Arlathan.
It is more massive than she thought, drifting out towards the horizon under the cover of lazy clouds but catching in bright bursts of the color when the sun peaks through. As they grow nearer, smudges above the sprawling landscape come into focus and she barely stops herself from plummeting to the soft grass below in awe. Parts of the city float above it, turned upside down and suspending on invisible strings, and she can see tiny shapes moving down alleyways and across squares. Impossibilities right in front of her eyes.
"Quickly!" Solas glares at her with annoyance and curiosity mixed together in only a way he could express and if she had any doubts that this man is her future lover, they are wiped away. She did not realize she came to a halt to stare at the strange heart of the elvhen.
She begins to move only to stop and gasp as magic overwhelms her again, but it is not her fire that burns her this time. The anchor flares in her palm to send flashes of pain and energy lashing up her arm and into the air around. It feels like she is racing to close the Breach again. She has no control of the pulsing of power and crashes to her knees as each beat of her heart struggles in her chest.
"Fenedhis!" someone curses as hands clamp around her arms.
"You must concentrate on controlling it," a familiar voice says close by and she tries despite the panic rising within. The energy lashes out, wrapping vines of power around her wrist and digging in thorns.
"I...I can't!" she growls between clenched teeth.
"I thought you put a seal upon her."
"I did, but it was not sufficient. This magic is..." There is a wash of cooling waves rushing through her that makes her shiver even as it relieves some of the pain. "I will have to take more drastic measures. You will need to carry her."
"Wait-"
The magic grows colder until it all but freezes everything inside. The world grows faded as she's hauled up onto someone's back. Keela tries to fight the darkness overcoming her and catches a final glance at golden spires before her eyesight goes black.
She wakes slowly to warm light filtering through stained glass. It is how she wakes each morning with skin glowing in a haze of colors as the sun rises atop the mountains and she lets out a quiet sigh as she stretches under the sheets. Lazy lids lift to see a figure sitting at her side, blue eyes and bare head, and Keela smiles.
"Solas." Her hand reaches across the soft blue spread but then the world comes into painful focus and she snaps her arm back as if struck by lightning.
Solas.
She jerks upwards with feet shifting beneath her ready to bolt away. This is her room in Skyhold yet there are too many differences. It is not a giant canopied bed she finds herself in but something simpler with polished, dark wood. Her desk is replaced by an alchemy table full of potions and books she is not completely familiar with. The glass doors show wolves howling into the sky or chasing prey across many panels, and there are gentle spheres of light drifting high in the ceiling like stars brought down from the heavens.
And Solas is not Solas, although he is much closer to the man she knows. She knew. He wears something fine, cream colored sleeves billowing out like flower bells and a golden tunic swirling with etched lines and studded with red gems. The long ropes of hair are gone from his head, the skin perfectly smooth like they were never there at all.
Did she dream it? Is she dreaming now? "You cut your hair," she blurts out and feels the embarrassment of it in the echo off stone.
Solas runs a hand over his scalp and glances away for a moment as if he is the one to be caught off guard. "My associates suggested it would make me appear more...experienced."
She shakes her head. "This is real. This is Elvhenan and you're here. Why...how am I in Skyhold?" Solas, Morrigan and many others confirmed it was an elvhen stronghold long ago, parts of it still infected with ancient magic too strange to touch, but to be as old as Arlathan itself is not something she expected.
"Skyhold? This is one of my strongholds."
His stronghold. Were they all foolish enough to believe it could have been anything different as they crested the mountains to find miraculous sanctuary? She tries to reach for the Vir'abelasan but it is quiet, weakened, as if thousands of voices no longer have anything to say, or no longer exist. There are enough of them to plant a phrase back into her memory, however. "Tarasyl'an Te'las."
His eyes harden, all manner of friendliness shuttering as he moves to stand. "It is time you answered my questions. You know things only known by a few, some known only to the dead. You will tell me how you have come to this knowledge."
"I-"
He crosses to her side of the bed in quick strides. "You are unlike any elvhen given your reaction to magic and the strange aura you possess. You speak the language of shemlen with more ease than your native tongue. You call me by my true name as if we are acquaintances, as if it is commonplace in this world hundreds of years later, and you name this place by the crux of my plans." When he holds out the jawbone necklace, Keela's hand jumps over her heart to find hers missing. She resists the urge to snatch it back. "You are in possession of this, something I treasure and would not part with easily. Yet the most intriguing thing..."
Solas snaps his fingers and the anchor wakes in her hand, quiet enough not to hurt yet loud enough to blare warnings in her mind. He can control the mark. How can he do it? "Somehow, you have stolen the power of my orb although it remains untouched."
