Update 1.1

Date: March 5th, 2016

Fixed spelling mistakes and grammatical errors

AN: Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in the updates but I thought that since I had a little bit of a contest going on (plus a crazy school life that keeps me busy almost 24/7) I thought that I would wait a few more days before posting.

So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls I give you our next main character... Lucian Stern Amell!

PROLOGE PART 4

AMELL PART 1

Lucian had been in the hall talking with Samuel when he heard it, a yell. He stopped talking so he could listen in, hearing what sounded like two men talking and a third voice crying. He looked at his friend and shared a quick look before walking away, at the last moment he looked back, "You know what you have to do." The look on his face was serious and the tone he used left nothing to doubt, there was no room to argue. Samuel looked at him with a concerned, tired face before sighing and simply nodding his agreement.

He walked quickly thru the library towards the sound of the voices, turning a corner what he saw there made him sick to his stomach. Two Templars stood over Neria and had her pinned against a book shelf. He could hear the glee in their voices as they spoke about defiling a child. This had gone on long enough.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" At the sound of their new guest the two Templars groaned in irritation before letting her go so they could confront him. They looked at him, angry that their fun had been cut short.

"This is Templar business boy, walk away before we have to deal with you too!" The Templars walked away from Neria to deal with him, he quickly looked behind them to check on her only to see her sitting on the floor crying into her knees.

"I don't think you two know what you are getting yourselves into." Lucian closed the distance between himself and the two cockroaches "That girl over there, the one you attacked that's Wynnes star pupil, Irvings soon to be apprentice."

"So? You think we give a shit who she is?"

"You should, because if Irving find out you did something to her he's not going to go after you. No, he's going to go to Greagoir and he will make sure to have your heads for this." At hearing this they looked at each other with concern.

"This will not end well for either of you, so I suggest you leave now before my friend in the hall runs up to the first enchanters room and tells him all about you two, understood?" The two of them were shocked, furious. The way they looked at him he was certain they would love to kill there and now. They stood there for a moment before storming out of the library and slamming the door shut.

As soon as they left he slowly walked up to Neria and knelt in front of her. As he gently reached out, touching her shoulder to try to comfort her she jumped back, he could see tears running down her face and fear in her eyes. He looked her over, checking to make sure that she hadn't been hurt. After a few moments of not moving or talking, of her simply staring at him he decided that she had calmed down enough to try it again and slowly moved towards her.

"It's okay, you are alright, they're gone now and they can't hurt you. Do you understand?" It took a second for what he said to click for her but once it did she reached out and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Thank you…" They sat there for a bit, he held her in his arms, caressing her head as she cried into his shoulder. Gently pulling her off him he looked her in the eyes before talking.

"Neria, my name Lucian, Lucian Amell. Now I'm going to get my friend Sam, he is just outside that door and we are going to get you to your bed. I'm so sorry this happened to you, I promise that those men will never hurt you again, okay?" She nodded at him, a small smile touching her lips but simply didn't make it to her eyes.

"Thank you, so much Lucian. You saved my life, I could never repay you…" From the sound of it she was about to start crying again but then he smiled at her and gently wiped her tears off with his hand.

"You don't have to thank me, that's just what friends do." That was when he was her really smile.

Regardless of how difficult this night had been Neria was his friend now and that, well that made all of it worth it.

Half an hour later Lucian and Samuel were leaving the female apprentice quarters, having just left Neria in the hands of her friend Petra, but not before making sure they knew that they would be there in an instant should they need anything. So after saying there good byes to the two girls and convincing a shaken Jowan who had stayed up waiting for his friend that everything was fine the two boys were finally alone. Samuel shook his head and sighed after looking at his friend.

"What a waste of time. Explain to me why we just went thru all that trouble?" Lucian, tired, passed a hand thru his hair while his sleep deprived brain dredged up a response.

"I told you, we need her to trust us, to be her friend. Orchestrating that whole unpleasantness was the best and fastest way to do it." He turned to his companion with a questioning look on his face. "Did you do as I asked?"

"Yes, payed them five silvers each, as agreed upon." Samuel sighed, "Two months' worth of scrounging wasted so you could play the hero and make friends with the little bitch. Should of just let them rape her, would have been cheaper and an easy way to get them in our pockets."

"Those two scums are irrelevant, Neria on the other hand is key." He looked at his friend with an annoyed look. "The smartest, most skilled apprentice and adored by all. In a few years once she has gone thru her Harrowing she will be a major player in circle politics, whether she knows it or not."

"So, you want a pawn you can control? Fine, I get it, but what I don't understand was why you had to go thru all that trouble with the Templars. Would it not have been easier for you to just make her fall in love with you? You've seen the way she looked at you whenever we passed by in the halls, she's obviously into you." Lucian sighed, a disappointed look at hearing what his friend had said.

"She had a crush on me, that would have passed, but now, now she adores me. Like you said I am the hero that swooped in and saved her from those evil Templars. That is something that she will never forget and neither will anyone else." A small smile spread across Samuel's face as he began to realize the implication.

"A brilliant play as always, so, what is our next move?" Lucian smiled at his friend before he began to make his way back to the apprentice room.

"Up, my friend, we go up."

A week had passed and Lucian had gone from being the mysterious newcomer to being the most popular apprentice in the tower. Neria had spent almost the entire time at his side, as well as her friends Jowan and Petra, thanking him constantly for saving her life. The more time they spent with him the more word got out on what it was that he had done. Soon everyone wanted to know the story of his heroic act, he did his best to simply play it off, he didn't want anyone to think he wanted the attention.

