Darktown was such a depressing place, seeing such downtrodden and sickly people made Nero almost thankful that he had been a slave and not...this. Almost, but not quite. He knew that these were people that had constantly been handed shit in their lives, and it would be difficult for anyone to stare that in the face and demand more. Even so, he still recognized that these were people that had given up, and he found he didn't have much pity for these people because of that. His life hadn't been easy either but he was still fighting and not wasting away next to trash.
They were weaving their way through the tunnels, looking for the basement entrance that Hawke had a key for. Nero was trying desperately to figure out how the others were not lost down there. Everything looked the same, the people, the shady merchants, the drunks, the walls, just everything. But Hawke, Bethany and Fenris were so familiar with the tunnels that they were even having conversation, it baffled Nero. He wasn't sure if he looked forward to the time that he knew his way around down there as well as they did.
"So, the magister put lyrium in your skin?" Bethany was asking Fenris. Internally Nero winced at the question.
"So I'm told." Fenris scowled.
"Does it hurt?"
"You do not want to know the answer to that." Fenris growled
She visibly deflated, "I'm sorry," she muttered before falling back to walk next to Nero. Hawke took the opportunity to draw Fenris' thoughts to something else, and they were both smiling not long after.
"That was less than smooth." Nero observed with a wry grin.
"I probably could have thought about it more before asking." Bethany mused.
"You mean, thought of it enough to not ask at all?"
"Yeah, that." Bethany smiled. They were quite a few paces behind her brother and the elf, and she found herself glad that the mood she left Fenris in was gone already. "I'm happy for my brother, he seems so carefree when he's with Fenris."
Nero raised an eyebrow, "really? I haven't noticed, to be honest. Now that I think of it he does seem somewhat confused when Isabela is around too." He scowled, "Hawke does seem to take Fenris with him on his jobs a lot though."
"Confused?" Bethany furrowed her brow, "what do you mean?"
"Isabela sort of, hangs off of him, when she can."
"True...and you're okay with that?"
Nero started, "why wouldn't I be?"
"Well," a faint blush was visible on the girls cheeks, "aren't you two an item?"
Nero laughed, "no no, we just...entertain each other, so to speak."
"Oh," Bethany giggled, "Oh my."
"Well would you look at that?" Hawke began, he had stopped walking and was staring at a ladder in a small alcove, "who knew that Anders lived so close to the 'Amell' estate" he laughed.
"Or so close to a nest of slavers." Fenris snarled.
Hawke frowned and placed a hand on the elf's shoulder. Fenris visibly tensed but slowly relaxed as the hand stayed, he tried to not think too hard about the warmth emanating from the man.
Nero had his hood up as they traveled through the city to hide his ears and hopefully draw less attention to himself; which was sometimes difficult considering the company he kept. Smiling he pushed the hood back and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, who else is ready to release these slavers of the burden of their lives?"
Hawke nodded and gave a small squeeze to the shoulder under his hand before letting go and kicking a box out of his way. He silently made his way up the ladder and, after unlocking it, dropped the padlock to the ground and carefully eased the hatch open. After assuring himself that the room it lead to was empty he threw it open and motioned to the others to follow him up.
Once in the room the hatch was closed again and the group unsheathed their weapons before Hawke quietly opened the only available door and peered in. He held up two fingers and looked back to make sure the others understood that he meant there were only two people on the other side before he pushed the door open.
He plastered a huge grin on his face as he strode in.
"Hello, it would appear that you are in my house. Please leave quietly."
There was a flicker of recognition on one of the men's faces as he saw the elves, then he scowled and pulled his blade out of it's scabbard.
Hawke frowned, "so that's how it is."
Hawke rushed forward, sending one of the men to floor at the same time Fenris swung his blade and embedded it in ribs of the other man, his severed arm going flying at the sudden force. Four more slaver's made their way down the staircases and Bethany froze two of them at the same time that Nero ran forward and threw one of the salvers into another one, sending them both to the floor, one on top of the other. With a quiet growl he plunged one of his daggers through the scull of the top one into the scull of the second one. Placing a boot on top of the men at his feet he pulled the blade from them and wiped the gore off on the bodies.
Nero smirked at Fenris, "that's two for your one. So far I think I'm winning."
"This is a competition is it? I'll keep that in mind." He smiled, a feral glint in his eye.
The group made their way up the stairs and through a few more rooms where the battle resumed. By the time they made it to the room with the master slaver Nero had killed four more slavers and Fenris had gotten six. The first thing that Nero had seen when they entered the room was the string of panels in the middle that would break a collection of glass flasks containing what he recognized as a gaseous poison. Elbowing the elf beside him he inclined his head to the trap, Fenris nodded in understanding and stepped towards where the master slaver was babbling about Hawke's uncle.
Fenris forced himself to engage the mage in conversation, to draw his attention away from where Nero was tearing apart the contraption and moving the flasks underneath the closest barrel so that they didn't get broken in the scuffle that was sure to come.
"So what does a slaver do with a mansion? Should we be looking for cages containing starving people?" Fenris forced through gritted teeth, ignoring Hawke's look of surprise that he was talking and not killing.
The master slaver laughed, "I am not a fool, why would I store product at the same place I live? That's just asking to get caught." The mage narrowed his eyes as he took in Fenris' appearance, "aren't you that elf that has a hefty reward to his name? Of course you are, I can smell the lyrium on you." Fenris growled and raised his sword. "Now, now. No need to get feisty, if you come with me willingly I wont hurt you...much." he smirked.
