Edited June 2024

17

After Felix blurted out what happened, Talia tried to control the situation. Harding and the two other scouts were utterly flabbergasted at his words, and Talia could see the panic in their eyes. She had to cast a mild calm spell to remove the tension.

"It's been a rather long day. Maybe we can talk in your camp? Some dinner would be welcome as well," Talia said in her most agreeable tone. Felix looked at her suspiciously when Harding and the other scouts visibly relaxed and agreed almost at once. The dunmer decided to ignore his look and instead focused on what she was going to do. There was no doubt in her mind that if she let them out of her sight, they would report everything back to Leliana. She couldn't let that happen; at least not until she had the opportunity to speak with the Nightingale herself.

When they reached camp, the scouts started preparing supper, and Harding disappeared into one of the tents.

Talia grabbed Felix by the arm and pulled him away from the others.

"Stay out here, and keep an eye on them. Make sure none of them send any sort of reports via ravens," she said in a low voice.

"What's going on? What are you planning?" He frowned as she pulled away.

"We'll talk later. I promise to explain. But for now, please trust me."

Talia knew she'd been saying it for the past few hours, so she fully expected Felix to protest. To her surprise, he didn't voice any complaints and merely nodded. Though, he did look quite frustrated.

She left him by the fire, where he tried to engage some of the scouts in a conversation, and she paused just before entering Harding's tent. How did one go about convincing a scout to omit details from her report? If there was one thing Talia was certain of, most of Leliana's agents were completely loyal to her, Scout Harding included. She didn't know if the Nightingale had some sort of hold over them, or if they felt indebted to her. There were too many factors to consider.

Talia sighed as she realized she had no choice but to use one of her subtler spells.

She parted the tent's flaps and found Harding seated at a desk, scribbling away. The dwarf looked up at her in surprise as she entered.

"Your Worship?" Talia observed the dwarf in front of her for a moment. There was a definite anxiousness in her eyes, though she was trying to hide it. The calm spell must already be wearing off.

"Are you busy? I was hoping I could speak with you in private," she said quietly.

"Of course, Herald." She tidied her desk and gestured to the seat in front of her.

Talia took the proffered seat. "I'd like to explain a few things. You must be rather confused now...I know I am." The dunmer kept her eyes on Harding, one of her hands gesturing as she spoke, while the other, hidden from the dwarf's sight, was preparing the spell.

"We already knew some crazy things were coming when we signed up for this job." Harding grinned at her shyly.

Talia gave her a wry smile. "Still, time travel is a whole different animal from 'crazy'." It was difficult to say much while silently focusing on her spell.

Harding almost snorted. "Yeah. But even if you did explain it, I doubt I'd understand it. We aren't exactly…magic-savvy."

"Magic is rather confusing," Talia agreed. She opened her clenched fist, and to her satisfaction, saw Harding's eyes glow for a moment before turning back to normal.

Connection established. Talia almost sighed in relief and arranged her expression into a frustrated one.

The scout gave her a look of concern. "Are you all right Herald?"

Only then did Talia notice she was breathing heavily. "Yes." She leaned back in her seat. "It's...everything has just been rather..." She gesticulated wildly.

Harding looked at her sympathetically.

Talia smiled back weakly, dropping her hands. Wiping her brow, the dunmer sent the thoughts one by one into Harding's mind while carrying a conversation with her.

Time magic is confusing and dangerous.

"I have a question about what happened, Your Worship."

"Just one? Are you sure?" Talia asked in amusement.

If we know too much of the future, we could end up destroying it.

"Heh," she chuckled. "Okay, maybe not just one. But, well, since you know what happens in the future can we y'know, change it?"

Talia shook her head. "It's difficult to say, nobody has ever done this before. Time travel...well, we don't know what we've changed just by being here."

I should omit this entire meeting from my initial report.

"There are many theories regarding time travel, but none of them have ever been proven," Talia sighed. "All we know is that we should tread very, very carefully."

The Herald should explain this to Leliana herself.

Harding looked anxious. "I have to say, Your Worship, I'm kind of worried. What if we've already changed so much just by speaking like this and meeting?"

Talia looked down pensively, but was relieved inside. "I don't know."

Harding grimaced. "Maybe it's best if we...don't act on this information?"

"What do you mean?"

The dwarf looked torn. "You can...not tell us what happened. But, what am I going to tell Sister Leliana? If I tell her about your meeting with me, she'd ask for more details...details I can't give."

Talia pretended to look frustrated. "The Inquisition needs to know this. Or at the very least, Leliana."

"I won't be able to explain this properly, but…" The dwarf looked like she had an epiphany. "But you can, Your Worship!"

"Sorry?"

