Chapter Fifteen: Running Out of Delays
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age.
"Okay, so we need to decide what's more pressing," Carver announced. "Finding out what's happening to these templar recruits, looking for that man's missing wife, or looking for a missing criminal outside of Kirkwall."
"I'm not looking for a templar," Anders said stubbornly.
"But he might be in serious trouble!" Carver protested.
"He might," Anders agreed. "In fact, I hope he is. It would serve him right for being a templar, you know."
"Oh, come on! You can't possibly mean that!" Carver protested.
"He does and so do I," Emma said seriously.
Carver sighed, knowing that if Emma wasn't going to help then nobody else would either. "Fine. I'll go take care of that."
"Would you like me to come with you and help, Carver?" Merrill offered. "I may not know much about templars but I do know that everybody is deserving of help when they are in need."
Carver couldn't help but smile at that. "That would be absolutely wonderful, Merrill, but I think it might be a little too dangerous for you to go with me since you're a mage. It would be one thing if we were all going but since we're not…"
Merrill nodded. "I understand. I would hope that if I helped to save this man he wouldn't betray me but you might be right about the need to be cautious."
"Isn't it just like a blood mage to want to help a man in need, no matter how much she may dislike him?" Anders said disgustedly.
"No, I don't think that's very much like a blood mage at all," Fenris disagreed. "And it's a stupid philosophy anyway."
"You could always take Sebastian," Bethany suggested, trying to be helpful.
"I'm not that desperate." Carver sighed again. "I don't like the thought of leaving Emma alone to do something important but I suppose at least Bethany will be there. I'll meet you guys back at the Hanged Man tonight when I'm done." With that, he began to walk off alone to face whatever was managing to kidnap templars.
Isabela bit her lip, watching him go. "Hey, wait for me!" she called after him suddenly and took off after him.
"I didn't know that Isabela cared for templars," Emma said, surprised.
"And since he's Carver we know it's impossible that she cares for him," Aveline added.
"Oh, she doesn't," Varric assured them. "She just enjoys flaunting her sexuality in front of the supposedly chaste templars. Besides, when they do break their vows for her it's excellent research material."
"Alright so now that that's settled let's go look for that criminal," Emma announced.
"Why are we going after him?" Bethany asked.
"He may not be a mage or a templar – we don't know but he could be – but if any crime is committed at all then there's a chance that an innocent mage will be blamed or that he might hurt or kill an innocent mage," Anders responded. "As such it is our solemn duty to prevent such an atrocity from happening."
"But what about that man's missing wife?" Aveline asked.
Emma shrugged. "That sounds boring. But you're a guard and you're going to be captain soon. Why don't you look into it."
"Fine, I will," Aveline snapped. "If only because you're a terrible person."
"Why doesn't Aveline like me?" Emma wondered, confused.
"I don't think she's quite over you murdering her husband," Bethany told her.
Emma waved that off. "Oh, please, that was years ago!"
"It was less than a year and a half ago!" Aveline countered. She took a deep breath to compose herself. "Now, is anyone willing to come with me?"
"I'll go," Merrill offered. "I don't really feel welcome around Anders and Emma without Carver here anyway."
"Well if I absolutely must take an illegal blood mage in order to uphold the laws of this great city then so be it," Aveline said long-sufferingly.
"So that leaves myself, Anders, Bethany, Fenris, and Varric to go after this heinous criminal then," Emma said brightly. "Sounds perfect."
"Hello, we're here to take care of the escaped criminal," Emma announced.
"So you're our reinforcement, huh?" one of the templars said.
"Is the criminal a mage?" Anders asked.
"No, why would you ask that?" the templar asked, surprised. "I know it's hard to believe but sometimes people are criminals without magic having anything to do with it."
Anders twitched. "No kidding. But if he's not a mage then why are you templars here?"
The templar laughed. "Please. Are we supposed to trust the guard to stand around here doing nothing while the criminal probably gets himself torn limb from limb?"
"I think they could probably manage it," Varric said dryly.
"I wish I had your faith in the guard," Fenris said, shaking his head.
"Well it's just that we think it's really dangerous in there and aren't getting paid nearly enough to go save him so if he gets himself killed then it's his own problem," the templar explained.
An elf approached them. "That bastard's to be brought back alive after all he's done?" he demanded outraged. "Just because it isn't you and your pretty little Shemlen children he's after!"
"Who said anything about taking him in alive?" Bethany asked, surprised. "I just heard that he's probably dead."
"Well…maybe no one said it," the elf conceded. "But he's thinking it!"
"I'm a little concerned," Varric admitted. "I don't think this man should be allowed children."
