Daughter of Tethras

Disclaimer: Don't own Dragon Age

A/N:

Chapter 48 (A New Dawn)

"I still can't believe it hasn't hit me yet," Varric muttered while running his hand down the back of his head. "We all knew we weren't going back, but I don't know that any of us truly believed the option wouldn't be there." Bianca sat beside her dad, her thoughts drifting to everything they'd gone through in Thedas.

Remembering the faces of those she befriended, a smile stretched across her face. "At least we can always remember those we knew back there." She looked at her father and started to grin. "And you can still write your books." Varric's eyebrow rose and he quickly swept his hand through the air.

"I would, but no one in this world would read them. There's too much fantasy, right? Dragons don't exist in this world, neither do darkspawn."

"I'm sure someone would read them."

Varric rose to his feet and pushed his hands to his hips, his gaze drifted towards the couple steering the ship. Isabela was listening to Hawke, who had a map strewn out on the ground. "Let's go see what those two are up to."

Hawke's shoulders fell and he lifted his head just as the two made their approach. "Isabela got this map off someone during her first visit in this world; but it's difficult to pinpoint our exact location."

She scratched her chin and peered at the map. They couldn't just travel endlessly across the ocean, it was much too vast for that. Hawke scratched his head and started grumbling. "We are somewhere around here." He pointed to an open sea with the words 'Atlantic Ocean'. "If we go south to south-east, there's pretty much nothing but water. If we go north to north-west, we're likely to encounter land…to the west as well and the east. It's just a matter of which landmass is closest and which do we want to explore first?"

"We'll have to decide soon," Isabela remarked, "These seas can be harsh from what I've seen of them." The woman grit her teeth and tilted her head a bit. "Of course, that's not much."

The air had a bitter chill to it, so it was almost certain they were a little more north; but again, there was no real certainty. "Let's just keep pushing forward and see where we go." She crossed her arms and raised her shoulders. "There's not a lot of option. I mean, we're not fully certain where we are, so eventually we have to hit land."

"That's the most haphazard thinking I've ever heard." Isabela smirked. "Let's do it." There were other things to be concerned about as well. "Maybe you ought to go check on the others, see how they're doing."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

The first person she went to visit was the sole mage successfully traversing the world outside Thedas. Bethany was leaning against the railing of the ship, gazing intensely at the rippling waters below. The cool wind blew strands of her hair back, rolling them over each other. Her forearms hung off the railing and crossed over each other.

"Hey, Bethany?" Bianca stepped alongside her, carefully pushing her fingers across the railing and looking out at the seas herself. There was a strange calmness that she felt, the same serenity she could see on the woman's face. "How are you feeling?"

Bethany's gaze didn't budge from the waters below, her body shifted downwards ever so slightly and her lips started to purse. "Strange," answered the woman, "I feel strange. It's a feeling like I can't describe to you." Bethany turned her head slightly and her shoulders rose momentarily. "I feel an emptiness within me where I used to be able to channel my magic; but at the same time, I feel like one might after having chains and shackles removed from them."

The woman raised her hand up and stretched her fingers outward. "Before, I could make the waters rise from where they are now. I could freeze the air and make lightning flash in the skies." Bethany dropped her arm with a sigh. "Now, no more." Bianca furrowed her brow and glanced down.

"Are you unhappy?"

"Unhappy?" Bethany turned around and leaned back against the railing, her arms crossed over her stomach and her lips curved into the tiniest of smiles. "No, no I am not. Because before, I had to look over my shoulder constantly just because I was a mage; and now, I can explore new lands without having to do so." There was a hint of nervousness in her eyes, however, and Bianca felt the same tinge of nerves in her heart.

"But now that you can't use magic, what will you do?"

"I guess I will have to learn." Bethany dropped her hands and looked up towards the clouds. Her brow furrowed and she sucked in the left corner of her mouth. "Honestly, I can understand why some might accuse magic of being an addiction. Those who are mages see it as an easy fix, a solution to a difficult problem; so those who are not magic users must find another way." Bethany turned back towards the seas and leaned forward, her hands grasped the railing and slid outwards a few inches. "I put my magic to use as a healer, instantly closing wounds and healing the sick with ease. Maybe…maybe there's still opportunity to learn about healing without magic."

She could see Bethany in such a role, much like the healer who worked at Skyhold and tended to the injured. "If there is, I would tell you to go for it." Bethany started to smile and responded with a slow, affirmative nod.

Bianca shared in the woman's silence for a little while longer before going to see what the others were up to. Oghren and David were sharpening weapons at the front of the boat, seated on crates. David had a long sword lying flat on his legs and was slicing an object down the edge of it while Oghren had his axe raised up and was inspecting the glint coming from the sun.

"I wonder what kind of weapons the people in these new lands use," Oghren said with a contemplative hum. "Everyone says the world is more 'advanced', but what does that mean exactly?" David grunted and shrugged his shoulders.

