The next morning, after Cassandra, Avexis, and Galyan were awake, he walked out of the room and to the door of the room next to theirs. He knocked on the door five times in a pattern, and after hearing the two knocks completing it from the other side, he walked back into the other room. Last night, Galyan had agreed to let them know when the three of them were leaving by knocking on group's door that way since they were worried about Cassandra seeing them. Snow woke up everyone else, and they all got ready to leave. Meanwhile, Galyan entered the other room and asked, "Are you two ready to go?"

"Yes." Avexis answered. "I've never been to Haven, though. What's it like?"

"It's just a small, little village in the mountains." Cassandra replied as she strapped her sword to her belt. "I'm sure you know that the trail leading there, though, does go through the wilderness, so you have to keep your eyes open for wild animals."

"Are you forgetting that I can control wild animals?"

"No, but it would still be wise to be cautious." Cassandra said with a smile, and Avexis nodded in agreement.

"Let's get going, then." Galyan said, and the three of them left with everyone else following them from some ways back, so they wouldn't be seen.

It took more than half a day for them to get back to Haven from Redcliffe, and once there, they realized that there were considerably more people there than had been when they'd left.

"Cassandra!" Leliana called as she ran over to her. "You're back! Thank the Maker! I was worried you wouldn't get here in time."

"In time for what?"

"Well, as you can see," Leliana started, motioning to the masses of people gathered there. "The mages and templars have arrived sooner than expected, so Divine Justinia has moved the date of the conclave to tomorrow. I was starting to think you might miss it."

"Tomorrow?" Galyan asked, sounding sad. "So soon?"

"Yes." Leliana then said, "Apologies, I don't believe we've met."

"Right, you haven't." Cassandra introduced them, "Leliana, this is Galyan, the love of my life." At hearing her call him that, Galyan grinned happily. "And this is Avexis, our adopted daughter."

"Nice to meet you two!"

"Likewise." Galyan replied.

"Well, I better get back to work, and Justinia wanted to see you as soon as you got back, Cassandra. She's in the chantry."

"Okay." Cassandra nodded, and after Leliana left, she turned to Galyan and Avexis. "I should go see what Divine Justinia wants, but why don't I meet you two outside the chantry in about twenty minutes and we'll get something to eat?"

"What do you say, Avexis?" Galyan asked her with a smile.

"I say that sounds like a plan." She laughed as she lightly pet Phoenix who was perched on the top of her staff. Cassandra nodded and walked off before Avexis turned to Galyan, and asked, "Papa, why did you sound so sad when Leliana said that the conclave is now going to be tomorrow? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Yes, but I couldn't tell you in front of Cassandra." He took a deep breath and sighed it out before explaining. "Avexis, the reason I came to find you is because the conclave is going to be a disaster and everyone who attends is going to die. I had to find you, so you wouldn't go and meet the same fate."

"Where did you hear this?"

"You met Snow, Dorian, and the others, didn't you?"

"Oh. Yes, I did. They did tell me that they were from the future and that mama couldn't see them, but they didn't tell me about this disaster."

"No, they wouldn't have, because until I spoke to them last night, they didn't want to bring you back with us."

"Not to split hairs here, but Dorian was the only one who didn't want to bring Avexis back, too." Snow said as she and others walked over to them.

"How long were you all there?"

"The whole time. We were never more than twenty or thirty feet away from you three, and we heard what Leliana said." Snow answered.

"So, what's the plan, then?"

"Tomorrow, you and Avexis will have to say goodbye to Cassandra and make it sound like you are planning to see her again after the conclave is over. Also, make her think you are heading there, but then sneak away and meet up with us, and we'll head back to our time… simple, really."

"Alright, but how are we going to get back to your time?" Avexis asked, and Snow looked at her rather sheepishly, and Dorian answered for her.

"Snow hasn't exactly thought that far ahead yet…"

"Wait, you came here to save me, but don't even know how to get us back?" Galyan asked Snow.

"I admit, it wasn't the best idea, but I was so focused on just getting here, and all I could think about at the time was how depressed Cassandra was."

"Just how upset was she?"

"Looking-ready-to-cry-in-public upset, and as I'm sure you know, she does not like to show emotions like that."

"She missed me that much?"

"I'm sure she did!" Avexis said in an almost scolding manner, "She loves you, papa, you know that!"

