BEAUTY LAVELLAN & THE IRON BEAST
/ Tale as old as time \
True as it can be
Barely even friends,
Then somebody bends
\ Unexpectedly. /
This was a nightmare. Terror seared through the Herald's bones, her heart slamming into her chest. She glanced over to Dorian, her newfound ally, a Tevinter mage that displayed a formidable amount of sass and sarcasm, who looked as baffled as her. They had been sent to a dark future…? Not even certain if they could return to their own time, they ventured forth, stepping through the cold puddles of the underground prison, making their way up the hollow stairs and corridors.
This can't be it. It can't be like this.
[After the leader of the mage rebellion, Grand Enchanter Fiona, showed up in Val Royeaux to offer the Inquisition an invitation to work together, would they meet in Redcliffe for further debate, everything seemed to turn sour. Something was very wrong, she could tell as soon as they started battling the demos pouring out of the Rift that blocked the entrance through the gates of the mage village. Time was distorted… Someone, or something, was toying with the timeline – a taboo, even for the most powerful mages. Who would be doing such a thing? ]
"Three hundred bottles of beer on the wall, three hundred bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around…Ugh…"
[In an attempt to save his son who was plagued with sickness, Magister Gereon Alexius used time travel to reach the Mages before the Herald, securing an alliance with them for the Tevinter. Alexius pledged loyalty to the Elder One, a strong force who opposed the Inquisition and wanted to kill Lavellan because of the Mark on her hand that allowed her to definitively enclose the Rifts. ]
Dorian was the first to follow the trail of the devilish, hoarse voice that led them to a cell at the end of the damp chamber, the sides lined with grilled doors to keep prisoners in. The only light falling onto the source of the sound was a passionate red, emanating from the shards of Red Lyrium springing from everything around them. Lavellan was right behind him, her eyes widening as they approached. Although she found the voice familiar, she hoped it wasn't who she expected… But her worst fear seemed to come true.
The Iron Bull was standing in the cell, passing time as he repeated an old drinking song. He looked similar to what she remembered, except for the Red Lyrium that had affected him, causing a red glow to surround his figure, his eyes taking the colour of freshly spilled blood. She couldn't find anything to say, much alike her time-travelling mage partner who only stared, dumbfounded.
"You're not dead. "The Qunari was the first to break the glacial silence. "You're supposed to be dead! There was a burn on the ground and everything."
[After being confronted by the Inquisition about his true intentions, Alexius, in a moment of panic and acrimony, used the amulet that rested around his neck in order to get rid of the elf – intending to completely erase her from existence, so that she could never interfere with his plans. Instead, she, along with Dorian, were sent to a near future, where the Elder One had succeeded and his demon army had taken over. The Inquisition had lost. ]
"Alexius didn't kill us", the tan mage reasoned. "His spell sent us through time. This is our future." "Well, it's my present. And in my past, I definitely saw you both die."
Lavellan had to say something. She was trying hard to process everything that was going on, but the sickly look on the Qunari's face was so uncharacteristic and unsettling it made her stomach flip upside down. "Are you all right…? You don't look so good" she observed, her face softening as she watched him. Such a huge man, looking so ghostly. It terrified her. Bull moved forward. "Red Lyrium. If I'm lucky, it'll kill me." He turned to face her. "If not… I'm hoping I die fighting. "Arte'mys felt herself froze, mouth agape, eyebrows furrowing upwards with worry, She knew her life was now a battlefield, she knew that comrades would inevitably die, but the close bond she had formed with her party tinged the strings of her heart every time they were injured. They were always in danger, all of them, she knew that. But she caused all this. She made them give up their lives to fight for this cause. She would keep them safe and send them back home without question. Nobody died on her watch. Not her team. Fear took over her lips.
"You're dying—?" "No, he's not." Dorian intervened assertively. "If we find Alexius, we go back, and none of this will happen. Remember?" The pale giant gestured with his sizable hands. "Alexius isn't the one you need to worry about. It's his 'Elder One'. He killed the Empress of Orlais, and used the confusion to launch an invasion of the South. The army was all demons. You ever fought a demon army? I don't recommend it." Grief spilled through her veins like mercury. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help." He didn't seem to mind. If anything, he was… grateful? "Demon. Army! Shit, you were lucky you died early. Let's move – no time like the present."
[x]
A lot had happened since then. In the end, they had returned safely. Time had been reversed back to normal. The memories of the twisted future still haunted Arte'mys and sent chills down her spine late at night, keeping her from sleeping. She saw Leliana being tortured and dying to save them; she saw Cassandra fallen deep into despair, completely void of hope and determination; the suffering that the members of the Inquisition had endured following her death made her understand how important her mission was. The threat wasn't just the civil war, or the demons. It was the Elder One. He had to go.
The alliance with the mages allowed for the monstrous Breach in the sky to be finally closed – but there had been little time for celebration. Corypheus, once a human magister, now an ancient darkspawn, took control over the Templars tainted with Red Lyrium and attacked their home base. The village of Haven was wiped out, but most of the citizens had been rescued, and everyone fled through an old underground pass of the Chantry. The darkspawn called a corrupted high dragon to his aid, threatening to completely annihilate the Inquisition. Cornering the Herald, he tried to remove the Anchor from her arm, only to find that it was permanent. She barely escaped, using a trebuchet to cause an avalanche that swallowed Corypheus' army whole. Arte'mys got caught up in it, as well, and lost consciousness as she fell down into darkness.
