DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Dragon Age original plotline, characters, or games. These are all the property of the amazing Bioware team, and I am merely a fan reveling in the beautiful and intricate world that they have built.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

.*.*. ҉ .*.*.

Green light…

Fire…

Screaming…

Demons…

THE BREACH!

With a gasp, she tore herself from the darkness, eyes snapping open and glancing wildly at her surroundings.

Sha'ael froze when she noted where she was. The walls were wooden, with cold air leaking through. Animal skins were pinned to the walls like trophies, a brazier was lit on the wall opposite her, and a couple bookshelves placed around the room that were filled with more knick-knacks than actual books. She was seated on a surprisingly soft bed, with a worn pillow situated behind her. The sheets were a little rough, yet colored a deep royal blue with golden imagery sewn into it. They had probably been borrowed from a local minor noble, and smelled faintly of soap.

Shifting, Sha'ael felt her injuries twinge and realized that someone had stitched and dressed her wounds. And from the look of her yellowing bruises, they were more than a day old… oh dear. How long had she been out? Her gaze turned downward, noting with a frown that someone had changed her clothes.

Whoa… is this silk?

Oh Creators it was. Where the hell had this silk come from? Sha'ael studied her clothing more closely now and felt her frown deepen. The stitching was near perfect, well-tailored with a precise hand. There were even sequined buttons, which shone brightly in the torchlight.

What the fuck? Why would someone put me in this?

She had been dressed like a freaking noble! Her mind was practically aching with the meaning of this, and so far nothing was making sense.

I thought I was still 'The Prisoner'?

The points of her ears twitched when she heard the latch on the door lift, and shallow footprints enter the room. She shot into an upright position, immediately glancing around for something to use as a weapon.

To her surprise, a young elven girl walked in carrying a wooden box. In the moment that she glanced out the window, Sha'ael studied her, noting her slouching posture (a servant then), curly brown hair, and well-worn clothing (ugh, that orange tunic was garish). The girl finally looked where is was going and noticed that she was awake and watching her.

"Ah!"

She dropped the package and jumped back, immediately hunching her shoulders and staring at her with wide eyes. "I didn't know you were awake, I swear!"

Yeah, so? She felt her eyebrows lift ever-so-slightly at the girl's strange behavior. Forget that. The Breach. What happened?

"What happened after the battle?" She immediately asked. "The Breach?"

And then!

And then!

The kid dropped to her knees and fucking prostrated before her. Like, flinging her arms into the air and then stretching them out onto the ground in front of him whilst she bowed and touched her forehead to the floor.

"I beg your forgiveness, and your humble blessing." The girl spoke in a high, nervous voice. "I am but a humble servant."

I must have hit my head when I fell. She furrowed her brows, shocked into momentary silence. This is the craziest dream I've ever had. Seriously, what the fuck? What. The. Fuck.

"Uh…" She said gracefully, "Um, what the hell are you doing?"

"You're back in Haven, My Lady." The servant spoke timidly, answering her first question. "They say you saved us! The Breach stopped growing, just like the Mark on your hand."

Speaking of the mark… Her eyes whipped down to her left hand, stretching and then curling the fingers as the mark tingled. Yet it no longer ached.

"It's all anyone has talked about for the last three days." The girl continued and Andraste's tits she was still bowing!

"Stop that!" Sha'ael flapped her hands at him like an awkward duck, her cheeks tinting slightly. "Why are you doing that? Stand up!"

The servant scrambled to her feet and clasped her hands together nervously, wringing her fingers. She gave her a look of fear mixed with… adoration?... and slowly began to back away from her.

"Lady Cassandra wanted to know when you'd wakened. She said 'At once'!" The girl stuttered, her voice cracking with puberty.

Cassandra! Oh thank the Creators, finally someone who had some answers!

"Where is she?" Sha'ael demanded of the servant.

"I-In the Chantry, with the Lord Chancellor." The servant's eyes widened as she spun around and ran out the door, calling over her shoulder, " 'At once!' She said!"

The door swung shut behind her, and Sha'ael was left standing uncertainly while her head pounded in confusion.

What a strange child… Perhaps she was dropped on her head when she was younger?

And why was a 'prisoner' being treated with servants? She had never wanted servants, and had not enjoyed the earlier experience. It was so awkward, with all the 'my lady' and 'my lord' and… And did that kid just worship her? Like, seriously? If this was a joke, she didn't get it.