"You're right!" the elf agreed. "That criminal should never be allowed around children!"
"Not actually what I meant," Varric muttered.
"So what did this criminal do anyway?" Anders wondered. "And does it have anything to do with mages?"
The elf gave him a strange look. "No. I-"
"Don't care," Anders interrupted.
"Well I do," Fenris said. "Tell me."
"He targets elves. He tortures and kills them and he has my daughter in there with him right now!" the elf cried out. "But he's the son of the magister so no one ever does anything."
"Shhhh!" the templar shushed him urgently. "No one is supposed to know about that! You know what a scandal his son being a murderer is going to cause!"
The elf rolled his eyes. "Yes well you'll forgive me if I don't give a damn in light of the fact that my daughter is probably dead!"
"Actually, no, I do not forgive you," the templar told him haughtily. "Your grief is no reason to be rude or to risk getting me in trouble with a magister."
"My daughter was hardly his first victim, you know," the elf informed them. "Over the years he's taken dozens of elf children. We all know who he is and half the Alienage can provide a positive identification but not once has he paid for his crimes!"
"Oh, that's not fair," the templar protested. "He's been convicted every time! I don't know what more you're expecting!"
"He was given community service!" the elf screamed.
"Our prisons are over-crowded!" the templar shot back.
"Maybe they wouldn't be if you didn't keep converting the jails into rooms for new mages," Anders pointed out bitterly.
"What are we supposed to do? Force the mages to sleep five to a room?" the templar demanded. He paused. "Now there's an idea…"
"Oh, Maker, strike me down now for inspiring a templar," Anders practically begged.
"The community service was reading to elven children!" the elf shouted.
"That might not have been the best plan," the templar admitted. "But I think the logic was that since he had so harmed the elven community now he would try to aid them in some way."
"There was no logic there, just another opportunity to him to prey on our children!" the elf accused. "Why don't you just lead a massacre and wipe us out?"
"Careful," Bethany cautioned. "Anders already accidentally inspired the templars."
"Are you trying to tell me that humans really don't care that all of this is going on?" Emma asked, horrified.
The elf laughed bitterly. "Please. No human could ever possibly care about an elf."
"I care about elves. I care about everybody," Emma said nobly. "Except templars, of course."
"Hey!" the templar protested.
"What?" Emma asked innocently.
"The only reason the criminal was ever sentenced to anything at all is because he keeps confessing and won't be persuaded to change his story," the elf complained. "So will you kill him or what?"
"I cannot commit to a course of action until I actually meet this man and learn more about the situation," Emma explained. "I mean, he's not a mage or a templar so the situation might actually be complicated."
"You're all the same," the elf complained.
"Seriously, don't kill him and if you absolutely must claim a giant spider or something did it," the templar advised. "Or blame a mage. Everyone always believes that mages do these things."
"Urge to kill rising…" Anders said, his eyes flashing blue.
"Not here," Emma said, grabbing his arm to halt him. "Just remember him, possibly get a name, then go after him later when he's alone."
"I don't really think this is ethical…" Bethany said slowly.
"You know I can hear you, right?" the templar asked rhetorically.
"Whatever. Now let's go after this criminal!" Emma cried out.
"Is it a bad sign that I'm so very used to killing these spiders that it's all getting just a bit monotonous?" Emma asked uncertainly.
"Of course it is," Anders agreed, nodding. "Boredom is awful."
"If Carver were here he would probably tell you that it's very bad because getting bored while causing death and destruction is a sign that you're attaching less value to life," Bethany told her.
"Well he's not here so I guess we don't have to hear about it," Anders said cheerfully.
"You're probably right, Anders," Emma said, relieved. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with feeling nothing as I strike down creature after creature."
"I never feel anything when I strike down creatures," Fenris shared.
"See," Anders said, jerking his thumb at Fenris. "Even he agrees with me!"
"Of course, I'm also well-aware that I have problems and that I do not respond to things as a fundamentally healthy person would," Fenris added.
They soon turned a corner and saw a little elf girl sitting on the floor.
"That doesn't look safe," Emma said, frowning.
"Oh, what is she? Sandal?" Anders asked rhetorically.
"You know Sandal?" Varric asked curiously.
Anders waved him off. "Don't ask. Just know that I know that he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself in a room full of monsters and has been known to just stand around surrounded by the corpses of monsters that nobody remembers killing."
"He sounds like a mage," Emma remarked.
Anders shrugged. "He does enchantments. It's probably as close to being a mage as dwarves can get."
"Not too loud, Blondie. Wouldn't want to give the Chantry any more bright ideas now would you?" Varrc asked pointedly.
Anders made a face. "Hey, it's not like anyone in here is a member of the Chantry."