"I do, but I didn't think she missed me that much…" He sighed. "I wish we didn't have to leave so soon… we'll have to wait more than a year to see her again."

"Not really." Dorian said. "For you, it'll only feel like a second has passed. Remember, we won't actually be here for that year or so."

"I don't understand."

"Okay, let me try to explain…" Dorian looked around his feet and found a small stick, which he then picked up and drew a horizontal line in the snow. "Pretend that this line represents the flow of time." He then drew a vertical line that intersected the horizontal one. "This is tomorrow, the day of the conclave," He then made another vertical line further up. "And this is the day we left, the day we are bringing you two back to." He then drew an arch, connecting the two lines as he continued, "We are going to go from point A to point B in an instant, skipping over the time between them." He retraced the horizontal line in the snow as he said, "Cassandra, on the other hand, is staying here, and is going to – in a sense – relive that year or so. Understand now?" He asked, addressing everyone, not just Galyan.

"I get it," Avexis said. "But what happens once we get to the future?"

"We go find Cassandra so the three of you can be together again. After that… who can say?"

"So, basically, you're saying that for us, it will only feel as though a minute or so has passed?" Galyan asked.

"Less than that, even."

"That sounds good!" Galyan said, now sounding happy. "I suddenly can't wait." He turned to his daughter. "Come on, Avexis, we should get to the chantry and wait for Cassandra." She nodded in agreement, and they both left.

"So… how are we getting back to our time?" Azariah asked.

"I actually had a thought on that as we were following them back here." Dorian answered.

"And you didn't bother speaking up earlier?" Fenris growled at him.

"Well, you, at least, would just as soon kill me as talk to me. That doesn't exactly make me want to open up." Dorian replied sarcastically, which just made Fenris glare daggers at him. "Besides, I am not entirely sure it will work; it's simply a thought." He then began explaining his idea to them.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful and passed by without incident. After Avexis went to bed for the night, Galyan and Cassandra were sitting on the steps of the chantry, and he decided to ask a question that had been plaguing him. "Cassandra… you do love me, don't you?"

"Of course I do, why would you even ask that?"

"I've been thinking, and…" He sighed and asked the real question. "If something happens to me, would you find someone else?"

Cassandra was silent as she just stared at him, but then asked, "…Why are you asking me this?"

"Because I want to know. I mean, who knows what's going to happen tomorrow… and if something does happen to me… I would just feel better if I knew whether or not you'd find someone else."

"No." She said. "I wouldn't, but nothing is going to happen to you, you said so yourself."

Galyan smiled, albeit sadly, and placed his hand against her cheek, stroking it lovingly. "That makes me feel better, it really does." He then leaned in and kissed her passionately while wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer, but she put her hands on his chest and pushed him back.

"Galyan, not now."

"If not now, when?"

"Just… not now." She stood up and kept her back to him as she said, "We should just get to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." She then headed to the house she was staying at.

Galyan sighed as he watched her leave and bowed his head, running his fingers through his dark brown hair. 'Maker, I feel awful about not telling her… I just hope she can forgive me.'

The next morning, Haven was buzzing with activity as people got ready to head to the Temple of Sacred Ashes for the conclave. Avexis and Cassandra were talking, and were both doing their best to not sound upset, but Avexis made sure to tell Cassandra that she'd see her afterwards. Galyan then walked over to them, and Avexis said, "I'll let you two talk privately." She walked off so that they could do just that.

"Well… this is it." Cassandra sighed, looking up at the mountain where the temple was. "This war could finally be over." He simply nodded in response, so she added, "I wish I could go with you and Avexis, but Most Holy has insisted that Leliana and I remain here in the village in case… things go awry."

"I'm glad about that, too, because I can't help but think that… things will."

Cassandra looked at him, worriedly. "Hey, you're usually the one who is optimistic and telling me not to worry, but now that you're worried, I'm worried."

"Oh, no. Don't be." He insisted, but didn't sound at all convincing. "Please don't fret, my love." He gently placed his forehead against hers as his arms wrapped around her. "I'm just worried for you is all. I will be fine."

"You better be, because if something happens to you…" She got tearful just thinking about it. "Just come back." She ordered and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him forward and kissing him intensely.

Galyan sighed into the kiss and placed one of his hands behind her head as he kissed her back, and his other hand remained on her waist. Afterwards, he slowly pulled away and hugged her close. "I love you, Cassandra."

"I love you, too." She whispered, hugging him back.

