AN: Hi guys! I'm back with another chapter. Cullen/Trevelyan has slowly been taking over my brain. He is so adorable it breaks my heart at times.
If anyone is reading The Guardian, it's not that I've forgotten it. But I've hit writer's block with it and I've also been kinda playing Inquisition when I get a chance.
Not sure when the next chapter will come. Reviews are always welcome!
Chapter 1 (The Aftermath)
Cullen looked around the forward camp. Some soldiers were coming in with injuries from fighting the demons and even though there were some templars there to help, it seemed like their power to neutralize magic wasn't enough to close the rifts that were forming along the path to the temple. He looked up at the Breach. It had been close to three days since it had appeared, since the Conclave had exploded, since the woman sitting in the basement of the Chantry had stepped out of a Fade Rift. He shook his head. He hasn't sure what to think anymore. All he knew is that they needed to find a way to close the rifts and soon.
As he looked up, he saw Cassandra and Leliana running past him, heading towards the Chantry. That only meant one thing.
"Lady Cassandra, is she…?"
"Yes, Commander, she is waking up. And she will answer for what she has done to Most Holy."
Cullen nodded to them as they went towards the Chantry. Chancellor Roderick came beside him.
"I hope that they kill her once they get there. She had to be the one to murder Divine Justinia. No one else survived the explosion."
He rubbed his head and headed back out the main gates. He needed to fight something, especially since he wasn't sure how much longer he could go without fighting his memories as well.
Gwen woke up, breathing heavily. She couldn't remember anything. The last thing she remembered…what was it? She remembered arriving at Haven for the Conclave and being told she would be a scribe for the Divine. After that though, nothing. But then why was she scared?
Her hand gave a shock of pain and she looked down at a green mark on her left hand that looked like it was…growing? No, that couldn't be right. Marks didn't grow. Unless…
At that moment, the door to the cell was thrown open. She watched as two women entered, one who looked Nevaraan, maybe a light skinned Rivinni, with short black hair, a scar on one side of her face, and a sword strapped to her belt. The other lady had real pretty red hair and was dressed in gray robes. Both were wearing the mark of the Divine and she realized who they were. Lady Seeker Pentaghast and Lady Nightingale. Something must have happened to the Divine for them both to be here.
Cassandra circled Gwen, leaning over her shoulder.
"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now."
Kill her?!
"The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Expect for you."
Gwen was shocked.
"What do you mean everyone's dead?"
Cassandra grabbed her hand.
"Explain this."
Gwen winced in pain as it lit up. She looked up into the Seeker's face, hoping that she would believe her.
"I can't."
"What do you mean you can't?"
"I don't know what that is or how it got there."
Cassandra called her a liar, but Sister Nightingale pushed her back, stopping her from attacking Gwen.
"We need her, Cassandra."
Gwen looked down, thinking about what Cassandra had said. She was the only survivor. All the mages and templars. The Grand Clerics. The Divine. All of them were dead. She had very few friends among the templars, mainly ones she made on the journey to Haven, but knowing that they were dead, broke her.
"No. I can't believe it. Everyone's dead…but me?"
She looked up as the sister approached her.
"Do you remember what happened? Or how this began?"
Gwen shook her head.
"I remember arriving, then…running, running for my life and…a woman?"
"A woman?!"
"She reached out to me…she was so warm…but then, nothing. I'm sorry."
The two ladies walked towards the door. Cassandra asked Leliana, she assumed that was Sister Nightingale's actual name, to head to the forward camp. And something about a rift. Whatever that was. Cassandra came over and unlocked her bindings. She looked at the Seeker.
"What did happen?"
She sighed.
"It would be easier to show you."
She looked at Cassandra kind of funny. Show her? Somehow, the bad feeling that had been brewing in her gut became a lot worse. She followed Cassandra outside and was blinded by the light and then saw a giant green cloud sitting over where the Temple of Sacred Ashes stood.
"We call it 'The Breach'. It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with every hour."
"Wait, that thing grows?! Someone forgot to tell it that it was supposed to stop right?"
Cassandra glared at her.
"It's not the only rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave."
"An explosion can do that?"
"This one did. Unless we act, the Breach may grow until it swallows the world."
Gwen shook her head.
"May grow? If it grows every hour, I think that your response should be, will grow until it eats the world."
At that point, the Breach sparked and caused the mark on Gwen's hand to react, causing her to drop in pain. Cassandra knelt in front of her, worry on her face.
"Every time the Breach expands, so does your mark…and it is killing you. It might be our only way to close the Breach, but there isn't much time."
Gwen looked up at her.
"You still think I did this? Why would I do this to myself?"
"Not intentionally. Something clearly went wrong."
Gwen turned her head and muttered to herself. Cassandra pulled her up.
"Come on. We must hurry."
Gwen scowled but followed the Seeker up the mountain path. As they went through the camp, people yelled at her, called her murderer. She looked at Cassandra.
"Why is everyone looking at me like they want me dead?"
"They already decided your guilt. We all mourn the loss of Most Holy, Divine Justinia. The Conclave was her idea. She brought the leaders of the mages and templars together and now they are all dead."
Gwen kept her mouth shut. She tuned out Cassandra as they passed through a door and unto a bridge. When she cut the rope binding her hands, she looked up.
"Where are you taking me?"
"We must try your mark on something smaller to test our theory."
Gwen sighed. It was going to be a long day.
Cullen fought with his men, watching as they became tired. A new rift had opened up on the route to the Temple and they needed to keep it clear. But with no way to seal them…what could they do?
He heard yelling as Cassandra came over a ledge with Varric and Solas. Another female was with them as well, wielding two daggers. She fought her way towards the rift and cast her hand into the sky. After a couple of seconds, the rift was closed. He did a quick assessment of his men. A few were severely injured, but nothing that was life-threatening. Cullen turned towards Cassandra.
"Lady Cassandra, you managed to seal the rift. Well done."
Cassandra sighed.
"Do not thank me, Commander. This was the prisoner's doing."
He looked over to the other woman. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a braid that lay over her shoulder and he noticed that she had a small tattoo on her face of purple dots near her left eye that brought out the color of her blue eyes. Realizing he hadn't said anything and was just staring, he cleared his throat.
"Is it? I hope they are right about you. We've lost a lot of people getting you here."
"You're not the only one hoping that."
He smiled at her quick response.
"We'll see, won't we?"
He turned to Cassandra to let her know that they could safely get to the Temple but his gaze went back to the prisoner. She looked to be a couple of years younger than him but her eyes…they were eyes of someone who hid, someone who didn't like getting close to people."
"Give us time, Commander."
"Maker watch over you, for all our sakes."
He turned to head back, helping one of his soldiers along the way.
Gwen looked at the Commander as he left. He was strong, handsome, and kind. She bit her lip as she thought about their brief exchange. She couldn't believe how quickly her comment slipped out, but he seemed to take it in stride.
She shook her head. She needed to worry about closing the Breach.