Sha'ael growled and ran her hands through her hair, wincing when they snagged in a bunch of knots. She pulled her hair forward over her shoulder and glared at it. At the moment, it was a mass of raven colored knots. Sha'ael grimaced and glanced around the room, mentally cheering when she spotted a simple comb on the nightstand. She attempted to smooth away the oily sheen at her roots, but knew that nothing could solve that until she had a proper bath. During her teenage years she had kept her hair in a short bob, which had been much easier to deal with since she had fought more often back then. In the last couple years she had settled down and had allowed her hair to grow out.

Her thoughts turned to Cassandra and Leliana. Those two women were practical and had short hair. She should do that. Long hair was such a hassle.

That is, if I'm not sentenced to execution before then. Maybe she could get a free haircut from her jailers, surely it would be much easier for the executioner to chop her off at the neck without her hair getting in the way.

Always look on the bright side!

A pair of boots were situated at the end of the bed, apparently for her use. Sha'ael smiled approvingly when she picked them up (stylish and practical) and tugged them over her socks. Then she investigated the room, finding a few medical herbs in the box that the elven kid had dropped, and a note on the desk that seemed to be a medical recording of her days following the Breach. Finally, after gathering as much information as she could from just searching the room, she was ready to head to the Chantry. Or, as ready as anyone ever is when faced with possible execution. She walked over to the door and placed her hand on the knob.

Okay world. Here I come.

She took a breath and opened the door, walking out into the town of Haven.

.*.*. ҉, .*.*.

Cassandra POV

"Have you gone completely mad?!"

The arrogant asshole asked her that question at least once a day before the disaster at the Conclave, and now he asked her that pretty much every minute. Cassandra scowled and seriously considered the elf's previous proposal to punch Chancellor Roderick in the face at the moment. As he ranted and raved like a righteous lunatic at her and Leliana, she couldn't help but think of the irony. She had known Roderick for years (unfortunately) and yet the prisoner-turned-ally was already far more appreciated than this old fool.

"She should be taken to Val Royeaux immediately, to be tried by whomever becomes Divine!" Chancellor Roderick continued, the same sentence that he had been spouting for days now.

Did they not already go over this? Cassandra stifled her frustration and settled for glaring at the man as she spoke with a tight voice. "I do not believe she is guilty."

"The elf failed, Seeker. The Breach is still in the sky!" The chancellor waved his arms as if it would emphasize his point. "For all you know she could have intended it this way!"

Now he was just being ridiculous.

"I do not believe that." She growled, Leliana standing behind the chancellor and making soothing motions with her hands to discourage Cassandra from losing her temper.

Chancellor Roderick pointed rudely at her. "That is not for you to decide."

Neither is it yours. Cassandra thought darkly. Roderick seemed to be under the delusion that he was higher up in the Chantry hierarchy than he truly was. She and Leliana were the Right and Left Hands of the Divine. Only the Grand Clerics had any authority to speak to them in such a way.

"Your duty is to serve the Chantry!"

And YOU are NOT the Chantry, you pompous and arrogant fool! She curled her lip in a snarl.

"My duty is to serve the principles on which the Chantry was founded, Chancellor. As is yours." Cassandra bit back, resisting the urge to strangle the little man. Roderick was nothing more than a politician in a robe. She had met far too many men like him during her years serving Justinia; these so-called holy men that joined the Chantry only for the power it gave them, not for sense of faith or duty.

The door suddenly swung open, and in strode the object of their discussion, ironically.

"Chain her!" The chancellor ordered pompously. "I want her prepared to travel to the capital for trial."

Oh for the love of… Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Disregard that. And leave us."

Much to everyone's satisfaction, the guards easily ignored Roderick and obeyed the Seeker. Roderick fumed, and if she looked closely enough, the Seeker might have even seen steam coming from his ears. From the corner of her eye, she saw the elf – Sha'ael, she reminded herself – smirk at Roderick's attempt to establish his 'superiority'. She might have even giggled, though thankfully the insufferable man did not hear it.

Sha'ael walked over to stand by the table, leaning her wait onto one leg and glancing around the room lazily. She waved half-heartedly. "'Sup?"

Cassandra was quite sure Roderick was going to have an aneurysm.

"Are we still on for a trial, or does temporarily saving the world win me any brownie points?" The elf continued, and then yawned as if neither option was of any consequence.

Oh Leliana is going to love her. Cassandra was already dreading it.

"You are still a suspect!" Roderick thundered, pointing a finger at her. Then to her horror (and Leliana's amusement) the elf leaned forward and snapped her teeth together in a loud clack, pretending to bite down on the Chancellor's finger.

