Fae's plan to hide out in her room when she wasn't needed did not go as well as she'd hoped. Having your own permanent private quarters, it turned out, meant that everyone knew where to find you. Sometimes it was an agent arriving to summon her for council meetings or to warn her that the Inquisitor's party was ready to depart, and sometimes it was when the healers needed an extra pair of magic-wielding hands.

Word had also spread about her ability to draw memories from keepsakes, so occasionally someone would show up at Fae's door to ask her if she could See anything from some pendant, or piece of armour. Fae obliged, although the frequent misconceptions about what she could do saw her dash the hopes of her visitors more often than not. She found herself having to explain over and over again that no, she couldn't see the future, she couldn't always tell who the people in her visions were just by seeing them, nor could she pick and choose what she saw based on what the person might have hoped she would see.

As much as she wanted to help these people, their frustration with her for not being the all-knowing oracle the rumours made her out to be took its toll, leaving her moodier than ever. She ended up spending more and more time at the tavern, hanging around the Chargers. Their constant chatter, combined with the drinking, reminded her of Kirkwall, although the Herald's Rest tavern was much better lit. If she closed her eyes, and ignored the nagging feeling that the Iron Bull was watching her every move, just like his brethren in Kirkwall, it was almost like being back in The Hanged Man. And besides, the Chargers welcomed her with open arms, in spite of her stout refusal to drink anything stronger than apple cider.

One evening, Fae returned to her room to find a wooden plaque hanging off a string nailed to the door, with the words 'Fuck off' carved haphazardly into it. Heart sinking, she turned it over. The other side read 'What?' in the same jagged writing.

"Do you like it?" Sera asked, hopping nimbly down from the roof and nearly giving Fae a heart attack. "I heard people keep coming to bother you with their problems, and it's driving you batty, so I made you a shop sign. Blackwall showed me how to write on the wood with a knife. Now people will know when you're available, or when to fuck off," she giggled, pointing to the sign to illustrate the point.

Fae smiled tiredly. "Thanks, Sera. Who told you I was going crazy, out of curiosity?"

"Uh, it was… I dunno, can't remember. That's weird," Sera pouted.

"Was it Cole?"

"It was!" Sera snapped her fingers. "He spouted some rubbish about your head being too fogged up with other people's feelings, and something about hiding… I don't know, it made sense at the time. Weird that I forgot about that, like, whole conversation."

Fae nodded. "Solas says he's a spirit of compassion, and spirits can make people forget about them. It is weird that he's a proper person though. Spirits outside the Fade are usually kind of floaty, you know?"

"Creeepy," Sera shuddered. "Wait, then why didn't you forget about him too? Is that another mage thing?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Pulling, playing, puzzling. She sees them but they don't see her. They act out the parts like spirits, but they're not spirits, they were people," a familiar figure appears next to them, face obscured by his broad-rimmed hat.

Sera let out a surprised shout. "Oh, piss off, Cole! Don't expect me to keep doing favours if you keep creeping up on me like that," she yelled, storming away. "And stop making me forget you pissing exist!"

"She's not very angry," Cole said uncertainly, tilting his head up to see from under his hat.

"I don't think so, no," Fae assured him. "But she has a point."

"She wants to help people, you want to help people. So do I."

"I know. And you are," Fae tapped the new sign hanging on her door. "This helps. Thanks."

The next morning, with the sign set to 'what?,' Fae had just finished getting dressed when there was a single knock at the door. "Coming!"

This was answered by further knocking, this time much louder. "Fasta vass, I'm coming!" She flung open the door. Waiting for her was a lean man, a scout, perhaps, or a soldier. Behind him, leaning heavily on her crutches and looking a little ruffled, was Lia, with another young elven woman by her side.

"My Lady Seer, we were here fir—" Lia began quickly, but the young man interrupted.

"Quiet, girl. Seer, I have a message from Commander Cullen," he said imperiously, handing her a tightly-rolled note.

"Come inside, Lia, Lia's friend," she murmured as she unravelled the note.

"Commander Cullen also requests your presence." the man added.

"What's your name, soldier?"

