Amy Dallon, Herald of Andraste

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: This story is a crossover (in the form of an Isekai) between Worm, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. While the only character from Worm actually 'appearing onscreen' will be Amy Dallon AKA Panacea, the teenage healing superheroine with more issues than a Hudson News and more Baggage than an Airport, Amy's many many issues will be pretty central to the story and since most of the story will be her POV, central to what you the reader see. As such, people who only know Dragon Age will probably be somewhat lost, but you're welcome to give the fic a go and see how you feel. I'm always happy to answer questions.

Worm fans shouldn't need to have much familiarity with Dragon Age to appreciate this fic, as most things about Thedas will be revealed to Amy as the story goes on. But feel free to ask questions. If you know both media, great, welcome aboard!

While given that this takes Amy from mid-Arc 5 of Worm, give or take, it shouldn't matter as much, I will make clear that my general policy on Wildbow's Words of God and the text of Ward is that I'll incorporate facts from either into my understanding of the characters as derived from the text of Worm on a very case-by-case basis. My interpretation of Amy is primarily derived from the text of Worm, and is in keeping with my understanding of the character in said text. You may or may not agree with said interpretation, Amy is a fairly divisive character, with many mutually incompatible understandings of her. I will listen to all good faith critique or suggestions about how to get her right, but it may be that our understandings of her differ. Happens.

In the interest of honesty, If you're one of those people who thinks Amy cannot get better or think she's a fundamentally bad person even before her breakdown in and after Interlude 11h, you may want to not read this fic. This fic is and will be sympathetic to Amy... she will be a bitch a good bit... just not only a bitch. Critique that just consists of accusations that I am writing 'Woobie Amy' will be summarily laughed at and ignored. Again, Constructive, good faith criticism about the characterization of Amy or anyone else is always welcome, though I may not ultimately agree with it. All other forms of constructive criticism are also welcome, with the same caveat. Also, Amy Dallon can do plants in this fic. If that bothers you, the back button is right there.

Finally, this story and indeed the larger series will spend a great deal of time on Amy's many, many issues - from her self-loathing, to her issues with overwork and burnout, her fear of her power, her belief she's damned to be a villain like her biological father, her romantic feelings and attraction to her adoptive sister, her relationship with her adoptive mother, et cetera. Especially early on, it may feel fairly repetitive in that regard, as Amy is prone to spiraling cycles of anxiety and guilt. As the fic goes on, and she has more separation from her toxic home life and starts to get a handle on things, she will get better. She will never be entirely 'fixed', because that's not how anything works. But she will get better, and her various issues will start to move into the background and get less focus - she may still have bad days and bad thoughts, et cetera, but they will get less and less screen time.

With all that out of the way (and thanks to Null for beta-reading this chapter), on with the fic!

Amy Dallon, Herald of Andraste

By Kylia

Chapter 1​

The first thing Amy noticed as she slowly felt herself waken was the cold, hard stone under her. Hard to miss, really.

The next thing was a sudden, sharp stabbing feeling in her hand. She cried out, pulling her hand towards her, trying to curl up around it, screwing her still-closed eyes shut tighter as if that would help, and that's when she noticed the manacles around her wrists, connected by a length of chain.

Amy's throat clenched, heart stilled for a moment as she registered that thought, registered what chains meant. You didn't chain someone who wasn't a prisoner.

Her eyes snapped open, the pain in her hand fading out, dulling. She was lying almost facedown on some sort of stone floor. She heard breathing nearby, she wasn't alone. She felt her pulse race, breath quickening now.

Where am I? Why am I chained?

Amy looked around as much as she could, trying to calm her breathing, trying to stop from panicking, trying to -

The room she was in was all stone - stone blocks or bricks under her, what she could see of the walls, except for a wooden door with a barred window. Whole space was lit by flicking torches - torches! - along the walls, but that fire didn't really do much to make the room feel any warmer.

"She's awake," she heard a voice - it sounded almost British, but not. Definitely English though. She looked to the source of it, and saw a man in some sort of leather armor - maybe more metal bits, but a coat was covering most of his torso - and a metal helmet, all right out of a fantasy movie.

No, not one man, she realized, as she heard footsteps from all around her. She turned her head to the side, still flat on the ground, and saw another one. They had swords on their belts too, and then with an almost uniform sound, she heard them all being drawn.

"Get up. On your knees," one of them barked. "Move slowly," he added. This one wasn't the one who had spoken earlier, or the one she was looking at now.

Amy sucked in air again, then struggled to comply, not wanting to feel like what those swords would be like. Swords - who the fuck used swords? Chevalier did, right? But his was, like, some weird gun-sword thing? Maybe? Wasn't that what Vicky had said once?

Sometimes people with certain powers used swords, but there were at least three people here, two of them wearing similar armor -

Tinkertech alloys? Into swords? That -

Amy pushed herself up into a kneeling position, gasping as the pain in her hand flared again for a moment - just a moment - and she realized now her left hand was covered in glowing green lines.

"What the fuck?" Amy felt herself say, not even realizing she was saying it until she was done.

"The prisoner is awake!" The one that had demanded she get on her knees said, raising his voice. She heard more footsteps, someone running on the other side of the door.

Prisoner. She was a prisoner. Why was she a prisoner?

She closed her eyes again, trying - and failing - to stop herself from hyperventilating as she tried to - remember. She hadn't -

This wasn't the PRT. This wasn't - this wasn't the Birdcage.

They didn't throw you away because they knew what you could do, what you are, what you're really like-

Amy bit the inside of her cheek, trying - and failing - to control her breathing.

She was a prisoner. She didn't know who had her - it wasn't the PRT or E88 or the ABB... definitely not the Merchants.

What was the last thing she remembered?

Hospital. That - that old Chinese guy. He'd had one of Bakuda's bombs in his neck and I was trying to get it out without setting it off...

Right. She'd been dealing with Bakuda's audition for a kill order as she'd set her crazy fucking tinkertech bombs off all over the city, using suicide bombers and not caring who died in the process. Amy had been at the hospital, dealing with casualties, with people who had had their hands turned to ice and their eyes inverted or one of a hundred other horrifying things happen to them when a man had been brought in, speaking Chinese, but one of the nurses had translated - Bakuda had put a bomb in him, and - then -

It was nearly out of him and then -

An explosion. And then -

Amy's memory was pretty blurry after that, just - flashes. Snow and then giant black widow spiders the size of Hellhound's dogs and then -

Nothing. Just waking up, now. With these - these renfaire rejects all pointing their swords at her.

"Who - who are you?" Amy debated trying to stand - but she held back. "Where am I? Why am I here? Why am I chained?"

"Be quiet," there were four of them, standing around her like the corners of a square.

"Why? Answer my question?" Amy demanded, inhaling sharply. First Skitter at the bank, and now here? Her hand glowed bright and the stabbing pain in her hand was back with a vengeance. She cried out again, nearly screaming, eyes screwing shut, tears -

She panted, breath coming shallow, short. She'd been hurt before, sure, scrapes and bruises and all that, but nothing - nothing like this. She'd never been stabbed, but she sure felt like she was now, pain driving right into her hand, through her hand, emanating right through it...

She clenched her teeth, nearly biting her tongue, struggling to open her eyes, blinking away tears as she looked down at her hand. The weird glowing lines on her hand, looking like veins - but in all the wrong places to actually be veins - were brighter now, dull green going to a bright, almost neon color. She sucked in air, or tried to, chest rising and falling rapidly as she struggled to - struggled to think through the pain.

This is Bakuda's fault. That fucking - she was going to fuck that psychotic tinker up so much. She was going - she could give her cancer or hit her with some sort of flesh-eating parasite that wouldn't kill her but it would hurt so much and then -

She relaxed her jaw and looked at the - guards? - around her. She was getting sick of being held prisoner, of people pointing sharp, pointing objects at her or pressing knives to her neck...

At least these guys have exposed faces.

"Why are you holding me prisoner? Who are you people?!" Amy demanded. "Where am I?"

"Haven," one of the guards said.

"Haven? Where is Haven?" Wasn't Haven the name of some religious team in the south? Christian capes or something? But these people didn't sound Southern, they sounded British. Sorta.

They didn't say anything.

She was a prisoner. Somehow. For some reason. These people had to be like, the minions of a Tinker with some sort of medieval specialty. They were probably in one of those old ruined castles that were in England.

So I teleported somewhere with snow - England has lots of that right? And it was the territory of this villain and his gang and -

Yeah. That made sense. Or - it - it sorta made sense. The beginnings of sense. But - it was a terrible idea for anyone to take her prisoner. Even if she had just landed in their territory. She was wearing her costume, and Panacea was internationally known, at least in costume, in cape circles. She was the most powerful, versatile healer in the world.

There was a reason why no one in the Bay or anyone else had tried to kidnap her though, and apparently these idiots hadn't made the connection. Fine, she'd vanished thanks to one of Bakuda's bombs, but she obviously wasn't dead and her sister would raise hell until she was found, and... and Carol would -

Carol wouldn't let an attack against New Wave like this stand. She'd call in favors, get Thinkers to figure out where she was... someone would come to rescue her.

"You guys are idiots, right, you know that? Taking Panacea prisoner?"

"You know, when my family finds out where I am, they're going to destroy you guys. I've seen what Glory Girl can do to someone when she's angry. And Brandish? She'll cut your fucking arms off."

The guards didn't say anything to her. They didn't seem like they recognized the names either.

Okay. That - that -

"Maybe you haven't heard of New Wave, maybe you haven't even heard of me, but seriously, let me go now, and you'll get out of this intact. The PRT probably won't be happy when they find out you're holding me prisoner either." Amy added. Nothing. Fucking Skitter had been more responsive when Amy had threatened her. And that creepy bug bitch had been cold.

But anyone who could sic black widows on random people in a bank was likely to be cold.

"And if you don't let me go, I'll fucking give you all cancer.." Amy said, starting to stand, snarling the words out. One of the guards pressed his sword against her back, and Amy stilled.

"Get back down. Don't move."

"You. I'll give you multiple cancers, and I'll make you all impotent!" Amy added, looking over her shoulder at that one. "I can make it so you can never get hard again! Let me go!"

"Get. Down." The blade pressed against her back harder, and then she felt another one tapping her neck. Amy nodded slowly, lowering back down to her knees.

"I fucking mean it," Amy growled, though she didn't move. "I'll give you cancer and worse if you don't let me go. Assuming my family or the PRT doesn't get to you fir-"

Her hand glowed and the pain radiated up her arm this time, but still focused on her hand, the stabbing pain, a knife being driven through it, and Amy tried to double over, but the chain and the swords all around her, close - and she let out a strangled sob, trying to hold back tears again, failing again, gasping, unable to catch her breath, unable to breathe, unable to do anything but experience the pain until it started to subside, the lines on her hand slowly starting to go dimmer, - very slowly.

"I don't suppose any of you have any fucking ibuprofen, huh?" Amy demanded, looking at the armored men.

How had she gotten this? How had she - she tried to focus, tried to make sense of her memories. It was too many blank spots but why? How? What had happened?

Snow. The bomb went off, and there was a lot of snow, and then there was - and then - and the green and spiders and a woman and -

Amy hunched over, head down, a throbbing pain suddenly hitting her there now, as if the very act of trying to remember what happened was painful. She shook her head, the few flashes of memory she had hitting her over and over again, playing on repeat-

She heard a door opening, wood and metal scraping against the stone and she looked up, seeing a hallway beyond. It, like this room she was in, was lit only by torches.

Right. Swords. Castle. Medieval-looking tinker shit. Probably uses torches instead of electric lights for the aesthetic. She could see her sister doing something that over the top if she'd had medieval powers. She already wore a crown, the dork.

Two people came into the room. One stayed in the shadows - all Amy could make out was a hood, and that it was definitely a woman. The other was also a woman, dark hair, seemingly cut short - until Amy saw a very finely braided bit curled around the top of her head. She had a piece of armor on - something that covered her torso, looking like an open eye, the middle of a sun? Lines coming out of it.

Amy didn't recognize it, didn't know what it meant, but that - she barely knew the roster of capes in the Bay. It had taken her a few minutes to realize the people robbing the bank had been the Undersiders, and only because Vicky had talked about one of their earlier jobs. Vicky might actually recognize that symbol. She was enough of a cape nerd to have studied capes from all over the world.

Moving nearly as one, the four guards all stepped aside, pulling their swords away from her, giving the black-haired woman room to approach her.

The woman had to be in her 30s, at least. Tall. Commanding. It was hard to tell under her armor and her clothes, but she looked like she was well muscled. Under other circumstances, Amy might even have called her attractive. (Okay, no might about it). But right now, her head throbbing, her hand aching, freezing her ass off in this dungeon, there wasn't much chance of that being a problem now, at least.

Neither woman said anything, the hooded one stepping a little into the light - she had red hair - and the dark haired woman sort of sauntering around behind her.

Good cop, bad cop?

Amy swallowed. More threats moved to the tip of her tongue, more ways she could mention her family, reprisals...

I mean, I've healed heroes for the PRT before, a lot. They're not going to just let me be held prisoner if they can find me. If. That was the big thing.

Would whoever this was try to force her to heal for them? Hold her for ransom? Worse?

Aunt Sarah had given her - and Victoria - the rundown once, when they were ten, on what to do if they got kidnapped. On what to look for, on how to make sure they weren't hurt. She knew threatening people with cancer was probably not on the list, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember what was.

The woman bent down, near her ear, almost breathing down Amy's neck literally.

"Tell me why we shouldn't just kill you now." The woman said in a voice accented differently from the guards.

"What?!" Kill me?! What the fuck?! "Because that's murder!? Because killing a cape, killing Panacea is the kind of thing that would make people land on you like a ton of bricks?! My sister would rip your fucking arms off and beat you to death with them!" Was Europe's cape scene full of murder? She was pretty sure Victoria had said the basic idea of the unwritten rules mostly held true there too...

Right?

"Your sister? So you weren't alone in your crime?" The woman stood, walked around her, standing in front of her, next to the hooded redhead.

"Crime?" Amy wanted to grab at her head, rub at her temples. Her left hand throbbed again, a smaller pulse of pain running through her. What the hell is that? Stupid Manton Limits, stopping her from using her powers on herself. She could figure out what this... glowing green thing was and she could -

Well, she could do a lot, if she not for those things.

"What crime!? I'm not a criminal, and my sister is a hero! She's not a fucking criminal!"

"What crime!? What Crime!?" The woman demanded, sounding offended that Amy would dare to ask the question, as if the answer was obvious, as if she was playing dumb.

Did I - did someone Master me? Make me - and then I forgot because of their power or -

Amy shook her head. No. No. That couldn't be it. This woman had to be nuts, right? Or just - just mistaken?

"The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead." She pointed at Amy. "Except for you."

"What the fuck is the Conclave?" Amy demanded. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Conclaves were something to do with Popes, right? She'd seen that in an Earth Aleph movie once? Was she in Rome? Neither the guards nor the woman sounded Italian...

"You expect us to believe that? When you stumbled out of the Fade? When you were the only one to survive, when Most Holy, when everyone attending the Conclave is dead? When you have this on your hand?" She reached down, gloved hand wrapping around Amy's wrist and pulling her arms up roughly, quickly, the way the chains held them together making the whole thing hurt.

"I have no goddamn clue what that is!" Amy snapped. She looked at the furious expression on the woman's face, trying to put information together. There was a thing - a Conclave. People were dead. She was alive. Had Bakuda's bomb teleported her and the explosion here somehow? Shouldn't the bomb have been the teleport?

"You think - you think I killed people?" She pulled her wrist out of the woman's grip, though mostly she just let Amy go. "I'm a fucking healer!"

Liar.

Amy bit down on the inside of her cheek. She was a healer. Her power could do more, but she didn't do that. She'd never killed anyone, she'd barely hurt anyone - the worst she'd done to anyone with her powers was messing with Skitter via her bugs.

The dark haired woman snorted in disbelief.

"I am! I'm Amy Dallon." No recognition from these two either. "Panacea? Of New Wave? From Brockton Bay?" The dark haired woman showed no signs of recognizing any of that - the Bay was a major city...

But I guess I - mean - I can hardly name all the cities in - wherever the hell we are so...

"Look, just contact the PRT. They can tell you all about me." Amy said.

The redhead didn't seem to recognize anything either, but her expression was a lot more inscrutable. Harder to read. Not that Amy was like, some face-reading expert anyway. If she could have touched either one, she might have been able to get an idea what they were thinking, if they believed her...

But then, if she could touch them, she could do a lot more. She inhaled quickly. A lot she shouldn't do. A lot she couldn't do. But -

I can anesthetize people - that's not - that's not hurting them. It was like when she'd messed with those spiders. They were holding her prisoner. For - for -

You don't know how you got here, what happened since the bomb...

Amy shook her head, rattling her chains as she tried to get her hands at the sides of her head, headache worsening all over again.

No. It wasn't - she couldn't?

"The P... R... T?" The redhead spoke up now, saying the three letters slowly, one by one, brief pauses between, rather than a single acronym. Amy stared, blinking at her. This one sounded - she had a vaguely French accent? But like, a Hollywood French accent, which her French teacher at Arcadia had bitched about once, about how Americans never got French accents right, whatever Earth they were from.

"Yeah. The PRT. You know, Parahuman Response Team?" Amy looked at them both. The dark haired woman opened her mouth to say something, but the redhead held out her hand, and the dark haired woman scowled, stepped back. "The US Government cape agency? The Protectorate? Alexandria? Legend? Eidolon?" She listed off the names of Triumvirate. There was no one on this entire planet that didn't know those three names, right? Not recognizing her name, or New Wave was one thing - the international attention Panacea got was only from like, doctors and real cape nerds. But the Triumvirate. Those were the real deal.

She searched their expressions for any hint they knew what she was talking about.

Nothing.