"Could mean anything really." David flipped his sword over. "You think they don't use swords or something?" He laughed once. "Maybe they're decorative now." Oghren started to grumble and the men raised their eyes to Bianca. "Hello."

"Just checking in on you guys." Bianca sat beside them and looked over their weapons. "Your weapons look great." She was wondering the same as Oghren, especially with the dream she kept having of the strange General and the weapon at his side. "Solas told me that the anchor made me dream, and suggested that it had certain properties such as seeing other worlds…I had a frequent dream."

"Oh?" Oghren set his axe down and David's eyebrows lifted up. "What was this dream?"

"We were shipwrecked somewhere and there was this man…he was tall and carried a great deal of authority about him." She looked forward and pressed her lips together. She recalled the dream vividly, remembering the man in the powdered wig and blue uniform. "He referred to himself as a General and had some strange object hanging at his side. It looked as though it could be a weapon, but it had a strange shape and a trigger similar to that of my father's crossbow."

"So a projectile weapon of some sort." David stroked his beard for a minute. "Hopefully that vision isn't right about the shipwrecked part." He leaned back and pushed his grubby fingers along his knees.

Bianca smiled at the pair and tilted her head a bit. "So, I wanted to ask…" She cleared her throat. "How are you guys feeling now that we're through the barrier?" Oghren and David shared a glance. Oghren's moustache and beard seemed to rise as David's brow crinkled.

"It's different," David replied, "Like a weight was lifted." The man set his sword on the ground with a sigh. "Honestly, I never found a cure for the calling; and now, I don't have to hear anything. I don't have to fear an early death or a fate in those god awful deep roads."

Oghren laughed. "I'm not going to lie, I often wondered how many darkspawn I'd kill down there before finally dying." For a moment, his chipper expression seemed to falter. His gaze fell onto Felsi and his children, working around the ship. "I act tough, like I'm not afraid of anything; but there were nights I would lie awake at night and think to myself 'is this going to be the night I make a widow of my wife and leave my children without a father'?" He bowed his head and his entire body seemed to shake with the heavy sigh that blew from his lips. "But now I don't have the taint within me anymore. I can provide for my family without fearing that one day I'll wander off and leave them alone."

David reached over and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. Oghren looked up to him, meeting his gaze for a minute. "You know you can talk about these things anytime, Oghren." Oghren sputtered and shrugged off David's hand with a laugh.

"Please! It's nothing a few pints of mead won't cure." As the man started to laugh, David simply smiled at his friend. It was nice to see the soft part of the man underneath the tough façade.

They were all slowly getting used to the changes within them and around them, and this was only the beginning. She could see how Bethany and the wardens felt free now, and was glad all three were looking towards adventure and the future.

After a while, it was time to put Lantos and Cole to rest. The sun was beginning to set, and all the crew had gathered around the two bodies laying on separate platforms. "Lantos died a hero," Bianca started to say while standing beside him. The sorrow in her heart was not grief, but for his sacrifice. "He will be missed and remembered by others not for the negative actions in his life but for the noble actions done in the end."

She wouldn't forget him easily. For what it was worth, she knew the type of man he was before he became hooked on lyrium, force-fed that filth by their clan. "He was a good man, corrupted only for a short period of time. In the end, that man shone through in one final act of heroism."

She looked out and saw Scout Harding wiping her eyes with a piece of cloth. None could forget the impact she had on Lantos, for it was she who truly helped him to regain his way. "Do you want to add anything, Lace?"

Harding shook her head and blew her nose. "I loved him. Even though we separated, I still wish he was here. I'm never going to forget him."

"No one will…" She gazed down at Lantos one final time. There was a look of serenity on his face. His arms were crossed over his chest and the loose strands of hair swayed in the gentle breeze. He looked as though he were sleeping, perhaps the first peaceful sleep of his life. "May your soul find peace, Lantos. Always in our hearts…"

She lowered the torch carefully and watched as the flame slowly covered his body. Her tears stroked her cheeks and she heard Harding break into a full cry. Slowly, she moved over to Cole.

"As for Cole, one of my dearest and greatest friends. Even Sera will miss you." Sera stood nearby, clutching the one of the daggers of Cole, the last piece of him. "You'll forever remain in our hearts. Your smile, your laughter and innocence, none will ever forget."

She lowered the torch and looked away as the flame moved along his body. Everyone stood arm in arm as the cremation continued, sending smoke high into the skies until there was nothing left to burn. After they collected the ashes that remained, they carefully scattered them into the oceans.

"Be free," Bianca whispered, "Be free."

There it is, the end of this story but the beginning of a new chapter. It was a long ride, and I'm thankful for all that went along with it. "The New World" will be up soon, and I hope those of you that see it will enjoy it. Until then, give your thoughts here if you like.