoon, following Eren later until night fell and I went back to my room, scheduling Oriana's activities.
It was amazing I had enough time to eat, do my business, and bathe. Having a busy schedule kept a lot of my dark thoughts away so I was thankful for this. Eren would allow me a day off on Sunday where all I did was read more on the history of Ferelden and help Aldous tutor the squires. If history bored me, I would switch it up with novels or books about botany. I even peeked at the Chant of Light. It was like Merrill said, it's pretty but to me it was only a story. Whether there was a Maker or not was still to be seen.
I've played through ever single playthrough imaginable, but the fact for me remains that there is no Maker. Though the very same thing can be said for the Catholic God. You can pray but He won't physically intervene, God isn't like that and you shouldn't expect that out of Him either. Still, I do clasp my cross that dangles from my necklace and pray every night. I can't say it will make me reach my goal any faster but it puts me at ease.
Rael told me that there was a riot recently in the Alienage after the Arl's son sent some of his men to 'liven things up.' Rael can't help but try to calm things down. His own mother was killed in one of these riots and he doesn't want to see the same thing to happen to anyone else. He mentioned that the money that I've sent him has helped him secure a few good homes for elves. Rael said that his father was also saying that he would be able to get him a wife soon. He wasn't that happy about it even though arranged marriages were extremely common.
Rael was a romantic. He wanted to spend his life with someone he truly cared for. He didn't want to be with someone merely because they were an elf and they had a good background. It was too mechanical he wrote. I told him to keep looking and he might find someone. I rested at my desk after writing my last letter to him. My own savings were starting to rack up too. I had about 3 sovs from the money that Oriana gives me and Eren for taking part of the guard rotation.
Late at night though, I go into the larder and go through the servant's entrance/exit. The path looked like a catacomb and it was musky and damp. Other than that, it was a straight shot outside of the city in a secluded garden. After walking for a few minutes, I was able to find the main road to take to the city. I try to go through this as many times as I could, mapping out the shortest distance and the best time for a straight shot to Denerim. I couldn't rely on Duncan to save Eren and his family. There was always that chance that he won't come here.
Until then, I had to do whatever it takes to save Eren and as many people as I could.
Beta'd by FearaNightmare (Amazing person, good writer too!)
More adventures in the fade which will spring up some interesting foreshadowing for way later! I would say try to remember it but by the time we get to the fourth story, I doubt anyone will remember.
Shout out to KafeiDetour for favoriting/following! Shout out to Sarah for reviewing!
Rainsfere: I'm better now thanks to medication and Eren won't have to worry about that in his future besides Anora, and that he chooses himself.
Chimera Spyke: I love your rants and ravings! Your reviews keep me going :3
Syutaku: Thanks! I decided to change the pace of their relationship to Jerk Eren from the beginning and slowly him going to not so much as a Jerk to a lovable Jerk.
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