Chapter Thirty-Three: Bethany's Return
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age 2.
They were nearly at the Keep when Emma stopped and stared in shock.
Carver nearly ran into her. "What is it?"
Wordlessly, Emma pointed to a small group of people who were killing the qunari surrounding them.
"What?" Merrill asked, not getting it.
"I-It's people who aren't us who are managing to actually be useful!" Emma exclaimed, shocked. "That's just…I don't even know what that is."
"My guards are-" Aveline began heatedly.
"No, they're not, and we're even less fond of them than usual right now so maybe some other time," Anders suggested.
"It's not like we doubt your fighting abilities," Fenris pointed out.
Aveline pouted. "That doesn't make it any better."
"Well it's the best we've got right now," Emma said, unsympathetic as always.
"Why didn't you help us?" one of them said once they had killed all of the qunari around them.
"It didn't occur to us," Varric said, shrugging. "And it's not like you needed it anyway."
"It would have saved us some time," the man pointed out.
Carver shrugged. "Our bad."
The man just shook his head. "This attack was…most unexpected."
"Really?" Emma asked, frowning. "We've all been waiting for it since the moment that ship of theirs…sunk. Did it sink?"
"Well, we hadn't expected it to happen while we were here," the man clarified. "I am Stroud of the Grey Wardens."
Carver's eyes widened. "Grey Wardens? Really?" He sounded awed.
"Regretting your decision to throw your lot in with the templars?" Emma asked hopefully.
"Grey Wardens actually have important things to do, especially in light of the recent Blight," Carver said, not really answering his question.
"You're not missing much," Anders assured him. "Everyone knows that Grey Wardens are just high-functioning ghouls who have had to drink Archdemon blood and can't sleep a wink and are obsessively hunted by darkspawn before they're driven to go to the Deep Roads and kill as many darkspawn as possibly and hopefully not captured to be attempted to be force-fed tainted flesh and raped by darkspawn to turn into a broodmother creating more darkspawn or at least serve as the tainted flesh for potential broodmothers."
There was a lengthy silence.
"No, Blondie, not everyone knew that," Varric said finally.
Stroud and his Grey Wardens looked like they were contemplating killing them all to protect Grey Warden secrets.
Anders rolled his eyes. "Right, like it's also not common knowledge that Grey Wardens have been known to make deals with darkspawn including the one who accidentally started the last Blight by experimenting on the old god that became the Archdemon and believe that they exist above the law and can kill whoever they damn well please to protect the secret that they imprison and study intelligent darkspawn instead of killing them and that hundreds if not thousands have died for these secrets. Or that the First Warden is extremely incompetent and corrupt and there are blatant abuses of power and getting in bed with the Chantry or the Empress of Orlais and that they're practically incapable of making rational decisions."
Varric looked like he was going to have a heart attack. "If saying these things can get us killed, why are you telling us these things?"
Anders frowned, puzzled. "This really isn't common knowledge?"
"Maybe you should think back to when you said that knowing these things can get people killed and then ask that question again," Fenris suggested.
Anders paused for a moment. "This really isn't common knowledge?"
The Grey Wardens had drawn their weapons by now and advanced on them and so the group was forced to strike them down.
"Way to go, Anders," Aveline said, annoyed. "Now we've had to kill Grey Wardens. That's probably illegal."
"You don't know?" Carver asked, surprised.
Aveline shrugged. "Kirkwall doesn't really do Grey Wardens."
"I vote that we just sort of leave quietly and pretend this never happened," Emma suggested.
"That sounds like a good plan," Merrill said, a little shaken.
"But not before we loot the bodies, of course," Emma added.
Varric laughed. "What do you take us for, Emma?"
"Do you think we should, I don't know, be hurrying or something?" Merrill asked uncertainly as the group leisurely walked along.
"I don't see why," Emma replied. "We'll get there when we get there and the qunari will still be there waiting for us."
"That wasn't exactly what I-" Merrill started to say.
A qunari some distance in front of them was dragging a struggling woman away. "Quit your struggling, woman!"
"On the other hand, you might have a point," Emma said, rushing ahead to attack the qunari head-on.
"Her morality is so limited that it's ridiculous," Carver complained.
"Ah, but at least she's got something," Varric pointed out. "Even if it's just mages and people she thinks might get assaulted."
"Yeah, I really can't believe Aveline brought her to try and get those elves," Carver said, shaking his head. "I mean, in general, yeah, but that in particular was really stupid."
"Will you guys hurry up?" Emma demanded. "We have more women to rescue! Also, did you know that the Arishok was supposed to take me captive? I need to yell at him about that and possibly kill him."
"You're already going to kill him, remember?" Fenris prompted. "Duel to the death?"
Emma nodded. "Oh, right. Well, let's go."
They continued on their way and the qunari-killing was pretty standard. Finally, right when they were about to deal with a qunari mage (who were far more annoying than regular mages. Apparently the fact that they literally had nothing else in life and couldn't even speak made them all the more dedicated to their craft and that made them stronger than normal mages. Or so Merrill, Anders, and Emma comforted themselves), his magic suddenly fizzled out.