His orb. She had almost forgotten their earlier conversation, but she remembers how only he was able to quell the fury of the anchor in those early days, remembers every dreamed story of the ancient world he told in the snow, in the shadows of his artwork, in the embrace of his arms. Lies spun in half truths. She wishes it was impossible, but the more she unravels, the more pieces seem to fall into place until it is a complete picture she cannot believe she couldn't see.
He is elvhen, ageless and ancient, leading her around like a blind sheep the whole time. If he spoke true about the orb all those nights ago in front of veilfire, then he is even more than that. How many gods can one be claimed by before they're torn apart? Keela rises up on her knees, a burning challenge blazing her eyes. "After everything, how could you keep this from me?"
It is obvious by his wide gaze and the way he backs away from her as she storms from the bed that he expected her to cower beneath his demands, but she has survived the presence of one god. She is not afraid of this one either.
"I gave you every chance, I trusted you! Was I not worthy of it? Why!"
She lashes out with fists and manages to connect a few times until his firm grip accosts her. There is more alarm than anger on his face now and to see it so close- the image of him laying in a field of red grass flashes across her memory and it pushes the rage aside until it feels like he is the only thing keeping her upright.
How could he die without telling her the truth?
"Enough. I thought you could be reasoned with but if you will not tell me, then you will show me."
"W-what?"
"I will render you unconscious and sift through the memories of your dreams for the information I require," he reveals as he pushes her back towards the bed.
Keela plants her feet and pushes back. "No, you wouldn't."
"It is undesirable, but you leave me little choice. I must know if my plans have been discovered by the others. I cannot fail no matter the cost."
"So you'll force yourself upon me? You would never do something like this, to strip away choice and violate someone against their will. You have always fought for the freedom of others. I-"
I would not have loved you otherwise, she almost says, but her words already seem to quell him. His hold on her disappears and he takes a step away, a war of the conscious playing across his face. He is so much more honest with his expressions in this time, not quite an open book but one not so tightly shut either.
"You must understand that it is imperative that I succeed. Whatever you might have been told, they will soon destroy this world if I do not intercede."
"Who are you?" she asks. There are no gods of pride. He is certainly not Elgar'nan. Dirthamen? She has met few with more knowledge than Solas and none better at keeping secrets.
"How is it you can claim to know so much of me and yet not know this?"
"You told me many things but never what I needed to hear."
He stares at her for a few moments of silence. "If I were to tell you now, will you do me the same courtesy of explaining what has brought you here?"
"I will try," she replies.
He turns away and glances towards the sunlight in a stance she knows well as he stands with hand clasped behind his back. "The Evanuris must be stopped, punished for what they have done. Already the edges of our realm have grown black, seeped in sickness brought about by their lust for power."
"Evanuris?" The well breathes the answer in her ear. "The gods? They...they killed Mythal."
Solas nods and she watches his shoulders slope. "She trusted me, but I could not save her. I can save the elvhen from the impending oblivion, but in doing so I must create a prison from the very fabric of the worlds. It will change everything, create chaos and strife, but to allow them to continue will surely destroy us all."
Keela thinks about her Dalish history, things she believed were merely fairy tales or grand stretches of a polluted truth. If the gods had grown drunk on power, if they threatened the world, it was not an act of treachery that sealed them away. It was an act by a desperate savior. She glances up at Solas, cold realization seeping into her chest.
"You are Fen'Harel."
When he faces her again she does not know if it is a relief to recognize those blue eyes or not anymore. "I am."
The Bringer of Nightmares, the Great Trickster, He Who Hunts Alone. All those monikers take on new meanings now that she has walked in his dreams, believed his lies, saw his greatest fear imprinted in stone. She thought the truth would make her feel vindicated, but she only feels tired, defeated. All of it seems too little, too late. "You should have told me."
"How could I do so when we have met for the first time mere hours ago? Have I been made to forget you for some purpose? Please, explain what has happened."
"My amulet, do you have it?" Solas pulls it from one of his pockets but does not offer it back to her. A prudent decision, for if she could she would use it to return before the past becomes so mangled there might not be a future worth saving. She wonders what damage she has already done. Did this moment in time always exist, or is it all being written anew? Was their first introduction a reunion?
"We have met, or we will meet. It is...I used that to travel through time. I tried to go back only a few days and went back much, much farther than I anticipated."
"How far?"
"Thousands of years. It should not have happened. The amulet was only supposed to work with the Br...within a set amount of time."
He listens to her words with that considerate expression he always wears when debating. The idea does not cause him obvious distress, but such a length of time might seem a minor inconvenience for one who lives forever, such ideas commonplace for a people that build cities in the sky.
"Time magic has been theorized and never truly explored. It is said to be too complex, dangerous, unpredictable. Clearly an accurate assumption if what you are saying is indeed the reality."
"Usually the most unbelievable stories are."