The slaver shifted his gaze to where Nero was pushing the last flask out of the way and quickly shot a bolt of energy at him. Nero had no time to respond before he was hit in the chest, his daggers fell from his hands as he was sent flying backwards into the room they had just come from. His head snapped back into the wall that he landed against, momentarily dazing him. He gasped for breath and felt around him for his blades. Swearing he pulled a knife from his boot and felt around his belt for his other one. Confused he fingered the binding where it was supposed to be and found it broken.
Nero swore as he rose to his feet, ignoring the slight ringing in his ears and focusing instead on the sounds of battle coming from the other room. He took a step towards it when he caught sight of a group of slavers coming up the stairs behind him. He swore again and looked at the tiny blade in his hand. He frowned as he ran towards the group of slavers, throwing the knife at the second slaver in line he punched the first one, connecting with the man's chin making him dropping his sword before he even had a chance to use it. As the man fell to the side Nero ducked before he was hit by the sword swinging from a third slaver.
He grabbed the sword the first slaver had dropped and swung it up into the arm of the third slaver. He felt the bone break in the arm and heard the holler of pain from above him at the same time as he swung his leg out, sending the man to the floor. He stabbed the slaver he had punched in the chest where he lay on the ground and rose to his feet. He placed both hands on the hilt of the sword as he beheaded a fourth slaver, ducking out of the spray of blood that resulted.
He stumbled over one of the bodies on the floor and barely had time to deflect a blow aimed at him by a fifth slaver. He heard the quiet hiss of an arrow shooting past his head and swore. He grabbed the man with the sword by the neck as he readied for another stab. Nero used the pommel of his borrowed blade to hit the man in his temple, sending him crumpling to the ground.
Nero turned to the archer that had shot at him moments before to find him frozen, before Nero had time to react a glowing form glided past him and shattered the man. He lowered the arm holding the sword and looked around himself. Bethany was in the doorway, staff in hand as her eyes scanned the room. Hawke was striding towards him, his shield and sword on his back and Nero's blades in his hands. The glow beside him went out and Fenris swung his sword onto his back.
"Twelve, I win" he said with a smug grin.
Nero tossed the sword on one of the bodies on the ground and took his blades from Hawke, muttering "damn you."
"C'mon now Nero, no need to be a sore loser." Hawke smiled.
Nero put his daggers in their sheaths and pulled his knife from where it was embedded in a slaver's neck and put it back in his boot reminding himself to do something about the way he seemed to lose his daggers at the most inconvenient times. A strap holding the blades to his wrists would likely do the trick.
The group made their way up the stairs and into the actual estate, stopping in a room that had Hawke and Bethany's grandparent's will before sweeping through the rest of the mansion. Bethany took the time to admire the estate that her mother had grown up in.
"I can't believe that mother would leave such a place for poverty." she said with awe.
"Well, our father was quite the charmer." Hawke smiled.
They split up to search different ends of the estate for any stragglers that hadn't' joined the commotion in the basement.
"Do you ever miss Tevinter?" Bethany asked Nero as they made their way through the kitchens and servant quarters.
Nero shook his head, "I was a slave."
"Still it was your home, right?" Bethany persisted, "does it ever feel strange to not be there?"
"Sometimes," Nero replied, "I haven't been there for years though, and that doesn't mean I would go back. Don't you ever miss Ferelden?"
"Sometimes," Bethany said sadly, "We moved around a lot though, so it was difficult to get attached to one spot. I wonder if I only miss it because it holds the memories of my father and Carver."
"Carver?" Nero asked as he looked in another empty room.
"My twin brother," Bethany said sadly, "He didn't make it out of Lothering with the rest of us."
"I'm sorry," Nero said quietly.
"it's not your fault, don't be." Bethany forced a smile, "I've still got my mother and Garrett. That's more than many."
"Does it ever bother you that everyone calls your brother Hawke?" Nero asked, "you're a Hawke too."
"Not really, I know who they mean when they say it. It's been happening since father died and he became head of the family, so I'm used to it. Do you have family Nero?" Bethany asked.
Nero frowned, "no."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Bethany apologized.
"Why are you sorry?"
"I just assumed...that means that their gone..."
Nero laughed despite himself, "no you misunderstand me. I just simply do not have family. Unless you count the family of the people my body was made from, but I don't."
Bethany frowned in confusion, "I don't understand."
"Neither do I most of the time. We should find Fenris and your brother, there doesn't seem to be anybody else here."
"Oh maker, I hope we don't stumble onto something I would rather not see my brother doing." She blushed.
Nero raised an eyebrow as they headed back the way they came, "What are you on about?"
"My brother is a determined man, he has his sights set on Fenris and now that their alone..." she shook her head, "I'd rather not think about it."
"Their not that close are they? I knew Hawke flirted with him but I didn't think..." Nero frowned
"They are pretty close from what Hawke has told me. Fenris is at our place almost every day to fetch my brother." She looked at Nero, "Are you okay? You seemed irritated early when we spoke of them together too. You don't...do you have a thing for Fenris?" she asked with wide eyes.
Nero stopped walking, his mouth forming a silent 'o', he shook his head and refused to meet the girl in the eye as he continued forward. "O-of course not," he said, "I'm just surprised is all..."
Bethany smiled knowingly but said nothing. For a moment she thought about pointing out the blush now reddening his ears or the way he stuttered but thought better of it. If the man wanted to pretend he didn't have any feelings for the elf, then who was she to stop him?