Cassandra quickly diverted their attention. "No, she is not." She stated adamantly, wishing the elf would stop baiting the man.

"Someone was behind the explosion at the Conclave. Someone that the Divine did not expect." Leliana finally deigned to speak, quickly wiping her amused expression from her face. "Perhaps they died with the others – or perhaps they have allies who yet live."

The redhead looked pointedly at the chancellor.

"I am a suspect?!" Roderick gasped, scandalized.

Across the table, the Dalish elf shrugged. "Well you certainly didn't waste time grasping for power as soon as your superiors were dead." Sha'ael then snorted. "You obviously weren't important enough to be invited to the Conclave. Have you even spared a thought for those that died? Or were you too eager to step into the power vacuum?"

Cassandra was not sure whether she should appreciate the girl knocking Chancellor Roderick down a few notches, or be exasperated at Sha'ael's goading. She had a point, but right now they had far more important problems than dealing with an annoyance such as the chancellor. No matter how amusing it was to watch the blustering old man turn red at her cutting words.

Leliana addressed the chancellor before he could reply to Sha'ael. "You are indeed a suspect, as well as many others."

"But not the prisoner?" Chancellor Roderick scoffed indignantly, his face puffed up like a ripe tomato in indignation.

Sha'ael winked at him and gave the chancellor a Cheshire grin, that damn elf. You are not helping, Sha'ael!

"I heard the voices in the temple." Cassandra told him. "The Divine called to her for help."

Roderick sneered. "So her survival, that thing on her hand – all a coincidence?" He crossed his arms disbelievingly.

"Providence." Cassandra clarified. "The Maker sent her to us in our darkest hour."

Sha'ael choked.

"Whut!" She waved her hands in front of her. "No, ooooh no. I am not some 'Chosen One'. You realize I'm an elf?" Reaching up, she tugged on the points of her ears. "A Dalish elf. A nonbeliever?"

Cassandra frowned. She was a devout Andrastian, and despite the beliefs of some in the Chantry, she believed that all living being were children of the Maker – including elves and dwarves, hell, even qunari. Just because they did not worship the Maker did not mean that he did not have a hand in their creation. And if the Maker chose a disbelieving elf as his messenger, well, it's not like anyone was qualified to criticize him for it.

Perhaps she will gain faith in the process? Doubtful, considering how stubborn the Dalish were known to be.

"I have not forgotten your origins." Cassandra replied to Sha'ael. "But no matter what you are, or what you believe, you are exactly what we needed when we needed it."

She turned away and walked over to the bookshelf, retrieving a large tome that had sat innocently between the other books. Hidden in plain sight – the Divine's contingency plan. Cassandra had remembered her and Leliana dismissing it as Justinia's paranoia, all those months ago. Her back up plan had seemed like an overreaction, a truly desperate bid for peace. They had been so confident that the Most Holy would succeed at the Conclave.

Leliana continued to speak as Cassandra picked up the book. "The Breach remains. And your mark is still our only way of closing it."

Cassandra briefly wondered what they would have done without Sha'ael's mark. What if she had died in the Conclave as well? What if they had killed her before questioning her? Without her, there would be no hope of sealing the Breach, or the ensuing rifts. Again, providence.

"This is not for you to decide!" Chancellor Roderick protested.

The tome weighed heavily in her hands as she walked over to the table and slammed it down, the table creaking in protest.

"You know what this is, Chancellor?" She asked him rhetorically, continuing before he could speak. "A writ from the Divine, granting us the authority to act."

Beside her, she felt Leliana shift, as her longtime friend recognized the book and realized the gravity of their situation.

"As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn." Cassandra stated with a lot more bravado than she actually felt. But then she thought of all those who had died at the Conclave – mages, Templars, clerics, elves, humans, dwarves, even a few qunari had been there – and those whom she had lost personally – friends, comrades, Justinia, so loving and kind, and… and Regalyan.

She felt her chest tighten painfully as she squeezed her eyes shut. When they snapped open, they burned with fire, and she straightened and pulled her shoulders back. If we do not fight for them, no one will.

Cassandra snarled at the chancellor, finally losing control of her temper. "We will close the Breach, we will find those responsible, and we will restore order. With or without your approval!"

It seemed she had finally accomplished the impossible: Roderick snapped his mouth shut. The offended chancellor huffed and strode angrily out the door, slamming it behind him.

He would not be missed.