"Papa," Avexis said as she came back over, and they both looked at her. "It's time to go…" She motioned towards the masses of people starting to head to the temple.

He nodded and looked back at Cassandra. "I will see you soon." He took her hand and kissed the top of it before taking a couple steps back, their hands slowly sliding away from each other as he did. He turned and walked away with Avexis following close behind. Once he and Avexis were out of seeing distance from Cassandra, they both looked around to make sure no one was watching them before sneaking into the thick trees and making their way back down the mountain. They met up with Snow and the others on the other side of the frozen lake from Haven, in the exact same spot they had arrived from. "You're both here, good. I was starting to think you wouldn't get off the mountain in time." Snow said.

"Off the mountain? Just how big is this explosion going to be?" Avexis asked, but before anyone could answer, a huge, loud bang resonated through the air as the top of the mountain completely blew up in a ball of fire, and the shockwave that came down was so powerful, it knocked them all off their feet.

"…That big." Luna said after getting over the initial shock.

"You actually survived that?" Galyan asked, pointing at Snow, and she nodded. "How?"

"I don't know myself, really." Snow answered while rubbing the top of her head, as if trying to remember. "The whole thing is really blurry, and I can only remember bits and pieces of what happened." She shook her head and stood up. "It's not important right now, anyway. We've all talked it over, and we need to get to Redcliffe."

"Why? What's in Redcliffe?"

"The means to get us home." Dorian answered. "My old mentor, Alexius, is there, and he's the one who devised this form of time travel. If we go there and find his amulet, I can use it to get us home."

"Alright then, let's do it!"

"Hold on there, lover boy." Dorian said sternly as he grabbed Galyan's arm. "There's a catch."

"Oh," Galyan sighed. "Of course there is. Why did I think otherwise? What's the catch?"

"At this time, Alexius is in a Tevinter cult called the Venatori, who work for the darkspawn that made that happen." He pointed to the mountain top. "So, we need to be extremely careful to not get caught, because if we do… there won't be a second chance."

"Cheery thought. Let's just… go get this over with, then."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the lake, outside the village, Cassandra sat stood there in utter shock over what she had just witnessed while everyone around her was crying or shouting in anger. She slowly just fell to her knees, never taking her eyes off the mountain. 'Galyan… Avexis… Justinia… they're…' Tears came to her eyes and fell from them, streaming down her face. 'They can't be gone! This can't be happening! I'm in a dream! I'm in a bad dream!' She sobbed, clutching her fist into the snow beneath her while her other hand covered her mouth as the tears continued following. She shut her eyes tight and began praying as hard as she was simply in a nightmare, and that she'd wake up on her bed to find Galyan lying next to her and Avexis on the bed across the room. When she opened her eyes again, however, all that met her was the cold, unforgiving snow and the sounds of anguish ringing in her ears. She wiped her tears away with her sleeve before suddenly looking angry and glaring up the mountain, vowing, "Someone is going to pay for this!"

That evening, the nine of them made it back to Redcliffe and headed for the windmill. Azariah and Alistair led them through there and the escape tunnel they had used ten years prior to get into the castle when it was filled with undead. When they got to the main hall, the two of them continued leading the way. If Teagan had still been there and in control of the castle, they could've just walked on through without an issue, but obviously, since that wasn't the case anymore, they had to sneak through. Surprisingly, they all made it to the second floor and the master bedroom without incident, and Dorian instructed them to start finding the amulet.

During their search, one of the guards came in and saw them, but Fenris was behind him and quickly snapped his neck before he could utter a single sound of alarm. Luna smirked and said, "You know, that's one of the reasons I fucking love you, Fenris. You know just how to kill someone quickly and cleanly, like a warrior assassin!"

Fenris chuckled, "Well, I'm glad you find that thrilling."

Cullen just sighed as he rolled his eyes at their exchange.

"Hey, is this what we're looking for?" Avexis suddenly asked as she held up what looked like a small, black cube tied to a string.

"Yes, that's it!" Dorian said happily and took it from her. "Now, I just need to power it up and we'll be back in our time in… well, no time."

Snow laughed at his joke and replied, "Ready whenever you are!"

Dorian began channeling his magic into the amulet and powering it up, and it took a minute or so, but a vortex then opened and sucked them all inside it. Suddenly, the room was silent and empty as the amulet fell to the floor…

––

SUSPENSE!