Chapter Text
They fell into the Fade.
For a moment Taliesin thought he might fall flat on his face, but managed to twist around to fall onto his back. It still knocked the breath out of him. He let out a groan and looking up to see Hawke standing sideways. After shaking his head, Hawke continued to stand sideways.
“So much for trying to avoid falling into the Fade,” Hawke said. “I’m disappointed. It’s nothing like I was promised.”
“Perhaps we’re in the wrong part of the Fade,” Taliesin said, struggling to his feet. The entire place looked like all different kinds of ruins pressed together. A miserable looking place with enough things twisted just lightly out of shape to make it even more uncomfortable. The green light didn’t help anything.
“This is amazing. I didn’t think you’d actually be able to do this,” Solas said before pointing out into the distance. “Look, you can even see the Black City. If only we could go there.”
Brushing himself off, Dorian said, “I’d rather get out and come back into the Fade the normal way. We all know what happened last time someone made it to the Black City.”
“Which is through the rift, if I correctly recall what you said,” Stroud said, looking out into the distance. “There.”
“Right.” He shook off his left hand which now prickled strangely instead of hurting, before heading out in that direction. They spread out loosely, keeping an eye out for trouble. Alec stayed in the middle, near Taliesin. “How are you doing?”
“I don’t like it. I feel weird.”
“Me too.” He gave him a one armed hug, avoiding stumbling over a rock. “We’ll get out and we’ll stop feeling weird.”
They walked, the only one not completely nervous being Solas who acted as if they were taking a walking tour, theorizing all sorts of things. Why they were still alive - Taliesin’s mark somehow. Pointing out all the things that marked it as the lair of a nightmare demon. Varric decided he was glad he couldn’t dream if this is what it normally looked like. It didn’t. He didn’t believe them.
Then the strangest… stranger…? An even stranger? thing happened after they had their first fight with demons. Pulling the Fade for magic felt strange here, it came easier to him, sliding and shaping as he wished with barely a thought. And when they were all dissipated Dorian said, “I don’t wish to alarm you amatus, but you’re glowing. And not in the healthy manner.”
“I what?” He held out his hands to discover he was glowing Fade green. It quickly flickered and died out returning him to his normal colors.
“Fascinating!” Solas said, grabbing his left hand. “What was it the spirit said about you? You were Fade touched?”
Looking at his own hands, Alec said, “I didn’t glow. Why didn’t I glow? The spirit said the same about all of us.”
“Perhaps it’s because you don’t have the anchor, which connects your uncle more strongly to the Fade than you,” Solas said, “Given enough time here, you may as well begin to do the same.”
Eyes widening, Alec met Taliesin’s own eyes. “I’d rather get out before that happens.”
“I agree. I don’t want to change Bard Boy and Sparky’s names to Glowy and Glowy Jr.”
Alec began walking rapidly towards the rift. As the best idea, they others followed.
Running into the spirit of Justina was more disconcerting than glowing. It was facing the return of his memories. He tried talking to her, getting information, but she always deflected his questions, urging him to gather his memories - which would answer all his questions - and it didn’t matter what she was, she was just helping them. Was she like this in life? He’d have to ask Cassandra and Leliana when they returned.
They would return to the real world.
Regaining the memories was bad.
There had been a calmness and confidence as he walked through those back ways of the temple. One he’d not felt since those moments. He had time before the conclave began to scope out the area, looking for places people might hide for conversations, or good places to watch. He was in his element. Knew exactly what to do.
The noise, the screaming, caught his attention. Of course. And he ran towards it, guitar banging against his back. The slight twang of the strings with every bounce. The last song it would ever play. Skidding into the room to see something that would of been brilliant blackmail.
Which is the most ridiculous thing to think in the situation.
Someone was trying to sacrifice the Divine and he was thinking about blackmail. Where were his priorities?
At least the memories only revealed his actions and not his thoughts. Especially since everyone saw them. He looked brave in the memory. Calling out and grabbing the orb. Trying to stop the sacrifice from happening.
“That was something,” Blackwall said.
“It wasn’t Andraste that gave you the mark, but the orb.” That came from Stroud.