"You say those names as if we should recognize them," The redhead said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, duh." Amy tried to ignore the churning in her gut, a realization hitting the edge of her mind. Had Bakuda's blast not - but - how -

Even on Earth Aleph someone in authority who dealt with capes would know those names, right? Right? And how would she - couldn't you only just send like, signals and messages to Aleph? Not travel there?

"They're the Triumvirate. You know, the three most powerful parahumans on the planet? Fight at every Endbringer battle?" Amy grasped at straws, desperate. There was-

She licked her lips, feeling her heart in her chest pounding fast. Her hand throbbed with pain, glowing briefly again - she looked, and it almost looked like the lines were growing, extending further across her hand but was - what the fuck even was this thing?

"Fuck." Amy said finally. "I'm not on Earth-Bet anymore, am I? Is this Aleph?" It had to be, right? That was the only other Earth anyone could contact? But - Aleph's capes were like - they were -

Amy sucked in air, quickly and shallowly, swallowing, screwing her eyes shut. It had to be Aleph, but even - but how could it not be - if she -

"She's clearly trying to make us think she's gone mad," the dark haired woman started, but the redhead shook her head.

"No. She's telling the truth. Besides, we need her." She looked at Amy again, looking at her face, looking her over. Amy had the distinct impression of being... sized up. Evaluated. Examined. She shivered - and not from the chill still coming in from the stone floor.

"You're in Haven, in the Frostback Mountains." The redhead said. Amy blinked. "Ferelden?"

She's naming places too - she - she thinks I'm not from around 'here' either? Do they know about other Earths here? Amy tried to focus on that thought. If they knew about other Earths then maybe they could get their Tinkers - would they even call them Tinkers here? That was a PRT term, and they - there wasn't a PRT here, so... fuck, did they call them...

Amy tried to remember some of Vicky's talks about other systems for classifying capes that hadn't taught on the way the PRT's threat assessment had... Inventors? Or maybe they just called then bullshit, since Vicky always said Tinkers and their tech were bullshit.

Amy took a breath. She really wished she remembered Aunt Sarah's lessons on what to do if kidnapped better. If she wasn't chained, if she had a chance of touching their bare skin - especially since they probably didn't even know her powers - she could fight back, but both women had gloves on, so she couldn't even go for their hands.

"I don't recognize those places." Amy tried to take another breath, but it didn't really work, breath shuddering too much. "I don't know what she's talking about either," Amy said, jerking her head towards the dark haired woman. "Last thing I remember was trying to get a piece of tinkertech out of some guy's neck because some crazy bitch thought it would be a good idea to terrorize the entire city and then it exploded - and next thing I know I wake up here, a prisoner. I don't know anything about a Conclave and I sure didn't fucking kill anyone! I'm a healer!"

The redhead looked at her carefully. "A healer who threatens to give people cancer."

"What the fuck would you do when you've got people pointing swords at you and holding you prisoner without telling you much of anything about why?!" Amy demanded. "I don't - I don't actually want to do it to anyone, but - I thought I was - I thought I was somewhere that might - might be - I didn't think I was on another Earth." She could still be somewhere on Earth-Bet, maybe - really good actors, or some weird closed off community with some crazy Master running things...

She didn't think it was likely. You like Earth Aleph movies and you don't know the first thing about the basic physics bullshit that makes it possible for you to watch them. But - Tinkertech could do crazy shit. Especially Bakuda's...

"I'm sure you guys have capes that can do all kinds of crazy shit too, if they want to."

"Cape?" The redhead asked, then shook her head. "It takes rare magic to be able to cause cancer in another, but it's just a tool, like any other." The dark-haired woman seemed ready to say something, but Amy couldn't hold back her words.

"Magic? My power isn't magic, it's -" Amy started, then she processed what she was saying. What she was seeing.

Swords. Armor. The dark haired woman had a sword. Torches. This wasn't weird medieval themed tinkertech. This was an Earth mired in the fucking dark ages and they thought powers were magic!

"Jesus fucking Christ! Bakuda's stupid bomb doesn't just send me to another Earth, it sends me to some sort of fucking... medieval... place," Amy rattled at her cage. "Look, just - I didn't kill anyone! I didn't do anything! Let me go!" They had to let her go, she had to - she had to find a way to get -

I'm going to get home. I'm going - Vicky won't let them stop until they find me, right? They'll examine the blast site and pick up... alternate Earth energies or whatever, right? Those are a thing?

"You are the only survivor found in the ruins of the destruction of the Conclave," the redhead said. "I believe you speak true, but what you speak makes little sense. You truly have no idea of where you are, of what happened, of how you got that mark on your hand?"

"I have no fucking clue where I am, how I got here, what your Conclave is or was or - and I don't know what the fuck this thing on my hand is!" As if to punctuate her words, the line on her hand glowed again, brighter and she doubled over, as much as she could, trying to bit her lower lip, but the pain was too much - she cried out, tears in her eyes again.

"You're a liar!" The dark haired woman snarled, half-lunging at her, but the redhead grabbed her arm, holding her back more by the gesture and her words than force, it looked like.

"Cassandra, we need her." The redhead said, giving a name to the other woman at least. After a moment, Cassandra made a noise of disgust and stepped back. The redhead looked down at Amy again. "Is there nothing you remember?"

"No, nothing! I fucking said that, didn't I?!" Amy snapped. This woman - who Amy still didn't have a name for - seemed to believe her, but she just kept fucking asking, and saying - "Just - flashes. Snow, and a bunch of green and then giant spiders and there was this woman and -" Amy shook her head, trying not to think about what she was saying too much. "My head hurts when I try to remember more than that." Her hand was dulling again, but the throbbing ache wasn't going away completely.

"A woman?"

Amy bit her lower lip, blinking repeatedly, feeling wetness on her face as her headache returned full force. The flashes of it all ran through her mind again, over and over. She whimpered. "Yeah. A woman. She reached out - please stop making me try and remember!" She felt pathetic saying it like that, begging, whining like a baby but - it hurt and -

Vicky would handle all this pain better. She'd break these chains and she'd figure out how people here thought powers worked and -

But she wasn't her sister. She wasn't Glory Girl, she wasn't Victoria Dallon. She was just -

She was just Amy Dallon. She was just Panacea. Plain, pathetic, useless Amy.

Maybe the tears were enough to convince Cassandra she was telling the truth. Maybe she just got off on watching Amy in pain, but the woman spoke to the redhead, in a calmer, more level tone:

"Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take her to the rift." The redhead - Leliana - nodded, turning away.

"Wait, wait, you're not going to leave me with her!" Amy demanded, but Leliana didn't say anything, continuing on out through the door, into the hallway.

Cassandra turned back to her. "I do not believe your words, but whether you speak truly or not is almost irrelevant right now." She pulled keys from her belt and crouched, undid the chains on Amy's wrists.

She was close enough to touch. And she had nothing covering her face. Amy could reach out, knock her out, or -

But then there were those other four guards to deal with. And if she - if she just attacked this woman...

Vicky would fight back but - I can't. She couldn't survive being stabbed with a sword and - and - she didn't know where she was or -

Amy inhaled, trying to remember the plot of one of the series she'd used to read, before she'd triggered, before her life had become a blur of hospital visits and sleepless nights, zombie-ing her way through school and clinging to Vicky all the tighter, hating herself for how she couldn't fucking be normal about it while she did it.

The main character in that one had... been someone from a normal Earth - even if one without capes - and then in some... medieval place. With actual magic. How did they - what did they...

Vicky might fight back, but her sister was, above all else, a fucking nerd. She'd want to know where she was, what was going on, how it all worked...

"And I'm just supposed to trust you, after you threatened to kill me?!" Amy rubbed at her wrists.

"Trust cuts both ways," Cassandra countered. "Come, we must go to the rift." She gestured for Amy to stand, stepping away. "If I see any sign of you using magic, I will stop you," she added.

It's not magic you -

Magic was powers. Was she a Trump that could stop powers? Or just like, local PRT-equivalent? The ones that policed powers. The symbol on her breastplate was that like - a knightly order? Those were things in fantasy stories...

God. I'm living one of those stories I used to love. How many kids her age would be thrilled? Probably less, if they realized the swords were real and -

Amy stood. "What the fuck is the 'rift?' I still have no idea what's going on!"

"It will be better to show you," Cassandra explained. "Come." She started into the hallway and for a moment, Amy debated waiting, standing, forcing Cassandra to come back and give explanations but - would the woman just chain her up again? Hurt her?

There were microbes on the floor, probably bugs too... she could... she could do something with them to fight back but -

Amy shook her head. No. No. She closed her eyes, trying to banish all the thoughts bubbling to the top of her mind, all the - the horrifying things she could do with her power, the things she could make to - to fight and -

I don't want to hurt anyone!

Amy took another breath, opened her eyes, and followed Cassandra.

"At least tell me what the Conclave is - was!" Amy needed - she needed to understand what was going on. Information was power, for a parahuman. Carol had always talked about that. Vicky did too. The PRT looped New Wave in on briefings about new Capes in or near the Bay for a reason.

Carol and Aunt Sarah made her sit through all those briefings at the team meetings...

"The Conclave was the last hope of peace. Divine Justinia called it in the hopes of ending the war between the Mages and the Templars."

"No idea who any of those are..." Amy muttered. But - okay. Mages. Simple enough. The people who had powers, got called mages. That made sense. As much as anything did. She tried to focus on working through it all. Some kind of fight between powered people and... Templars. Different group of powered people? Or like...

"Are you a Templar?" If Cassandra was like, the local PRT, and she was a Templar...

"No, I am not. I was a Seeker, those who ultimately commanded the Templars. But I left the order when the Templars rebelled against the authority of the Chantry."

Okay... so Cassandra is basically an Ex-Templar? So... war between powered people and... the PRT, but... what they went rogue against the government? Amy tried to imagine the PRT rebelling against the government, but that - that wasn't possible? That wasn't how anything worked.

But this isn't America. This isn't Earth-Bet.

"And you think I... attacked a peace conference?"

"I believe what little evidence exists points to you," Cassandra said after a pause. They reached the stairs at the end of the hallway, and went up. The air started to feel chiller the further they went, and then up the stairs, and Amy wrapped her arms around herself... she was still wearing her robes, white with the red cross and all that, but though they covered her up well... they weren't very insulating... and she was dressed for April in the Bay underneath...

Amy inhaled, shivering again.

"But as I said, whether you speak the truth is almost irrelevant right now." They stepped up onto what had to be the ground floor. She could see colored light coming in through stained glass, but torches and chandeliers with candles - dozens, hundreds of them - were casting most of the light in the vast, open single chamber they were in. Cassandra continued on towards massive double doors on one end.

"There are things of more immediate concern," Cassandra added, pushing the doors open and stepping out into cold air. Amy wrapped her arms tighter, pulling her robe around her more. There was snow on the ground and a bunch of wooden structures, and a wooden wall - all carved stakes pointing upwards.

Medieval fucking world... Amy's left hand flared with pain again and she stumbled, nearly falling over, but Cassandra was there, catching her, gloved hand on Amy's shoulder. "Fuck... what the fuck is this thing?!" Amy straightened up, pushing Cassandra away, and then -

As her eyes scanned over the village, she looked off to the left and up and...

If Amy had had any doubts on if she was on another Earth - not that she really did, at this point - then she lost them as she looked at what she could only call a fucking hole in the sky, green light streaming down from it, the same bright shade as the mark on her hand, an almost pillar of light coming down to the ground somewhere she couldn't see...

Amy stared at it, her hand feeling like whatever knife had stabbed it again was still there, twisting. She bit her lip until she tasted blood, trying to not whimper or whine or cry, blinking repeatedly against the cold breeze - the breeze, definitely the breeze -

"What. The. Fuck."

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: I started working on and outlining this story before Veilguard came out. Given the fact that this takes place in the south, etc, there's just not a ton that is in Veilguard that's going to directly matter in this fic, but some lore revealed in it does have a bearing on various details here and there in Inquisition, etc.

I'm not going to hold myself to Veilguard in that respect - some stuff from it is canon for this fic, but some is not. Very case by case and it will show up when or as it matters.

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---

Any lingering doubts that Amy might have had about this not being Earth-Bet were shattered at the sight of the massive green... thing in the sky. The Sky shouldn't have a hole in it, but what else could she call it? She'd heard of the idea of a hole in the ozone layer, as a thing that was an issue before she was born, but this... this was something else entirely.

There was nothing like this on Earth-Bet. And if some sort of cape, like that one crazy bitch that had tried to blow up the Moon, had caused it, there'd be capes all over the place onsite. The PRT would be here. The Protectorate. There'd be capes flying up close to the thing, probably using tinkertech to get a better look at it...

Where are their capes? Fine, there was a war between Mages - powered people - and Templars - the PRT equivalent - and peace hadn't happened, but with something like this, wouldn't they be working together? Like the Endbringer Truce, bringing heroes and villains together...

Though that one just gives villains cover, excuses... Carol had no fondness for the Endbringer Truce, and had vented about it a lot, over the years.

"We call it the Breach," Cassandra said, turning back to look at her, then following her gaze. Amy stared for a moment, still searching for fliers. Flight was one of the most common powers. Did they really not have a single one handy? "It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour."

Amy looked back at Cassandra. "Demons? Magic isn't real, and neither are demons. It's just powers and -" What could demons be? Case 53s? Or...

Or something like what Blasto or Nilbog can make... Amy clenched one hand into a fist, driving fingernails into the base of her palm as she tried not to linger on that.

Cassandra stared at her like she'd grown a third arm or something, then shook her head. "Whatever you believe, the Breach is there, and real. And while it is the largest rift into the Fade, it is not the only. All opened up after the explosion at the Conclave."

"The Conclave was destroyed by an explosion? That you think I caused? And you think I - what, caused this too?" Amy just looked back at 'The Breach', trying to figure out what she was looking at, and failing. Powers were bullshit, they could do all kinds of insane shit, but her power had at least some limits. "There's no way my powers could do anything like this."

"As I said, what little evidence exists points to you."

"What evidence?! I still barely know where the hell we are, and I don't know who a Templar is!" Amy closed her eyes, "I'm stranded on another Earth and some crazy medieval lady thinks I'm a murderer," she muttered. Vicky would know how to handle this, or be able to figure it out. Or just punch her way out.

Okay, so even odds she'd try that, at first, especially if they put shackles on her...

Not that these people didn't deserve it, but - that wasn't an option for Amy. She bit the inside of her cheek a moment. She opened her mouth to speak again, but then the pain in her hand returned again and she stumbled, right hand clutching at her wrist, as if that would help. Tears were in her eyes again, and she fell to her knees, crying out...

"And my hand is being repeatedly stabbed by invisible, intangible knives," Amy muttered, nearly whimpering the words out.

Cassandra stood over her, then, after a moment, offered a gloved hand.

"Every time the Breach expands, so too does the mark on your hand," she explained, "And unless we act, the Breach could swallow the world, and that mark will kill you."

Amy looked down at her hand, at the glowing green lines starting to fade back to their usual dull, dim green, her hand reducing to a low, throbbing ache.

Her thoughts raced, too many at once to really understand any of them - she had no idea what was happening, no idea where she was, how she could get home, if she could get home...

If I'll ever see Vicky again...

But the only thought she could really focus on was the fact that Cassandra was claiming this... mark would kill her.

The mark is connected the Breach. But -

Amy shook her head. She could think about the hows later. Maybe. She swallowed, then took Cassandra's hand - for a moment, the woman's bare face would have been in reach, she could have touched it, knocked her out, done something to her -

"I don't want to die," Amy said softly, quietly... feeling almost pathetic as she said it. She took another breath and pulled herself up back onto her feed with Cassandra's help. Okay. Okay. This -

She had no way of knowing if this woman was telling the truth, if this was all some elaborate lie or scheme or -

But right now...

What would Vicky do?

Amy wasn't her sister, couldn't be her sister, could never be and normally wouldn't even want to try but right now... right now Vicky's habit of just... doing might actually be what she needed...

Maybe just a little less recklessness than was normal for her sister though? Just a tiny bit.

"I don't want to die." Amy said again, putting a little more energy into it.

"Good." Cassandra said after a moment. "Because that mark on your hand may be our best chance for stopping this. The two are linked, clearly. Come," Cassandra gestured for Amy to keep following her, and Amy did so, wrapping her arms around herself a little, the cold - it wasn't really that bad, but compared to April in the Bay, it was a big change, all of a sudden, at least for her. And she wasn't dressed for it...

"I don't see how you can say this mark is killing me and think I did this on purpose," Amy muttered and Cassandra looked back at her.

"Something clearly went wrong. I doubt you - or whoever did this, if you are truly innocent - planned on... this," she gestured to the Breach. "If you want to prove your innocence, then help us stop this madness."

"Fine." Amy tried to pick up the pace, Cassandra now walking beside her, hand on her back, pushing her forward. They went further into what was clearly some kind of village. Haven? There were people - more dressed like the guards, or at least similarly, other people that didn't have armor or weapons at all, but still dressed in clothes she'd never seen an actual person wear in real life. At least the village didn't smell, even if they probably didn't have modern plumbing here...

Really? That's what I'm thinking about right now?

The people she saw all paused and stared at her as she started to pass by. They started murmuring, whispering... Cassandra put a hand on the hilt of her sword, ushering her forward with her other hand.

"They think I'm just as guilty as you do," Amy said, seeing the hate in their eyes, the looks that could have killed - one of them reached down and grabbed a stone off the ground, moving as if to throw it at her, but a look from Cassandra made the man - maybe twenty something? - lower his arm.

"They need to. Divine Justinia was beloved, and now she, and all who attended the Conclave are dead." They passed through the village quickly enough, at least, exiting out onto a dirt path, well-trod, a slope ahead of them. "It was the best chance we had for peace. She was the only one who could bring their leaders together."

Cassandra's voice sounded a little choked as she spoke of this 'Divine Justinia', whoever she was she was important, and someone Cassandra clearly mourned.