Bethany saw that clearly none of her companions was interested in speaking to the girl. "Um, hello. Who are you?"
"My name is Lia," Lia introduced.
"Why are you here?" Bethany continued gently.
"A bad man took me away from my father and made me come in here!" Lia said, starting to tear up. "I don't really know where I am and I just want to go home! Please help me find my way out of here!"
"Hey, kid, I'm pretty sure that your father's waiting outside for you," Varric told her. "He did say that his daughter was in here and how many elven girls can this guy possibly be keeping in here?"
"J-just me, I think," Lia answered despite Varric's question being rhetorical. "Is my father very angry at me? He told me not to go with Kelder but he had a knife and he said that he would hurt my family!"
"No one's angry at you," Varric said firmly.
"Where's the criminal?" Emma asked, blunt and to the point.
"Kelder? Oh, he's around somewhere," Lia gestured vaguely behind her.
"How did you get away from him?" Fenris asked, looking impressed for once.
"He let me go," Lia admitted. "I don't know why and I didn't stay long enough for him to change his mind. I tried to make it to the entrance but I have no weapon and no idea how to fight. I was hiding when those creatures showed up."
"Hiding by sitting in the middle of the corridor in plain sight," Varric said, unimpressed. "You've got a ways to go, kid."
"I thought I heard Kelder calling for me. I almost went back to him but I didn't want to be eaten," Lia explained. "Maybe I didn't pick the best hiding place but I just froze."
"Why would you go back to him?" Fenris didn't understand this. "He wasn't your Master."
"Kelder…he hit me. He told me that I was worthless but I begged him to stop. I didn't think he would but he did and he started crying," Lia replied, sounding a little lost. "Don't you see? He didn't mean to hurt me. There are demons. They make him do these horrible things!"
"That's it," Anders said, looking incensed. "He's actively trying to blame mages. I don't care what else we hear; this man is going to die."
Emma was looking horrified. "And not only that! All of this talk about how he didn't mean to hurt her…this girl is so going to end up in an abusive relationship. Someone should really talk to her father about ridding her of those misconceptions. It doesn't matter if you don't think someone 'means' to hurt you or not. If they hurt you you need to stay away from them. It doesn't matter how badly you feel for them, it's still not a good situation for you to be in."
"I guess Emma can give good advice," Bethany said, stunned. Despite the many, many troublesome relationships her sister had had, none of them had actually lasted once things took a turn for the abusive (such as, say, her demon lover trying to possess one of them). "I wish Carver were here to see this. He'll never believe me."
"Someone should take this girl outside," Emma decided. "We don't want her coming with us and trying to convince us to spare this monster and it's too dangerous to go back alone. We don't want a mage to go off and have to talk to a templar so…Varric?"
"I'm on it," Varric said, nodding. He motioned for Lia to follow him. "Let's go."
"Why not me?" Fenris asked, insulted.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Emma apologized. "Did you want to do it?"
"No," Fenris admitted. "But why didn't you think of me?"
"I didn't really think you'd be very good with children," Emma admitted. "You're not very good with people."
"Let's just go and kill this bastard," Anders growled.
Emma nodded. "Right, let's go."
After slaughtering whatever unfortunate creatures happened to be in their path, they eventually stumbled upon a bored-looking man sitting on the floor and wearing a cloth napkin on his head.
"I think this is our crazy guy," Anders announced unnecessarily.
"I knew that my father would eventually send somebody," the man said quietly. "I was hoping that the beasts down here would get to me first."
"Are you saying that you want to die?" Bethany asked, shocked.
The man nodded. "Yes, I do. I-"
"That's good enough for me," Anders said before sending a wave of fire at the man.
"Anders!" Emma complained.
"What?" Anders asked innocently. "He said he wanted to die!"
"Yes but now I'll never get to ask him why he didn't just kill himself then," Emma pointed out.
"Cowardice, I suppose," Fenris answered.
"But we'll never know why he killed all of those elf children now," Bethany said.
Anders shrugged. "Who cares? He was crazy and now he's been stopped."
"The magister is going to kill us," Bethany said worriedly.
A glint appeared in Ander's eyes. "Not if we kill him first…"
Bethany wasn't sure whether he meant that or not but resolved to try and keep an eye on him in any event.
"Wow," Emma said, sounding shocked. "You know, something's just occurred to me. Something important."
"What is it?" Fenris asked.
"We've officially run out of things to do," Emma told him.
"Does this mean we're finally going on the expedition?" Bethany asked hopefully.
Emma nodded. "I guess so. Let's just not tell mother, okay? She'll work it out once we've been gone for a week or so…"
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