A/N: All magic comes with a price! Hahaha~ I apologize for being on a hiatus. Personal stuff and blah blah blah. Anyways... you guys don't want to hear about that! Let's find out what happens next.
Mina woke up with a stinging pain on her back and both of her sides. She ran her fingers along her sides and felt lines of swollen skin like she'd gotten scratched up badly. It must've been a side effect of the ritual. She wondered if Ceras was alright. 'Best case, one of you will be hurt badly. Worst case, you'll both die.' Fen'Harel's warning rang through her head as she slowly stood up from the chair she'd slept in. Her body was stiff to begin with, but whatever the blood magic did to her body was making it ten times worse. She was ignoring the panicked voice in her head to race back to her clan and check on Ceras. She had a feeling that something was terribly wrong, though she couldn't figure out just what.
Quickly, Mina went to the room next to hers and pounded on the door to check on the old man. There was no answer. He'd either been taken away, killed, or he ran. She couldn't blame him if he ran. She wouldn't trust some angry person who demanded something that might get her killed. It was a natural yet, she didn't think that was the case. Originally, she'd hoped to use him for bait. Now, it looked like she'd use him for tracking. One way or another. 'Here goes nothing.' she thought to herself and rolled her eyes. Nothing was just a clean cut job anymore.
The door bursted open easily to reveal-
"Well, shit... Can't say I was expecting that!" Mina said as she covered her eyes and turned away.
The old man was sitting in bed, half covered, and there was a woman who held a coin purse in her hand on her way out. Mina made a face and shuddered. She was just glad she hadn't walked in while things were happening. That would've been a wonderful start to her day. Not that this was much better.
About twenty minutes later, Mina and the old man were walking through town towards the front gates. She was happy enough to try and forget that awkward scene earlier and get to work. He'd told her that the group of humans that were picking on her clan were set up in an old fort about two hours south on horseback. It was a good thing Mina had a horse. And it was a good thing she could 'borrow' another. There was no way that the old man could walk all that way again, given the way he seemed to be limping. Her own body was sore and stiff too. Mostly because of what she and Ceras had done in their dream.
As they treked through the countryside, Mina let out a sigh and slowed her horse to match the speed of the other.
"If I didn't say so before, my name is Mina. Sorry about all of the rough business, but your people are messing with my Clan. I can't have that. You understand. Erm... what do I call you, serah?"
He smiled only slightly and took a moment before he answered, "I'm Bryce, just an old farmer. Those aren't my people. My son... they convinced him, as well as many others, that it's Elves that are making Circle mages go crazy. The only way I can see my son is if they know I'm 'loyal' to them."
Mina saw Bryce mess with his Andrastian amulet again. She figured that specific kind of amulet was to show who belonged to the cult. "I'm truly sorry about your son... You must know that this has nothing to do with us. The Clan... they try their best to stay away from humans. And as I understand it, humans prefer it that way. Elves aren't all that bad. They're just as stubborn as old men, the lot of them. But, they love and work just as well as any other person." She sighed and shook her head. She hadn't meant to rant to this stranger. She just didn't understand why different people treated each other badly for such trivial reasons. Back in her world there was racism and human trafficking, among other things. All of which made her sick to her stomach. People were just people. It didn't matter what they looked like, what they believed in, who they loved, or whatever. In the end everyone wanted to belong and feel important to someone.
Bryce stared at her with soft eyes for a moment before speaking. "You seem to know a lot more about the world than your years would say. And you speak of this Elven Clan as if it wasn't yours," he sighed, "But, I do believe you are right. The Elves have nothing to do with the mage rebellion."
"Heh. I wasn't born into my Clan, serah. I was recently adopted into it. I've had a rough, lonely life to be sure. In any case, let's go get your son. I give you my word not to kill him. I might have to rough him up a bit though."
Bryce grimaced but nodded in agreement. Mina smirked. If someone tried to harm her, she was going to fight back. It didn't matter who it was.
They had stopped a mile back and tied up the horses so not to be seen. Bryce was trekking along, acting as if he belonged and was there to check up on his son as per usual. Mina, however was stalking him from the shadows of the thick part of the forest. Birds called and squirrels scurried around. She was downwind of the hideout; all perfect conditions for her. Silent, unseen, and no scent to pick up on. The fort itself was just a shell of what Mina assumed had once been a grand defense for the area. It was in shambles to put it simply. Rocks tumbled down here and there. The sentry tower had no roof and seemed to have lost several feet. The ramparts were no more. The only thing that was mostly intact was what looked to be the housing area for the old guards.
Two men in grey cloaks approached Bryce aggressively. Bryce bowed his head and showed them the amulet. Mina internally groaned; she couldn't hear a thing they were saying. Too far away. She slowly made her way closer to them to see if there was some place specific that they had their forces concentrated. If there was a weak point, she would find it.
"-Amerto is in the dining area right now. You are welcome to join him. He was expecting you two days ago. Is all well?" asked the taller man.
"I just had a bit of trouble avoiding some bandits is all, serah. It's getting bad on the roads now, what with Kirkwall in pieces," Bryce managed.