"They hate you because it makes the pain easier. To blame someone. But Justinia always thought beyond herself, and so must we. The Breach must be sealed. Little else matters." They reached a gate - the rocks and slopes around them had left a narrow path that led to a cliff, a frozen river underneath, and the guards opened the gate at a nod from Cassandra, revealing a bridge.

"I can promise you that there will be a trial." Cassandra told her, in a quieter tone.

"A trial for the death of a woman I've never even heard of, and everyone's already decided I'm guilty," Amy grumbled, knowing it was stupid to say it, to complain, there was nothing she could do, but...

It was all she could do?

"As I said, this is your chance to prove your innocence. There is a smaller rift nearby. If your mark can close it, then perhaps it can close the Breach," Cassandra explained.

"How... how the hell...?" Amy inhaled, then, "Am I just supposed to know how to do that?" Mages are powers. Magic is powers. But I didn't - this isn't some second trigger right? Amy had pretty much known what she could do, once she triggered, at least known what she needed to do to save Vicky, to push out the bullets and knit flesh back together and restore organs and replenish blood and -

Amy screwed her eyes shut as her memory flashed back to that day, the mall, her sister, her overly heroic idiot of a sister, bleeding -

"I am no scholar of magic, but I have never heard of anything like these rifts. I doubt any mage would know how to do anything with this magic," Cassandra explained, not turning back to look at her as she spoke. There were a few others on the bridge, but these ones seemed too busy organizing weapons or supplies to do more than spare her a long glance, or a whisper to a compatriot. "We must simply try and hope."

Really bolstering my confidence here... Amy swallowed.

Vicky wasn't just reckless and prone to charging in. She wanted to understand powers, understand things in general. She was a nerd, and sure, powers were her main thing, but...

Vicky would be asking questions. And understanding what was going on... that had to be good, right?

They passed through another gate at the far end of the bridge, and out onto another path, sloping upwards.

"So - what exactly can you tell me about this Conclave? Why - why were your powered people, your 'Mages' fighting the Templars? Who... who exactly was Divine Justinia?"

Cassandra looked back over her shoulder, pausing in her movement for a moment, then she came closer and spoke to her as they walked up the slope, passing a series of makeshift barricades - scrap wood piled up, overturned carts - with guards (soldiers?) standing behind them, small fires burning along the side of the path in places, blazing despite the cold.

"I do not know if I can believe your claims to being from somewhere beyond Thedas, but I shall humor you, for now," Cassandra said after a moment. "Divine Justinia was the leader of the Chantry, chosen to lead the faithful."

Chantry is a religion then, and Justinia is... pope? Priestess? Pope seemed a reasonable fit, Amy's limited remembering of history classes prompting something about popes in the middle ages and being really powerful.

"Thedas? Is that the name of this planet?"

"It's the name of the continent," Cassandra answered, as Amy paused near one of the fires, holding her hands out towards it. Cassandra stopped, and turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "We do not have time for that."

"Do you have time for me to get hypothermia?" Wait, did they even know what that was here? "You know, when you get super cold, start getting sluggish and confused and all that? I'm not dressed for this fucking weather," Amy pulled her hands back into her sleeves the fire having helped a little, and she began walking again.

"Okay, so Justinia was in charge of your religion," Amy said, "And the Templars were part of this... Chantry?" Knights Templar were a religious order in Europe, right? Crusades and stuff? So that would make sense? If they thought powered people were mages and the local monster capes were probably the 'demons', then handing policing them over to the church made sense, right?

Or as much sense as anything in a backwards, medieval world would make, anyway.

"Under the terms of the Nevarran Accord, Templars have served to protect mages and to guard against blood magic and abominations for the last eight hundred years. But when the -"

"Eight hundred - how the - you can't have had powers for eight hundred years?! They've only been a thing for - thirty years!" Amy cut Cassandra off as they passed another pile of burning wood and... a body? Up ahead, she could see green balls of fire - small meteors? - raining down into the valley far ahead, coming from the Breach.

Seriously... what sort of power could do that? Tinkertech? Would Tinkertech even work the same way here? Victoria would have a better idea, but probably not much of one. She'd heard her sister talk about how much Tinkertech really was just as much nonsense as powers in general, working in ways that absolutely shouldn't.

Victoria thought it was cool nonsense. Amy just thought it was even more bullshit than most powers.

"Magic has been a fact of this world since the most ancient days," Cassandra said, as if she was saying 'gravity makes things fall'. "Far longer than eight centuries."

"That's impossible! How the fuck can you - magic isn't -"

How the fuck was - powers were the thing that made all the insane shit possible? There couldn't possibly be another Earth where 'magic' was real? This had to be -

Maybe powers are... not as new? Maybe they've been a thing on some Earths for longer? That - that made sense. That had to be it. Amy refused to accept 'magic' as an answer.

Amy stopped walking, starting to breathe faster, closing her eyes, trying - and failing - to take deeper breaths. Her pulse was pounding, she could feel her heard practically in her throat, shaking.

Magic isn't real, it's just powers and I just need to find someone who can make a way for me to get home and if I can survive this - this- thing on my hand and -

As if thinking about it was enough to set it off, Amy's left hand spasmed again, the knife stabbing into it - this time, she couldn't help it, she screamed as she stumbled, falling forward onto her knees, maybe onto her face, if Cassandra hadn't raced to her side and put a hand on her shoulder. Amy didn't even try to hold back tears this time - nothing in her life was like this, she'd never felt any pain even close. This was absolutely a 10 on any sort of reasonable pain scale, beyond anything, anything she'd experienced. Forcing her eyes open, vision blurred, the glowing of her hand was painful, but there was no blood, no... anything external and she couldn't understand -

Her hand was being stabbed and now burned and -

Panting, desperately sucking in shallow breaths of air, head starting to feel light and - and then just as suddenly as the pain had come, it started to subside, fading back to a dull ache again.

"This would almost be easier to deal with if it would stop fading and then coming back!" Amy sobbed out, but she couldn't pretend she wasn't relieved... gasping, managing proper deep breaths again.

"You must try to endure the pain," Cassandra said, as she extended a hand. Amy didn't dignify that with a response as she took her hand and got back onto her feet. "The pulses are clearly getting worse, and they seem to be coming quicker. We must hurry. Save your questions and your disbelief for later."

"Fine, fine," Amy nodded. Cassandra picked up the pace, and Amy, cursing her longstanding disinterest in actually going to the gym, tried to get into a jog to keep up, or as close as she could -

It wasn't that she was fat - Carol, or especially Aunt Sarah, wouldn't have stood for that - but despite numerous offers from Vicky to go to the gym with her, she'd never seen the point, never bothered. She wasn't going to fight, she didn't enjoy exercise or working out the way her sister did, and -

And now all that was coming home to roost. Her sister was going to fucking gloat when Amy told her about this.

Up the slope they moved, Amy trying to remember anything Uncle Neil might have taught them about running - his self-defense lessons had made clear that running if they couldn't fight was always an option, and he'd especially focused on her with the running part, since she was the only one of her sister or cousins who couldn't fly.

Just - just one more way she -

Forcing that thought down, Amy focused on the jogging, trying to keep her breathing even and good and through her nose as much as she could. They reached another bridge, and Cassandra slowed the pace a moment - Amy took the excuse, taking deeper breaths now that she had the opportunity.

"We're almost to the valley proper. Almost all of it, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes, where the Conclave was held, has been laid to waste," Cassandra explained. There was a loud cracking-crashing sound and Amy nearly jumped out of her skin as a green. Flaming boulder landed nearby, and then another, even closer. Cassandra grabbed her hand and started to tug her across the bridge, trying to pick up the pace - Amy tried, desperately to match it as another one fell, and then -

One more hit the bridge, the stones making it up exploding upwards around the crash site - for a moment, everything seemed to still, the bridge seemed to hold despite the gaping hole in it and then -

The ground fell out from under her, her hand slipped out of Cassandra's and Amy cried out as her body hit rocks, rolling down the misshapen mound of fallen stone and hitting the ice of the frozen river beneath her.

"Ow..." it was less painful than her hand when it flared, but all over her body, all of her skin now feeling like a bruise, or just about, her bones in her limbs aching...

I don't - I don't think anything is broken -

She pushed herself to her feet, just barely managing it when another flaming rock hit the ice - but instead of breaking the ice and sending them plunging into a frozen river, a... thing rose up from where it had landed.

Thing was really all Amy could use to describe it. It was tall, taller than her sister, maybe as tall as her Uncle Neil, but she couldn't even call it humanoid - it had arms, and a torso, but rather than legs, it's lower half was sort of a roiling mass of some kind of dark dust or something, making the thing look like it was floating.

Its arms were long and spindly, ending in four clawed fingers, but it didn't have a head so much as a misshapen, hunchlike lump of a thing topped with what looked like rags, hanging forward, where a head might be. It had no visible eyes and -

Amy just didn't have the words to describe it further as it made a sound that could be called a roar.

"Demon!" Cassandra shouted, and Amy heard the sound of her sword being drawn, and then the woman was standing in front of her, between her and the demon. "Stay behind me!"

I can see why they call these demons...

Amy couldn't imagine this was a Case 53, a Monster Cape - they could be all sorts of crazy things, but this - just looking at it felt wrong.

Something created by a power? Tinkertech?

Cassandra charged to attack the 'demon', catching it's claws on her shield and swinging into the thing, the blade cutting into it, but there was no blood, no immediate sign of harm or damage -

The ice between her and Cassandra glowed green, wisps of darkness rising up from it and another creature, looking almost exactly like the first one, rose up, making a sort of snarl-growl noise.

Definitely not a Case 53! That was Amy's last coherent, clear thought as she started to scramble backwards, eyes darting around - it was frozen river all around, there was no way she could climb back knot the wreckage of the bridge -

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an ornate-looking wooden staff as long as she was tall, maybe taller - but she didn't make a move for it as the 'demon' 'charged' at her, seeming to slide across the ice - Amy let out a scream and ran for it, feeling air displace behind her as the thing clawed at where she'd been moments before -

She couldn't look over her shoulder, couldn't let herself get distracted, couldn't -

Amy's foot hit a particularly bad patch of the ice and she felt her leg give way out from under her - for a moment, she was in the air, none of her touching the ground, flailing, as if there was anything she could grab, and then she hit the ice, landing on her ass, the 'demon' making another growly sort of noise, looming over her, raising it's claws -

Amy tried to pull herself backwards, hand on the ice, trying to scramble, trying to get away - claws scythed down, Amy threw her hands in front of her face, screaming again and then -

There was the sound of something punching into flesh, Amy felt something hot splattering her arms and hands - then another growl from the creature, this one quickly fading into silence...

Shaking, gasping, Amy lowered her arms to see Cassandra standing there, armor spattered with blood, sword covered in blood as well. She had a cut in the non-metal part of her armor, along one arm, blood staining the leather - it was a small cut, it didn't even seem to be actively bleeding anymore...

As for the thing that had nearly killed her - the 'demon' just... gone. No body, no corpse...

Amy looked at her own hands, they had blood on them but -

This isn't blood? Amy had touched blood before. Hazard of being a healer. And when there was blood on her hands, it was - it was still a living thing, or at least there were living things in the blood she could feel but these - these weren't -

There was nothing in this blood. If it wasn't for her own fucking eyes, and the feeling of it on her bare skin, she -

"This isn't blood..." she repeated her thought aloud. "What - what the fuck?" She swallowed, looking up at Cassandra, who had lowered her sword.

"Why did you not fight back?" Cassandra demanded. "Even a mage of your age would know some defensive magics - a barrier, if nothing else!"

Amy stared at Cassandra, "I have no idea what you're talking about! I've told you, powers aren't magic, magic isn't real, I'm a fucking healer! I got a few self-defense lessons from my Uncle Neil years ago and I barely remember them and I don't fight - I don't want to fight, I've never wanted to fight, I just - if you want someone who can fight, you need my sister!" Amy said the whole thing in one breath, gasping for air as she finished, still sore, still lying on the ice - and with the 'heat of battle' quickly fading, the chill from the ice was seeping into her skin through her robes, her pants -

I need my sister...

Amy pushed herself to her feet, and then watched in amazement as the blood on Cassandra's armor and sword - the blood that wasn't hers - started to vanish... Amy looked at her hands and arms and saw the blood quickly fading as well.

"I am beginning to believe you speak truly, impossible as it may be," Cassandra said after a long moment staring at her. "I do not believe you would commit to a lie at such risk to your own life." Cassandra sheathed her sword.

"You're hurt," Amy gestured to the cut on Cassandra's arm.

"A minor injury," she shook her head. "It's not even bleeding any longer."

"Like I said, I'm a healer - I - you're the only one standing between me and those - things..." Amy hated the way her voice sounded shaky and weak but -

Amy didn't really want to heal this woman, didn't want to help her, but - she wanted to die at the hands of some sort of monster's claws even less and -

"...we don't have time for you to make a poultice or apply a bandage to something so minor," Cassandra countered. She started to turn.

I'm not some fucking herb woman! Amy hated the indignation she felt at the comparison, rising, almost choking her for a moment.

"Not that - I don't - I have no idea what you think mages are supposed to be able to do, but I am a healer! I'm a parahuman! I don't - I can heal someone with a touch! It's what I do, it's my power," it was part of her power, but it was the only good part, and even then, it wasn't all that good... "My sister flies and can break concrete walls and my cousin can fly and shoot lasers from her hands and I heal!"

After a moment, Cassandra stepped closer, "Fine. Let us see your healing, but be quick." Amy stepped closer as well, and put her hand on Cassandra's bare neck for a moment -

All it would take was an errant twitch, a thought - she could knock this woman out, she could stop her heart or make her arms boneless or -

Amy closed her eyes, forcing herself to focus on Cassandra's injured arm - the skin closed up, and Cassandra let out a surprised gasp, pushing Amy's hand away.

"...That was not magic," Cassandra said, stunned. Amy looked at the woman's previously injured arm, Cassandra poking at the spot she'd been cut. "I felt my skin close, as I would if healed by a mage, but I didn't feel you draw on the Fade at all." She looked over at Amy now, meeting her eyes.

"I do not know from whence you come, Amy Dallon, but it is clear you are a long way from home." Cassandra said with conviction. She lowered her arm, "And I am beginning to believe your protestations of innocence."

Oh now she believes me!

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Author's Note: Amy doesn't like healing, so it may seem a bit odd that she's so insistent about it after Cassandra rejects her offer, especially since it isn't like Cassandra has been badly hurt at this point (keeping the person standing between her and the monsters alive is a good thing). But basically, healing is pretty much the only thing Amy has right now, the only thing she has control over, and she's more or less latching onto it for that purpose.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: I feel like, judging from some comments on this fic, here and elsewhere, that some people have some very specific ideas about what is going to happen in this fic - not from this fic itself, but from their own views about Amy or Amy-centric stuff. I want to set some expectations so I don't have a lot of disappointed people coming at me.

This is not a fic where Amy is going to rapidly go hogwild with her powers. Depending on how one defines 'hogwild', she'll never go hogwild, though she will eventually start using her power for more than healing. But this fic, and the subsequent fics planned in the series, is primarily about Amy's character, rather than Amy's power. A sometimes subtle distinction given how much a parahuman can be bound up with their power, but an important one.

A lot of focus will be on Amy's mental health and her own personal baggage and struggles and issues - as I said at the start, over time, she'll get better on all fronts and have more good days and less bad days and we'll start to focus on those bad days less, but she's got a lot of bad days ahead. She's been ripped away from everything she knows, everyone she loves or cares about, and is being thrust into a situation she is not suited for. Which is, of course, the whole point of the fic.

Her power will be directly relevant in the plot, and allow her to do some things that an Inquisitor in the game just can't, but it is not the only thing she's gonna be doing or like, the centerpiece of the story. Amy's power is inexorably bound up with all the things I find compelling about her, but I find much more about her interesting than just her power.

If the Amy angst and drama gets tiresome, I do encourage you to take a break for a few months and come back and binge stuff or the like. That will let you move through the pace of it a decent bit easier, for the parts you're just less interested in, and the same holds true if you want to see her branching out with her powers, though that will probably take more time to get to.

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"How did you do-" Cassandra started, staring at her, and then she shook her head, cutting herself off. "No. We need to keep going. We don't have time for questions." She gestured for Amy to follow her. "Come, we must get to the closest rift,"

"If you were going to ask how I did that I - I don't know how powers work. Nobody really does." Amy answered, starting to follow after Cassandra as the woman set off across the ice, towards the shore. She winced with every step - by the end of this, if she was even still alive, she was going to be a walking bruise... too sore to even walk, maybe. She needed to put ice on her...

Everything, really.

Between her fall when the bridge had collapsed, and the demon's attempts to hit her and -

They reached the shore, and started up a hill. Amy wrapped one arm around her midsection. She was pretty sure her ribs were just bruised at worst, but - she bit her lower lip, sucking in air again, and Cassandra paused, turning to look at her. "You are hurt?"

"The bridge collapsing under me, and then falling again when the demon chased me hurt, yeah," Amy said. "And my powers don't work on myself, so when I get hurt, I just have to fucking suffer," she added. She bit her lip again, hissing as she breathed air in, taking the moment of stillness to rub at her arm, checking for especially sensitive spots, and finding a few. She let out another wince.

"...most definitely not magic," Cassandra said quietly, seemingly as much to herself as Amy. "How did you survive the blast, if you have no magic, if your... abilities do not work on yourself."

"How many times do I need to tell you I have no idea?! The last thing I remember clearly was being at the hospital, healing victims of Bakuda's insane bombing spree, they brought in some guy who had a bomb in his neck, I was trying to remove it, and then - I wake up in that cell, with your guards pointing swords at me, and this- this thing on my hand!" She shouted that last part, and then stared at her hand, as if expecting it to flare up again, but for the moment, it seemed to be staying at the constant dull ache, rather than anything worse.

