The Daughter of Tethras
Disclaimer: Don't own Dragon Age
A/N: Yeah the title, I couldn't think of anything better. I could have gone with the obvious and said "Corypheus" but he's not necessarily the dominant theme in this chapter, he's a catalyst. How unimportant he must feel...I kid, enjoy the chapter
Chapter 16 (Hearts Will Burn)
The clicks of Varric's bow echoed in his target hall, and the arrows hit the targets on the wall with a deafening crash. Sweat poured down his face as he practiced his dodging maneuvers and quick footed steps while firing off successive rounds of ammunition. His fury and focus had grown so deep that he barely noticed Solas entering into his sanctum.
"You should be out there, Varric." He flinched and lowered the bow, huffing out continuous breathless pants. His narrow gaze focused on the targets and his mouth twisted into a snarl. "Be out there celebrating with your daughter. Why are you in here, worrying about training?"
"It's not training so much as it is a release." Varric laid his crossbow at his feet and swept his clammy hands down his shirt. "I almost lost my daughter back there. I almost lost her, I thought I had. I should have been protecting her, but I didn't." He turned around and looked up at the man. "She doesn't even know I'm her father, does she? What kind of father can't protect his child from danger? If she knew I was her father, what must she think of me, letting her be put in that situation?"
"Varric…"
"Hell, the last twenty years of her life." He walked past Solas and turned on a faucet where water was pouring from a nearby stream. It had been some mechanical thing he hooked up to make a pipeline from the stream to his training hall. "What kind of father doesn't fight for his daughter?" He pushed his hands beneath the running water and splashed it onto his face with a groan.
"You were unable, I thought."
"Screw that." He slammed his fist down on the wall and shut his eyes. Veins bulged from his neck and forehead as a deep feeling of anger and resentment built up in him. "I wanted to take her in, to raise her, but that wench wouldn't let me. All because she didn't want to end our affair."
Solas raised his hands and reached out, but stopped short of Varric's shoulders. "It wasn't your fault, Varric." Varric pushed away from the wall and raised a finger towards Solas's chest.
"It was. I should have fought harder." He slashed his hand through the air, shaking his head and growling. "Do you know how many times I thought about marching into the Cadash house and taking my daughter back?"
"You would have been arrested for kidnapping."
He moved his hands to his face and groaned out in frustration. "I know." His hands slid down his face and his eyebrows closed together. "And then she would have gone right back to Bianca. Her mother. Who would have sent her back to the Cadashes…or somewhere else…"
He moved past the elf and stared down at his bow. The tone in his voice fell quiet and his nostrils opened a bit. "Her mother's name is Bianca. That woman had a hand in making this crossbow and told me it was a 'gift' because I couldn't have our daughter at the time."
"You've named your crossbow 'Bianca'." Solas raised an eyebrow and stared down at the weapon. "You named it after…"
"I named it for my daughter." He didn't want to tell Solas anything about it, but right now he needed somebody to talk to, and Solas was the only person he felt would understand anything. "That woman….promised me that if I stayed with her, when the time was right she'd find a way for us to be together and she would take Bianca back…"
His hand moved over his mouth and his body began to shake. "If I left her, she'd tell the Cadash family to give Bianca up to somebody else and I would never see my daughter." Varric dropped his hand and looked towards the ceiling as the tears welled up beneath his eyelids. "I fought her tooth and nail many times. I hated being the other man in a relationship, I felt sick about it, but every time I tried to break up with her-"
"She would use your child against you."
"Yeah." He sat down next to the wall and brought the back of his head against it. Solas moved beside him, carefully setting his hand to his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry."
"I made a mistake." Varric shielded his eyes with his hand, trying to hide the tears that were burning his retinas. "I entered a relationship with a woman that was married off to someone else because she spun me a tale that she was unhappy and wanted someone who would take care of her."
"I see."
"She didn't reveal to me until after we got into the relationship that neither of their families believed in separation. We would have to keep up the affair while she was married…"
"Then she got pregnant? With your child?"
"Yes. She's never been active with that man-that was a marriage of convenience." Varric rolled his eyes and dropped his hand. "He's got his own concubines. I guess I'm the only one that feels guilty about the whole situation. Either way, she told me she couldn't keep the child of another man and had to give it up…"
"Why did she not first consider letting you raise her?"
"Because I wanted to end the affair." More than that, the woman had already given the child up to another family when she told him about the decision. "She said 'when the time is right, we can all be a family'. I just had to stay with her and keep up the affair. I never wanted to do that, but like I said, she'd make sure I never found my daughter if I ended things with her."
His breath was shallow and for every second he thought of the woman, his heart filled with a bitterness that felt far too dangerous to keep contained. "Varric. Listen to me." He looked towards Solas and furrowed his brow. "You have Bianca now. She's here, and all you have to do is talk to her."
"That's just it. If she knew…if she knew everything, would she just turn away from me? I couldn't protect her from her own mother, I couldn't keep her safe from Alexius-even when she told me how much she hates magic. Or no, she's afraid of magic."