The two cloaked men nodded in agreement and lead the farmer towards the sentry tower. Mina scanned the area just to be sure; there was no one on watch. So, they were either really good at hiding, or they were that confident no one could find them. The space almost made her certain that there couldn't be more than fifteen of them in the ruin of the fort. It never paid to be overconfident. She prefered to err on the side of caution when it came to things like this.
She formed a fireball in her right hand and threw it at some loose straw she had spotted by the ramparts. If she could distract them, she could take a few out before getting Bryce and his son to safety. Then, she'd deal with the rest of them. Just as she figured, about five of them rushed out from the sleeping quarters. She pulled up her hood and mask before starting out, daggers charged with electric magic.
She easily cut down two before the other three turned around and started rushing at her angrily. One had a sword, one had an axe, and the other had a dagger. She almost laughed at how pitifully armed they were. And that's why she liked to use the element of surprise! However, before she reached the one with the sword, she got knocked over by what felt like a lion. She sucked in air and struggled to fight off what or whoever had knocked her down.
Much to her surprise, it was another Elf. It was a male with brown hair and green eyes. He was yelling at her to stop and surrender peacefully. But... he was calling her Ceras. She kneed him as hard as she could and rolled out from under him, her hood falling off in the process.
There were two other Elves with him that had dispatched the other three humans while she was grappling with the brown haired one. They were all garbed in some kind of ancient-looking Elven armor. It was inlaid with green and gold, leaf patterns running along either of their sides.
The female in the group spoke, "Wait! Greed, it isn't her. It must be-"
"Who the FUCK are you people and what do you want with Ceras?!" Mina demanded, readying a blast of sound to disorient them.
The brown haired one called Greed scowled and looked Mina over, "So it is not. You know Ceras then?"
Mina didn't care to talk to these assholes. They meant to harm Ceras, or capture her. It didn't matter which. No one was touching her sister. She rushed at Greed with a yell, letting her sound burst go.
The three immediately covered their ears. Unfortunately, Greed was just a little too fast for Mina. He'd jabbed the hilt of his sword into her ribs, causing her to fall to the ground.
'Just who are these guys? Ceras... stay hidden!' she thought desperately.
An inhuman screech came out of nowhere, and a blur of red whirled about them. She looked up just in time to see fear in Greed's eyes just before he began to tangle with this new... thing.
And, of course, that's when the other humans decided to flood out of the fort. Wonderful timing, as always. Mina saw the farmer next to a young man of, maybe twenty-seven. "Bryce! Run for it, you idiot!" she yelled while trying to stand up. She was sure she had a few cracked ribs she needed to pay that son of a bitch back for.
"Hey, pretty boy! I'm not done with you! Get back here!" she screamed.
The smaller male with blonde hair and violet eyes looked at Mina and shook his head vigorously. "Lust, get her out of here!" he ordered the female.
The woman nods at him and says, "Help him, Envy. You know how dangerous she is," before running over to Mina.
Mina readied her blades and looked at this 'Lust', daring her to try something.
"Please, Lethallin, we did not mean to hunt you. You need to get out of here before-" Lust gasps as a slightly deformed hand buries itself into her back and out of her chest. A stream of blood poured out of her mouth, just missing Mina's boots, and pools on the ground.
The face before Mina stuns her. She can't move to turn away, nor can she seem to speak. The person fighting the other Elves is her own sister. Ceras has strange red markings all over her body. It's still Ceras, but the way her face was contorted and the way she moved was more animal than anything.
"C-Ceras?" Mina stammered.
"Heh.. Hehehehehe! Now I'll kill you!" cackles a malevolent, ethereal voice.
The creature's hand pulls out of Lust and starts to shoot towards Mina's chest. Mina can't get her body to move. Her mind is still processing the thought of Ceras being a monster of a sort. Was this the effect of the blood magic? It was all her fault!
Right before Ceras' hand punctured Mina's chest, a different voice called out, "No! I cannot let you kill her Aeon." Mina doesn't recognise this voice, but nevertheless, she was grateful. Feeling suddenly came back into her body.
On instinct, she lets loose a lightning bolt just strong enough to knock her sister out. If it is, indeed, still Ceras, Mina will question her when she wakes. If not... it would be better to kill it than let it wreak havoc on the people of Thedas.
Hours went by as Mina tended to her wounds that were already turning into nasty bruises. She had loaded Ceras' body onto the other horse and lead them on her own horse back towards the Clan's camp. They were still a ways off when Ceras started to stir.
As always, Mina took precaution and tied Ceras to a tree. For extra measure, she put frost mines around it, should Ceras, or the creature, escape.
Then, she waited.
Ceras groaned and lifted her head groggily before focusing on Mina who was sharpening one of her blades. "Mina...?"
The silver haired Elf's head shot up and she eyed the other suspiciously, "Yep. And are you that demon thing?"
Ceras winced and shook her head, "No. And you weren't... you weren't supposed to see that."
"Yeah? And why's that?"
"Because that's what lives inside of me, sister. It's been inside of me for some time now."