"Sister Nightingale can learn about our meeting through you! You should talk to her. You and your friend know more about time magic than we do. Maybe you can talk to her and explain more about the theories you mentioned earlier."

"That's all well and good. However I, or at least another version of me, am still in Haven."

Harding's enthusiasm dimmed, and she grimaced. "Maybe...maybe I won't mention you in my initial report? Then, once you're here, the other you I mean, you can go there and talk to Sister Nightingale." She brightened. "I'll send a letter with you. And try to explain it to her as best I can."

"That sounds like the best plan for the moment," Talia reluctantly agreed, slouching in her seat.

"You look knackered, Your Worship," Harding suddenly said. The dunmer didn't even have to feign tiredness; she was exhausted.

"For the moment, maybe Felix and I can get some food and rest? It's been quite a day."

"Oh yes, of course, Your Worship. I apologize for not getting you any food, I'd kinda forgot." She grinned sheepishly. Both of them exited the tent, and with a subtle wave of her hand, Talia cancelled the connection between her and Harding's mind.

Felix looked up from his stew as they exited. He raised his eyebrow as she plopped down to the empty space next to him and gratefully accepted the food handed to her.

"Everything all right?" Felix asked quietly.

"Quite." Was her only response. The mage seemed to understand her hesitance to speak, and he returned to his food. The rest of dinner passed by peacefully, with the scouts keeping a respectful distance from Talia, allowing her a moment's reprieve from a rather stressful day.

When she was done, she clapped Felix on the shoulder and stood up. The man craned his neck as he glanced at her, and Talia gave him a meaningful look before retiring to the tent Harding had assigned her.

She closed her eyes as she sat down on her bedroll. The spell she'd cast on Harding took a lot out of her, and a deep weariness settled into her bones as she sighed. Everything was a mess; it was hard enough figuring out what her next step was in a world she barely knew. But adding time magic to that mix made everything a hundred times more complicated.

A very small part of her, probably the Archmage part, was thrilled at having experienced time travel firsthand. She was genuinely impressed at all the work Dorian and Alexius put into the research, and she wished she had more time to study it. Mostly, however, she was frustrated and tired.

Someone cleared their throat outside her tent, shaking her out of her thoughts.

"May I come in?" came Felix's voice.

"Of course, Felix." Talia didn't bother getting up from her bedroll.

Felix stepped in hesitantly, his eyes surveying her small tent. When his eyes found her, he blinked once before looking away in embarrassment.

"Are you all right?" Talia asked when he didn't say anything.

"Ah, yes." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to have that...talk. But you look fairly exhausted, we can do this tomorrow."

His thoughtfulness brought a small smile to Talia's lips. While she appreciated the sentiment, she did owe Felix some answers.

"I can rest after. Let's just go straight to it. What do you want to know?"

Felix looked skeptical. "Just like that? You'll give me the answers I need?"

"You've earned it," she said. The seriousness in her voice made Felix pause and look at her in surprise. She gestured to the space in front of her. "I don't have a chair to offer, but have a seat anyway."

The mage sat down tentatively, and Talia looked him over. He looked as tired as she felt, but dinner had given him some energy.

"If you're sure?"

Talia's lips twitched in amusement. "Yes, I am."

"All right. Well, I suppose I'd first like to know, well, what are you? And where do you come from? How did you get here?" He looked embarrassed at blurting out so many questions at once, but Talia didn't mind.

On their journey from Flemeth's, Talia had a long time to ponder on her situation with Felix. Originally, she'd wanted both him and Alexius on her team helping her find a way back to Nirn. Their magical expertise would be invaluable. Naturally, she'd have to inform them of her unique...background. She didn't expect to do it so soon, but she needed Felix's help if they were to survive this ordeal.

"...What do you know about other worlds?" She finally asked.

Felix's jaw slackened. "Are you telling me you're from another world?" He looked disbelieving, then thoughtful. "Actually, that would explain so many things about you."

Talia chuckled. Felix being a mage probably made it easier for him to accept these things. "My name is Talia Indoril. I am a dunmer, a dark elf. I hail from the province of Morrowind, in the country of Tamriel, in a world called Nirn." She looked away from Felix's increasingly widening eyes. "As to how I got here, I entered something we call an Oblivion portal. It was supposed to take me somewhere else, but for some reason I still don't know, I ended up in the Fade."

"That...just...gave me more questions," Felix said slowly as he processed her information. "But maybe we can talk about the other details at a later date. What's an Oblivion portal?"

Talia leaned back as she tried to explain. "Oblivion is a...realm of existence separate from the mortal world, Nirn. Oblivion is where daedra reside. Daedra," she added, seeing Felix open his mouth to ask. "are immortal beings that populate the planes of Oblivion. They have hierarchy, like us, and the most powerful of them, the Daedric Princes, are those who rule over their own planes."

