Heroes of the Past and Present
Disclaimer: Do not own Victorious, do not own the video game
A/N:
Chapter 33 (A Hero's Awakening)
They parked outside the gates of Orlais and cloaked the vehicles so nobody would ask any questions. Aveline informed them that this was the place they had visited recently where a man named Duke Prosper nearly had them all killed. Fortunately, she didn't have to worry about running into the man here, since he already passed. "We're looking for someone who might know where this Zander is living." Aveline sheathed her sword and walked away from the cloaked vehicle.
"I went by the Launcet home after you all just to confirm information. They told me where we might find the home." With that, Aveline began to lead them into the city. "There have been reports within the Orlesian city guard that the De Launcet estate is shrouded in mystery." Trina raised an eyebrow at Aveline and crossed her arms.
"You get reports from the Orlesian Guards?"
"Yes, every City Guard needs to know what's going on in other towns on the off chance they may be needed to help a fellow town."
"Makes sense." It was like that back home as well. The city police would often go to another town if assistance was requested. They probably arrived faster than the guards in this timeline "So their mansion may be something of a taboo?"
"Basically, there have been reports of people disappearing in that place, and whenever teams are sent in to investigate, they never come back. They just leave their post. One report stated a guardsman returned with a completely different personality and no memory of his past life." Disturbing news, to say the least, but Trina wasn't wavering. They were this close to getting her ancestor out of that hellhole, she wasn't letting some horror tales scare her off. However, all the experimentation explained one theory as to how Sarah was about to mentally connect with her the prior night. "If we go in that house, we have to be very careful. We want to come out in one piece."
"We don't leave that place until we find further news about Sarah. Or if she's there, we leave with her."
"I think we can all agree to that."
Upon reaching the home, they found the front door open and were met with a rancid odor. They entered with extreme caution and found a revolting sight that made Trina's stomach lurch. Blood was smeared all over the walls, floor, and ceiling. There were bodies and skeletons hanging from the wall like decorations, or ornaments. She listened to the others groan, some even began asking where they could go to vomit.
"This guy is nuts…" There were stairs leading upwards, while a nearby doorway led down into a basement of sorts. She wasn't sure which way to go, and figured this could potentially be answered with a coin flip. "Furthermore, where is the guy anyway? You'd think he'd be coming around the minute visitors stepped in."
"I prefer him not coming around actually," Robbie muttered. He grabbed his bow from the quiver attached to his back and began to scan the house with a nervous moan. "I would prefer to be somewhere without the dead people. I'm not the only one that sees the dead people, right?"
"No, we all see them, and I wish we weren't."
"I don't like this, Sis…" Tori moved an arm around Trina's while carefully stepping over a fresh body. "Where do we go from here? Basement?"
"That's what I'm thinking…" The group made their way down the rickety wooden steps, praying they weren't moving down some trap. When they made it to the area, Trina was immediately stricken with a familiar sensation. It was as though she'd been here before, in her dreams. "I think this is it…"
A cold chill struck her and descended down her spine. Her heart began to race and she quickly reached over and grabbed Sinjin's hand. The others looked surprised for a split second, but were too overcome with the frightful, dark surrounding to react.
As they walked further in, they found a room lit with many candles, and a glasslike casket rest in the middle of the room. Trina's eyes widened and slowly drifted towards the wall adjacent to her. There were two large portraits, one of Meredith and the other of Orsino. "Oh what a pretty little shrine," Merrill responded in a flat tone. Trina did a double take and shook her head, immediately scanning for signs that Zander was nearby.
"Okay, so Freakazoid isn't here. You know what that means…"
"He went after his parents." Cat spoke so surely that everyone was instantly drawn to her. She was holding a handwritten note with fresh ink. Cat lifted the paper up and started reading it. "My travels begin soon, the witch didn't know what she did by telling me where my parents were. When I find them…to discover why they have left me…They will suffer. I promise. When I'm done with them, I have no idea what I'm going to do with the woman in the casket. Granted it's fun waking her mental state, but it gets boring after a while." Trina's eyes flew to the casket and the others soon followed her gaze.
"Finally," she breathed, "My ancestor's right there…" She made her way to the casket and lifted her trembling hands to the surface. Tori moved behind her and put a hand to her shoulder. Sinjin stepped beside her and frowned at the casket. Trina studied Sarah's body inside, amazed to see that Zander left her there. The woman looked just as she'd envisioned, and just as she'd seen the prior night. Her cheeks were full and her chest was rising very slowly. "She's still breathing. Which means what exactly?"
Merrill stepped forward, frowning as she studied Sarah's body, "It means he left her mentally awake. I was afraid of that…" Trina shrugged it off and felt of the casket's side for a latch, or anything that would open the case. She felt Tori's hand on her wrist and looked over to see her sister gazing down at the casket.
"Better idea." Tori put her palms to the side of the glass and created a glowing light around her palms. In a flash, the top of the casket flew off and shattered on the wall nearby. Trina held her breath and reached in, cupping her hand around Sarah's. "Merrill, why is her consciousness awake, or whatever?"
"It's a blood mage thing. It looks like he was trying to find ways to wake her, but sadly there is no way for that. It has to be the descendent's blood to wake her fully. As Bethany said. The most a blood mage can do is make her mentally aware."
"We came all this way," Trina narrowed her eyes and slowly pulled her hand away, "What are we waiting for?"
"Exactly what has to be done?" Sinjin asked. Concern laced his tone, and Trina understood why. Part of this whole awakening thing involved removing her blood from her body, and she did not want to wind up dying. She looked up to Merrill, gazing sternly into the woman's eyes. Merrill took a deep breath and folded her arms over.
"You need an open wound and I…will drain some blood…"
"She'll be okay, right?"
