Reunion:

All things considered, Dorian deemed the current situation a victory.

Sure, everything was a little worse than he had expected and as he learned about the direness of the situation it had left him more than a little panicked, but he had to consider the positives;

Felix was still alive.

Alexius was still alive.

The Herald of Andraste was here, which would prove useful in more ways than one.

Granted, the latter was more of a bonus, but all things considering, Dorian was willing to count and thank every lucky star for every break he got. After all, it had been by pure chance that he had discovered that Alexius and Felix still were in Redcliffe in the first place as he entered the village for the first time. While the dangers of the rift and the fighting between the mages and templars left people frightened to leave the village, it was open for refugees and especially mages.

This herald of Andraste was still an unknown factor as far as Dorian was concerned, but as far as Dorian had heard, the herald seemed to be a force of positivity amongst the people.

Everything had been a huge question mark when he had first reached Redcliffe after several days of traveling, but once he had reached the humble town, he was hoping and praying for good news.

In fact, when he first saw Alexius and Felix amongst what Dorian guessed were other mages, he had to restrain himself from simply running towards them to give them a great big hug and a bigger scolding.

However, as Dorian was quick to notice, there was something going in Redcliffe and Dorian was not about to reveal that he was there before he knew more about the current situation. With the breach still very visible in the sky and rifts popping up everywhere, showing the instability of the veil as well as knowing that Alexius had ties with the Venatori, Dorian needed a plan. He knew he couldn't stay in Redcliffe so he instead set up a humble camp just outside of Redcliffe, close enough so he could observe, but private enough so people wouldn't accidentally stumble over him. He felt a small sense of pride as he made up his camp, simply because he was able to do this on his own. Of course, magic did help in making things a little more comfortable for him as well as bringing him a bit more security, but there was still some planning and manual labour that went into things.

After securing his spot, Dorian started the next part of his plan, which was trying to get a hold of Felix rather than Alexius. He realised that trusting Alexius was a risk, but he prayed that Felix was not on the same page that his father was.

Dorian spent the better part three days thinking about things before he decided to attempt to contact Felix. He knew it wouldn't be easy, knowing that Alexius was probably watching over his son like a hawk, but he remained hopeful that he would be able to make contact.

In the end, the solution ended up being surprisingly simple. While he couldn't approach Felix directly, he did see him both with and without his father now and then so Dorian knew that they were up and about in the village. What he hadn't noticed right away was that there were children running about, playing with balls or dogs.

Dorian break would come on his fourth day in Redcliffe; he had been standing underneath a tree, just observing Felix and Alexius while pondering on just how he could get in contact with Felix when he felt a ball bump into his leg, quickly followed by a little boy running up to him. "Sorry, serah!"

Dorian was about to wave him off when he got the idea as well as noting just how… different the village of Redcliffe was. For the first time he noticed the children playing and with it an idea started forming in his head. Instead of sending the boy off with a smile and a wave, he crouched down to give his head a pat. "Nothing to be sorry about, young man. However, I do wonder if you could help me with something?"

The boy didn't say anything, merely tilting his head and waiting for Dorian to continue. "You see, I am new here in Redcliffe and I am here to surprise a dear friend of mine." He pointed towards Felix, who easily stood out thanks to his yellow outfit. "I was wondering if you could bring him a note for me? If you do, you can have this." Reaching into his belt-pouch, Dorian managed to fish up a silver coin, which made the boy's eyes widen. "Of course, serah! I can do that for you!"

"Fantastic," Dorian said while straightening up, quickly getting a piece of parchment and a piece of coal from the larger pouch he carried. He quickly scribbled down a message for Felix before folding the piece of paper up and handing it to the boy. "Here you go. And please do to him as you did to me. Roll the ball to him and when you run to pick it up, hand him the note and say it is from a friend. Once you have done that, come back to me."

The boy nodded as he took the note, then immediately headed towards Felix. Dorian held his breath as he observed the boy, worried that he would be too obvious or draw attention towards Dorian, but he didn't have to worry. The boy started playing with his ball again near Felix, tossing and kicking it a few times before he aimed a light kick towards Felix, the ball hitting his leg.

Dorian grinned some as he watched the kid run to fetch the ball at the same time as Felix knelt down to pick it up and after what seemed to be a quick, friendly exchange between them, the note was handed to Felix before the boy headed away from him. He smiled once the boy came back and gave him the promised silver before simply watching from the shadows of the tree as Felix read the note, taking in the surprised reaction from his friend before the note was quickly stuffed into Felix pocket.

To Felix credit, he did not start to look around in an attempt to spot Dorian, but he was willing to bet that Felix was sneaking a glance or two around.

It did not matter though. In a couple of hours they would meet in the Chantry in Redcliffe, as instructed by Dorian in the note.

Then they could truly catch up about everything that had happened.

Dorian couldn't wait.

xoxoxoxo

"You know… I should be surprised that you are here, Dorian. But I am not. This is… just typical of you."

Ignoring the way his heart beat in his chest, Dorian pushed himself from the wall he had been leaning against, smiling as he saw the smiling face of his friend as he carefully closed the door to the Chantry.

"You know me, Felix. I have to stick my nose where it doesn't belong."

Felix just chuckled before crossing the floor with quick steps, dragging Dorian into a firm hug. "While I should chastise you for being here, I am glad to see a friendly face," he murmured before pulling away, keeping his hands firmly on Dorian's shoulders. "You look good. Better than I expected in all honesty. I… heard many rumours, after you left father and me."

"All true, I can assure you," Dorian said, his own face broken into a warm, though sad smile. "Sadly so. It is nothing I am proud of, but there it is… And there you are," he murmured, squeezing Felix's arms as he slowly withdrew his hands. "You look good as well. Better than I expected. Are you...?"

"Still sick," Felix finished, giving his own sad smile as he nodded. "Yes. I am. Father does his best, but I am afraid he is in over his head now, fed promises that will not be kept. I fear he is being used by the Venatori by… something. He doesn't tell me who he is speaking to, but he is speaking to someone powerful. I… I am afraid he is being lied to," Felix replied while looking down. "Lied to and taken advantages off for the research you and he did with the time-amulet."

"That thing?" Dorian asked, raising an eyebrow. "But it does not work. There's not enough magic to power it."

"But there is," Felix said while looking upwards. Dorian followed his gaze and while he couldn't see whatever Felix was looking at, he knew what he meant. "… Maker's breath… The rift? Was that-?"

"His doing," Felix said while cutting Dorian off. "No. But he is able to use it to his advantages. That rift, that… breach, is almost a direct opening into the Fade. It is creating several smaller rifts and demons escape from them. Magic pours from it and father is trying to use it to his advantages. I fear this is going to lead to a disaster!"

"Maker's breath, what is Alexius thinking," Dorian whispered, shaking his head. "What is going on here?"

"I don't know all, but I will tell you what I do know," Felix offered, gesturing for Dorian to take a sit at a nearby bench, sitting down onto it as well. "This is going to take a little bit so I hope you have nowhere you need to be," he added with a small grin.

Dorian couldn't help but chuckle, smiling at Felix as he moved towards the bench. "Despite the circumstances… I have nowhere I would rather be." Carefully dusting off the bench, Dorian took a seat next to his friend. "Now… Shall we start from the beginning? I feel we have a lot of catching up to do."