Chapter 7. Bad Time to Nap
Fade [Sura]
Sura awoke in a bed with sheets of the finest silk. Around her the room she was in oozed elegance. The style of it looked like that of what she'd see in books of Orlais. She sat up on the side of the bed, looking down and running her hands over the white silk pajama top and bottom she now wore.
Leliana walked into view, wearing just a plush robe of the same color. "Mon amour, you're awake!"
Sura could understand very little Orlesian, but she could've sworn Leliana had just called her.. no, it can't be. "What happened, Leli? Where are we?"
Leliana walked forward to Sura, hips swaying seductively, and straddled her lap on the bed. She put a finger to Sura's lips shushing her. "Shhh, mon coeur. We can talk about that later. Right now, I need you."
Sura's face burned and she could swear it's probably as red as Leliana's hair right now. Was she suggesting what she thought? This couldn't be real. This had to be a dream.
Wait…
Before she could finish her thought, Leliana leaned forward to kiss her. Sura leaned away from her at the last second. As much as she wanted to kiss what appeared to be her, this wasn't Leliana.
"Is something wrong, my love?" The fake Leliana looked at her with concern in her eyes.
"This isn't real. You're not Leliana, you're a demon.. And this is the fade." Sura sighed and stood, shoving her off of her lap. As she did the room around them faded and she was in her armor again, facing a desire demon.
The voice was now nothing but demonic. "You could've had happiness, but instead you're choosing to go back to where she'll never love you. You'll be a pawn to your duty until you meet your end, never having happiness."
"You know nothing, demon. And even so, I'd rather have what's real. If she never loves me, if I die somewhere along the line of doing my duty of slaying the archdemon, all that matters is she's safe and has a happy future. And that everyone else does."
It's voice changed again, back to the sweet Orlesian accent of Leliana, as did the demons appearance and the scene around them. Sura was back in the room with the fake Leliana. "It's not too late you know, you can change your mind."
The fake Leliana moved to undo the tie on the front of her robes. Sura caught her hands before she could finish and reveal anything. "N-no. This is not what I want."
The fake Leliana quickly pulled a knife from her robes and shoved Sura back onto the bed. She straddled Sura's hips again, this time moving to hold the knife at Sura's neck. Sura caught her wrist and they struggled. The demon was strong though and succeeded at stabbing the knife down toward Sura's head. Sura managed to move her head out of the way, but still took a nasty gash on her cheek. While the demon was distracted after its success with wounding Sura, Sura took the chance to disarm it and shove it off of her. She could feel her heart shatter at what she was about to do.
This is a demon.. this isn't the real Leliana.
Sura flanked the fake Leliana, stabbing her in the side. She removed the knife from her side and slit her throat, ending her quickly. The last thing she saw before it all faded away was the lifeless look in her eyes. Sura hoped she never had to see that for real.. she didn't know if she'd be able to stand it. She had fell completely and hopelessly for this woman.
Sura now stood in a hall that looked similar to the Circle Tower, except for the green fade glow cast on everything. A door was at the end of the hall. If she was correct, her companions must also be in here, being held by their own demons and dreams.. or nightmares. She had to find them and help them. She walked forward and through the door at the end of the hall.
She was back in Ostagar, or at least the fade version of it. Darkspawn were scattered all around her dead. She could hear cheering off in the distance and started walking toward the commotion.
"Give it up for Alistair! Hero of Ferelden and slayer of the archdemon!" This was Duncan's voice yelling, loud cheering followed.
"I couldn't be more proud of my brother." This sounded like King Cailan but.. brother?
Sure enough, both Duncan and King Cailan stood up ahead, both beside Alistair. So this is what Alistair desired, Sura couldn't say she was surprised. "Alistair!" She called to him.
"Guards! Capture her! She tried to assassinate a Grey Warden. Throw her in the dungeons with the traitor, Loghain."
"What.. no! I'm a Grey Warden too. Alistair, we're friends! I care for you and Duncan.. cared for Duncan. Alistair, he's dead. This isn't real. We're in the fade."