"Erik, uh, my lady."

"Were you a templar, Erik?" Fae asked, scanning quickly over the note.

"I was, my lady."

Fae smiled, tearing the note into little pieces. "Ser Erik, be so kind as to inform your Commander that the next templar he sends to my door, will be returned to him in an urn," she said casually, flipping the door sign and strolling inside. The door shut behind her with a satisfying click, and Fae sighed. "Sorry about that, Lia. Someone who's given as much as you have to the cause deserves better than to be referred to as 'girl.'"

Lia shrugged, smiling wanly from where she sat at the tea table. "Gave my whole right leg, in fact. It's alright. I've been called worse."

"Haven't we all," Fae said begrudgingly. "And who's your friend? You can sit down, I'll pull up a chair," she offered to the other girl, as she dragged the chair from her desk over.

"My name is Violet, mademoiselle," the girl said in a heavy Orlesian accent. "I have heard you can perform miracles. You can see the past, non? As long as you have an object connected to that past, that is what Lia has told me," she said hopefully, digging in her satchel and pulling out something wrapped in cloth.

"I can. I mean, I can try, but it doesn't always work, it depends on the object," Fae cautioned.

"Would this work?" Violet unwrapped the parcel, revealing a very muddy toy rabbit. She handed it to her carefully, as if it might burst into flames.

Fae ran her hand over the rabbit's fabric ears. "I think so. Give me some time, I'll tell you what I see, if anything."

Lia leaned forward, curious. She'd heard the stories, of course, but she hadn't actually seen Fae experience a vision before. She half-expected Fae's eyes to glow red, or roll back into her head, or something equally as scary, but they didn't. Her gaze just softened, as if she was lost in thought, and occasionally she would look around the room as if she was seeing it for the first time. Then she closed her eyes, and kept them closed for a few moments before opening them again.

"I'm back," she joked softly.

Now it was Violet's turn to lean forward excitedly. "What did you see?"

"It was smoky, and red…a fire, probably," Fae described. "There was shouting and screaming, too, but it was distant. There was a soldier nearby- at least, I think it was a soldier. They were wearing armour I didn't recognise."

"With a big feather on their helmet?"

"Yes."

Violet nodded grimly. "A chevalier. Did you see anything else?"

"There was a little girl, singing. She was walking down the road, with one hand covering her eyes, and the other holding someone else's hand."

"What was the song?" Violet asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure, she was singing in Orlesian." Fae hummed a few notes to demonstrate, and Violet's eyes lit up.

"Yes, that is her! Did you see who was holding her hand?"

"Not exactly. There was too much smoke, I could really only see the outline of the person next to her."

Violet looked somewhat defeated. "I don't suppose…you could look again?"

Fae shook her head, handing the rabbit back. "After it's played out, a vision just begins to repeat, faster and faster until it's just glimpses, like pictures. It wouldn't show me any more than it already has. Does it make any sense to you, what I saw?"

Violet hugged the rabbit to her chest. "About a year ago, Empress Celene and her forces came into the slums of Halamshiral, our home. They destroyed everything. At first it was just one section, where the insurgents were fighting, but after the empress herself left, her men destroyed everything. Some of us escaped, but I was separated from ma petite soeur—" her voice broke. "Pardon, my little sister. I have been looking for her ever since. I only found her doll," she held up the rabbit. "She must have dropped it in all the chaos."

Fae put her hand over Violet's. "I hope you find her. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"Non, you have helped, mademoiselle," Violet insisted, eyes shining through unshed tears. "What you saw, that was the aftermath. It proves she is still alive, and she is not alone out there. Merci, mademoiselle Faellathi, truly."

As Lia and Violet said their farewells at the door, Ellethir arrived, and was immediately flustered by the choruses of 'good day, Inquisitor.'

"Varric's very top secret special guest has arrived," she announced. "Leliana sent word. They're waiting up on the eastern ramparts."

"They're your very top secret special guest, not mine, what do you need me for?" Fae asked.

"I thought you might know who it is."

"I could make a guess, but if I'm right, I'm not sure how she can help with Corypheus."