"If not for the fact that you healed my injury without even the slightest hint of magic, I would say it is impossible, all that you say, all that you claim. But you did." Cassandra reached into her belt, pulling out a thick glass vial, filled with some sort of bright red liquid. It looked like some kind of fruit juice, but from the way it sloshed in the vial, a literal cork serving as the stopper.

"Here." She extended the vial to her. "A few sips of this will handle your injuries, and most of the pain."

Amy looked at the bottle, "Really? A fucking healing potion?" Amy's first thought was some kind of weird alchemy tinkertech. That was possible, right? There were tinkers who could heal, though none with the same ease and versatility as she could. She'd been asked by the PRT to monitor people who were healed by Tinkertech twice, since her powers were able to do that, since she could - in theory - counteract any negative side effects, once they'd been sure her powers didn't have side effects.

But drinking the strange tinkertech concoction was a fast path to getting yourself killed or worse.

"Yes. A healing potion."

"I'm just going to accept some random drink from someone I don't know, without any idea of what it does, or how it works, or side effects?"

"Unless you drink too many in too short a span, the worst you can expect from a healing potion is tiredness a few hours later," Cassandra assured her. She grabbed Amy's arm and pushed the potion into her hand. "Drink, or do not, we do not have time for this, but consider that I need you alive to have even a hope of putting an end to this madness," she gestured around herself, at the sky.

Amy swallowed, staring at her. She looked at the mountains ahead, at how far away the big green hole in the sky was, both... just, distance up, and the distance to wherever the space right under it was. She hurt, a lot, and she was going to hurt more, right? And more demons between here and -

Cassandra could just... tell I'm not using magic? How exactly does that work? Is magic-

Was magic actually different from powers? Was it - was it actually a thing here? Were those actually demons?

No. Amy insisted to herself, refusing to believe they were... creatures from hell or - whatever. And magic wasn't real. Couldn't be real. It was just... it had to be powers, somehow, but maybe powers were different here, or maybe Cassandra had no idea of what she was talking about or -

No one really knows how powers work back home, maybe there's an element of - everyone expects chanting and spells and so that's how it works and I didn't chant and -

The 'demons' blood vanishing was probably just... projections? Or some kind of tinkertech creation. Or something.

That had to be. Which meant the healing potion had to be tinkertech or something else created by powers.

Which brought her back to the 'don't drink the strange, untested tinkertech'...

Cassandra made a sort of half-scoffing, half snarling sound of disgust, and turned away, gesturing for Amy to follow after her.

Still holding onto the vial, Amy tried to pick up the pace - breaking into a slow jog to just try to keep up with the woman's pace strained, and despite herself, she muttered 'ow' under her breath repeatedly, hating every second of it, but knowing she had to, mind still racing, trying to understand, and dreading going through the entire trip into the 'valley' feeling like this...

Is it really untested though? They reached the top of the hill, and Amy nearly ran into Cassandra as the woman pulled up short, drawing her sword again. "Wait here," she gestured down below, onto yet more ice, and there were two more demons, their tall, misshapen forms turned away from them, a dead man between them. Cassandra drew her sword, and leapt off the hill, hitting the thick ice running and charging into the demons, hitting one with her shield to knock it back, slashing into the other.

The fight was fast, and Amy was just far enough away to not be able to make out every detail as Cassandra seemed to duck under their attacks, or catch them on her shield, or her armor. She fought quickly, cutting at them, bashing them with her shield, and soon enough, both had collapsed and dissipated away...

Projections, it has to be. But where was the cape causing them? Capes? Crusader's ghosts could only go so far from him right?

That was the only projection creator she knew about offhand, and she scoured her memory of Vicky's infodumps and briefings from Carol, from Uncle Neil, about potential threats in the Bay, things even she needed to know, even if she wasn't going to fight -

The cape has to be close, right? But there's no one else so maybe it's longer ranged?

It had to be projections though, somehow, or in some form...

With the demons dead though, Amy made her way down the hill as quickly as she could, gasping for breath as much or more from the pain as the exertion onto the ice again, wondering just how thick it had to be that it was holding up under the weight...

Cassandra wasn't bleeding, but there was a dent in her armor where she'd been hit by one of the demons, even if it hadn't punctured.

"Are you hurt?" Amy asked.

"Nothing serious. Save your... abilities for now. There's much ahead of us, and I don't want to tax your energies."

"It doesn't - there's no limit beyond time and biology for what I can heal," Amy said quickly. "But it does come from the person I heal's own body. So... just... eat a lot, after this is all done." She didn't insist on healing Cassandra this time - she didn't seem visibly in pain, there was no labored breathing or any wincing or...

She could just be better at hiding it than you are...

Amy looked down at the potion in her hand. Her arms, her legs, her ribs... her everything hurt, really. From her hand to her head to her neck...

"You said this potion will help with pain?"

"I don't know if it will do anything for your hand, but yes," Cassandra said. "As I said, I need you alive. All of Thedas does."

"So I can somehow use this... thing to close that," Amy gestured at the Breach. "You believe me when I say I'm innocent... are you still putting me on trial?" Part of Amy wanted to just... refuse to help. But if there were more of those demons raining down from the sky because of that 'Breach', then more people could die and Amy couldn't -

She couldn't let that happen anymore than she could just... refuse to go to the Hospital. Take a break, like Dean had told her to.

What kind of monster would she be if she just let people die when there was a chance she could help save them?

"It is likely that many people will still assume your guilt. Only Seekers, Templars and Mages would be able to tell that your abilities are not magic, and even then..." she shook her head. "I will speak in your defense, but I fear a trial is unavoidable."

Amy bit her lower lip, then nodded. "I guess that's the best I can expect," she muttered. She looked down at the bottle in her hand and finally decided she would take the chance. Too much distance to the Breach and too many demons she'd have to run from and -

She felt insane for even considering this, but Amy wasn't used to being physically hurt, nor was she used to all the physical exertion and more was coming and then all that on top of her hand... and the way her head kept aching every time she tried to remember the details of what had happened...

She pulled the cork out of the bottle and took a small, careful sip. The taste on her tongue nearly made her spit the liquid out - from the color, she'd expected something like cough medicine, which was probably stupid, but instead, she got an unholy combination of peppermint and... grass. The latter reminded her of that time she accidentally grabbed the wrong cup at a hospital breakroom and tasted a nurse's green tea.

All tea was bad, but green tea was just... no.

"Blech!" Amy gagged a little, but - she'd expected something tasting bad, medicine often did for very good reasons, just not - just not this. Grimacing, she forced herself to take another sip, the stuffed the cork back in the bottle.

"The taste does not get better with repeated drinking," Cassandra said with a small sigh. "Come, we must continue. We're nearing the first rift."

Were they going to run into more demons before they got to this rift? She looked down at the man that had been killed by the demons before - he had a helmet like the guards in her cell. He'd been cut up, armor rent, his stomach ripped open, blood staining him, his clothes, the ice... it smelled like recent bloodshed too, nothing older...

That could have been me.

Amy stuffed the potion onto her pocket and hurried after Cassandra - and nearly stopped entirely when she realized that the running hadn't hurt like it had just a minute before. Her legs still burned from being not used to this much exercise, but her legs didn't feel banged up and bruised and the soreness seemed to be less?

They pushed ahead, getting into two more fights - well, Cassandra getting into fights, and Amy hanging back and having to scramble again, running from a demon at one point. She also learned there were more than one kind of demon - many, actually. The ones she'd first scene, the clawed, misshapen ones with the dusty-darkness lower halves were called 'shades'. The one that she had to run from in the second fight was more...

Ghostlike? It was much more human in shape, with a real face and proper arms... but green, and ethereal, see-through, like a ghost, and it had no lower half, instead just floating above the ground. And yet, Cassandra was able to stab it, so it wasn't actually a ghost, though its name 'wraith' was very ghostlike...

Cassandra had answered 'uncounted varieties' when Amy demanded to know how many kinds of demons there were, but then added that 'most' came down to about a dozen or so common forms in practice.

The Wraith had not only chased after her, but shot balls of green... not fire, but a sort of swirling energy, and it was frankly more luck than anything else that Amy hadn't been hit. Cassandra had, and the balls caused no obvious injuries, but touching Cassandra afterwards to heal another cut from a shade made it clear that the ball had caused damage to her body - namely, her left thigh, where she'd been hit by the wraith's attack, was... older? The cells there seemed to be acting like cells of someone years older than Cassandra, though already Cassandra's body seemed to be correcting the damage. Amy's power just sped that up, correcting the cells with ease, returning them all to the way they'd been before, in line with the rest of her body...

I've never heard of a cape that could make someone older by touching them but... It would be a deadly weapon, depending on how fast it worked... clearly this 'wraith' couldn't do much on it's own, alone -

Cassandra made short work of the demons in each fight, but it was clearly taxing her, and Amy's healing was taking directly from her body's own energies...

Amy had, during that second fight, tripped and fallen again, nearly landing on her face, nearly breaking her nose, catching her fall at the last minute, her left wrist nearly sprained, hurting as much as her left hand now, or at least it felt like it -

She sipped at the potion again, the pain in her wrist mostly fading as they kept going, pushing ahead...

They finally reached a set of stone stairs, carved right into the side of a cliff, and up ahead, Amy could hear shouts, fighting, metal clashing against something, loud snarls and screeches -

Her left hand throbbed, the mark glowing, but differently now, sort of pulsating, glowing and dining and glowing and dimming, the pace of it getting faster as they got closer to the top of the stairs.

"We're almost to the rift. Stay back, but be ready once the demons are vanquished," Cassandra ordered.

Be ready to what? She still had no idea how the fuck she was supposed to use this... thing on her hand to close rifts, left alone the massive Breach in the sky, but -

They reached the top of the stairs, and Amy turned to the source of the sounds of fighting -

Ahead, in the ruins of what might have been a stone house, balls of green fire raining down from the sky around it, were a whole mass of shades and wraiths, with three people fighting, more bodies strewn around them - one was fighting with an oversized, strange-looking crossbow, short and stocky, but remarkably agile despite that, jumping away from shades and firing with it, the bolt punching through one shade and then into a wraith behind it.

Another was skinny, bald and wielding a large staff, shooting white-blue bolts from it, hitting shades, turnings arms to ice, turning one shade entirely to ice that he shattered with a thwack from his staff, twirling it expertly as he spun around to force back a shade that had gotten closer.

The third was a tall woman wearing armor like the guards in her cell had, like the dead soldier had, but if she had a helmet, it was gone now, her shoulder-length red hair flying freely as she used a massive two-handed sword to force demons to keep their distance from her, swinging at them with seeming reckless abandon, but it was working, cutting at demons, hurting them, stopping the shades from getting close enough to strike at her with their claws.

But beyond just the three of them, and the demons, there was a green massive crystalline shape in the air, at the center of the fighting as they desperately tried to hold off two or three times their number in demons - it was hard to tell, the fighting moving too quickly to keep specific track of them, and it was almost as if more kept appearing...

Amy ducked behind a half-crumbled stone wall, watching the fighting, her hand pulsing, throbbing - she bit her lip, trying to hold back a whimper or cry or something - the potions weren't doing anything about the pain the mark was causing...

Is that - is that crystalline thing the rift? It was green, the Breach was green, the wraiths were green, the green fire raining down from the sky -

Cassandra charged in, opening by driving her sword into the back of a shade as it tried to come at the redhead from behind. With her arriving, the tide seemed to turn quickly: Cassandra and the redhead together made short work of a pair of demons, the bald man froze another one solid, the short guy with the crossbow shattered it, and then the rest were wrapped up soon after.

The crystalline form in the air... unfolded, for lack of a better word, suddenly looking a lot more like a shimmering hole in the air before them, glowing, lines forming from it to spots on the ground -

Amy cried out, eyes pulling away as her hand spiked in pain again, and if she hadn't already been crouched behind the wall, she'd have fallen over, the agony ripping through her as bad as it had ever been.

"...there - the rift - now!" she heard someone calling towards her - male, not Cassandra, but she couldn't make out all the details, all the words -

He must be telling me to use this mark to close the rift, but how? She could barely string that thought together against the pain, but -

Victoria Dallon, Glory Girl, wouldn't let pain stop her from saving lives, not if she could, not if she was the only one...

I'm not her. I can't be her. I can't -

Amy screwed her eyes shut, biting her lip again, tasting blood within moments, but she forced herself to her feet, stumbled over the broken remnants of the wall she'd taken shelter behind, staggered towards the rift - she opened her eyes, seeing that she was getting closer -

Cassandra's shield-arm was hanging weirdly from her body, the redhead had a deep gouge in her arm, though she was pulling a half-empty vial of potion out of her belt pouch with her other hand - even the bald man seemed to be injured, favoring his left side - the short man seemed unhurt, at least, but -

Amy took another few steps, spitting the blood out of her mouth, gasping -

The bald man ran at her, and before Amy could dodge or step aside or even really register it was happening, he snatched up her left arm and held it up, pointing it towards the rift -

"Quickly, before they finish coming through!"

A fresh stab of white-hot tortuous pain burned through her whole being, running straight down her arm, to her hand -

Green light, green energy, green - something - flowed from her hand, into the rift - Amy averted her eyes at the brightness in front of her, and then, a sound like crackling electricity, a loud boom and a small shockwave radiating out from just in front of her...

The green brightness at the corner of her eye faded and she turned to look where the rift had been, the agony in her hand already quickly bleeding away into that dull ache once more - though it wasn't as dull as it had been, throbbing much more actively, pain spiraling up her arm just a little.

"Sweet Andraste, that worked?!" The redhead was the first to say, dropping an empty potion vial to the ground - Amy saw the gouge in her hand immediately begin to close up, skin sealing up, regrowing almost as if she was using her power on it, though not as quickly, not as completely - there was still a deep cut, just less deep, less wide, and not actively bleeding...

"So it would seem," Cassandra said.

"Good. We'd have been ass-deep in demons if this went on too much longer," the short man said. He flicked a switch on his crossbow and the four arms of it collapsed inward, and he slung the bow over his back in an easy, practiced motion. He was closer now, and she got a better look at him - he was wearing a chain necklace of some sort, and both of his ears were pierced, wearing an open jacket, and his shirt was unbuttoned, showing off a lot of his chest. If he was bothered by the cold, he didn't show it. "Still might end up that way if we don't deal with the big one."

Amy looked away from the man, down at her hand. It wasn't glowing or pulsating anymore, and for a moment, it almost looked like it was sparking, as if electricity was coming off it, like from a live wire, but only for that moment.

"...so I can do something about this..." Amy said softly.

"Indeed you can," The bald man said, in another accent that was... different, like nothing she could place. "The mark on your hand, and the magic of these rifts and the Breach seemed to be of a similar nature. I theorized that one might be able to influence, or even control the other."

"You didn't know for sure!?" Amy snapped. "Just had me dragged here, right into the fighting to test it!?" Even as she said it, she looked down at the ground, realizing how stupid it sounded, and - she hadn't even been in the fighting really, after the first time and this guy - some kind of cryokinetic, clearly - had risked his life throwing back those demons.

"Lady Cassandra was the one to 'drag you here', as you say," the bald man said, his voice soft, seeming unconcerned. Cassandra didn't have any visible reaction to him pinning the blame on her, but - he was right, wasn't he? "But I'm not sure there would have been any other way to find out if your mark could close the rifts,"

"Right." Amy swallowed. "I... sorry."

"I am gratified to see you still live," the man added. She looked him over now - his clothing looked... unremarkable. A little shabby, but not like, falling apart. He too seemed completely unbothered by the cold, which was starting to get annoying to see. Fine, she wasn't dressed for the weather, but still!

Then she did a double-take as she registered something she hadn't been seeing before.

Pointed ears.

The bald man had fucking pointed ears! Like an elf!

Magic, demons, elves...

Some kind of minor Case 53/Monster Cape type thing, right? Like Bad Canary, who had those feathers? He couldn't -

Next thing would be that the short guy wasn't just someone short, or maybe dealing with one of the conditions lumped under 'dwarfism' but he was an actual dwarf! That was just - this couldn't be magic! This had to be parahuman stuff and tinkertech and projections, right?! Even on another Earth, magic couldn't be real!

It couldn't!

"That's his way of saying he's the one who kept that mark from killing you while you slept," the short man - who absolutely was not a dwarf! - chimed in.

"Thank you?" She said, looking at him. Did he have more than one power? Or had he used his ice to somehow... dull the pain of the mark or something? Maybe he was just a powers nerd, like Vicky.

"You are quite welcome." He held out a hand, ungloved, "My name is Solas."

"Amy." She said, taking his hand in hers. She could get an idea of how hurt he was and then offer to heal it, if he really had helped keep the mark from killing her, she owed him that much, at least, right!?

The moment her hand touched his, she felt her brain suddenly screech to a halt, like a record scratch in a movie bringing everything to a stop.

It was impossible to put into words what exactly she 'saw' when she touched someone and got a complete look at their biology. She'd tried, after Vicky had pestered her enough about it one time, and she could at least... approximate it, but even then, it was - it was a lot of things that she just couldn't describe. But she got a look at everything about a person, right down to their cells. She got a look at the structure of their brains, which of their organs was operating at peak efficiency, any indications of long-past bone fractures, their antibodies, all flooding into her mind at once.

She had to actually focus a little to get any useful information beyond the immediate rush, like zooming in on a specific spot of a picture, but the basic impression had information too, sometimes.

She'd touched Case 53s, during power testing with the PRT, to see if she could return their bodies to normal. Leaving aside the fact that some of them didn't even have organic bodies anymore, like that metal guy from Boston they'd actually had her check if she could affect (she'd rolled her eyes at that waste of her time), the ones that were organic were... weird. There were bits and pieces of human DNA and sometimes human organs and so on underneath the surface, even if that surface could be really weird.