Taliesin already knew that, sort of, from what Corphyus said. He just didn’t remember it. Now he remembered it. “Dumb luck.” He laughed.
“Maker’s luck,” Alec said, barely audible; Taliesin laughed harder.
“Or that.” Stroud looked at them as if they were both mad. Taliesin waved it off. “I’ll explain later.”
More demons.
More fearlings.
More questioning if their helper was actually Justina or not. Taliesin decided he didn’t care. She was helping them. The glowing worried Taliesin more. Each time it happened, it took longer to go away. Alec started glowing, not as brightly nor as long, but still…
When he asked Justina about it she said, “It is not something I can answer.”
She didn’t know, he took it to mean.
It didn’t matter.
He stopped using magic. Or tried to. It still slipped from him whenever he moved in combat. Even when they were exploring the Fade, as he moved around, running or interacting with things.
Fade touched.
The Nightmare decided to get in on the upsetting people by calling them out, trying to get into their heads. It got Taliesin and Alec at the same time saying that Taliesin would never be able to protect Alec, he brought him there to die.
“Die in a fire,” Alec snarled, roasting some demons into a crisp. Nowhere as dramatic as that one in the outside world, but still impressive. Taliesin managed not to smile.
He didn’t like the spiders.
Why did it have to be spiders?
Apparently others had worse things.
Then there was the graveyard. Taliesin shouldn’t have stopped to look, but he’d been looking at everything. Any little bit helped. It wasn’t helpful. Each tombstone had the names of his companions - minus Stroud and Hawke and their greatest fears. Alec’s was ‘loss of control’. He touched that one lightly, starting to glow again.
“Amatus?” Dorian called out. “We need to keep going.”
“Yes. Of course. I’m sorry I keep on getting distracted.” He trotted over. “Which way were we going again?”
“That one’s up to you, bard boy. You’re the one with the magical mark.”
“Right. Right.” He looked out and saw more memories to gather.
The other part. When he was in the Fade the first time. He watched himself run, scrambling. The guitar still on his back, until he slipped and fell, some of those spiders grasping it and it yanking free from his back. Something cracking. He bit his lip watching it, stomach twisting as he watched the last remembent of his old life fall into the Fade. Grasping the figure who looked like Justina’s hand. All he could remember there was blind terror, confusion. Trying to get out. He needed to get out.
Nothing else mattered.
And everyone saw it.
He didn’t look at the others, not wanting to see their expressions.
“So it wasn’t Justina,” Stroud said, “Just a spirit.”
“Which we knew.”
“It doesn’t matter what they are, they still helped.” Taliesin wanted to keep going.
Hawke and Stroud decided to start arguing about the worth of the Grey Wardens. The others tossing in their own opinions.
“Will everyone shut. Up!? Maker help me. We can argue about the fate of the Grey Wardens when we get back out,” Taliesin snapped.
Stroud turned to him. “And are you going to decide our fate, Inquisitor? You say your counterpart on the other world sent us away as being too dangerous. Under what authority do you have to do so?”
“Well, I would imagine it’s the great big army fighting the demons and Wardens,” Hawke said. “I don’t think there will be much of the Grey Wardens left after this is done.”
“Oh. Yes. I have an army. That’s a good reason to listen to what a person says.”
“It’s worked with everyone else,” Varric said.
“Inquisitor, you can’t be thinking about exiling the Grey Wardens?” Blackwall asked him, eyes wide.
“Right now I’m tempted to leave both of you in the Fade,” he snapped. “I have been trying to figure out what to do since I found out about it, but again this is not the time nor the place to argue!”
“The Inquisitor has a point,” Dorian said, “We’ve attracted some demons while we argued. Also, Taliesin is glowing again.”
“This is getting silly,” Taliesin muttered, glad for the distraction of demons. Which was not a thought he’d expect to ever have. Because he didn’t know what to do about the Grey Wardens. Corphyus proved they were dangerous because it could grab control over them using the blight. What happened if someone else did it in the future. On the other hand they were good at fighting Darkspawn.