"What made you want to enter the portal? I mean, it sounds quite dangerous. Are there any adverse effects to entering such a plane?" Felix looked like a child who'd just stumbled upon the largest pile of sweet rolls he'd ever seen in his life. He looked so eager to learn about their world that Talia couldn't help but try to explain it to him.

"It generally depends on which Daedric prince we're dealing with. Others are inherently...evil, for lack of a better term. And there are some like Azura, the Prince of Dawn and Dusk, who are considered 'good'." She shifted in her seat. "As for the portal I was entering, it was from Sheogorath, the Prince of Madness. He's been known to mess with mortals at times, but he doesn't pose as an immediate threat to Nirn. However, after the Oblivion Crisis..." she shut her mouth with a clack as she realized what she'd said. Clearly, the weariness had made her mouth disconnect from her brain.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's all right." Felix said, but his voice was brimming with curiosity.

Talia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Let's just keep this between us all right?" At Felix's nod, she continued. She gave him a brief background on Akatosh, the Amulet of Kings, and the Dragonfires. She told him that the death of the emperor and his heirs meant that nobody could light the Dragonfires, allowing Mehrunes Dagon to open his portals and lay siege to Cyrodiil. She spoke with a strange tone of detachment as she told him about Martin Septim, the Blades and the Hero of Kvatch. He didn't need to know it was her, and she spoke of the Hero as if she were a different person.

Felix looked utterly fascinated, and he had a lot of questions about the Mysterium Xarxes and the ritual that they did to open the path to Paradise, and Talia humored him. When she reached the end, speaking about how Martin used the Amulet of Kings, and how the Hero of Kvatch was given the honor of being the seventh Champion of Cyrodiil, Felix gasped.

"What?" Talia asked in confusion

"You did all that?"

"What?" she repeated dumbly.

"Flemeth called you the Champion of Cyrodiil," he reminded her, and Talia resisted the urge to smack herself. "That's you...isn't it?"

"Yes," she laughed bitterly. "That's me." She took a deep breath, and when she met Felix's eyes, she was taken aback. He didn't look like he was meeting a celebrity; he didn't look at her as if she was a hero. His dark eyes were full of sympathy, and Talia had to look away from such kindness.

"I suppose it makes more sense now that you were the one they sent to check on the Oblivion portal by this...god of madness," Felix changed the subject, and Talia grasped onto it gratefully.

"It wasn't only that," she paused. Well, he already knew she was a mage, there was no need to hide it. "I am the...Archmage of the Cyrodiil Mages Guild."

At this Felix gaped. "You must be an extremely accomplished mage, to be Archmage at such a young age."

Talia raised an eyebrow. "How old do you think I am?"

Felix gave her a scrutinizing look before he shrugged. "Late twenties? Early thirties maybe, but it's a bit of a stretch."

Talia chuckled, but didn't elaborate when Felix furrowed his brow at her. He didn't need to know she was older than his father. "Because of these unique qualifications, I decided to investigate the portal myself. And well…" She looked to the side, where she'd placed the Wabbajack. "I've had dealings with Sheogorath before."

Felix followed her gaze and did a double take. "That staff is from him? No wonder its effects are so unpredictable. What's it called again? The Warbler?"

Snorting, Talia corrected him. "The Wabbajack."

"Yes that." He shook his head. "I fondly recall the time I accidentally turned a bear into a chicken. It feels like it was yesterday, even if it happened just a few hours ago."

Talia grinned at him, and she didn't even have to fake it. "Yes, the way you flailed as you slipped on that tree root will forever be embedded in my memory."

The two shared a laugh over it. It was strange how she felt completely at ease with him, even if they barely knew each other. Perhaps it was a combination of how kind he was, and how she was too tired to keep up her facade.

"Going back to your story though. How did you get out of the Fade?"

Talia hesitated, unsure if she should tell Felix what really happened. In the end, she decided against it. "I don't fully remember. There was something chasing me, a bright light at the end of the stairs, and a woman reaching out to me."

"Most assume that she was Andraste, correct?"

"It's how I was given the title Herald." She nodded.

"And what did the rest of the Inquisition think about it? I would think the Left and Right Hands of the Divine had something to say about it? How did they take your arrival?"

Talia recalled Cassandra's rage and Leliana's cold eyes. "Very badly."

"Is that why you asked me to keep an eye out for any reports being sent?" He asked.

"At this point, they know nothing about me. I kept quiet almost the entire time we were stabilizing the Breach. I understand that I am the most solid lead they had on figuring out the Divine's death, even if I truly had no hand in it. And I look strange, different. I appeared at such an inconvenient time that they had no choice but to put the blame on me. They don't trust me; they can't.