She also couldn't give them their old bodies back, even if she'd known, if they'd known, what they'd looked like. Maybe she could have changed them, shaped their flesh to look human, if she'd been willing to use her power that way, but - she couldn't 'heal' them back to human appearance. Her power just... didn't see them as hurt.

But touching this man, this... Solas guy -

Her power was feeding her a complete look at his biology and for all that looked like a tall, slim human with eyes that were maybe a bit larger than normal and ears that were pointed... he was absolutely not human.

He had all the same basic general organs, in the same basic arrangement, but she'd healed enough human bodies to know that that - that lungs shouldn't be arranged like that, that the heart was beating at speed that absolutely should have been too slow for this man to be as healthy as the rest of his biology seemed to read. His bones were bones, and his muscle tissue were muscles, but the cells within them were arranged... all wrong, and the muscle was... layered wrong, for lack of a better way of putting it.

His fucking DNA wasn't Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine. The chemicals were similar, and it was definitely DNA, arranged in a double helix and - and -

But it wasn't the right chemicals! Cassandra had been human, absolutely normal human - maybe a lot healthier than the average American except for the lack of antibodies for diseases Amy was familiar with and with maybe slightly worse teeth, but for some primitive medieval place her teeth weren't actually that bad -

His brain was also just - again, close, but not right. She'd gotten a look at more human brains than she wanted to count, and they had differences, but this -

This wasn't human.

And there's no fucking Corona! No Polentia! No Gemma!

"You're - you're not human!" Amy stared at his hand, and then realized everyone else was staring at her, that she'd shouted the words out.

He doesn't have powers? But he could - he could make the ice and -

Amy let go of his hand, stumbling back, nearly falling over, breathing suddenly coming faster - she would have tripped, landed on her ass or something if not for a hand suddenly on her shoulder, watching her, keeping her up. Cassandra and Solas were in front of her, and she didn't think it was the short guy so - the redhead?

If he's not human and - and he doesn't - then magic - and he's actually - then - were the demons -

"No, I am not. And yet, you say it as if this is a surprise to you, but only after you touched my hand." Solas said. Amy did hear his words, and made them out even as her mind raced around in circles, refusing to believe the obvious, the facts of what she'd seen, what had to be happening.

"Amy claims to be from beyond Thedas," Cassandra said. "I am becoming increasingly inclined to believe her. She was able to heal my injuries at a mere touch, without magic."

"Without magic? At a touch?" The redhead said from behind her. "Lady Pentaghast, that - how is that possible? Are you - you can't be -"

"Because that's what I do! That's my power!" Amy said, managing to collect herself enough to string words together again. "I - I heal, other people. And I get a complete look at their biology and - he's not human! What the fuck are you, an elf?"

"Yes," Solas said simply, staring at her, eyes wide a moment, genuinely seeming confused, surprised by her.

"So - what, he's a dwarf then?!" she gestured behind her, to where she thought the short man - the dwarf? - was.

"I am." The man said. "Varric Tethras, at your service." She heard him walk up beside her, and she turned to look at him - Amy wasn't used to being taller than people, but she was taller than this man. This... dwarf. "And you're from beyond Thedas? If we make it through this mess alive, you probably have some really interesting stories to tell." The dwarf - Varric - went on.

"Varric, now is not the time," Cassandra said, sounding exasperated. "I'm not even sure why you're still here. I brought you to Haven to share your story with the Divine, but... that is no longer possible."

"Right now, you need all the help you can get, Seeker," Varric said. "Your soldiers aren't in control of the valley anymore, and it looks like the only one who can stop us from getting overrun by demons is a kid who I'm guessing doesn't know the first thing about fighting." He raised an eyebrow and glanced back at her.

"I don't! I'm a healer! That's what I do!" Amy raised her voice. She tried to take a deep breath - she wasn't on the verge of hyperventilating anymore, but her breathing was coming in ragged, shaky. She was still -

"If she's not from Thedas, and she's not a mage... I don't see how anyone, but especially a non-mage, could have been behind the Breach," Solas said, looking at Cassandra.

"I am beginning to believe she is not the one behind the Breach, but further questions will have to wait. We need to get to the valley, we must close more rifts, and then the Breach." Cassandra said.

Amy tried to take another breath, but again, it wasn't working, shaky, ragged -

"That's a great idea, Seeker. We should get moving then," Varric said.

"Varric, absolutely not!" Cassandra raised her force, shaking her head, grimacing as if the idea caused her physical pain.

"Like I said, Seeker, your soldiers aren't in control of the valley."

"Lady Pentaghast," the redhead said, taking her hand off of Amy's shoulder, "Varric saved my life. Without him taking down a demon that nearly ripped me open from behind, I'd be among them," she gestured to the fallen soldiers around. "If Amy is the only one who can close these rifts, we need to keep her alive." The redhead's accent was, Amy realized now that she'd heard her talk enough, nearly identical to Cassandra, though they hardly sounded the same otherwise...

"This Breach is a threat to us all," Solas pointed out.

"Very well," Cassandra made another scoff/snarl of disgust and turned away, crouching by the bodies of one of the soldiers.

"If you can heal, could you help me with this?" The redhead asked, moving a little to get in Amy's eyeline and raising her injured hand. "I'd rather not open another healing potion just for this, but it still fucking hurts,"

"I... yeah," Amy nodded. She extended a hand, and touched the wound through her damaged glove, closing it up quickly, the skin leaving no sign of even a scar, no hint there'd been any injury there.

"No scars even? I think you're my new favorite person," The redhead chuckled. "Katerina, by the way," she introduced herself.

"Nice - nice to meet you," Amy said, looking at the woman. She was... maybe a few years older than Amy? Her glimpse at her biology - the woman was definitely young, and had a lot of muscle underneath her armor - had to, to have that two handed sword, right? She...

She was pretty. Amy could recognize that much, despite the situation. And tall. Maybe six feet? Just under? The blood spattered on her armor, on her face, from the demons - it was already starting to vanish. How the - how did that happen? How did any of this happen?

WHAT IS GOING ON?! Her brain was screeching at her, or so it felt like, and she couldn't stop cycling her brain around back to Solas, to -

How did his body work? How did it - it wasn't like he was just human but with pointed ears and taller and thinner and better eyes or something, like in a normal fantasy novel? He was - his biology shouldn't work, right? Human biology worked the way it did for a reason!

But he wasn't human, but he was close, so close and how - how could he be so close and so so not and -

Katerina wasn't the only one who got hurt! Cassandra's arm was definitely injured, and the - Solas had been favoring his left side a little.

She turned back to him, "Are you hurt?"

"Not seriously, but if you're offering to heal, I wouldn't object," Solas answered. Amy took his hand - for a moment, she got lost in the just off-base insanity of his biology, but she closed her eyes, focusing in on on his left leg. He wasn't cut or bleeding, but he'd been hit there pretty hard and there was a hairline fracture in one of his ribs on his left too, so she sealed that up... she didn't know if she could safely have his body make painkillers like she usually did for -

For humans -

But for all that his bones were... wrong, she did have enough examples of his bones that seemed to be fine, and she patched up the damage from the blow to his leg - serious blunt force - and his rib.

"Strange... it feels much like if someone healed that with magic, but there truly is no magic in what you're doing," Solas shook his head.

"I'm still not convinced magic is real, but you're obviously not a parahuman - or even a para... elf, so..." Amy shook her head. "Later. Rifts. Breach." She let go of his hand before she could start trying to make sense of his kidneys -

She looked for Cassandra, who was standing a bit away, looking down the path that looked like it led further, into the valley that she could at least get a few glimpses of now, in the distance.

"Can I heal your arm?" Amy asked. "It's obviously - it's got to hurt a lot, the way you're holding it." Cassandra turned back to her, and took off one of her gloves, holding out a hand. Amy took it - she had a few smaller bruises-in-the-making from the impact of attacks that had hit her armor, but her shield-arm was fractured in a few places. Small ones, nothing that would stop her from using the arm, unless it got worse, but they definitely hurt, her body already responding to the pain -

Amy fused the bone back together, touching up the other injuries... she could so something about Cassandra's scars, but - they were old and they weren't related to this and -

"It's increasingly clear there is much you have questions about, but we do not have time to linger."

"I know." She took a breath, "But I - I - I'm not used to running this much, or even jogging or - if we keep this up, I'm going to collapse before we get to the Breach..." or she might faint if she got hit with another impossible shock to her system. Another revelation of -

Demons. Elves. Magic. Dwarves. I'm really in some fucking fantasy world!? It was like one of those shitty portal fantasy stories she usually didn't bother with - most of them were terribly written, with unlikeable main characters and she just didn't have the time to read much anyway so she wasn't going to waste it on schlocky nonsense.

Of course, maybe I should have... Might have given her an idea on what to do here, now?

But - well, she did know what she had to do right now, right? She had to focus on the Breach, on the problem ahead of her, on the immediate issue. Even Vicky would be holding back questions in the face of all this, and Amy wasn't the nerd her sister was. Vicky would be wanting to pester Solas about his his 'magic' worked and want to understand what it was once she realized it wasn't powers

But would she? Vicky wouldn't be able to tell? She'd just think he was some cryokinetic, right? And that he just was a human with pointed ears.

"We must push ahead, but - I suppose we will have to moderate our pace, for a time then." Cassandra said, frustration shaking off every word - she let out a long exhale when she was done, grimacing after.

"Well, I'm sorry I skipped leg day! I didn't expect to end up in a backwards medieval world that doesn't have any flying capes or - or cars or - apparently horses or anything else!" Amy muttered.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: This is arguably a 'too decisive' and 'too active' Amy, in some ways, but the thing is, for all that passivity and indecision about her own problems is kind of Amy's thing, the bank shows that she's perfectly capable of being decisive when other people's lives are on the line, at least at this point. She's in a crisis situation, and for all that she was terrible during the S9 attack, she worked in a hospital a lot over the years, in a city like Brockton Bay. She absolutely had to keep a calm head during a medical crisis - and she managed to keep herself together during Levi's attack and even mostly after, despite her uncle and cousin dying and her dad becoming a vegetable.

Amy absolutely will have a complete breakdown when she has a chance, but it's pretty much true that a lot happens very quickly at this point in Inquisition's story, and if nothing else, when she can muster the emotional and mental bandwidth, Amy is obviously very good at repressing, so she's doing that a lot right now.

Also, we're finally done with the Prologue mission now. I promise the pace won't always be like this, but Amy has a lot to work through, and a lot of an alien world to be exposed to.

---

Amy had so many questions, so many things she didn't understand, so many things she needed to know. How the fuck did Solas's body work? Why did elves look so human on the surface and were so fucking different under the hood? Would Varric's body be just as off, in a different way? If this really was a world of magic and demons and - how did any of that work?

Amy wasn't a nerd like her sister, she wasn't obsessed with learning about powers, but at the same time, she'd never touched a form of life as off-kilter as Solas, and she just couldn't wrap her head around it at all. And it wasn't that Amy never had curiosity, she just...

She just never had the time or the energy for it.

And she didn't have the time or energy now. All her focus was put on keeping herself moving, one foot in front of the other, trying (and failing) to not hold the others up - Varric, shorter even than she was, was moving faster more steadily than she was.

So she couldn't really make conversation, or pay much attention to the conversation going on around her.

Another group of shades and wraiths attacked, and Amy had to fall back, hide behind a boulder and watch the others take them down. The four of them knew how to fight, all of them really well - Cassandra with precision, blocking attacks with her shield, strikes with her sword. Katerina's wild and reckless swings that still kept enemies at bay. Solas's ice 'magic' freezing or slowing enemies, shattering them with well placed thwacks from the butt end of his staff. Varric's oversized, insane crossbow punching deep into and through the enemies.

I need Vicky! Her sister could handle this... could handle this fighting, wouldn't be constantly hiding and -

Her sister would be able to just fly ahead to the rifts and close them and - even if she had to run she could do it better than her.

Doubled over, breathing hard as the others finished up the demons, Amy sucked in air, legs burning, her hand aching and her head throbbing.

I can't...I can't do this... Amy screwed her eyes shut. She didn't want to be so close to this fighting. She never had. She'd never wanted a power in the first place, for a reason and now - and now she -

This was so much worse than Brockton Bay. Capes rarely killed each other and - and the heat that someone would have from killing Panacea was - it was insane but now...

Those demons don't care and if they get me I could die and I don't - I don't want to die! And then there was everyone else who would die if the Breach got bigger - if Cassandra was right that it could get even bigger, big enough to 'swallow the world', if more demons kept coming in larger numbers...

She had to act. She couldn't do nothing, not with so many lives on the line...

That was the problem? She couldn't - she couldn't do this, but she didn't have any choice: she couldn't not do this.

"Hey!" Amy heard Katerina's voice right next to her and Amy opened her eyes, straightening up quickly, heat quickly rising in her cheeks... the redhead was standing in front of her, leaning down a little to meet her gaze. "Everything's going to shit, and I can't even imagine what you're dealing with, but we've got to keep moving."

Amy let out a small whimper, wishing she could just... sink into the earth, but she forced herself to take a breath. "I know. I know. I just -"

"You're not a fighter, and you're not used to this much running." Katerina cut in. "I get it. I'll keep you safe, and if it comes to it, I'll carry you, okay? But you have to try. Deal?"

Amy nodded slowly.

"Good."

I have to do this. Amy focused on that thought, on the thought that people would die if she didn't keep going. It was the same thing that propelled her to sneak out to the hospital, to keep going when all she wanted was to go home and lie in bed and pretend nothing else existed.

There just usually - usually - wasn't such an edge of danger to it. Not even the Bank, when Skitter had put fucking Black Widow spiders on innocent people had the same level of danger.

The five of them pushed ahead, Katerina staying close. They passed the burning ruins of some sort of house, and then through the crumbling ruins of some sort of walled structure, before reaching stairs carved into the slope of the mountain.

One foot in front of the other.

"We're almost to the forward camp." Cassandra raised her voice. She said something else, a little quieter, eliciting a response from Varric but Amy didn't pay attention, wasn't listening. They passed by the burning wreckage of a cart, a burned, blackened body next to it - it smelled like badly burned bacon, rancid. She'd smelled worse at hospitals.

Amy's hand started to pulse again, and the sound of people fighting ahead... Amy staggered, nearly stumbled, but Cassandra's hand caught her shoulder and kept her up. "Stay back. There's another rift, but be ready."
Amy nodded slowly, eyes darting, looking for cover - there really wasn't anything but a pine tree. The mark on her hand pulsating, growing brighter and dimmer, the spikes of pain coming faster, more intense as she saw a crystalline shape - the rift.

Just beyond, a closed wooden gate, the gatehouse positioned at the entrance to a bridge...

There were others, soldiers with bows and arrows, shooting from behind cover the wraiths firing green balls at them - Cassandra, Solas, Varric and Katerina crashed into the demons from the other side...

Amy doubled over, each demon falling made the spikes of pain coming up through her hand get worse, more intense... But the crystalline shape of the rift started to... unfold, with each death, looking more and more like the shimmering hole the last one had been before she'd closed it.

So that's how it works? Kill the demons and then close the rift?

Amy snatched at her left hand, holding her wrist tight, as if she could somehow cut off the flow of pain from the mark, up through her arm - it didn't work, and she cried out, stumbling, knees hitting the snow.

Whimpering, eyes screwed shut, Amy forced herself to stand, then open her eyes - there were just two demons - then with a swing of Cassandra's sword, one - and then none, Varric's bolt skewering through a shade and the rift was entirely unfolded, lines forming from it to the ground around them -

"Hurry, the mark now! Close it, before more demons come through!" Solas shouted. Amy moved as quickly as she could, stumbling over the snow to get closer, holding her left arm up, using her right hand to prop it up and 'aiming' it at the rift like Solas had earlier.

Expecting it this time didn't make the white-hot lance of pain that burned through her whole body any less intense as it burst out of her left hand, into the rift - Amy averted her eyes faster this time, and the momentary flash of green brightness as the rift closed.

Gasping, Amy dropped back down to her knees, then all fours, shoving her hand into the snow - it didn't do anything to dull the pain, but with the rift closed, the pain bled away anyway, slowly.

Shuddering, shallow exhales, Amy ignored everyone talking for a moment, trying to focus. If closing the smaller rifts hurt that much, what about the Breach?

As long as it's closed...

Legs screaming, soreness throughout her body now, Amy pushed herself back onto her feet.

"Well done," Cassadra told her, extending a hand, helping Amy up. Solas was the only one who was noticeably injured, and a quick touch to his hand - and a momentary, baffling glimpse at his impossible biology - allowed her to seal up the cut on his leg easily. Varric had somehow not managed to get seriously hurt yet, so far as Amy could tell...

Sucking in deep breaths, Amy watched as the gates opened - the bridge was stacked with boxes and racks of weapons, crates and barrels - there was a open crate of healing potions, and Amy hesitated for a moment - she hadn't been hurt in the recent fights, but the potions had done something for her sore leg muscles earlier, and they were even worse now...

"Stock up on potions now," Cassandra told the others, taking one for herself, and then handing two to Amy. Solas, Varric and Katerina each took some, and Amy swallowed, before popping a cork and taking several disgusting sips.

She had to imagine the relief that quickly spread through her legs wasn't anywhere near as good as it felt, that she was going to pay for ignoring her body telling her to stop tomorrow, but...

Cassandra went past her, and Amy looked ahead - Leliana was standing next to a table, arguing with a man in red and white... robes? No, not robes. It looked like those things priests wore. He had a black boxy hat on, with a half-sunburst pattern.

"Ah. The Seeker and our prisoner... with the storyteller and the apostate in tow as well." The man said, voice dripping with contempt. "Lady Cassandra, as Grand Chancellor, I hereby order you to take this criminal," he pointed at Amy, "to Val Royeaux to face execution."

So much for a trial... Amy tensed, pulling her robes closer around herself.

"Order me?" Cassandra scoffed, stepping towards the man, getting in his face. "You are a glorified clerk, a bureaucrat! You are not the Divine."

