Heroes of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: Do not own Victorious, do not own the video game

A/N:

Chapter 32 (Headed for Orlais)

When daylight pierced her eyes, Trina rolled onto her back and covered them with her hands, groaning softly. She arched herself upwards, stretching out her muscles and sighing heavily. After a few seconds she realized she was sleeping on hard stone rather than the bed at her house, so she quickly sat up and looked around. Sinjin and Anders were busy healing some people who came into the clinic, and Tori was sitting on a nearby bed, staring at her.

Tori had circles around her eyes and was rubbing her neck, clearly sore from having slept on hard rock. "I guess I fell asleep?" She chuckled nervously, her eyes darted to Sinjin and her lips curled into a smile. Last night's talk played over and over in her mind, ending with a kiss that sealed their deal and tied them together. She took a risk and allowed herself to open herself up to him, now she was trusting both him and herself, maybe they could make this relationship work. "Trina's awake," Tori muttered.

Sinjin and Anders looked over, and the man of the hour decided to greet her. Sinjin pat his hands together and walked over to her, holding out his hand. The bed was low to the ground and she was feeling a bit woozy. "Sleep well last night?" She placed her hand in his and let him pull her up, with that, her body swayed forward into his arms. She let her arms rise up and hang around his neck, and her eyes glued into his.

"Yeah, you were comfortable," she answered in a whisper and gave him a quick peck on the lips. She always wondered if it would feel strange to be romantic with him, but she didn't feel any different at all. The only difference was their acknowledgement of being in a relationship with the other person. "I think I owe my sister an apology though…"

Tori cracked her neck and groaned once more, "Oh don't bother, Trina…I'll be fine once I stretch myself out." Tori stood on her feet and rubbed her temples. "I'm just going to take that as payback for all the times I may have ignored you or mistreated you." Tori rolled her head around her neck and gasped out as a popping noise radiated from her, causing Trina to cringe.

"That sounded like it hurt…"

"Not a bit! Felt nice, actually." Trina raised an eyebrow as Tori bounced in place and grinned at the two. "So! You two are officially a couple now? You don't know how happy that makes me!" Trina blushed and leaned her shoulder against Sinjin's, taking his hand in hers. Tori let out a squeal and bounced once more. "I can't wait to tell the others! They're going to be so happy."

Trina was skeptical if they'd really be okay with it, or if they'd mock the relationship. She had to remind herself that they were being given the benefit of the doubt now and she shouldn't be so rash in her judgments and assumptions of them. However, this didn't mean she was going to trust them completely, she would be watching them. "I guess tell them…see what they say…" Tori frowned at this comment and breathed out slowly.'

"You think they're going to mock you, don't you? Trina, I wish you didn't have such a bad view of them, but I can understand why…I don't think they will. I think they'll be happy for you."

"I think so too, really. That's why I say we may as well let them know if you want. Otherwise, I say let them figure it out on their own, we still have to find Sarah and free her. I think maybe we can convince Aveline to get in that van with us and go to Orlais to put an end to Zander."

"It's Aveline." Tori put her hand to her waist and smirked confidently, "She'll go if it means saving her friend. You know I'm going, because in a way Bethany's related to me. I'm guessing Sinjin's coming along for the ride?"

"Of course. He's able to use healing magic, we can use him." Trina squeezed his hand and looked up to him, smiling cheerfully as he nodded his head. "Jade too. I think she should come along."

"Didn't see that decision coming."

"Yeah…" Neither did she, considering how harshly she judged Jade before. "She is showing promise, so I'm beginning to…I don't know…like her a little bit. I'm trying to take more chances now than I was before. Listening to my heart instead of my head, you know? It's…a little different, but it feels good." She still had some skepticism, but it was due. After hearing her ancestor's words, she had a lot more strength to combat these issues of hers. Now with Sinjin at her side, she also had a confidence that was beginning to grow. What would happen if she became friends with Jade? Did she even dare to think of it?

"What about the rest?"

"Eh, one step at a time…"

"No, I mean, who are you thinking should come along? You, me, Sinjin, Jade, and Aveline make five…Our XTerra has room enough for eight, nine if one wants to squeeze in between two people."

"We have to take Merrill, she's the only one that knows blood magic. Even if she's trying to quit…it's the only way." She couldn't possibly forget the ritual needed. It was her blood that had to be absorbed by her ancestor, thereby awakening her. "Cat appears to have grown close, and we could use another mage, so we should have her along. Andre's grown strong as well, so maybe him…"

"Once again Beck and Robbie are on the sidelines, then?"

"Yeah, unless someone wants to conjure up a second car for them?"

"It's a thought."