"None of that is your fault, Varric. She would understand. I'm sure she wishes to be a part of your life as much as you wish it, but both of you have to get over this fear of rejection that you clearly have. You have something greater to fear…"
"What?"
"Losing each other before you truly connect with one another."
Varric started to sigh and he turned his head up to the ceiling. It was then he saw a shrouded figure sitting on one of the rafters. "Wait a minute Solas, someone's here…" He prayed it wasn't someone from the merchant guild, where word might get back about his insane tale. Solas looked up and grabbed his staff.
"Down from there," he ordered. The figure removed his cloak and Varric's heart pulsed with shock when he saw Lantos's eyes glaring down at him.
"You!" He ran for his bow and aimed swiftly at the man. "How did you get in here?"
"Easy to slip in on someone when they're distracted by their emotions," Lantos answered with a snarky grin. The man jumped from the rafter and spun in the air before landing on his feet. "How nice, insecure just like your daughter."
Varric kept his bow aimed at Lantos and sneered at the man. "You stay the hell away from my daughter, stay the hell away from me, and the hell away from the Inquisition."
Lantos moved his eyes sideways and shrugged. "That last part might be a little difficult." Varric raised an eyebrow and Lantos turned away. "Whatever, you can go and worry about whether or not she's going to run from you the minute you tell her everything, but let's be honest…You're more likely to lose her with silence than anything else."
"What in the hell do you want?" Varric was going to talk to Cullen about securing the defenses, and then he had to let Leliana know Lantos was getting in. "I will find out how you're getting in here, and we will ensure you don't get in again." If Lantos was able to get in, it meant some crafty enemies could do the same.
"You do have some carta members in the inquisition, old man." Lantos smirked and spread his hands out. "Carta members are loyal to one another."
He clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on the handle of the bow. "Screw that." His right foot slid forward and his chest expanded. "Bianca told us what you assholes did to her. Loyal to the women in your clan, you're not."
"What? We keep them out of danger." Lantos moved his wrists behind his back and shut his eyes. "I should say if we treat them poorly, we're the most dangerous thing they're going to run into…and for you and your daughter?" Lantos opened one eye and his smirk grew. "That still rings true."
"Go to hell!"
"Sounds like your daughter went thanks to this Alexius." Lantos rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Tough shit, Alexius was weak anyway. She survived him too, didn't she? Why the hell are you worried about protecting her from someone she survived?"
"I'll protect her from you if I must."
"Good. Try that. I assure you, I'm more of a threat to her than Alexius could be." Lantos looked out the window and shrugged. "Her mother as well may be a greater threat to both of you, but it's not my place to care about that."
Solas raised his staff. The tip of it started to glow and the elf spoke with a dangerously tense voice. "I believe it would be best for you to leave, Lantos."
"In a moment. I only wanted to pay a visit, see if her father was all that he seemed." Lantos walked a circle around the pair, sizing them up. "Turns out, he's not. He's a barrel of insecurity too just like his daughter, living with a mistake that he's still fighting!"
"Shut up."
"Seriously. You're still with the woman, aren't you?" The skin around Varric's nose and eyes wrinkled and two frown lines grew around his lips.
"We write."
"Oh. My bad." Lantos threw his head back, laughing aloud. "So let me get this right." He raised his hands, pointing his forefingers to Varric and flashed a toothy smirk. "Your daughter, the one that this woman keeps threatening to send away for good if you ever leave her, is now herein your presence…and you're still too fucking scared to say anything?"
Varric lowered his bow and his lips separated for a moment. "Don't listen to him," Solas said, "He's trying to provoke you. Trying to get under your skin…he wants to see how much he can push you."
"Yeah. That's what I'm trying to do, baldy." Solas spat out an elvin curse that caused Lantos to laugh. "I'm not afraid of either of you."
"Your confidence is destroyed by your arrogance."
"Come on." Lantos pat his chest and extended his arms out to the sides. "I haven't tried to attack you yet. So shoot me. I'm sure Bianca wouldn't mind hearing how her father shot down her ex without provocation."
"He isn't wrong," Varric whispered. While Bianca was here now, her mother couldn't control him. The Inquisition wouldn't let Bianca go so easily, so there was almost zero chance of the woman taking her away from him now. "That woman can't hold her over my head now."
"So what exactly are you afraid of?" Lantos raised an eyebrow and turned his head. "Are you afraid of losing her to that woman or to something else? Because I will say, you could lose her to just about anything she's going up against. Such as…" Lantos tapped his chin and approached the window. "The massive horde of crazy looking Templars that are coming down that mountain in the distance."
Varric's heart shot out of his chest and Solas nearly dropped the staff. "What?" Lantos opened the window and turned his head over his shoulder.
"Yeah, I noticed them on my way over. Big bunch of freaky ass Templars with red lyrium growing out of their backs. They're being led by this weird looking asshole. If I'm right, you should be hearing from them right about…"
The ground trembled beneath their feet and an explosion tore through the sky. "Now." The two men collapsed on the ground with a violent shout and Lantos bolted through the window. Varric rolled over to his bow, aimed and shot at the window, but Lantos was already gone.