"Was that…was that a templar?" Emma demanded.
Carver cast a nervous look at her. "Probably, yeah."
"You're a templar," Emma pointed out.
"I am, yes," Carver said, wondering where this was going.
"You can do that, huh?" Emma inquired.
Carver winced. "Technically, yes. But you know that I would never-"
"Can you aim it at one target in particular or does it just get rid of all the magic in the area?" Emma asked. "Because I can still feel my magic and while I've never been deprived of my magic, I feel that this would not be the case if I were deprived of my magic."
"We can choose our targets," Carver assured her.
"Then why in the world haven't you been doing this?" Emma demanded. "What is the pointof you being a templar if you're not going to make life easier for me?"
Carver wisely chose not to address that. "I thought maybe it would upset you."
"Well, it doesn't," Emma said blithely. "In the future, please start disabling our mage opponents. I much prefer to use my powers on those who have no means of defending against it."
Fenris stared at her. "Do you have any idea how that came out?"
"How what came out?" Emma asked blankly.
Fenris just sighed. "Oh, never mind…"
"You're the one who chooses to continue to spend time with her," Varric pointed out.
"I need this group to protect myself against my master," Fenris defended.
"And once he's dead?" Varric prompted.
"…Kirkwall can be extremely dull," Fenris admitted.
"While it is true that mages are far less dangerous when stripped of their magic, they are not always completely healthy and these are qunari mages so they can still do some damage," a blonde woman informed them. "You really shouldn't lose focus in a battle like that."
"Who are you?" Emma demanded.
Fortunately, the woman did not seem to be offended. "I am Knight-Commander Meredith."
"Oh, wow, I never thought I'd get the chance to meet you!" Anders exclaimed.
Varric stared at him. "You feeling okay?"
"I am, yes," Anders confirmed. "I always wanted to say something to you and I guess here's my chance: You're an evil sociopathic bitch and I hope you die a fiery death sometime soon."
Meredith shrugged. "I get that a lot. No matter. Ser Carver, I am pleased to see that you are hard at work helping us secure the city from these qunari."
"So I guess this is what it takes to get the Chantry to care about something other than hunting mages," Emma murmured.
"Not necessarily," Carver pointed out. "There are plenty of qunari mages."
Meredith smiled at him. "Excellent point, Ser Carver." She turned to Emma. "I know you."
"Well I don't know you so I don't think so," Emma replied.
"Oh, but I do. The name 'Emma Hawke' has turned up in my reports many times and your sister and brother seem unable to adequately explain what your motivation is," Meredith explained.
"My motivation is easy," Emma insisted. "I am a mage like my sister and I think living in a Circle would be awful and I believe that all mages should be allowed to do whatever they want so long as they don't get themselves possessed or turned to blood magic."
"Sort of like your boyfriend and Merrill," Fenris told her.
Emma glared at him. "Anders is not possessed."
"His eyes are glowing blue right now," Fenris told pointed out.
Emma ignored him.
Meredith was frowning. "What? You're a mage?"
Emma nodded and summoned a fireball. "See?"
"Did you know about this?" Meredith demanded.
Carver did his best to look shocked. "I can't believe not one but two of my sisters managed to hide this from me for so long!"
"I don't think you're very observant," Meredith informed him.
"It's good that we found you, Knight-Commander," Aveline said respectfully. "The qunari are-"
"It's obvious what they're doing," Meredith said contemptuously.
Emma shrugged. "Well, when you're right, you're right."
"I will need to look into these allegations that you're a mage," Meredith said seriously. "But for now, we have many more qunari mages to deal with and even those in the Gallows have been let out to deal with this mess."
"That's thoughtful," Anders said sarcastically.
"I bet half of them will fake their own death to avoid going back," Fenris predicted.
Varric's eyes lit up. "I wonder if I can cash in on that…"
"The qunari are taking people to the Keep and may already be in control," Meredith announced. "We will need to deal with them."
"I don't want to deal with them with you," Emma said, making a face.
Fortunately, Carver knew how to get through to her. "Emma, this will make the invasion over faster so you can get back to whatever you'd rather be doing."
"The qunari are taking everyone important and those who submit to the Qun will live while those who don't will die," Fenris spoke up. "Do you think that the mother of Emma Hawke might be considered important?"
"We've got to go!" Emma said urgently.
"I will meet you at the Keep," Meredith informed them. "My men are largely useless without me and so I need to go make sure that they actually do their jobs."
"See, that is what I call positive and effective leadership," Carver said pointedly.
"She imprisoned one of your sisters and was talking about doing it to the other," Aveline reminded him.
"That doesn't change what I said," Carver retorted. His eyes widened. "Is that…?"
"What?" Emma asked, not really listening.
"Emma, look," Carver said, grabbing her arm and pointing behind her.