Leliana looked over to Sha'ael. "We will rebuild the Inquisition of old. Find those who will stand against the chaos."

Sha'ael visibly hesitated, glancing at the tome.

"We aren't ready." Leliana murmured. "We have no leader, no numbers, and now, no Chantry support."

"But we have no choice. We must act now." Because no one else will. She thought grimly. She glanced over to the elleth. "With you at our side."

Sha'ael stared at them as if they were speaking Qun. "Um, what is this 'Inquisition of Old', exactly?"

The poor elf looked completely lost. Cassandra was not surprised, not many people learned about the Inquisition anymore. It was a time in history between the ancient salvation of the Grey Wardens against the first Blight, and the rise of the Orlesian Empire. The most history that the majority of people knew was the Age of Arlathan, Tevinter entering the Golden City and starting the Blights, the Grey Wardens stopping the Blights, and then skipping the centuries of unrest during which the Inquisition was born and straight to the golden age of Orlais.

Leliana explained quickly explained the brief history of the Inquisition, a movement that was not religion, not military, but something that united all races for the common goal of survival. Not many knew about its noble crusade, of actual friendships between humans, elves, and dwarves. So much had been forgotten before the Chantry began keeping records, hindering all semblance of peace that the original Inquisition might have accomplished.

"After it was finished, they laid down their banner and formed the Templar order. But the Templars have lost their way." Cassandra continued when Leliana had finished her spiel. "We need those who can do what must be done, united under a single banner. Regardless of their differences."

"So…" Sha'ael shook her head in bewilderment. "Is this Chantry thing, or…?"

Cassandra snorted. "Not if they can help it…" She muttered.

"The Chantry will take time to find a new Divine." Leliana clarified, smiling softly at Cassandra's muttering. "And then it will follow her direction. But in the meantime, it is powerless to do anything."

"But we cannot wait!" Cassandra shook her head. By the time the Chantry selected a new Divine, the Breach might already consume half of Thedas! "So many Grand Clerics died at the Conclave." She murmured, before steeling her voice. "No. We are on our own. Perhaps forever."

Sha'ael furrowed her brows. "And how does this involve me?" She asked, clearly unwilling to take on such a burden. "I'm just an elf."

"This is a war for survival. And we are already at war, with whomever is behind the attack." She told the elf. Remembering Sha'ael's reluctance to help during their attempt on the Breach, Cassandra continued. "You are already involved. Its mark is upon you."

The elf frowned and glanced at her glowing hand. The two human women held their breath as Sha'ael continued to stare down at her hand, her expression indecipherable. Her eyes were fixed on the mark, the reflection of its green glow flickering in her eyes. Her gaze was hard, mouth in a flat line.

"…And if I refuse?" She asked softly.

Leliana sighed. "You may go, if you wish."

To her frustration, Sha'ael's expression continued to be unreadable.

"You should know that while some believe you are Chosen, many still think you are guilty." She attempted to persuade the elf gently. "The Inquisition can protect you."

"We can also help you." Leliana input, gesturing towards the mark.

"It will not be easy if you stay, but you cannot pretend that this has not changed you." Cassandra told Sha'ael.

Another pause.

Then Sha'ael sighed, and seemed to sag as an invisible weight settled upon her shoulders.

"Well, I can't exactly go back to my clan with this on my hand. Accompanying you lot is my only chance to get rid of it." She muttered, clenching a glowing fist. "Not to mention that I realize that there are still people after me. If I go back, that only endangers the clan… And I would never do that. I won't."

Cassandra found herself grudgingly impressed. The elf might have appeared selfish at first, but at least she was loyal to her family.

Sha'ael ran her fingers through her hair and sighed again. "Not to mention that this chaos would eventually spread to the Dalish tribes anyway… It would catch up with me."

The elf glanced between Leliana and her and licked her lips.

"I won't fight for the Chantry, but I'll fight to stop the end of the world." She told them with a dry laugh. "To 'restore order' as you put it."

"That is the plan." Leliana smiled softly.

Cassandra held out her hand to Sha'ael. "Help us fix this, before it's too late."

Sha'ael glanced down at it, pausing, before she raised her other hand and grasped Cassandra's.

"Alright," She chuckled with a slight tilt to her lips. "But don't expect any heroics."

Leliana giggled behind them. "Just leave that to Cassandra." She teased the Seeker.

Cassandra gave her partner a bland look while the elf snickered. Cassandra rolled her eyes but gave a small smile.

"Welcome to the Inquisition, Sha'ael."

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AND SO IT BEGINS