On the other, other, hand, what right did he have to exile them? He was the Inquisitor, leader of the Inquisition. Not the Grey Wardens. It wasn’t his place.
Eventually, they found their way to the Nightmare - who helpfully told them that if it’s defeated the demon army outside would also be broken - and the way out. There was the smaller nightmare aspect and then the larger one. The sleeping one that the spirit in Justina’s form held onto.
The one that Evelyn told him about. He was glowing, though not as much as Justina, and he felt the power of the Fade just rippling around him. He felt like there was something just beyond that he could grab.
“Alec, can you do a wall?” he asked as they fought the smaller aspect. “Of fire? Or something?”
“I… yes… I can. Now?”
“No. When I say so.”
As soon as the smaller aspect went down - and everyone was looking like they wanted to keel over, the larger one began to stir, Justina no longer able to hold it. The rift home was so close, only a few running strides. If they weren’t careful, however they could get cut off.
“Everyone! Get out!” he yelled. “Alec, wall. Now. Big as you can.”
Taliesin really hoped this would work. Earlier in the day when he did that massive column of flame, Alec was relatively fresh. Now, after an unknown period of time, after near continuous fighting, Alec looked tired. Glowing, but tired. But if Alec was really as strong as he thought, as they told him, he should have enough to make one final barrier.
Hawke and Stroud stopped running to watch as Alec reached into the Fade and pull out a wall of flame straight in front of the nightmare. It was hot, and the demon screeched in pain, testing the flames uncertainly with all its many eyes. One thing that Taliesin kept on thinking about in the back of his mind the entire time they were in Fade, was the mutable nature of the Fade. How it bent to a person’s will. How reality was optional when they were in there. How he’d felt more and more like the Fade itself as they’d been running.
Fade Touched.
Surely that meant he could do more with the Fade than an ordinary person.
Now was the time to find out.
As the flames went up, he reached out into the mutability of the Fade and willed the flames to freeze up into an actual wall. He expected the Fade to protest more than it did, not wanting to change to his will. But… reality was optional… reality was mutable here… it became what you expected of it.
He wanted it to turn the flames to force.
It did. Slowly. Because there was a lot of Fade and people’s expectations on what should be still happening so close to the rift. It pulled at him, making him glow brighter and greener, but it snapped into place.
He didn’t know how long it would hold, but it would hold long enough for them to get out. Hawke had Alec, who’d passed out, in his arms and Stroud caught him as he stumbled forward.
But they got out.
Everyone got out.
Falling out of the rift, he tumbled to his feet. Bouncing up, glowing, and reaching out to the rift he’d made. A massive thing. Which he closed without looking at it, destroying the remaining demons. It felt too easy. The fighting stopped.
He still glowed.
He’d deal with that later.
Now, he turned to others.
“Well. There goes the demon army. And good riddance,” Varric said. “Going to be quite the story when it gets out, especially with the whole… glowing thing.”
And it would get out very quickly, from the look of stunned soldiers and wardens around them.
“Yeah. I know. I wouldn’t expect anything else.” The glow faded quickly this time, leaving him back to normal. Thank the Maker. “It’ll be interesting to see where it goes.”
“Speaking of going, Inquisitor,” Stroud said. “What are you planning on doing?” He crossed his arms and scowled at Taliesin.
“Nothing. You’re right. It’s not my place to tell you and the wardens to do anything.”
Stroud nodded. “Thank you Inquisitor.”
“I would, however, like to point out that it was the Grey Wardens who helped kill the Divine, and that were ensnared far too easily by Corphyus’s pull of the blight in you. I am more than happy to deal with Corphyus, that is what I’m doing, but if he manages to get his claws into you again, that will mean I will have to deal with you. I really don’t want to do that.” Taliesin continued, matching the Warden’s pose. “I suggest you find someway to make yourselves scarce but useful. A lot of my people, good people, died because of your mess.”
Here Stroud winced. “I understand. There’s plenty of demons that will need cleaning up. We can do that and free up your people.”
“And steer clear of the venatori,” Hawke muttered behind them, Alec on the ground next to him.
Taliesin nodded his head. “That sounds like a good idea. We can send you reports of demon activity and you can take care of it.”
