Chapter Text
Time is a funny thing. Too little time, and a person gets flustered trying to accomplish everything at once. Too much time, and thoughts could wander into dangerously dark territory. Lina Lavellan found herself in the uncomfortable situation of having both at once. There had been too much time in the two months since that night Solas bared her face and broke her heart. Too many nights to ask herself where she would go and what she would do when Thedas no longer needed the Inquisition.
Even so, two months hardly felt like a drop in the ocean when considering how quickly the ancient magister darkspawn could attack them now that she had interfered in his plans again. She felt the pressure mounting to get the biggest tasks finished in whatever little time remained before facing Corypheus once more, hopefully for the final time.
Lina stood over the war table, focusing on the tokens littering the map as her advisers filed out of the room. It had been more than a week since she and Morrigan had returned from Mythal's shrine with the answer to defeating the twisted beast that served Corypheus. Still, the Inquisitor had waited until the last of Leliana's ravens returned from the field. As she suspected, the final message which arrived that morning revealed that all of the rifts had been dealt with. Now all that remained were Corypheus himself and a few trifling matters that could be handled just as easily by a blind nug as by the inquisitor herself.
Satisfied that she had done all she could before this confrontation, Lina sighed and turned away from the table. The elf turned to one of Skyhold's runners and asked him to deliver a message to each member of her inner circle informing them that the inquisition would confront Corypheus at dawn. She trudged to her room to finish the last of the important paperwork.
There on her desk lay the scattered notes and books on the fade, enchantment, the various circles of Thedas, and tranquility. The books were put to the side, each with their respective notes, as she uncovered the handful of reports she had yet to address. She skimmed through them, signing off on a few requests and suggestions while promptly tossing the two marriage proposals into the fireplace. With the last of the paperwork seen to, Lina crossed the room to her bed and slid her journal out from under the mattress.
12 Justinian, 9:41 Dragon – It looks like tomorrow is going to be it. We face down that warped pile of sentient red lyrium once and for all. If I fall, at least I'll have closed off those blighted rifts. Mostly, I just hope that Morrigan was right about being able to take down his pet dragon. Being honest, that thing gives me the creeps.
Back with my clan, I couldn't have dreamed that this is where I'd end up. If Keeper Deshanna could see her first now, she likely wouldn't recognize me. I'm bare-faced as a babe now, with more scars than I care to count. Some of the shemlen nobles even go so far as to call me “sophisticated for one of my kind.” I'd be lucky if any clan out there would accept me as some flat ear from the city, but I guess I don't even want that. So much has been lost to us and twisted beyond recognition that I'm sure I would just find myself questioning the Keepers anyway.
I've done just about all of the research I could hope to do concerning my potential future after all of this. Clans are out for reasons I've mentioned time and again in these pages. The circles all seem... just wrong. I doubt I could ever be content to just sit around inside all day every day, never really free to do much of anything. Even if Cassandra is elected as Divine, I doubt much will change for a long time. There's really no good place in this world for an elven mage. At least if I am to be locked away somewhere, I would rather not care about it.
I don't think my friends here would understand. I should probably wait until they all move on. That much is inevitable. Varric is heading back to Kirkwall as soon as Corypheus is dealt with. Bull and his Chargers are just here for the job. They'll probably be gone before I can blink with Dorian in tow. Still, I'm glad that he and Iron Bull are so happy together. Vivienne will be going off to help restore order to the Circle. Blackwall is looking to join the Grey Wardens for real. Sera is bound to be off at any moment to continue working with the Red Jenny bunch. Wasn't really expecting her to even stick around this long.
Cole is the only one I'm not too sure about. I've managed to avoid him pretty well so far, but Creators only know how long that will last. Maybe he'll go off with Varric or Solas, but it's hard to tell with him. He means well. Wherever he ends up, I'm sure he'll be helping people. I wonder what he thinks of the Tranquil. Many of the books say that the Tranquil are invisible to Fade spirits, but there are a few theories out there that say demons are just less likely to notice them. Guess I'll be finding out.
Enough writing for today. I need to go to the Undercroft to get that final fitting for my new mage armor. Dagna's been a great help with the masterworks and runes. Maybe I can help her when all is said and done...
– Inquisitor Lina Lavellan