Of course Samuel played his part excellently; doing his best to spread the story, boasting their heroics to whoever listened. He even began to try and charm Neria's friend Petra, at Lucian's suggestion. Petra was nowhere near as naive as her friend, but since they had her trust it did make it easier for him to attempt it. Jowan had been even simpler than his friends; he was a fool, barley capable of the simplest of magic's. He was already spending most of his time thanking them, saying how he owed them, how he would one day make up for saving his friend, a few well-placed compliments, some minor tips on casting spells and they had him dancing at their every word.

The cockroaches had been a bit upset with Lucian afterwards; claiming he had tricked them by not telling them who the girl had been before it was too late, another silver each and those concerns quickly vanished. He hated having to use such disgusting people to do his dirty work, he took no pleasure in what he had made them do, it had been necessary for him, they on the other hand enjoyed their work. Sadly he would most likely need them in the future if he was to act without any unwanted attention.

As expected the story of what happened soon passed from apprentice to mage, from mage to enchanters and all the way up. Before long he had been brought before Irving and Greagoir, the later demanding to know if the rumor were true. He knew what the Commander wanted to hear and gave him exactly that. He told him how the stories were all false, simply over active imaginations with too much time on their hands. However much he hated those two cockroaches and would gladly see them rot Samuel had been right, having two Templars in your pocket was invaluable, so for now he kept them safe.

Now while playing the scared apprentice and stroking the ego of that fool of a Commander had been a complete bore, the First Enchanter had been anything but. As soon as Greagoir had left the room Lucian had turned to leave as well, before he was stopped.

"Just a moment lad, I would like talk with you for just a moment if you don't mind." Irving spoke up from behind his desk; his low gravelly voice spoke wisdom while his soft smile carried a kind, warm and welcoming feeling. It was the perfect mask for a First Enchanter; he wondered how many mages, had been lured in by it. "I wanted to thank you for what you did the other day, for helping Neria despite the risk to yourself."

"Sir, like I said early, nothing happened."

"Nonsense boy, you don't become First Enchanter by not knowing what happens in your own circle." That he didn't doubt, 'how many little rats do you have running around I wonder?' no matter, he would find out who answered to who soon enough.

"Now I wanted to discuss your future here at the circle. First Enchanter Maceron speaks very highly of you, said you were one of the most talented apprentices in the Gallows and you have certainly shown that you live up to your reputation."

"Thank you sir, I try to do the best that I can, but I doubt that I'm worthy of such praise."

"Don't sell yourself short now; you are most certainly one of the most skilled apprentices that I have seen in my many years and I want to see your talents grow. So after much consideration I have decided that I shall be personally taking you on as my apprentice." He wanted to smile as soon as he heard it, apprentice to the First Enchanter, it was a very sought after spot, he needed to play this just right, act shock, not let on that he had been expecting this.

"Sir, I'm honored that you would even consider to take me on personally, but certainly there is someone else more deserving, like Neria, I would have thought you would choose her." Irving smiled, glad to see just how 'humble' I was.

"Neria is certainly a skilled girl, with much talent, but I believe those talents lie down a certain path. That is why Senior Enchanter Wynne has agreed to mentor her. As for you Lucian, I hope to see you grow into a fine mage under my care."

"Thank you Sir, I'll do my best to live up to your expectations." There it was, after a month of planning everything had been set. That incident with Neria had been risky, but it had already paid off. The number of allies, of 'friends' that he had in the tower was steadily growing, now with the First Enchanter as his mentor he would be officially included in circle politics, one way or another. He would have to be especially careful from now on as to how much he would progress, too slow, he would miss out on any real opportunities, too fast; he would make himself a target for both paranoid Templars and jealous mages. Regardless of the risk Lucian knew he was up to the task. In due time everything would fall into place, he simply needed a bit of patience, then, then he would live like a king.

AN: Surprise! Lucian is actually a manipulative jerk. Yes, poor little Neria, being used like that, but if I'm being 100% honest what happened to her isn't even the worst thing that I plan on doing to my main characters.

Now, my lovely readers, I would like to talk to all of you about two things, first something that I love so, so much. That my friends, are OC's. Now I have said before that I plan on including OC's in my story but before I do I would like to ask you all what you think about it. Not if I should or shouldn't, but when, where, why and how. If you give me that and I think that it fits with the direction that I want to take my story then I just might.

The Second thing I wanted to talk to you about is the possibility of crossovers. Now just to make myself clear, this story, is not a crossover, but I may use a character or two From something not dragon age if I think it fits well with the story. So what I'm hoping you can do for me is also tell me crossovers you would be interested in seeing, then I can check to see if or how I can use it. Also see how I said "this story", that means that other stories that I write in my Twisted Tales series might be full crossovers. So once again send your ideas and we'll see what happens.

!IMPORTANT REAL WORLD NEWS!

I interrupt this AN to let everyone know that a official poll was put out asking fans of Dragon Age if they would be interested in a Dragon Age tactical game, basically a game that worked like X-Com but was in the world of Dragon Age. That's amazing! I hope they make that, it sounds like it would be awesome!

Oh, just so everyone knows I've decided to extend my little contest until the next chapter, so good luck everyone!

Well that's it, hoped you all enjoy the story so far. As usual, Favorite, Follow, Review and I'll see you all next time!

WAIT! Don't I usually hint at who I plan on writing about next? Is there maybe a hint in this chapter? Go back and read it again, you might just see it. ;)