Emma turned and her eyes widened as well. "Bethany!"
The siblings ran to greet their sister.
Bethany smiled. "Fancy meeting you out here, Carver."
"Having fun getting to kill things again?" Carver asked her.
Bethany laughed. "You know me."
Emma frowned. "I'm here, too."
"Yes, you are," Bethany agreed curtly. "And isn't it great that the first time I've seen you since I left for the Circle is when we just happen to cross paths in the middle of a qunari invasion after three years of silence? You didn't even return my letters!"
"In my defense, I didn't realize I was supposed to," Emma claimed.
Bethany rolled her eyes. "How could you possibly have missed that?"
"You knew that I didn't do letter-writing," Emma pointed out.
"I thought maybe you'd make an exception for your only sister who you refused to come and see!" Bethany cried out, hurt.
"Bethany, you know how I feel about the Circle," Emma said gently. "It would have just been too painful for me to see you there. I'm sorry."
"It's not about you, it's about me," Bethany told her, tears brimming in her eyes. "Mother visits every week. Uncle Gamlen makes it at least once a month. And Carver stops by literally whenever he's in the Gallows, if only for a few minutes."
"That can't be all that often then," Emma reasoned.
Carver pulled his twin into a hug. "Hey, Bethany," he said, stroking her hair, "Emma didn't mean to hurt you, you know that. That's just how she is."
Bethany let out a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a sob. "Since when are you so quick to defend her?"
"We've actually been getting on a lot better lately," Carver told her. "I think we bonded over our dislike of Aveline. Andraste knows that everyone's burning hatred of Sebastian is the one thing to bring our group together."
Bethany stayed silent for a few minutes before pulling herself together and stepping back.
"Are you really going to ruin our reunion because you're mad that we didn't have a reunion sooner?" Emma couldn't help but ask.
"Don't even talk to me," Bethany instructed.
"I think you're being kind of unreasonable," Emma told her, frowning.
"Emma, she was at the Circle for three years," Carver pointed out.
Emma's expression cleared. "Oh, right. I can see how that might bring out the worst in a person even if they've done nothing to deserve it."
"Mother might be in the Keep with those qunari," Carver told Bethany.
Bethany jolted. "We've got to get over there!"
They resumed their journey towards the Keep (everyone was glad to see Bethany again and even Fenris mentioned it was nice to have a mage that was approaching sane with them for once).
They came across the bodies of several mages and Bethany ran to go check them to see if it was anyone she knew.
"Wow, it looks like a massacre," Emma noted idly. "I guess they didn't think to attack from a range."
"Or if they did and the qunari approached them they didn't have anyone who can use a sword to distract them while they ran off to get a better position," Aveline reasoned.
"He's still alive!" Merrill exclaimed, gesturing to an elf that was groaning on the ground.
Bethany beat them to him and pulled him to his feet. "First Enchanter!"
"I know you," Emma said sourly. Part of it was because of the time she had been forced to look like Orsino in Feynriel's dream but the other part was far more understandable. "The blood mage who tried to kill our mother and who we enjoyed taking apart said that you were supporting his research. Is this true?"
"What?" Bethany asked, flabbergasted.
Orsino laughed nervously. "Quentin said that? I mean, I have no idea, really…"
"He knew," Varric translated.
Emma lit his robe on fire.
"Emma!" Bethany objected.
Orsino was frantically trying to put it out but apparently didn't know the magic to do it.
"If our mother died, it would have been his fault for enabling that lunatic," Emma declared. "And the fact that Carver managed to save her is the only reason why I didn't set him on fire instead of just his robes."
"That's another reason we're getting on better, I guess," Carver said belatedly.
"I don't understand," Bethany protested.
"If I would have told people who he was then all mages would have suffered," Orsino attempted to explain himself while still trying to fight the fire.
"And so you let a serial killer run free?" Fenris demanded. "And what's more, you help him? You disgust me."
"All mages disgust you," Anders pointed out.
"Him more than most," Fenris growled.
"Well, I figured that…" Orsino stopped for a moment, looking down, before the fire distracted him again, "I figured that if he was going to be violently killing and dismembering women anyway then we might as well get something out of it, right?"
"Do not even vaguely make me wonder if the templars might have any sort of point at all!" Emma exclaimed, sending a bolt of electricity towards him.
"Alright, that's enough!" Bethany cried out, summoning water and soaking Orsino to put out the fire. "First Enchanter, I may never forgive you. But right now, we've got a qunari attack to deal with. You can set him on fire again later."
"Oh, I will," Emma said pointedly.
"And I don't think I'll be inclined to try to talk you out of it," Carver remarked.
Orsino sighed heavily. "I'm used to being hated for my magic."
Emma's eyes widened. "Oh, no. You don't get to play the mage card!"
"But I'm a mage," Orsino said, puzzled.
"Not in my world you're not," Emma said grimly, one of the worst insults she could give somebody. "Not in my world."
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