Chapter 24! Woop!
I'm not going through every detail and side quest in the game. It's mostly the Inquisitor's Path I focus on! (Dragon Age Inquisition is rather massive, after all.)
You are all lovely! Thank you for all the support, and for all the positive feedback! It's very motivating, to say the least!
Disclaimer: not mine!
-o-
Chapter 24 - I Read The Books
Skyhold was heaven on earth, Hermione realised as they entered the gates after three days of travelling. Screw the Golden City. Skyhold was better.
Her bed was heaven on earth. Solas was heaven on earth. Sleep was heaven on earth.
-o-
Morrigan was not so much heaven on earth, Hermione realised the next day, when the witch tracked her down in the courtyard.
"I know you have questions," Hermione said, sighing, "but the answers you seek…I don't quite know whether I can trust you, Morrigan. The consequences…they would be rather severe, should my story become public."
"But…the things you know…these are things you cannot possibly know."
Hermione nodded. "Yes. But I do, nevertheless. When you figure out where your loyalties lie, I will give you answers."
Morrigan looked beyond frustrated as Hermione walked away.
-o-
"It's still clean," Hermione said later that day as she was analysing Cullen's blood. "No trace of Lyrium, no trace of anything. I do not trust it yet, though. Not much time has passed, after all."
"No matter what happens, Hermione," Cullen said, softly, "you have given me weeks of peace, without pain, without a clouded mind. That in itself is a small miracle."
Hermione smiled. "Let's hope it will stay that way, Cullen."
-o-
The following month was hectic. They liberated Emperise de Lion, saved Solas' spirit friend – saved, not just guided it into death – found Cullen's Red Templar letters, saved the chargers – resulting in Iron Bull being exiled from his homeland – retrieved Dorian's family pendant, restored Josephine's family status, located the Seekers, revealed Blackwall's true identity – Hermione had chatted with him, and he had confessed everything to everyone – helped Sera with her Red Jenny missions, gathered various ingredients for Vivienne, met Bianca, went to Leliana's old chantry, helped Cole become even more spirit-y – that was what he wanted – and saved countless of people and done countless quests along the way.
Hermione was rather tired.
Cullen was still clean as ever. It had been two months now, and Hermione almost dared to hope.
-o-
They returned to Skyhold after saving the soldiers in the Fallow Mire - dreadful place - and Hermione sighed in relief as she entered the shower in her quarters.
After showering, she decided to stop by the library, wanting a book about demonic possession. The 'save the mages from demons' project was still very much on her agenda, after all.
She stepped into the library, and the sight that met her made her freeze in her tracks.
Fiona was sitting at the table next to where she usually stood, and next to her...Kieran.
Oh, Morrigan, Hermione thought as her eyes welled with tears. You made the right decision.
The next question was of course; what had Morrigan told Fiona? Had she told her that Hermione was the source of the information?
I will probably find out right now, Hermione thought as Fiona lifted her head, and met Hermione's eyes. Yep, she knows.
Fiona's eyes filled with tears. She definitely knew. The mage said something to Kieran, and then she got up from the table, walked straight over to Hermione, and embraced her. Hermione couldn't do anything but hug the woman back.
"I have no idea how you could possibly know," Fiona whispered, "but no matter how you knew, I am forever in your debt."
Hermione sighed as she tightened her arms around the woman. "Please let go of that debt right away, Fiona. You have mourned your son your whole life. A son you wanted, a son you didn't abandon, you were forced to give him up. There was no other choice. I couldn't stand the idea that your grandson was living in the same keep as you, but none of you knew."
Fiona let go of Hermione and took a step back, looking at her with eyes glistening with tears. "How is this possible? How did you know?"
"That depends," Hermione replied quietly, "on whether I can trust you or not."
"I swear. I swear, with everything in me, by my son, my grandson, I swear I will never betray your trust."
Hermione actually believed the woman. "The short version," she said, "and you should prepare yourself for something that will sound like utter madness; is that I am from a parallel universe, and in that universe, Thedas is a fictional world. There are books, plays, countless details of this fictional world. Well, I ended up here, insane as that is, thus, I know things no one else knows. As for how I know about your son; I didn't. Not completely. But the whole story with a servant girl being his mother did not feel right. And then I researched the timeline, and found that Maric would have to be rather effective to manage to get someone pregnant, considering how he was barely out of the Deep Roads at the time. I was quite certain that my theory was correct. What confirmed my suspicion, however, was when you stopped the Inquisitor, asking about him." She paused for a moment, looking at the gobsmacked expression on Fiona's face. "I read the books. I read about your journey through the darkness of the Deep Roads. The whole thing added up quite perfectly. Other than that, Fiona, I know how the story ends. This story. This war. We win. It will take some time, but in the end, we win."
Fiona pulled Hermione in for another hug. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for the gift you have given me, and thank you for…everything. Again, I swear; I will never betray your trust."
"I believe you, Fiona," Hermione whispered back. "Now, go back to your grandson."
-o-
The journey to the Temple of Mythal was closing in rather too fast for Hermione's liking. One thing was the temple in itself, she thought she would manage to deal with that. The thing was; they would encounter Corypheus. Theoretically, nothing extremely dramatic would come from it, but Hermione suspected – feared – that the ancient Magister Darkspawn would recognise that she was different. And that was not a part of the story she knew.
A week until we leave, Hermione thought, lying in the darkness of her bedroom. One week.
Hermione curled up to Solas as close as possible, trying to let sleep find her.