He smiles and it is a sharp knife through her heart. She has him again, but he is as far out of reach as he was burning upon the pyre. "In my experience, something I have also learned to be true. In this future I have entrusted you with the magic of my orb but not with the titles of my past?"
"It wasn't intentional, at least I do not believe so. I can't be certain of many things anymore."
"But we are familiar?"
"Yes, we are," she whispers and watches him shift on his feet. Soft birdsong fills the space between them until he speaks again.
"I believe you," he says and Keela is surprised by the relief she feels because of it. "I would be curious to learn more about this future you come from, but I fear the repercussions of such knowledge. It is clear my plans succeed and I suppose that is all the knowledge needed."
"How can you be sure of that?"
"That I live, that there is a future, is testament enough."
She doesn't believe it's that simple. If all his plans had come to fruition, why would he hide them from her? Something went wrong. There was too much grief in him, too much shame she could recognize as she made her own difficult choices. He was haunted by his shadows and they were much bigger than she thought.
"You should be returned as soon as possible to your appropriate time. I can assist you."
"You can?" She follows his footsteps toward the alchemy station.
"There is ambient energy left in the amulet. With further study, I should be able to replicate the magic used and renew it."
An easier thing said than done it appears and Keela watches the sunlight drift from one side of the tower to the other while he attempts. Solas does not let her venture down into Skyhold but suggests fresh air will do her good as the work lengthens and their frustrations grow. The mountains are taller than she remembers, sharper, and the air shimmers with those strange opalescent currents she saw outside the city. It is like parts of the Crossroads have bled into this world and even though she does not feel unwelcome here, she does not feel like she belongs either. Is this how Solas felt in her world?
"It is finished," he announces as he joins her, the amulet in one hand and his necklace in the other. "I may have discovered the reason as to why you ended up in this time, as well. I have imbued my talisman with magic to lead me to certain places. A key to many doors. I sense little energy in it now, but perhaps enough to make a connection. I suggest you leave it behind as a precaution."
He slides the amulet into her waiting hand. There are still cracks across its surface but it shines under the living sky. It is what she needs to get home, yet she can't help but keep her eyes on the jawbone instead, not wanting to part with the last piece of him she has if this does not work as planned again.
"Regardless, I doubt it would have worked at all if not for that mark on your palm. Foci hold transcendent energy, the power to move and shape worlds, to alter reality. Only an Evanuris can truly control it." If it is his orb then it is his magic that created the Breach as well. Alexius was right, but not for the reasons he believed. "I am surprised you can survive it. Tell me, has it changed you in any way?"
Keela laughs, looks away. "You have asked me that already. Here, in fact, on this very spot. The sun was setting through those mountains. I'm not sure my answer would be the same now. I'm not sure I can answer it at all."
"A final question then, if you would permit me. Why did you come back through time?"
"To save someone." He does not ask who, but by the way he glances between her and the bone in hand makes her believe he might know the answer.
"Perhaps I should assimilate this magic for my own purposes. I, too, have someone I would save if I could." Panic beats against her ribs until he shakes his head. "Yet I fear this outcome would be inevitable no matter my meddling and with the possibility of far worse futures. You should go, before I decide the risk is worth the cost."
"What if I fail? What if the future cannot be changed?"
"Nothing is inevitable."
Keela closes her fingers around the amulet and takes a step towards him. "Then when the future comes, tell me the same truth you told me today. Whatever you've done, whoever you are, I will not abandon you. I..."
She moves until she can see the treasured veins of silver and violet bursts in his eyes. There may be words that will convince him, an eloquent speech that will carry on through the ages, but there is another way she knows he is not likely to forget. Keela holds her breath and a question in her gaze as she leans forward even further. When no objection flies from his mouth, she seals it with her own.
There is always a spark but it is brighter here where magic coats skin. It rushes through her bones, squeeze her ribs until she's left breathless. She doesn't mean for the kiss to be something more than a remembrance for them both- for him in case this works, for her in case it doesn't, but when his lips part beneath hers she lingers longer, presses closer.
Without words she tells him how beautiful she thought he was beneath the broken sky and falling snow, how coaxing laughter and a smile from him makes a star burn in her heart. How wise and caring he is if given the chance and how he is worth crossing centuries to save even if in the end he still turns away from her. How she will always loves him even if it hurts.
When they part, Solas is a mix of understanding and confusion and she hopes he spends the thousands of years between them pondering what has occurred so she never leaves his mind. "I..." He lifts his arm as if he might reach for her, but catches himself. "Who are you?"
Keela only smiles and takes a few steps away. She clutches the amulet against her heart and the anchor pulses around it, worms its way inside the cracked glass like before.
"Take me to Solas," she whispers and the universe swallows her once more.