"I am Grand Chancellor of the Chantry - the Chantry you supposedly serve! And this girl is the one who murdered Divine Justinia! You were her Right Hand, Lady Cassandra!"

"And I her Left," Leliana cut in, voice quiet compared to the other two. "But this girl is almost certainly not the one behind the destruction of the Conclave, Chancellor Roderick."

"She bears the proof on her hand!" The Chancellor - Roderick - exclaimed. "I hear tell she was threatening her guards with magic! She's clearly a rebel mage who sought to prevent the peace!"

"Not magic," Cassandra countered. "And I do not believe that Amy is guilty either. Most Holy would not want anyone acting in her memory to act rashly in condemning someone without trial, if there was any choice."

"Justinia is dead! If you truly think this girl is innocent, then raise it with her replacement, once one is elected!"

"...Elected." Amy heard Katerina mutter behind her. "Does he think we have that kind of time?"

Apparently. The Divine was the Pope, and this guy was... not the Vice-Pope. Was that even a thing on Earth-Bet? I don't think so? There was an Aleph movie with the guy Tom Hanks played, with a papal election? Nothing about a Vice-Pope.

But whoever this man was, he thought she was guilty and didn't even want her to have a trial. Amy shrank in on herself as Leliana and Cassandra argued with Roderick for another minute, before the man shrank himself, shoulders slumping.

"Lady Cassandra, you must call a retreat, before it's too late. Whatever else, pull your men back, before more of them die needlessly." His voice was lower, sounding genuinely mournful...

"We can't. We have a chance to end this now. Whether she was behind the explosion or not, Amy has the ability to close the rifts, close the Breach. If we fall back now, the number of demons will only grow."

"You would trust her with the fate of us all?!" Roderick demanded.

"She's had the chance to act if what was happening now was at all her plan," Cassandra countered. "We must push through to the temple, now, while we still can."

"You don't have the men! There's no way they can push through those demons!" Roderick threw up his hands. "Pull back now, or on your head you will stand the consequences!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Cassandra scoffed and turned away from him, looking back to Amy. "It will take a short time to gather our forces for a final push through the temple. You may have that to rest, ready for yourself."

Amy nodded slowly. "What... how exactly am I supposed to close the Breach from... from - I can't fly, and you don't have anyone who can fly?" If Vicky was here, her sister could pick her up, carry her, fly her up into the sky and - and Amy could close the Breach and be safe and then Vicky could put her down and fight any remaining demons...

God, she'd love all this, wouldn't she? Enemies she didn't have to hold back against? Her sister would be having the time of her life, killing demons.

Well, not killing since I don't think they're even alive, if my power doesn't register their blood at all.

Still... her sister would love not having to restrain herself.

The sound of Solas answering her question pulled Amy away from the mental image of her sister throwing a dumpster at a Shade.

"Whatever caused the Breach happened closer to the ground. It is likely that at the epicenter of the explosion, there will be something that mark on your hand can interact with that will allow the Breach to be closed," Solas explained.

"Roderick is wrong that we should retreat, but he isn't wrong that we may not have the forces to push through directly to the temple," Leliana said, walking to stand next to Cassandra.

"We have no choice. If we do not reach the temple, then there will be no stopping the flood of demons." Cassandra countered. "We simply will have to make it."

"That's not the only choice." Leliana said calmly.

"We lost contact with one of your squads of scouts in those mining tunnels!" Cassandra shot back, raising her voice. "We can't take the chance. We have the forces to push through. They know what the stakes are. Cullen can do this."

"Even if it works - even if - we will get too many of our men killed forcing our way through," Leliana said, voice just as insistent as Cassandra's, even if calmer. "And that assumes we can. A frontal assault is too risky, for our man, and for the only person who can close the Breach."

"And if we lose her in those tunnels instead?!"

Amy was missing context, but she could guess the shape of the problem - they needed to get to the ruins of the Temple, to close the Breach. Fine. There were a lot of demons in the way, and there was a chance they couldn't make it with a direct charge.

But some alternative path, through mining tunnels - probably old and abandoned ones, like some cliche fantasy dungeon - was dangerous... but maybe safer. Maybe. Big maybe.

Cassandra and Leliana stared at one another a moment. "The choice should be hers," Cassandra finally said, and Leiliana nodded. The two women looked at her.

It took Amy several seconds to realize that Cassandra actually meant her, that the choice should be hers. "You're asking me? I - I don't - I have no idea which one is more likely to work." Amy swallowed, trying to bury herself in her robes, looking down, avoiding catching Leiliana's eye, or Cassandra's.

"The risk is going to be yours, regardless," Cassandra answered her. "You are the one we must keep alive, above all else." Amy shrank in on herself even more. Everything was riding on her. And she had to do it, she had to push through. "Since we cannot agree on our own, the choice should be left to you."

Amy swallowed, breathing coming quickly. She looked up at them both. "More people will die if we go directly to the temple?" Cassandra nodded.

"But if we have our men attack without an intent to force their way through, it will draw away enough of the demons that you can get to the temple." Leliana explained. "There can only be less demons that way."

"But the risk to you is greater. And there will be demons there." Right. The entire squad. But they'd be at least sending more than just a few scouts... and Amy could help keep them alive if they got hurt and -

Amy shook her head, "I - if it means there's a chance less people die..." Either way, she was the only one who could close the rifts. As Cassandra said, she was the one they needed to keep alive... "the old tunnels," Amy said.

She didn't want people dying to keep her alive. They had to, as long as the Breach was a problem, and the idea made her sick, but -

Swallowing, Amy looked up at the Breach. Still so far up, but they were closer now, and it looked bigger, a massive, angry, gaping green hole in the sky. It did look like those rifts, a tear right into reality itself...

I have to do this. She swallowed again. "The mining tunnels." She repeated. "We'll take the tunnels."

"Sometimes, taking the less direct route gets the job done better," Varric praised.

Cassandra scowled, but nodded. "Very well. Leliana, gather everyone we have left in the valley. If this is to work, it must seem as though we are making a push."

"I do not believe these shades and wraiths are so well organized that they need to be tricked with anything complicated. Compared to the Fade, our world is confusing and disorienting. They are corrupted by it, and lashing out, but there is no unifying command. Merely creating conflict will draw them in, towards the largest source of it." Solas advised, moving his staff from one hand to the other halfway through speaking.

Amy swallowed. This has to work.

This needs to work.

I have to make this work.

Whatever else, Amy had to make this work. Amy had to make it to the Breach.

---

We're never going to make it... Amy's fingers felt like they were going to fall off. Not just from the stabbing, freezing wind blowing snow into her face, onto her hands, but from the strain of ladder, after ladder.

She'd thought tunnels meant going down, and they would be going down.

They just had to go up ladders first. Up into increasingly biting cold, along the edge of walkways with creaky wooden guardrails...

"How long have these tunnels been abandoned?" Varric asked, raising his voice to be heard over the wind as they reached another landing. Amy pulled her hands inside her sleeves, hugging the cliff face as the five of them moved.

I don't have any of the signs of frostbite yet. No hypothermia either. The latter was more likely. Her robes were concealing, and warmer than a lot of superhero costumes, especially the hood, but -

"Only a decade. Ever since Andraste's Ashes were discovered," Katerina shouted over the wind. "Not that the cult was doing much mining at that point!" Amy blocked out the rest of their shouting...

They reached another ladder, and Cassandra went first, then Varric, then it was her turn - she curled her fingers around the highest rung she could easily reach, biting her lip at the way it hurt. She'd never climbed that many ladders - even on playgrounds as a kid in elementary school -

Not looking down, Amy kept climbing the ladder, unsure how she was managing to keep moving - the rest at the forward camp while forces were gathered had helped, but she was still sore and tired and in pain - there were limits to how much she could push herself, and yet, somehow, she was still going.

Because if she stopped, people would die. And so she couldn't. She'd keep going, until she couldn't, because she had no other choice.

When they reached the top, Amy stepped aside for Katerina and Solas, and they pushed ahead, climbing yet another ladder, and then, finally, up ahead, a mine entrance carved into the mountain. Cassandra drew her sword and readied her shield, the others also grabbing their weapons and reading them.

"Stay in the middle. They could ambush us from behind," Cassandra instructed, and Amy nodded. As they stepped inside the mine, they were out of the wind, and Amy rubbed her hands together, trying to find some scrap of warmth now.

"Solas, light," Cassandra said, and the mage - am I really going to just call him that?! - murmured something and twitched his hand, a globe of light appearing above said hand, then floating out in front of Cassandra, lighting the tunnels ahead of them.

They were barely a minute until the tunnels when the first Shade struck out from the shadows, a low growl and then claws like night flying out towards Cassandra - she caught the attack on her shield, the claws scraping against it like nails on a chalkboard but worse.

The demon was dispatched within moments - a bolt of blue... magic? Ice? Light? From Solas - a stab from Cassandr and a bolt from Varric.

But as they proceeded through the tunnel, that was far from the only one. At first, just one demon. But then two or three at a time. Amy was forced to scramble at several junctures, stumbling backwards, landing on her ass once, to avoid attack -

But as they moved through the mine, Amy felt her mark pulsating again, the pain climbing up her arm once more.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck... why does this have to hurt so much..." she didn't even bother blinking back the tears, or trying to hold them back, feeling them start to slide down her cheeks, teeth clenched tight.

"There's another rift nearby. Ahead, probably," Amy said, louder.

"You can sense them?" Solas sounded like her sister pestering someone about how their powers worked. This is probably fascinating to him. A wonderful chance to study magic he's never heard of before.

"I can feel this fucking thing in my hand throb and pulse whenever we're close to one. Happened the last two times too," Amy snapped. "I'll be happy to be studied when this is all over," Amy lied through her teeth, "but right now, save the questions!"

"Of course, forgive me," Solas said politely.

"Hang back, behind that pillar," Katerina told her as they turned another corner and finally saw it, the crystalline form of the rift, and a dozen demons lurking around it. Mostly wraiths, rather than shades, their green forms casting an eerie light on the tunnel around them, much like the rift itself.

Amy complied, crouching low, watching the fight. It went like the rest, really - the demons weren't simple enemies that could be killed instantly, but the four of them knew their stuff, and by now, they had a lot of practice. If any of them were tiring from all the fighting, they didn't show it. Amy's breath, as Katerina got raked across the back with a shade's claws, but the other woman didn't let it stop her - pushing through on what had to be as much adrenaline as discipline, she spun and nearly hacked the shade in half before its form vanished.

The rift shimmered and started to unfold, but then, before it was fully opened and ready for her to close it...

Two circles of green flame formed near it, and she heard Cassandra raise her voice, "Pull back from the rift! Terror demons!"

The name proved to be apt - with a keening screech that made Amy's blood still, two spindly forms, each at least seven, eight feet tall leapt appeared from the circles of flame.

The shades had had long claws at the end of their misshapen hands. These things... they were so much more of that - sticklike forms, arms and legs that were longer than the body itself, five claws at the end of hands and feet alike...

They screeched again, and Amy screwed her eyes shut, every part of her body demanding she run, she get out of this mine, this tunnel, run and run and run until she couldn't move anymore and then hide and bury herself....

I want Vicky! She'd settle for any of her family - Eric or Mark or Aunt Sarah or Crystal or Uncle Neil -

She wanted Carol. Anyone, anything who could stop this thing, who could make her feel safe, but she wasn't and she felt like she couldn't breathe, throat closing up, head light...

Her hand kept throbbing with pain -

The terror demons were clearly much, much more durable than the shades and wraiths - and those claws could clearly do so much worse...

She averted her eyes, unable to watch...

They're all going to die, they're going to die and then the demons will come for me and I'm going to die here and I'll never see home again and I'll - I'll never see Vicky or Mark or even Carol or anyone else again! And they'll never see me and - and -

All the people in the Bay she could have helped would never be helped. And if Vicky ever got hurt again - or if her sister went and brutalized a seventh criminal and she couldn't help her and then her sister would get in trouble, with the PRT, with Carol, with - god knew who else...

I'm going to die, I'm going to die...

Amy wasn't sure when, but at some point she'd gone from crouching behind the pillar to sitting, arms wrapped tight around her knees, curling up into a fucking ball and rocking back and forth...

No. No. That's-

Why am I so - they -

Amy had been afraid before. She was always afraid of herself. Of her power. And she remembered, vaguely, being afraid of Carol, when she first came to live with the Dallons, even if she couldn't really remember why.

But there'd only been a handful of times in her life when she'd been terrified, really. That day in the mall had been one of them - but fear for her own life had quickly been overshadowed by her sister bleeding out - somuchbloodhowcouldtherebesomuchbloodhowdidhersisterhavesomuchblood? - but...

It hadn't felt like this.

She hadn't even been afraid at the bank - too furious at Skitter for using black widow spiders like a fucking psychopath.

So why she was like this, rocking back and forth in a little ball, -

Terror Demons.

They weren't just terrifying to look at!?

They were terrifying...

Master effect!

Naming it didn't make it less effective - Amy tried to search her memory, tried to remember what Carol and Aunt Sarah had taught them about how to respond to emotion-manipulating powers, half-paid attention to deep dives from Vicky about power theory about emotion powers and how they worked and PRT guides on how to handle them and - and -

She tried to force herself to breathe, slower, take breaths, tried to uncurl herself, to struggle to her feet -

A growl came out from the shadow behind her - before she could do more than try and fail to half-crawl away, Amy screamed - pain bloomed in her back, intense and concentrated, sharp-edged-

Amy fell back, onto her back, open cuts touching the cold stone - a shade loomed over her, growling again, her blood dripping off it's claws -

No. No.

Amy tried to scramble backwards -

"No, no, help! HELP!" Amy screamed, or tried to, the words felt like they came out choked, unable to get as loud as she wanted -

The shade closed the distance she managed to get away with ease and raised it's claws up, about to swing down -

A meat thud rang out and a crossbow bolt sprouted from the 'chest' of the demon. It staggered, then fell forward onto the ground next to Amy. A stab from Katerina's blade into its body was enough to finish it off, and it quickly dissipated.

Amy struggled to sit up, whimpering again, tears in her eyes once more... Cassandra held out a hand, and she took it, legs shaking, her back still stinging... her shirt felt sticky against her skin, but she was pretty sure the cuts were shallow, at least, judging from the way the cuts hurt and the way they didn't seem to really impede her movements or...

The rift!

"I should have kept a closer watch on you," Cassandra said. "You still have a potion?"

Amy nodded. "The rift. I need to close the rift." She fumbled for the potion in her pocket, even as she forced herself to walk to the rift.

"Amy, wait!" Cassandra shouted, but Amy ignored her. She felt like she was probably sobbing - the pain from the cuts on her back wasn't really that much, after the initial shock, but as she got closer to the rift, now fully opened and unspooled and ready to be closed, the pain spiking up her arm, through her whole body increased, and between the two of them, and all the accumulated soreness and stress from the nightmare of a day she'd had and it still wasn't down and she was still coming down from the adrenaline high of whatever those terror demons had done to her and - and -

Amy held her hand out to the rift, fell to her knees as the pain got even worse for a moment, then the usual green flash and the rift was gone. Amy nearly fell forward onto her face, catching herself with a thrown out arm, scraping her hand against the stone a little, but -

"Amy!" Cassandra shouted again. "What were you thinking!"

Hands shaking from... everything, Amy managed to pop the cork of the potion and pour some into her mouth - she spilled as much as she drank, getting the vile peppermint-tasting bullshit all over her chin and running down onto her shirt and her robes and she couldn't muster the energy to give a shit...

"The rift had to be closed before more demons came through," Amy said, slowly lowering the half-full potion. Her back itched, and she could feel the cuts there closing - was it as surreal for other people to feel her healing them as it was to heal this? The potions - from what she could tell based on their effects on the others - weren't as thorough as her own powers, more speeding up natural healing processes a lot and stopping bleeding, but they couldn't 'make' lost blood and there were functional limits to how much they could heal, that much was obvious.

They'd probably do nothing about cancer or any serious disease either.

"You could have drunk the potion first, you idiot!" Cassandra snapped, hooking her hands under Amy's shoulders and pulling her up to her feet. "You cannot help anyone if you are unconscious again!"

"I'm used to powering through stuff," Amy waved her hand.

"You're not used to being cut up like that," Katerina chided. "It's obvious."

"Not the point," Amy shook her head.

"I think it probably is, but I also think arguing about it with you isn't going to get us anywhere," Varric said, apparently everyone wanted to put in their fucking two cents.

"I want this insanity to be over as much as you guys do." She had to close the Breach before she could let herself stop, and worry about how to get home and how her sister must be reacting... they had to think she was dead? How was Vicky handling it? Had she killed Bakuda? Died trying?

Please let her have held back, don't - Vicky wouldn't be able to handle the guilt of killing someone... Her sister was too good a person to not hate herself if she actually killed someone, even someone who fucking deserved it, and it would eat her up inside and she couldn't let that happen to Victoria...

"So we need to keep moving. Are any of you hurt?"

"We drank potions after the fight. We will manage," Katerina answered first.

"Fine." Amy took a shuddering breath and shoved the half-empty, recorked bottle back into her pocket. "Let's go." She clenched her teeth, wiping away remnants of tears from her face. She really hoped there were no more rifts before they got to the ruins of the temple ahead...

They pushed forward, and there was another fight against shades and wraiths ahead, near the exit of the tunnel - she could see light ahead, coming in, hear the howl of wind over the sound of the fighting -

But the other four weren't the only ones in this fight - as soon as they moved in, arrows came out of a side passage, connecting with the demons - two people in hooded cloaks darted out, swords in hand, joining the fight. Amy noted their blades seemed to be shorter than Cassandra's more for stabbing than slashing, but more than that she just didn't know enough about swords to say - the fight ended quickly, and one of the hooded people dropped their hood, revealing they were a woman, maybe late twenties?

