"Whatever's on your hand is useful," Varric said as they pushed through another set of doors.
"Nothing like a little glowy mambo jumbo won't fix, eh?" Amelia retorted with a snort.
The group stalked through the doors and were immediately met by hardened stares from soldiers and civilians alike. Amelia gave them a megawhatt smile as she leisurely strolled down the bridge. Leliana could be seen arguing with a man in Chantry robes, her hands being thrown into the air in exasperation.
"Oh, this oughta be good," Amelia drolled as they made their way towards the group.
"Ah! Here they come!" a man spits, anger causing his face to turn beet red.
"You made it! Chancellor Roderick this is-" Leliana began, but is quickly cut off.
" I know who she is. As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux immediately to arrange execution!"
The man's words were met with shouts of anger. Cassandra immediately came to Amelia's defense, pushing the other woman behind her slightly. Amelia rolled her eyes in annoyance. A Chancellor being a danger? Oh, please.
"I am right here, you know," Amelia growled through clenched teeth. "Standing right here - living and breathing. A dreadful feat, I know, but I'm fully capable of speaking for myself, Chancellor Roderick."
The man took a step back, his jaw going slack at her attitude.
"If I am to be executed, it damn well will be for something I've actually done, you insolent dolt," she continued. "I did nothing to your precious Divine."
"You murdered her!"
"I have murdered no one, but if you would like me to? I can start with you."
Leliana jumped between the two, using a hand on their chests to push them away. Amelia seethed in anger. The Chancellor, however, backed away without restraint, his face going whiter than a sheet. She gave him a feral grin while she fiddled with the dagger at her hip. The grin grew wider when he paled even further and placed himself behind Leliana.
"As charming as this conversation is," Leliana sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We have more important things to deal with. Lady Treveylan-"
"Amelia, really. I insist."
"Lady Amelia needs to get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. It is important that we don't do anything rash until after the Breach is dealt with. Can we all agree upon that, at least?"
Amelia continued to level her glare on the chancellor. At the disgruntled noise that emerged from Leliana, however, the other woman gave a slight nod. She sighed and walked away from the group, having spotted a stand that had various amounts of food upon it. The vendor eyed her warily as she looked at all of the options.
"How much for the sausage roll and an apple?" she asked him with a smile.
"Tha- that'll be 10 silver, my lady," he whispered.
She nodded as she fished 15 silver from her breeches pocket. His eyes were wide as she placed the coins in his hands. "Here. Take the extra 5 and go get some gloves from the merchant down there, will you? Your fingers are already on the border of being frostbitten."
"I- thank you, miss," the merchant told her, his eyes softening with kindness. "I will do that right now."
Amelia gave him another smile as she grabbed her sausage roll and the apple. The merchant waved her off as she stepped away from the wooden table. Taking a massive bite out of the sausage roll, she strolled back to the group. She rolled her eyes once more when she noticed that they were still arguing.
Of course they were.
"Lady Trevelyan!" Cassandra hollered as Amelia walked up to them. "We need your help."
Amelia almost choked on her sausage roll. "I'm sorry you need what?"
"Your help, Lady Amelia," Leliana sighed. "There is a mountain pass. My men can act as a distraction while you-"
"We lost contact with an entire squad on that pass, Leliana!" Cassandra interrupted with a groan. "It's hopeless!"
"There are men on the pass?" Amelia asked around another bite of her roll. "If there are men on that pass, that's the one we will be taking. I won't leave them unprotected."
"The troops may-"
"Seeker Pentaghast? Quite frankly? I don't care. If we can save even one of them? It's worth it."
"As you wish, Lady Trevelyan."
"Was this what you expected, fair lady?" Cassandra asked, chest heaving, after they'd decimated another batch of demons.
"Look, Seeker," Amelia snapped back, "I never said this would be easy."
"Yes but-"
"No man left behind, Seeker," Varric butted in with a knowing smile. "We're almost through, anyways. Just a little bit longer."
Amelia sent the dwarf a quick smile of thanks before she pushed off the wall she had been laying on. Her back ached and she was pretty sure that she injured a rib or two, but she didn't have the time to linger on the aches and pains. With a nod to the rest of the group, she made her way up the last set of steps.
There was no elation, however, as the scent of death reached her nose once again. Her battered heart at her throat, her eyes landed on the litter of corpses outside the doorway. The Inquisition soldiers, she realized, had never made it out of the pass.
"The Inquisition soldiers," Varric murmured sadly. "Guess they didn't make it after all."
"Guess not," Amelia responded, fists clenching at her side. "We were too late."
Cassandra placed a gentle hand against Amelia's back. The redhead looked up at the woman to find a sad smile looking back at her. She clenched her jaw and looked away, willing the crushing feeling of helplessness away.