"If Harding tells Leliana that I'm running around the Hinterlands with a Tevinter, she would demand answers. And it would only serve to put a strain on our already weak working relationship."

"How did you even convince her not to include you in their reports?" He looked at her in askance.

Talia sighed. "I cast a spell on her."

"A coercion spell?" he narrowed his eyes at her.

"No."

"A compulsion spell then?"

"No."

"What was it then?" He sounded tense, and Talia realized he thought she must have used the dreaded blood magic yet again.

"I didn't use blood magic," she replied calmly.

"I didn't say—,"

"You're implying it." She gave him a hard look, and he had the grace to look a bit ashamed. "It was a spell that allowed me to transmit a few ideas into her head. Once you plant that seed, it grows on its own; the idea branches out, and she comes up with her own thoughts based on it."

"What's the point of only putting in ideas? Why not just compel her to do something?"

"Because this way, it's undetectable. Harding's reasoning is her own, her thoughts are her own. It's impossible to find out that someone had planted these ideas in her mind, especially since I pretended to talk her out of it." She shrugged. "Even if Leliana suspects I did something, she'd know it was fully Harding's plan and decision."

"...I don't like it."

"You don't have to." Talia resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"It is quite brilliant, though," he admitted begrudgingly. "I've never heard of any spell like that."

Of course he hadn't, she'd invented it after all. There was an uncomfortable silence, before Felix spoke again.

"So where do we go from here?"

"I intend to speak with Leliana after my other-self, if she's still there, leaves Haven. Other than that, I'm not entirely sure."

"I'm sure your other self is still there. As is mine," he said confidently.

"What makes you so certain?"

"Are you familiar with any time travel theories?"

Talia looked down pensively. "There are a few. Time magic was never my area of expertise, so I rarely studied it. There were three main ones. The first was that you reversed everything that happened, a clean slate, so to speak, and you can change the future into something new. In that theory, you return to your earlier consciousness, as there's only ever one of you in every instance. The second is returning in a separate body. However, every action you take only leads to the same output—the same future. You cannot change what has already happened. The third is similar to the second, except that you can change things, since you're a separate entity from the you in that timeline."

Felix nodded. "It's quite obvious that we didn't return to our earlier consciousness. If that were so, you'd be in Haven, and I'd be on a ship on my way here. So, we can take out the first theory. We'd just have to verify whether we can actually change things or not. However, I'm inclined to believe we can't."

Talia rubbed her chin. "It would be more convenient if that were the case," she said. "But in any event, perhaps it's better if we stay away from our other selves and let things happen." She doubted they'd be able to do so. Knowing herself, she wouldn't be able to resist the urge to try and change a few things. But it didn't hurt to try, she supposed.

"What are we going to do then? We can't hide under a rock for the next four months," he said wryly.

"No," Talia agreed. "We're going to use this extra time to recruit."

"Recruit? For the Inquisition?" he asked.

"We need better defense from the templar threat and Corypheus. When we left for Redcliffe, a small group of templars were already on their way to Haven. I don't know if they were planning to launch an assault after that."

"It's true, we do need more people." Talia noticed how Felix lumped himself together with the Inquisition without batting an eye. "But how are we going to go about it? We can't send them to Haven, Sister Leliana, as you said, would be suspicious. Where would we go that both the Elder One's forces and the Inqusition's won't find us?"

Talia smiled as a thought occurred to her. "I have an idea."

She was going to see if Fen'Harel's words had any truth to them. It was time to pay a visit to Skyhold.

A/N: Whew. This chapter was certainly...talky. Though I do really think it's important that Felix and Talia have this discussion. There will be more of them interacting in future chapters, talking about magic, gods, the afterlife and all that tripe.

NightlyRowenTree: I like Felix as a character, and we don't see him often since he's usually dead early on in fics. Which is why I'm giving him a major role in this one. I'm glad you're liking it so far.

Broken Death Trap: Thanks so much for your kind words! 1) I'm still thinking about it, since I've never played any of the DLC. 2) Not any time soon ;D

QueenE: Thanks a lot! I think Talia is smart enough not to do that ;)

BananaKing88: Thank you! I appreciate it!

Vsama: Yep, in the future chapters.

Cyclone160: Thanks so much! Your reviews always make me so happy :D

ForgottenGrimoire: Yep :P

Drgyen: Thanks! I am considering it, actually.

METALHELLSPWN: Well, here's hoping you still continue reading. :)

Guest: Thanks so much!

Imminent: Well, here's her initial plan. It will still change and evolve as the story goes, though.

Iskandar06: Thank you!