"Lady Cassandra," she clapped a closed fist to her chest. "Thank you for the help. They had us pinned down, we couldn't get through them."

"How many of your squad survived, Lieutenant?"

"Both of us, and two others, ser - but one of them is badly hurt, we're out of potions... I'm not even sure a potion would do much at this point."

"We have potions, but we also have a mage and a healer," Cassandra said. She looked to Amy, and Amy nodded, taking a breath.

"Show me,"

The Lieutenant looked over at her and her eyes widened, "You're the prisoner!"

"And despite our initial beliefs, she is almost certainly not behind the destruction of the conclave," Cassandra assured her. "She is also capable of closing the rifts, and with the Maker's grace, the Breach as well."

"Do you want me to heal your friend or not?" Amy asked flatly, pressing a hand to her forehead.

"Please," the woman said, and stepped aside, gesturing for them to follow her - they went down the side passage into a room lit only by a lantern set on the floor, casting dim light and pale shadows against the wall. There were two others, one propped up against the wall, pale and sweating and the iron stench of blood coming off him, his stomach bound by blood stained bandages. The other one was crouched by him, hand on his forehead, the other hand trying vainly to press down on the bandages.

Amy crouched down on the man's other side, noting his pointed ears - another elf. Healing Solas of minor cuts without an issue was one thing, but this could be a lot harder...

"Do I have your permission to heal you?" She asked the man, who looked towards her, blinking repeatedly, then in a weak voice:

"Wha-"

"Do I have permission to heal you?" Amy asked, repeating herself.

"Just heal him!" The lieutenant snapped.

"I don't heal people without permission!" Amy snapped back, glaring at the lieutenant,

"He's a soldier, I'm his commanding officer, I'm ordering him to let you, so just heal him! He's dying!"

Amy put a hand on the elf's hand, getting another look at the absolutely batshit biology of an elf. What made it so batshit was that the end result looked and functioned so much like a human, but it was so very much not human.

It was like someone had wanted to build a human, but only had a passing idea of what they were, and how they worked, and didn't have any of the right proteins to make the right building blocks so they just threw something together, said 'eh, good enough' and somehow it worked!

And she could see how it worked, but by all logic it absolutely shouldn't!

"He has at least several hours," Amy countered. It was a lingering gut wound, he'd probably been slashed pretty deeply by a shade's claws, but those could be very fast deaths, or slow and painful ones.

"...yes..." The soldier finally managed to say weakly, and Amy nodded.

"Fine."

She started with sealing up his wound first - that much was easy, drawing a bit of excess fat and turning it into mimics of the cells that were all over the body - even the fucking skin cells were wrong - but the rest of the damage to his body was harder to figure out. But she still did it, knitting the underlying muscle and other tissue back together, and turning pretty much all his remaining spare fat - he didn't have a lot - into blood.

She pulled her hand back two minutes later, "You're going to need to eat. A lot. And I couldn't replenish all your lost blood, or put you back to one hundred percent, so absolutely do not push yourself, or you're going to hurt yourself." She stood back up, swallowing.

"Let's keep going." He was healed, he was okay, but they needed to go, they had to close the Breach. And at the rate things were going, the way she was feeling - if they didn't get there soon, then she wasn't going to make it there at all.

Another rift and she genuinely might fall unconscious. She had to keep going, push past everything... late nights at the hospital, downing shitty battery acid coffee to stave off tiredness as she healed people was easy mode compared to this, but she had to do it.

If the Breach really did get bigger, if Cassandra's fears about it swallowing the world were even halfway legitimate...

How many people were on this world? Less than Earth-Bet, given the medieval technology, but still, millions, tens of millions at least, right?

I have to save them. Apparently, for some fucking reason, I'm the only one who can...

"Report back to Leliana, and tell her to start moving forces through these tunnels to the temple," Cassandra ordered. "We'll want as much help for whatever demons are in the temple itself."

"Yes Ser," she clasped the closed fist to her chest again - some sort of salute? - and helped the healed elf onto his feet with one of the others, and they started making their way to the exit. They stepped out of the mine and into the blisteringly cold wind again, a long slope down, the smouldering wreckage of a structure below, a column of green light rising up from it, all the way to the Breach, which was practically overhead now.

"The path ahead appears to be clear of demons," Solas observed, holding up his hand and letting it glow white for a moment.

"Then best we keep going, before that changes." Cassandra ordered.

"Once more, towards the Breach," Amy muttered, remembering an old movie she'd watched with Mark one night when she couldn't sleep, when she was like, twelve. "Once more, towards the Breach, dear friends."

"Sounds like you're quoting something," Varric observed, as they started down the slope, moving carefully at first, with how steep it was.

"Misquoting a movie I barely remember, yeah." Amy muttered.

Didn't the main character die in that movie too? It was based on Shakespeare, and everyone died in his plays if they weren't comedies, right?

Great thought to have, you fucking idiot.

---

The ruins of the 'Temple of Sacred Ashes' smelt... well, like smoke and ashes and cinders. The whole place was still smouldering, even had fires still lit in a few places, parts strewn with bodies - some likely killed by demons, others charred to unidentifiable cinders - that were thankfully not smelling that much, the frigid air slowing the decay, at least. Her mark was twitching and throbbing, more... itching than getting more painful. Which was... something.

The rock of the mountain around them had turned to a glassy-looking substance, run through with some sort of green stone or light when they got closer to the structure, but then the structure itself - it was vast, or had been vast, but looking at it now, all Amy could see was a crater that went down, remnants of walls and pillars and stairs.

And death. And that stench of ash and smoke and cinders.

"The Temple of Sacred Ashes... the resting place of Andraste, and now reduced to this," Katerina murmured, one hand balling into a fist. "Whoever was behind this has much to answer for."

"It is entirely possible that whoever was truly behind this died in the explosion," Solas said, sounding rather certain of himself.

"Sure about that?" Varric asked, looking around in a sort of horrified awe. "Because I'd rather not face whoever had the power to do this. I mean... holes in the Fade just don't happen, right?"

"In theory, anything is possible with enough magic."

"Or enough blood sacrifice, given the actions of the Magisters Sidereal," Katerina murmured. Solas inclined his head in agreement with her.

"Blood sacrifice powered magic? That's a fucking thing here?" Amy dropped her head into her right hand, "Fuck, of course it would, wouldn't it?"

"Blood Magic is a sin banned in all the known world, maleficars who practice it were the primary focus of the Templars, before the war began." Cassandra said, as if that little detail explained anything.

"It sure was Meredith's primary focus. She turned Kirkwall upside down hunting for maleficars under the bed and behind every corner." Varric said.

Okay, so... where is Kirkwall? Who is Meredith? Amy knew that a war between Mages and Templars had been what the Conclave held here had been trying to end. Clearly, Varric and Cassandra had different ideas about which side was the better one.

"Meredith was... a dangerous fool, and the Seekers were readying to investigate when she acted, but there were blood mages active in the city. You counted one as a friend!"

"Merrill was hardly a maleficar. Girl wouldn't hurt a fly that didn't deserve it." Varric said, defensively. "Meanwhile, Blondie hated blood magic more than Templars, and look what he did. It's not about the magic, it's about what you do with it."

"There are few legitimate uses for blood magic," Solas said calmly. "I cannot speak to your friend, but the only way to learn it is through a deal with a demon."

"I'm not saying Merrill wasn't more than a little crazy, but it's not as if she'd be capable of killing the kinds of people it would take to do this." Varric said, gesturing. "Seriously - there's got to be better ways to blow something up."

"This much is true. Which is why I suspect that this explosion was not the intention of whoever was behind this, but an accident, caused by losing control of whatever power was required to do this." Solas explained.

"Maybe we can leave this wonderful trip down what I'm guessing is memory lane for after the Breach is closed?" Amy raised her voice. "I have no idea about more than half of what you're talking about, and right now, I don't care, I just want this insanity to be over."

"She is right. We need to focus on the problem in front of us," Cassandra said. "Punishing those responsible, if they live, and... debating how we got here is unproductive."

The five of them fell into silence, as they proceeded further into the temple. They reached the lip of the crater's outermost edge, and Cassandra dropped down the short distance into the pit. Amy hesitated a moment, standing at that edge. Katerina moved past her and dropped down, then held out her arms. "I'll guide you down, just sit at the edge, like this," she mimed the position, "and push yourself off a bit."

Amy bit her lip, still hesitating. It wasn't that far, but it was far enough she didn't want to just... drop down. Even without her flight or forefield, Vicky could do it easily, like Katerina and Cassandra had, but -

Swallowing, she sat down on the edge, and pushed herself forward, and Katerina's hands grabbed onto her as she started to slide down, grabbing her hips and helping her reach the ground, landing on her feet lightly.

"See? Nothing to it," Katerina grinned, brushing gravel off Amy's robes. Solas and Varric came down as well, and they proceeded further, a broken statue, just the feet and part of one leg left, shattered bits - a head, an arm, part of a hand - lying around it.

"This is where you emerged from the Fade. You fell out of a rift, though one that closed itself behind you." Cassandra said to Amy quietly. "They say a woman was in the rift behind you."

"I remember a woman," Amy murmured, a pressure building up inside her head, as it did every time she tried to remember the details of the period between Bakuda's bomb going off and waking up in that cell - just the flashes of green and spiders and a woman...

Nothing about the woman, just... 'woman'. Her memories had just a sort of general shape of 'woman' there, but that was in. Maybe wearing some sort of hat?

"So you said in the cell."

"Just flashes, bits. And my head hurts when I try to remember more." Amy pressed the base of her palms to her temples. "So don't ask me to."

More silence, and then they went down ash-covered stairs, and at the base, a corpse, sprawled out, flat on the ground, skin melted and blackened, taut over bones, mouth open in a silent scream of pain that would never end. Cassandra stepped over it, and Amy looked away, stepping as wide as she could off that bottom step, stumbling forward a bit, Cassandra catching her on her arm, stabilizing her. Amy swallowed, and nodded.

They turned around the corner, and stretching out before them, several stairs and levels (all ringed by crumbling stone railings) between them and it, was an open space, a crumbling half-destructed statue, and right in front of it, the crystalline form of a closed rift. It was larger than any of the last three, more crystals, more elaborate formations, and even though they were still pretty far from it, her hand, and the mark was starting to pulsate and throb...

But no demons prowling around it.

Smoky tendrils of green energy and light flowed up towards the sky, towards the Breach overhead.

Breathing out a hiss of air through clenched teeth, Amy spoke: "I'm going to go out on a limb, and assume that that's the thing that I can close the Breach through?"

"I believe so. However, you may have to properly open it, since it does not seem to be opened on its own, given the lack of demons." Solas said calmly.

"Open a rift? I assume that means we'll have demons on our ass, right?" Varric asked.

"It is likely."

"Then we should wait until more forces arrive. That rift seems larger, which could mean more, or worse demons." Cassandra declared. "But we must also get closer."

They went down a slope, then heard the sound of Leliana, and footsteps behind them. Amy turned, with the rest - Leilana was there, a bow slung over her back, an assortment of soldiers with armor and swords and spears, and hooded people with bows and arrows - more scouts, presumably. Maybe twenty or thirty in total.

"Leiliana, have your archers take up positions around this... space," Cassandra said, gesturing to the upper levels of the concentric 'squares' around the pit, around the closed rift. "The rest of you - you must come down into the pit with us."

Leliana made gestures towards various points around the pit, and the hooded archers moved, the armored soldiers gathering themselves and moving together down after them.

"If Solas is right, this is our chance to end this. Are you ready?"

"I'll do what I have to do," Amy nodded.

"Good." Cassandra said, then, after a moment's hesitation, "For a child-"

"I'm seventeen, it's not like I'm a fucking kid," Amy muttered.

"For a young woman without experience in combat, pushing yourself as you have physically to stay with us, that you have made it this far is impressive," Cassandra said. "Whatever else happens, that much is true."

"Not like I had much choice. Come here or let people die when I could maybe help prevent it," Amy swallowed. "But... I'm a little surprised I'm still standing. If I - If I collapse as soon as the Breach is closed, don't be surprised." She closed her eyes, rubbed at the back of her left hand - which accomplished nothing - and then took a deep, slow breath.

"Let's go. I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Which wasn't really that ready.

She looked up at the Breach, then at her hand, herself. Somehow, she was supposed to close a massive hole in the sky, on an alternate Earth, with magic - something she'd never have believed in three hours ago, and -

How the fuck could anyone be ready for that?!

They moved down another set of ash-covered stairs, closer down, and then, a booming voice, gravelly and deep, echoed through the pit. It sounded... grandiose, and unnatural, uncanny...

"Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice."

"What are we hearing?" Cassandra slowed her pace, looking back towards Solas.

"At a guess, the one who created the Breach. An echo, or memory in the Fade."

So the whole blood sacrifice thing was involved. Great. Sane people totally did blood sacrifice. And blew up peace conferences.

They went down another small set of stairs, getting further into the pit, and up ahead, Amy could see crystals, jutting up from the earth. They were jagged, glowing, an angry, almost violent red, and they almost looked like they were vibrating...

Varric pulled up short behind her, and immediately started swearing up a storm in what sounded like at least three languages. Starting with what couldn't actually be called English here.

"Varric," Cassandra turned towards him.

"You see what this is? That's Red Lyrium, Seeker!" Varric gestured at the crystals.

"So it would seem," Cassandra agreed, grimly, setting her jaw.

"Red Lyrium - you mean like - that idol-?" Katerina started, and Varric cut her off.

"Yes, exactly like that. Which was supposed to be all there was. And now it's here. What the fuck is it doing here?"

"What is Red Lyrium, and why is this a problem?" Amy demanded.

"It's poison. You touch it, and it slowly drives you insane, and that's before the really weird shit happens. Knight-Commander Meredith used it to make a sword, and she ended up turning herself into a whole Maker-damned statue of the stuff." Varric glared at Cassandra, genuine anger in his expression, "Seeker, that statue had better still be in the Gallows-"

"As far as I am aware, it is," Cassandra assured him. "It remains under guard, since it cannot be safely moved."

"Good." Varric looked back to Amy. "Seriously, kid, don't even think about touching it. Try not to get near it. And none of this answers how the hell it ended up here?!" He looked over at Solas. "Any thoughts?"

"I have not heard of this 'Red Lyrium' before, but if it is a corrupted form of Lyrium, then perhaps any Lyrium within, or beneath the Temple was changed by the magics that wrought the Breach,"

"Fuck. I don't know if that's better or worse than any other possibility." Varric muttered under his breath.

Cassandra looked to the soldiers a bit behind them. "Varric is correct. Do not touch the Red Lyrium. Some of you were in Kirkwall, others of you have heard from those who were."

Again with the Kirkwall, and Knight-Commander Meredith.

Falling into an oppressive silence once more, they were almost to the base of the pit - the mark was pulating and throbbing so much in her hand it was like the fucking thing was doing summersaults - and then the booming, gravelly voice rang out again.

"Keep the sacrifice still."

A woman's voice rank out as they reached the base of the pit, the lowest part, the rift maybe twenty feet ahead of them. Another voice rang out, female and with that same 'Hollywood French' accent as Leliana.

"Someone. Help me!"

Cassandra gasped, breaking into a jog towards the rift. As they stepped closer, Amy's mark glowed brighter, and ghostly figures, swirling currents of colored air, looking as if made of smoke, gathered before them, in front of the closed rift.

"Someone. Help me!" Amy heard the same voice repeat. Then -

Then she heard her own voice, echoing all around, and definitely not coming from her lips just now.

"What the - what the fuck are you?! What is this!"

"That is your voice," Cassandra turned back to her, accusation in her tone, her glare daggers at her. "Most Holy called out to you."

Amy pressed her hand to her temple, her head hurting again.

"I don't fucking remember!"

The ghostly figures solidified, mostly. One coalesced into a clear shape, a woman, old, arms stretched out, as if they were being held like that against her will, terror in her eyes, wearing a big hat of some sort, the top making her think of an upside down triangle...

The other figure was less distinct, all outline and sketch - glowing eyes, clawlike hands, tall, distorted.

A bit like a shade, but less misshapen.

Then a third shape formed from the 'smoke'. Herself, running towards the two.

"What the - what the fuck are you?! What is this!" She saw herself demanding - a demand, a sight, a context she had no memory of.

Why didn't she remember this? She was here, on this Earth, before the Conclave blew up? How long?!

"Run while you can! Warn them all!" The old woman - Divine Justinia? - shouted at her.

"We have an intruder." The other shape said, that same gravelly, deep, uncanny, unnatural voice. "Kill her. Now." The figures vanished in a flash of bright white light, leaving them standing around the rift, the 'echo' of what Amy assumed was moments before the explosion - an explosion she had somehow fucking survived! - ending.

"You were there!" Cassandra moved to stand in front of her, getting in her face. "Who was that?! Who attacked her!"

"I have no idea! Even if I remembered, I don't think I'd know the guy's name, or recognize him! How many times do I have to remind you I'm not from Thedas!" Amy shouted, every word making her wish she could just... shrivel up and hide somewhere.

"How can you not remember!" Cassandra reached out, as if to grab the front of her robes, but Katerina was there, by Amy's side, putting an arm out between them.

"Lady Cassandra. Do you suddenly believe she's at all responsible for the explosion, when you told Chancellor Roderick she was innocent?"

Cassandra made a noise of pure disgust as her hand flew to the hilt of her sword for a moment, and then she dropped it to her side, letting out a breath.

"No. If this truly was an echo of what happened right before the explosion, then whatever else, you are almost certainly not behind it, Amy."

"No. She's not. You saw the way she handled just being near fighting. Do you really think she could even be remotely responsible for this? Or that she'd lie, if she knew anything?"

I feel like I'm being insulted. Katerina was defending her, a bit, but the implication of the first part was... what? Because Amy didn't like fighting, she was too pathetic to kill people?