"We'll see, I can just picture trying to convince the ancestors to get in one of those things." The trio laughed and Anders looked over with a fearful gaze, he'd already heard about their joyride from the prior day. He didn't have reason to fear, though Trina might upset the ancestors a bit by driving too fast. "Can you picture trying to teach them to drive, Tori?"

"Oh dear god, they'd say we're torturing them!" Trina started laughing, not stopping for several seconds until she saw her sister staring at her with a look of contentment on her face. She raised an eyebrow, concerned that Tori was staring at her for some strange reason. "Something wrong? Why are you staring at me like this?" Tori had a wide smile and raised eyebrows. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"No reason, I just…haven't seen you so happy like this in a long time. I like it, I really am glad you're happy." Tori stepped forward and hugged her neck, taking her by surprise. "Is it Sinjin? By the way, I'm proud of you too, taking that step…you know I've always looked up to you, right?" Tori stepped back, gazing at her with admiration and awe. Trina's cheeks began to burn once more and she tore herself away, chuckling nervously.

"Oh stop, I'm just in a good mood is all." She looked to Sinjin and began to feel a wave of joyous emotions sweeping through her. She felt like singing and dancing, announcing her love from the highest mountains. "Yes though…"

"Yes what?"

"Yes, Sinjin makes me happy."

"Good." Tori walked in stride towards Sinjin and looked him in the eyes for a minute before poking him in the chest. "I'm trusting you not to hurt my big sister. I might act naïve at times, but I can be a demon worse than anything you've seen. Trina is the world to me, and I know you won't hurt her, but I'm just telling you…to watch your back." Trina rolled her eyes and sighed and Sinjin nodded.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied. "I think she was listening to Shakira last night, she started humming in her sleep last night."

"I was listening to her for a long time. You know, Tori, you and daddy never really heard some of her softer tones."

"Shakira? Soft?" Tori seemed skeptical, so Trina went on to explain the greatness of her idol.

"I love Shakira because there's two sides to her music. One side is that wilder side you'd see with songs like Loca, Rabiosa, and so on. The other are the soft and impacting Latina music, the hidden gems in her music about love, trust, and so on. Like her songs Despedida, Dónde Estas Corazón, and many others. Lindsay introduced me to her, and her softer music is what's helped me get through a lot of emotional crap in the past." Tori breathed in and hummed, contemplating the thought. "I could go on and on about her music, trust me, you don't want that."

"She'll never quit talking about her," Sinjin teased. Trina laughed and Tori shook her head, chuckling as Trina playfully nudged Sinjin. She was ready to get a move on, but Anders was still healing patients. She wanted to travel to Orlais with everyone. The other two followed her gaze and drew out a heavy sigh. Anders's hands were hovering over someone's chest, glowing white. "I guess if we're waiting on him, It'll be a little while."

It was about an hour wait, but it wasn't painfully long. They enjoyed a brisk walk around Darktown and had some time to discuss what things might be different now that Trina and Sinjin were a couple. Not much would change, aside from the fact that the two would be dating and both planned to take it a step at a time. They definitely did not intend on being sexual with one another, that could wait.

When Anders was finished, Trina had everyone meet with them outside Kirkwall where the car was sitting. When she revealed the vehicle, the ancestors, minus those who'd already seen it, were not fond of it. "We have to travel to Orlais and I think a quick trip rather than several hours walking, will be better."

"They could get carsick, couldn't they?" Robbie asked while eyeing the vehicle. "That only seats eight, I thought you wanted all of us to go?" Sinjin leaned against the car and motioned to Cat and Tori.

"We're going to recreate a second car for leftovers. Robbie, you and Beck will drive that second car with the remaining ancestors." It was probably best that Beck stay in a second car with Robbie, Trina was well aware the dislike Sinjin held for the man had never truly gone away.

"So we're all getting in those things?" Merrill hooked her finger over her chin and studied the car with growing anticipation. "I'm not sure how I'm going to like that. Is it safe?"

Varric laughed and threw his hands up, "What's the worst that can happen, right?" He walked around the vehicle, pausing to raise his eyebrow at dark red splotches on the hood. "Is that blood?"

"We killed a few darkspawn the other day," Jade remarked. "Ran them over with the vehicle. The car is definitely safe, demons can't get you easily. A vehicle can sustain quite a bit of damage. It can create a lot of carnage, making things easy for plowing through hundreds of demons." The ancestors were hesitant, but eventually agreed to give this 'car' a try. Jade turned to Trina and motioned at her. "Who rides with who?" All except Bethany were here, since Bethany couldn't leave the Circle to be here. The Circle was in the Gallows anyway, where Meredith and Orsino were stationed. They'd bring Sarah to her later.