He heard Solas sigh, but ignored it.
“Thank you, your worship,” Stroud said. “We’ll get Wardens at Weisshaupt up to speed and organized.”
“I look forward to hearing about your activities.” He nodded the warden.
“Oh. And thank you for saving both of us. I know you don’t know me very well, but…”
Smiling, Taliesin said. “I’m just glad my plan worked.”
After Stroud left Hawke approached. “Your nephew’s gone to the healer’s. It’s probably just mana drain.” He didn’t mention the glowing that Alec did. Which was fine.
“Thank you for taking care of him.”
“You did have other things on your mind.” Hawke put his hands on his hips. “I’m going to go with Stroud to Weisshaupt and then we’ll have to see.”
“You’re always welcome to help the Inquisition. It’d be nice to have someone share the attention with.”
Holding out his hand, Hawke said, “I don’t think the Champion of Kirkwall will ever able to take attention away from you after today. But I will keep it in mind.”
Taliesin took the hand, amused at being the one impressing the Champion of Kirkwall than the other way around. “At least keep in touch.”
“I will. Through Varric.” And with that Hawke took his leave, with a half-mocking salute, Varric following him. They quickly started talking to each other.
Thus leaving Taliesin alone with Dorian. A very unhappy Dorian. Turning, he saw that unhappy was putting it mildly. Dorian took two steps to get into Taliesin’s space and jabbed a finger against his chest. “Don’t you dare ever do something like that again. I thought you were dead! Do you have any idea what it felt like to see Hawke coming out of the Fade with only Alec, passed out, and not you?” he snapped. “I couldn’t… I wouldn’t know what to do without you… do you understand me?”
“I… Yes… of course… I should have told you what I was planning, cariad.” Taliesin said, meekly but honestly. “I was afraid if I said it out loud I’d jinx it.”
“Still!”
“You’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Dorian let out a hard breath of air. “Good.” He held up his hands as if to hug Taliesin but decided against it. Apparently still little bit upset.
“I love you too, cariad.” He glanced out over the battlefield and then where the rift had been. Out in the distance he could see the Iron Bull and with him had to be the Chargers and Sera. Cullen was climbing up the stairs with Cassandra and reports. Trevelyn’s comments about having to leave Hawke in the Fade and exiling the Grey Wardens. Of her sacrificing the Chargers. Of him failing to save the dreadnought and the templars. For if he could, he would have helped the templars once he learned what was going on; no one deserved to be tricked by Corphyus and forced into the pain that the red lyrium caused.
And then there was Hawke on one side talking to Varric just outside the gates and Stroud making plans with the remaining wardens. They were both alive. He managed to get them both out.
“I did it,” he said softly.
“Amatus?” Dorian studied his face, a slight frown on his face. “You did what?”
“I saved them.” He grinned, tired, dirty, and wanting to fall over now that he wasn’t do anything. “Hawke and Stroud. I saved them. Trevelyn didn’t think it was possible. I got everyone out alive. Finally.”
Someone might point out that he kept everyone alive in the Winter Palace, but that was playing the game. That was him being Cricket and not Inquisitor. Assassins were essentially unwelcome guests. Assassins were guests in other cases. That was normal and he’d dealt with before. But the part with the Qun, with the templars… with the people looking at him as the Herald of Andraste and their expectations resting heavily on him… those were not part of being a bard. Not of being Cricket. It was being the Inquisitor.
Sure, he - and Alec- glowed in the the Fade… he had no idea what Corphyus was planning on doing now that his demon army was defunct, never mind whatever was happening with Solas and the Dread Wolf thing…. But he managed to take people into the Fade. Alive. And stop an archdemon. While getting everyone out. Alive. No one left behind.
If he could do that… something that humans only did once before in history. Over all the many ages in Thedas’ history… then he could do Corphyus.
“Of course you did. I never doubt you, amatus.”
Leaning his forehead against Dorian’s so they were sweaty and dirty nose to sweaty and dirty nose. “You might not. But I did, cariad. If I could do this then I can do everything else… whatever else that might be.”
“Including marrying me?”
“Well, that part is easy.