"Yes. It isn't a lot of blood that's needed. It needs to be absorbed into Sarah's bloodstream, that will push out the lock that keeps her comatose." Trina's lips thinned and her eyes rolled towards the ceiling.
"So it's like a blood transfusion? Why didn't you say so…" Merrill raised an eyebrow and Trina turned fully towards her, thinking up an idea for the woman's anxieties towards using blood magic. "Merrill, blood magic may be bad. However using it in this manner to save someone's life…do you know what that is?"
"What?"
"Well in my time, there are doctors who have to save lives every day. People are in accidents, and some comatose, and the only way to survive is by a blood transfusion. Tori had to have transfusions once." Merrill chuckled slightly, shaking her head in disbelief. "Granted it's not by way of magic. What happens is there's been a great amount of blood loss, so the doctors find a willing donor that shares similar blood types and they push that blood into the patient, saving their life. So, what you're doing here…don't look at it like you're using some illegal dark power, but rather, you're saving someone's life by giving them a transfusion. Oh, and you clearly have a willing donor."
"Okay. Then give me a minute to prepare."
"All right." Trina glanced at the basement door in the distance and frowned. She wasn't certain they could trust that Zander wouldn't come back. "Beck, Fenris, Robbie and Varric…can you guys go guard the door? You too, Anders." The men nodded and hurried towards the door. Aveline walked up to the casket and gazed down mournfully.
"I'm here Hawke, I didn't fail you…I hope we're not too late."
After a few minutes, Merrill had her spells ready. Trina stepped away from the group and extended her arms, sighing heavily as she awaited the transfusion process to begin. "Jade." Jade met her eyes and Trina gave her a firm nod. "Placing some trust here. Cut me, not too deep, but enough for Merrill to be able to drain." She knew Sinjin and Tori wouldn't be able to do it, and she didn't really want to inflict pain on herself. Jade slowly withdrew her blade and walked over, hesitating for a minute before holding the tip at Trina's arm.
Jade glanced over once more and Trina nodded approvingly. Tori looked away and Sinjin remained ever-watchful. Jade pricked her arm and Trina flinched as the pain seared through her, stinging her arm. The stench of blood rushed to her nostrils and the dark red liquid began flowing from the wound. Her stomach churned and her eyes clenched shit as she ground her teeth together.
"All right Merrill, get it done already!" Merrill put her hands out, and the blood lifted from Trina's body. She started to grow faint from watching the blood coursing from her veins and body. Sinjin immediately ran to her side as she began to stumble backwards. "Should have done this sitting…"
An overwhelming nausea struck her as the final bit of blood left her arm. She fell back into Sinjin's arms and groaned as he put his hand over the wound. Her skin became deathly pale and her vision began to blur. As soon as his hand made contact with her skin, his healing power started to flow into her like a cool liquid. She smiled and reached up, feeling of her clammy forehead. As she met Sinjin's eyes, she moved her arms around his neck and pulled herself up. "You okay, Trina?"
"I'll be fine. Thank you." Trina looked to the casket with great alarm, Sarah was completely cloaked by a bloody haze. The blood drenched her and started to seep into her skin. Trina staggered away from Sinjin, letting him slowly release her. She leaned over the casket, gripping the edge with white knuckles. Silence loomed over the room as the last of the blood poured into Sarah's body.
Several seconds later, Sarah's eyes started to flutter. The tension in the room evaporated and everyone let out a sigh of relief as the woman's eyes shot open. Sarah reached out, grabbing the sides of the casket, and slowly sat up, groaning loudly. Sebastian rushed to her side, "Sarah." Sarah swayed to the side away from him, wincing for a second.
"Not so sudden," she muttered. Sarah put her hand to her forehead and looked up at the others. Trina turned her lips up into a bright smile and reached for Sinjin's hand, clasping it tight. When Sarah met her gaze, she smirked and tilted her head to the right. "I remember you, almost like a dream. I see you're smiling…Wait, so what happened to me? I remember a witch…"
"Erin Lamont. She came from our time and put you in that coma." Trina motioned to Merrill, "She helped wake you. Unfortunately blood magic had to be used, but it saved your life."
"That's fine. I'd rather it be used to save someone than to kill them…" She rubbed her temples once more, groaning softly. "God my head…That bastard…No offense meant."
"You know who he is?"
"Yes." Sarah glanced to the portraits on the wall and shuddered, "He told me once while waking me mentally. He's left a while ago. He's going to Kirkwall now, to deal with them…We have to stop him."
"We will, but first, we need to make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine. I need to get out of this damned casket. Tell me everything going on while we move to Kirkwall…"
"We will."
"Thank you. For everything you've done up to this point." Sarah started to leave the casket, being helped by Aveline and Sebastian. She took a shaky step forward and Trina quickly put an arm around her stomach and a hand on her back, helping to steady her. "So. My descendent?" Sarah scanned her up and down, smirking slightly. "Wearing my armor no less…Tell me, is Rachel safe? My child?"
"Yes she is. Gamlen also, and you have a cousin too." Sarah's eyes grew and she let out a surprised cough. There was quite a bit she missed while in that coma. "I'll tell you on the way back. We need to reach Bethany, and warn Meredith and Orsino."
"Right. Assuming we can reach them before Zander."
"Oh trust me, we'll get there much faster." The ancestors paled and Sarah eyed her with suspicion. "Anyway, you should probably know the story behind what happened with Meredith and Orsino. I don't know what it'll change, if anything, but you need to know why Zander is the way he is."
"All right. Tell me, then. I have a feeling I missed a lot…"
"You have, so let's get you home so you can recover."
So Sarah is finally free, now they just have to stop Zander before he goes on a murderous rampage. Let me know your thoughts