"We were too late for these soldiers, yes," Cassandra said softly. "But there's still so many more who need your assistance."
Amelia nodded curtly before she started down the beaten path once again. The small voice in the back of her mind whispered to her, told her she wasn't good enough, that it was her fault those soldiers died. She gritted her teeth and drove them from her thoughts together, instead replacing them with the idea of closing this damned Breach and going home.
She needed to lay eyes on her sister, see that Anna was alive and well.
The minute she walked onto the scorched earth where the destroyed temple had once sat, the mark on her palm flared. She hissed out an annoyed breath while she surveyed her surroundings. Corpses sat where they had felled, singed beyond recognition. Her stomach soured instantly when she spied the remains of a woman shielding two children with her body.
A mother's love. A love that she had never really had. A love that she would never be able to receive, seeing as her mother's body sat discarded somewhere nearby. That thought alone brought a grin to her face.
Ding dong, the witch is dead.
"This way," Cassandra said, indicating towards the left.
Amelia nodded and followed closely behind. The moment she started through the destroyed archway, the mark flared and her head began to thud painfully.
Now is the hour of our victory! Bring forth the sacrifice.
"Maker's balls! What was that?" Amelia asked, the deep voice causing her to jump.
"At a guess? The person who created the Breach," Solas responded, his eyes traveling over the destruction around them.
Amelia nodded, unsure of what her response could be. Solas had a solid idea. She trotted down the path before sliding to a stop. Before her sat pillars of lyrium - red lyrium.
"Shit!" Varric swore, his eyes wide. "Do you know that's red lyrium, Seeker?"
"I see it," Cassandra responded curtly.
"But what's it doing here?!"
"Magic could have drawn on lyrium below the temple.. Corrupted it," Solas provided.
Amelia bit her lip. Even Solas sounded unsure. And that elf was supposed to have all knowledge of the Breach.
"Well, it's evil," Varric spat. "Whatever you do? Don't touch it."
"Well. There goes my plans," Amelia said on a sigh. "I was hoping to break off a few pieces. Make the most wonderful costume jewelry."
Keep the sacrifice still.
Sacrifice? There's a sacrifice now? Amelia's head began to pound harder, causing the woman to pinch the bridge of her nose. Something about this sounded… familiar. But how could it be?
Someone! Help me!
"That's Divine Justinia's voice!" Cassandra exclaimed.
Amelia's face turned grim. With a nod towards Cassandra, Amelia jumped down the short embankment. The group followed. The Breach flared angrily, causing Amelia's hand to flare in tandem. She hissed again. That was getting really, really annoying.
What's going on here?
"Well, fuck," Amelia breathed, her eyes widening. "That's my voice."
"The most holy called out to you, but…" Cassandra began.
Before she could finish her sentence, the breach pulsed again. This time, a scene began to play, showing the Divine strung up like a prisoner. Amelia could be seen running through the door, her expression calm.
"What's going on here?" Amelia asked as she eyed the men surrounding the Divine.
"Run while you can! Warn them!" the Divine shouted.
"We have an intruder," one of the figures muttered disdainfully. "Kill her. Now!"
The breach flared again, taking with it the vision it had provided. Cassandra stalked up to Amelia, her face full of confusion and pain.
"You were there! The Divine called out for you. Who attacked? And the Divine… is she? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?"
"I don't know, Cassandra!" Amelia shouted, holding her fists against her temple. "I don't remember!"
"This rift is not sealed, but it is closed. Albeit temporarily," Solas butted in, his voice grating against Amelia's ears. "I believe that with your mark? The rift can be opened and sealed correctly. Destroying it. Opening the rift, however, will definitely draw attention from the other side. We will be opening ourselves up to whatever comes through from the fade."
"That means demons," Cassandra replied. "Everyone! At the ready!"
Amelia sighed and angled her hand at the rift. With a little focus, she was able to draw her strength into the mark, shooting that green beam of light directly into it. It hurt. A lot. The rift exploded into a fine mist. A low chuckling came from the rift before a massive demon jumped out of it.
"Maker! That's big," Amelia whispered, eyes wide, as she stared at the damned thing.
"A pride demon," Solas said from her left, his voice uneasy. "Big, angry, and, well, prideful. They can be… temperamental."
The pride demon roared before it started for a bunch of soldiers. With war cries, they charged the monster, slashing at any piece of it they could reach. Amelia watched in horror as a whip of pure electricity appeared in the monster's hands.
"Temperamental, Solas?! Are you kidding me?" she yelled at the elf.
"I may have been wrong in my assessment," the elf replied as he shot a ball of fire from his staff.
"I'd say," Amelia snapped as she grabbed her bow. "This is going to be awful."