"Lies. Are you even trying? Duncan is right here beside me."
"Think, Alistair. How did you know I tried to assassinate Duncan?"
"I.. oh, Maker." Grief and realization overcame Alistair.
The dream faded from around them and they were just left with another desire demon. Sura panicked as the demon was right behind Alistair, without him any the wiser. "Alistair, watch out!"
He turned and rolled out of the way of the demon at the last second. Sura sprinted forward with her daggers at the ready, she ran one through the demons stomach, then twirled around behind it, slitting its throat as well with the other.
Alistair regained his footing and walked over to her. "Thank you, Sura. I'm.. sorry. You've been a good friend and I was just blind. I.."
But before he could finish, he was gone. Sura was now back in the same hall, with a new door at the end of it. Blood was dripping down her face from the gash she'd received from the other demon. She wiped the blood away and headed into the next room.
The smell hit her before she could get into the next room: death. And sure enough, there were hundreds of bodies of mages. In the middle of it all stood Wynne. Her back was turned away from Sura but she could hear her sobs. This wasn't a dream of desire.. this was a nightmare.
"Wynne.." Sura wasn't sure what to say. She was becoming just as shaken as Wynne appeared at the site of all of the carnage.
"I failed them.. I failed them all.. They're dead... because of me." She spoke between sobs.
"No, Wynne, they're not dead. This is a trick of the fade. The demon we encountered in the tower sent us here. You haven't failed anyone. We can still fix this. We will fix this."
"This isn't real?" She turned, raising her eyebrows. Hope shown in her eyes behind all of the despair.
Sura walked over to Wynne and pulled her into a hug. "No, and it never will be."
Sura glanced over and saw Maxwell's corpse among all of the mages and she felt a sudden pang in her chest. It was short lived as it all faded away. This time it was Sura reacting slowly. Wynne sent a powerful blast of fire behind her obliterating the demon.
"Thank you, dear. I don't know if I could have gotten out of that one alone." Wynne caressed Sura's cheek in a motherly way, healing the gash there, then she faded away as Alistair had. Once again, Sura was back in the same hall.
"You are moments too late. The demon is already dead." Morrigan now stood before her standing above her now dead mother, or what appeared to look like her mother. "It could not even read my mind well enough to form a decent copy. Not even the real Flemeth was that annoying."
Sura snorted, of course Morrigan couldn't be fooled. "You're the only one so far that could tell."
"Well, I am not as dimwitted as the rest of our companions." As she started to fade away like the rest she continued, "No, no, not another damned fade trick."
Morrigan was gone and Sura was back again in the hall. Now she just needed to find Maxwell and Leliana.
Now Sura stood in front of a cabin, tucked on the outskirts of a small town, though Sura didn't recognize the place. She pushed open the door to the inside to find Maxwell, along with a woman and two children, a young boy and girl.
"Sister! You've arrived just in time for dinner. Come in, come in. This is my wife Maya and our kids I wrote to you about. You're an aunt!"
The two young children ran up to her and hugged her around the waist. Sura almost wished this was real just as much as Maxwell must. She forced a pained smile. "Max, we're in the fade. None of this is real."
To Sura's surprise he looked back at her sad, but understanding. "I.. I thought so. Yes, a sloth demon sent us here. I still couldn't help but hope this was reality and all of that was just a nightmare. Maya used to be a mage here at the Circle. We had a child, but the Templars took it away. Maya tried to resist and was killed."
Tears started to stream down his face. Sura stepped closer to him to wipe them away. "I'm sorry, Max. It's horrible that they do stuff like that. One day we'll put a stop to it. I promise."
Maxwell looked up at her and smiled, nodding his head. "I'm so glad I met you, that I have a sister now."
He hugged her as the dream faded away. Sura broke the hug as the demon appeared behind him. She charged toward it, but was knocked back. Maxwell had his staff in his hand and froze the demon in place. Sura got back up to her feet and stabbed the demon in the chest, killing it. She turned back to Maxwell but he'd already faded away, and she was now back in the hall. Sura's heart skipped a beat. The last person she had to find was Leliana.