"Asshole. Trying to taunt me."
"Ignore him," Solas shouted, "We have bigger matters to attend to."
They bolted from the training hall as fast as they could, and the first thing they saw was fire and destruction. Bianca was in the distance with Cassandra, so they ran to them as fast as they could.
"There you are," Cassandra muttered. "Bull and his new friend, Megan are attending to some of the people here. Dorian's off with this weird guy, looking after the Chanter, and Sera's trying to rally up the drunks in the bar. So, that said, can we get moving?"
"Yeah, sorry about that. We ran into trouble." He looked at Bianca, worried what mentioning Lantos's presence might do right now, so he opted to keep quiet until all this was over.
Throughout the fight, it was decided they need to get to the trebuchets and attack the oncoming Templars. Lantos had been right, these weren't human Templars any longer, but freakish and ghoulish demons.
When they saw a dragon flying overhead, his blood ran cold. He tapped on Bianca's armor and pointed, signaling that it was time to start running for the Chantry.
In the process of the run, they saved all the townspeople that they could and then entered. It looked like they weren't going to make it out alive, but Roderick suggested a way out-the only problem was it required buying time. Time that they did not have.
When it was suggested that Bianca head to the Trebuchet to try and strike the dragon with a rock, he was not at all thrilled with the idea. "There is a beast out there, ready to burn us to the ground, and you want to send her out to try and distract it? Are you mad?"
"There is no other way," Cullen advised.
"You're insane." Bianca took off and Varric turned around with a shout. "I'm not letting her go off alone to face that thing. No chance in hell." He raced after her, and with him were Cassandra and Solas.
Bianca looked over her shoulder, furrowing her brow and raising her voice to a panicked pitch. "You guys need to try and escape with the others. I'll be okay, I'm sure."
"I don't think that's going to be possible," Solas answered, "Some people have serious reservations to it." Her eyes travelled to Varric and her lips slid into a smile. For a moment, he thought she thanked him.
They charged up to the trebuchet and began to aim it, ready to drive the dragon away as much as they could. The attack was likely to create an avalanche that they could escape if they ran fast enough, but it was going to require swift timing.
While Bianca aimed, Varric and the others kept watch for the dragon. No matter what happened, he was not leaving his daughter out here.
"There it is!" Cassandra exclaimed. Varric twisted his head just in time to see the dragon charging him. He aimed the crossbow at the creature, waiting for it to open its mouth so he could fire a shot down its throat. "Varric, get out of the way! Solas, grab him before he gets himself killed!"
"Come on," Varric growled at the creature, "I've got an arrow waiting for you to choke on."
An arrow shot through the sky, striking the dragon and forcing it to fall. Varric's eyes widened as the creature began to collapse on him. Before it could, a hooded person ran up to him and pulled him away, knocking him out in the process.
When Bianca turned her head, she could see someone dragging Varric away. "Let's move," she called to Cassandra and Solas. They nodded and took off in front of her, but at the last second the dragon pulled itself up and fire shot out at her.
She collapsed to the heat and shielded her face with her arms. When it was over and she opened her eyes, she could see somebody approaching. It was an incredibly tall and thin man with a disfigured face.
The Elder One.
He sneered at her and raised his hand. "Finally we meet," he said. "I am Corypheus…" He revealed himself to be the reason for the mark on her hand, calling her a mistake-an interloper that was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Many said it was a mark of Andraste, many claimed her to be a holy icon no matter that she didn't think she was holy in any way. "I'm not unimportant," She muttered while backing up, cornered by both Corypheus and the dragon.
"You are nothing. A nobody with power that you do not understand."
"I never asked for this, I never wanted it."
"Then I will take it from you." He grabbed her wrist and yanked her into the air. She clenched her eyes shut, screaming aloud as her wrist began to feel as though it were a sheet of paper being torn at the slightest force.
"No!" He threw her against the trebuchet with mighty force. She twitched as a wave of pain shot through her body.
"Soon you will know a new god. For I had entered the throne of the gods, and I found that it was empty." She pushed herself up, trembling violently while glancing at the rope to release the trebuchet.
She had to escape and get back to her father. She needed to know that he was okay, she had to be with him.
"No. I'm not going to die. Not here, not now." Corypheus's hand started to glow and his eyes were hot with anger. Thinking fast, she slashed the rope and fired the trebuchet, causing both Corypheus and the dragon to watch as it struck the mountain and started an avalanche.
She used this time to run and charge into the nearest hole that she could find, falling unconscious as she hit the tunnel below.
Well, what's going through your mind right now? What are you thinking about Bianca's mother right now, we haven't heard much about her until now, and you know we're going to see her again. Do you think Lantos is right, or just being overly arrogant when he says the woman could potentially be a greater threat to Varric and his daughter? What does Lantos want? Corypheus is officially here as well, and with that, a new foe.