"The car can fit eight people, but that's the max. So we'll make a second car to deal with the remaining. I'm obviously taking the Nissan. Tori, Sinjin, Jade, Aveline, Merrill, Isabela, and Sebastian. I want you guys with me." Trina motioned to an empty spot where she wanted the three mages to create the second car. "In the second car, probably a second XTerra would be best. Andre, Beck, Cat, and Robbie you drive that with Anders, Fenris, and Varric." The group agreed with that setup, everyone was going to do their best to keep their ancestors calm while driving as well.

While driving, Trina had the Shakira playing. Sale el Sol was on and everyone was relaxing to the soothing tune. In her car, Sinjin sat beside her and Tori directly behind her. Jade was seated in the seat behind Sinjin. Aveline sat between the two of them. The seats behind them, Sebastian sat behind Jade and Isabela sat behind Tori. Merrill was thin enough to sit in between without feeling cramped.

Trina studied the ancestors in the rearview mirror, they all appeared to be doing breathing exercises while gazing around the car and studying the seats. Their eyes were wide and anxious, making Trina feel just a bit guilty over having to have them come in the car. She had to wonder how the people behind her were doing, hopefully no worse for wear.

For the ancestors, they weren't driving too horrendously fast, but still faster than they would be walking. Everyone's weapon had been placed in the back of the vehicle as well, figuring it would likely be more comfortable for them.

When they drove through the wounded coast, Trina had to stop. Her father was sitting outside the portal, which was startling. The others saw him as well and wondered what he was doing there. She exited the vehicle and walked over to him, he seemed to brighten upon seeing her and quickly pushed himself up.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" She studied the rope around his waist and raised an eyebrow as she trailed it with her eyes. It seemed to disappear where the portal was hidden.

"I missed my daughters."

"We missed you too, Dad." She hugged his neck and grinned. "How long has it been?"

"Only a couple days."

"Wow! It's been like almost two weeks here. We just found out where the guy is that has our ancestor." David nodded and looked past her to the cars and raised an eyebrow. She followed his gaze and laughed, "Of course some of the group got to be mages. They conjured up a car for better travel, the ancestors agreed to come along…"

While on the break, some of the ancestors in the second car piled out of it and were clasping the ground. She shook her head and looked back to her father, still grinning at him. David smiled back at her and raised his eyebrows. "You're glowing. What am I missing?"

"Sinjin and I are dating now." His jaw dropped and his eyes shot over to Sinjin in the car. Sinjin waved nervously and he slowly recovered, giving the man a nod of approval.

"Well. If he makes you happy, then I'm happy. I trust him to treat you right. He knows what happens to men that hurt my daughter."

"Yes dad, he does."

"I suppose you have to go…will you be coming home soon?"

"Very soon, I hope." He hugged her once more, bringing a tear to her eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest as she felt a lingering sense of longing, she wanted to be home with her dad. "I miss you, Tori misses you…everyone misses their families."

"We all miss you kids too. I have something for you…in case of emergencies." She pulled back watching him reach for his waist. Her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes froze on the 9mm beretta in his holster. There were no guns in this era, at least no modern ones. She learned to shoot guns from her father, who would take her out to the woods when she was just a girl. She wasn't a great shot, but she could at least fire one off. "Just emergencies…"

"They don't have guns here."

"I know. I want you to be safe."

"I understand." He placed the gun in her palm and looked into her eyes, smiling proudly. "If I have to use it, I will…I don't think I will, we have weapons here. Swords, daggers, staves. Not sure how a police standard gun is going to help." She pushed the gun into her boot after putting the safety on. "I promise we'll be safe, but you need to go back home and stay there. It's dangerous on this side."

"I know. I worry about you girls."

"I won't let anything happen to Tori, and I'll be fine." She hugged him once more, then started pushing him back to the portal. He stopped at the portal and turned around to her.

"I love you girls."

"Love you too, Daddy. See you soon?"

He nodded and breathed in, "Soon." With that, he turned around and made his way back through the portal. She started for the car, stopping to take one wistful look at the portal. She wiped away a tear in her eyes, then moved back for the car, motioning that they could continue their travel. As she got back in the car, Tori reached over and tapped her on the shoulder.

"What did Dad give you? We didn't see."

"It was nothing…I don't think I'll be needing it, so no worries. Dad's been missing us, it's only been a few days for him, though."

"I miss him too, hopefully we'll be able to go home soon after this. I'm tired."

"So am I."

So they're on their way. What did you think of ol' Mr. Vega coming through, perhaps she won't have to use the gun? Also, convincing the ancestors to ride in a vehicle, such fun!