I mean - I don't want to hurt people. Even people who deserve it... hitting Skitter with that extinguisher was necessary, but I didn't - I didn't do it because I wanted to hurt her...

Villains wanted to hurt people. It was what made them villains. Made them sic black widow spiders on hostages.

That it had felt good to bash the damn thing into Skitter's skull was a fact Amy had tried very, very hard to not think about ever since, and she was going to keep doing that, thank you very much.

"...No." Cassandra admitted. She turned away. As they'd spoken, Solas had gotten right up to the rift.

"You will need to open the rift. It should be simple, more or less the same action as closing it, but in reverse. Then it can be closed properly. However... it will most definitely attract the attention of demons, and they will need to be defeated first."

"Right, so I need to get close to the rift, open it let demons appear, and get the fuck away from it while you kill them, then come back and close it?"

Solas nodded slightly, more inclined his head downwards for a moment. "In essence, yes."

"Great."

"Stand ready! Take up positions! Make sure she survives to close the rift!" Cassandra shouted out. Amy felt all eyes on her, and she tried to pull her hood further over her face, as if it was possible (it really wasn't). She looked around, the soldiers drawing their weapons, moving around the rift, the scouts drawing their bows and reading arrows.

"I'm not leaving your side this time," Katerina assured Amy, moving to stand next to her.

"You don't -" Amy started, but Katerina cut her off.

"I'm going to make sure you get through this alive, okay?" The redhead assured her, a hand on her shoulder, then she drew her sword.

Amy nodded - no time to argue - and approached the rift, holding her hand out towards it, trying to -

Amy cried out as a current of green energy flowed from her hand, into the crystalline form of the closed rift. It hurt just as much as closing the rifts had before, Amy had somehow thought maybe it wouldn't -

There was a cracking of energy, the sound of shattering and then -

A single shape, a single demon took form.

But the demon was massive. Fifteen feet? Twenty feet? Amy had no idea, but it towered over everyone, covered in purple, spiky chitinous plates of armor, each finger a claw probably as thick as Amy's wrist, four horns, eight eyes - the eyes looked like those of a spider - and it let out a roar, vibrant purple electricity appealing between it's 'fingers'.

"Pride Demon!" Cassandra shouted, as if that was a term that meant something. It probably did here, Amy reminded herself, and then Katerina grabbed Amy's hand and tugged her back, shouting at her - Amy couldn't hear it over the sound of the demon roaring and electricity firing off from one of it's hands - barely missing Cassandra, who managed to roll out of the way at the last second...

The battle was joined - the demon was mobbed by soldiers, arrows peppering it, clattering off it's thick armor, though a few seemed to embed just a little - the fight was quickly too chaotic for Amy to make out details as Katerina pulled her back, towards the edge of the pit, pushing Amy against a wall, interposing herself between Amy and the ongoing battle.

The demon swung, arms like tree-trunks, scattering the soldiers like her sister crashing into a crowd of Empire 88 goons - one went flying, crashing into a wall, and Amy felt her breath caught.

Some of them are going to die, and there's nothing -

She didn't care about any of these people, but - they were dying for her, to protect her (so she could save them!) and - she didn't want people to die, didn't want to see people die...

Doctors saw that all the time. Amy did but rarely - when there were too many people to heal, and she got to someone late, after a major accident, a disaster, when triage meant she just had to leave someone off and then -

But seeing people die in a fight, like this? Never. Amy felt rooted to where she crouched, trying to avoid notice.

"Keep at it! We must strip its defenses!" Cassandra ordered, getting to her feet after a blow from the demon's hand sent her flying. The soldiers that could mobbed the demon again, slashing and stabbing at it's legs, the arrows still not seeming to do much, but -

How do they fight something like this? Amy didn't want to watch, couldn't look away -

Katerina shifted position a little, bracing herself as the demon started to stomp in their direction, just a bit, closer and then -

Varric fired a bolt from behind, catching the demon in the back of the head, and it turned back to him -

Amy couldn't see if it was bleeding or if there was even any way for it to bleed, if anything was stopping it or slowing it or -

A massive bolt of blue energy flew out from Solas's staff and connected with the demon - ice crystalized over it's legs and hands, the demon suddenly moving slower, sluggishly - Cassandra and the others took advantage of the opening and mobbed it once more, able to dodge it's slower strikes easier -

The rift crackled again, green lightning spilling forth from it and then shades appeared.

"More, coming through the rift!" A voice shouted from behind Amy, maybe Leliana's. The archers started targeting them, and three shades made a beeline for Amy -

Amy heard Katerina snarl wordlessly, and she swung at the first shade to come in range, slicing into it, the woman's massive sword cutting halfway through its 'midsection' -

The shade wasn't slain, and it was joined by the other two quickly - Katerina had to keep all three of them back, scraping them with her blade, but they were pulling out of range at the last second, trying to move around her, get behind her, get to her, get at Amy -

Amy felt like she couldn't breathe, a demon got closer, lunged, slicing Katerina across the face, red lines opening on her cheek, her forehead - Amy nearly screamed as another shade got close to her - Amy scrambled back, still against the wall -

Katerina dove in between them, slicing towards with her sword, bisecting the shade from bottom to top - it's two halves fell to the ground, then quickly started to dissipate - but the other two shades were there, Katerina's face was bleeding - the other two shades -

Amy couldn't keep watching - she averted her eyes, closed them, pulling her robes tighter around herself, head down, crouching lower, all but kneeling, hearing the sound of the demons growling, Katerina swinging her blade, the fight against the Pride Demon in the backdrop, screams and shouts and roars and the sound of electricity and -

She heard Katerina's blade connected with another demon, a meaty sort of thud for a moment, and then Katerina let out another cry of pain -

No. No...

Amy tried to open her eyes, she needed to see - she had to see how - she needed to know if she had to run, if Katerina -

Katerina was down to fighting one demon now, but her right leg was bleeding now - the demon slashed towards her, lunging - Katerina staggered back, her leg buckling under her - she fell to one knee, and the demon came in close, growling louder than any of the Shades she'd heard so far, leaned down and slashed at her chest - the claws raked across her armor, denting the breastplate, but Katerina actually headbutted the demon in it's 'chest', sending it reeling backwards - Katerina struggled to her feet, hefting her sword, the weight of it working against her this time for a moment -

Then she got it and swung, cutting into the demon - it howled and then collapsed, vanishing. Katerina fell to her knees, the sword dropping out of her grasp, hand fumbling for a potion from a belt pouch-

The sound of the fight with the pride demon continued to ring out around them, but no more shades were coming at least. For a split second, Amy couldn't move, and Katerina's fumbling seemed to be getting her nowhere -

Amy closed her eyes, tried - and failed - to take a breath and tried to put herself into the hospital, into triage, focusing on the fact that someone needed healing, that she had to help her -

Pushing herself up, she stumble-ran to Katerina, putting her hand on the back of the woman's neck -

She was cut on her face, and there was a crack in her collarbone, a broken rib, her right leg bleeding badly, a fracture in the femur -

Nothing fatal, probably, as long as she had time to rest, but there was a fight going, if more shades attacked, if the pride demon got closer -

Amy started on the bones, setting them to heal - Katerina didn't have a ton of excess fat to work with, but she used that to start, sealing up the cuts on her face, converting blood cells to bone cells, turning fat and even a little muscle into blood, knitting her fractured bones together, forcing the broken piece of rib to connect to the other -

Head throbbing, hand hurting, heart pounding, Amy pulled back from Katerina as she finished healing up the damage, the woman grabbing her sword before standing -

There was a roar, the sound of thunder - turning, Amy saw the pride demon drop to its knees, everyone scrambling to get away from it as the demon collapsed forward, onto its face, the weight of the thing sending small shockwaves through the ground, kicking up dirt and ash and bits of stone, and then the demon's body began, like all the others, to evaporate away.

"The rift, now!" Cassandra shouted - as if Amy didn't know what needed to be done. Amy turned, starting towards it -

The mark on her hand - every time she got close to a rift, she felt like something was being driven into her hand - from the palm and the back - but the time it felt like whatever it was was going right through her hand -

Every step, every inch closer to the rift, and Amy felt the agony drive through her, up her arm, her shoulder, through the rest of her body, her head throbbing - she felt like her hand was being stabbed and crushed and burned all at once, or at least what she imagined they felt like. Amy bit her lip, breaking through alarmingly fast, tasting blood -

She staggered, stumbled, nearly fell forward, but Katerina was there, catching her, grabbing onto Amy's right arm, steadying her, helping her move -

Close the Breach and then - and then - And then she could stop, she could rest she - she just had to close the Breach, she had to - all these people had defended her because for some reason, for some reason she was the only one who could -

With Katerina's help, Amy stretched her arm out as soon as they were close enough to the rift -

Green energy flowed out from it, and Amy screamed, sobbing, falling to her knees, but she kept her hand aimed at the rift.

I have to - I have to do this...

Amy had no idea how many people might die if the Breach wasn't closed, but she didn't want to find out. She couldn't find out.

Carol would give everything to do this, if she was in her place. Mark. Aunt Sarah. Uncle Neil. Crystal. Eric.

Vicky.

She was a member of New Wave. A Dallon. A hero. Panacea - she hated the name, hated her power, hated using it, but she was a hero. She had to. It was be a hero, or - or-

It was be a hero. That was it.

And so she had to do this.

Tears streaming down her face, her arm going numb, overwhelmed by how much it hurt - this rift, the one that would close the Breach, was taking longer to close, the stream of green energy flowing from the mark on her hand - the mark which was glowing blindingly bright now -

Gasping, sobbing, screaming - Amy pushed forward, finding something, some energy in herself and she forced herself to stand, taking another step, then another towards the rift -

A booming sound rang through the ruins of the temple around her, the rift collapsed in on itself, and a ball of green fire flew up into the sky. Faintly, Amy heard cheers, but as if from a far distance -

The ground rushed up to meet Amy as she crashed forward, blackness swallowing her.

It was done.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: Now that Amy isn't in the same sort of crisis situation she was in the last few chapters, we'll get to see our favorite failgirl fall apart. As I did warn, this story is going to linger on Amy's issues at times, and that means, especially when it does linger, that the pacing may be a bit slow. Amy's got a lifetime of mess to work through, and it's not gonna be fast.

---

Amy didn't dream often.

First of all, to dream, you needed to sleep, and Amy didn't do enough of that. Secondly, when she did get to sleep, it was usually that she was finally so exhausted that she managed to sleep without dreaming, or at least without remembering anything.

When she did dream, she didn't usually have the nice dreams - the dreams where she got away from the Bay and from healing and just... got to live somewhere quiet. Where she could try to read books again and find someone who wasn't her sister to love and maybe have a pet cat and - and -

Just... be free. Not have everything crushing down on her.

No. Her dreams were usually nightmares. Usually about her family finding out about what she could do, about losing control of herself, her power, about hurting someone. Hurting Vicky. About Vicky finding out how she felt and - and - not just rejecting her (inevitable) but leaving her, abandoning her. Being all alone.

She sometimes had dreams about Carol, and her axe and standing over her - Carol had never threatened her, but she remembered being afraid of her, when she'd first come to life with the Dallons. She'd been afraid of a lot of things then, though...

But as she startled awake, a dream still lingering in her memory, Amy could confidently say she'd never had a dream or a nightmare like the one she'd just been having - some land of medieval bullshit and magic and a giant rift in the sky and demons and -

Amy's thoughts ran to a screeching halt as she realized several things, all at once.

This was not her bed. It was warm, warmer than she usually kept her bed outside of the deepest, coldest nights of winter - it felt like she had like two comforters piled on top of her. The blankets and the sheets were scratchy, rough - not a lot, but nothing like the sheets on her own bed. It also wasn't as soft, and the pillow wasn't squishing under her head right and -

And it was colder, on her face, and her neck, exposed above the blankets. Not freezing, but distinctly chill.

Her hand hurt. Her left hand. A dull, ache she wished she could say was unfamiliar, but it was actually terrifyingly familiar.

It was less, less intense, less... distracting, than the stabbing ache that had been her constant companion in that trek through a frozen valley to the ruins of a temple and closing a rift into another dimension and facing demons and -

But it was there. It was the same thing.

No.

Amy's eyes snapped open. Her head hurt. She needed coffee. And she needed to look around and see her own bedroom. Or like, a bed in a hospital. On Earth-Bet.

But she wasn't.

The ceiling above her was wood, and rustic. The whole room around her was rustic, lit by a brazier - that was the right word, right? - and with sunlight streaming in through an open window. The inside looked like the inside of a log cabin, or - there were furs mounted on the walls, the top cover on the bed looked like it was made from some kind of animal fur, and -

Amy's breath caught.

It was all real.

It wasn't a dream.

She was -

She wasn't home. She wasn't on Earth-Bet. She -

She wasn't -

Vicky. Amy screwed her eyes shut, trying to breath, trying to -

Rapid, shallow inhalations, exhalations, her heart in her chest, blood pounding in her ears.

It was all real. She was on another Earth, and she didn't have the slightest idea how to get home or when and her family probably thought she was dead and - and -

This stupid mark on my hand is still here! It wasn't glowing, much, but it was still there, all green lines all over her left hand... she blinked, tears rapidly gathering, feeling light-headed - she couldn't - she needed to -

She needed to breathe. She needed to -

Amy bit the inside of her cheek, trying to bring herself to focus, to -

I will get home. I'll see Victoria again. She'd closed the Breach. And - and that had to prove she was innocent so she wasn't going to die here right? No execution. And - then someone would help her figure out how to get home. Magic was real, so that meant someone would know dimension crossing magic? She'd ended up here, somehow.

So obviously she could go back. She had to be able to.

She had to.

She had to.

She repeated that over and over and over in her mind. She would get home. Somehow. She'd see her sister again.

Amy's nearly hiccuped as she tried to draw in a deep breath, and she tried to center herself, looking around. The bed was... the blanket under the fur-one had a weird, kinda geometric design, gold on black? Leaves? Sorta? There was a table, sort of desklike, by the window. A cup was on it.

Amy swallowed, licking her lips - she was thirsty. When was the last time she'd had anything to drink? How long had she been asleep?

Focus on that. Focus - focus. She was - she was going to see her sister again, but she just had to - she just had to keep her mind on what was in front of her.

Next to the cup on the table were her robes, folded, and - and the rest of her clothes.

They undressed me!? Amy felt her cheeks get hot.

It happened, of course, treating patients and god knows she might have been dying of hypothermia by the end for all she knew - it had been fucking cold out there, even in the temple that was still smouldering and there was that fight against that purple lightning-spewing thing and then the rift and -

Amy looked down at herself again. She was wearing some sort of... dress? Long, and kinda thin? Like a hospital gown? Or more like a nightgown, maybe. It was a plain, brown, worn fabric. Scratchy, but not... not horribly so.

Okay. Get dressed. And - and I hope that's water in the cup and I - I need to make sure they're not drugging the water somehow but -

If they wanted to drug her they had the chance. She wasn't chained up or tied up or anything this time, when she woke up...

Get dressed. Drink water. Make sure it's clean with my power first. She couldn't just stick a finger into water and kill all the shit in it, but she could at least make sure it wasn't filled with like, shit and god knows whatever else could end up in the water in the middle ages.

Didn't they all drink ale because the water was bad? Or was that just movies and the YA fantasy novels she read, back - back when she'd had...

Back when she'd still been able to enjoy books.

Amy shook her head. No. She needed to - she closed her eyes, tried to take a proper deep breath. She mostly managed to succeed this time but -

Focus. Focus. Focus.

Her sister would be focusing. Dealing with what was in front of her. Victoria could handle this.

I just... I just have to ask what Vicky would do...

And then maybe be a little less reckless and a lot less of a fucking nerd than her sister. She loved Vicky more than her own life, but she could get so into powers and how they worked and - Amy just didn't get it. It didn't matter, where they came from and the theories and -

They were here. She had one. And it was ruining her life. And saving so many others...

Except now, she couldn't save anyone in Brockton Bay. How many people were going to die there, because - because she wasn't there? And if her sister got hurt and she wasn't -

Vicky hasn't gotten seriously hurt since that day at the mall. Amy swallowed, latching onto that thought. Her sister could be reckless, but she'd learned her lesson about the limits of her forcefield. Victoria would be fine.

She'd be fine.

Amy was going to find a way home and she was going to see her again and until then -

Until then she was just going to have to -

She was going to have to focus on what was right in front of her.

Swallowing again, Amy licked chapped, dried lips and rubbed at her head. She needed coffee. Was that even a thing in this medieval shithole? Did they have coffee in the middle ages?

I suppose I could do with Tea, if that's all they have but please fucking let there be coffee... She felt less like a zombie than she usually did after waking up, but she'd probably gotten more than five hours of sleep, so...

Get dressed. Drink water. See if I can even leave this little... shack? House? One room hut? Cabin? What even is it? Where am I? What even happened? She'd closed the Breach, so...

Amy was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of the door opening. Her head snapped back towards it - a woman, pointed ears - elf - carrying some kind of crate -

The woman let out a small startled shout and dropped the crate - the sound of something glass or clay jostling and maybe breaking rang out and the elf stepped back, eyes wide.

"I didn't know you were awake, I swear!" She said quickly, sounding - awed? Terrified? Amy couldn't tell.

Amy stared at her a moment, mouth moving wordlessly, and -

"Where - why - what-" Amy closed her mouth, flushing, floundering.

"That's wrong, isn't it? I said the wrong thing?"

"No? I don't - what the fuck?" Amy cut off whatever she'd been saying as the elf dropped the ground, fucking prostrating herself, forehead pressed to the ground, arms stretched out before her.

What the fuck?

"I beg your forgiveness and your blessing. I am but a humble servant."

Oh no. Amy stared at the woman. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity fuckfuckfuck -

Cape cultists had been a thing, when Capes first happened. Even a few still were around now, but the fact that capes could die, sometimes insanely easily, and that the PRT didn't really like people openly worshipping Protectorate heroes.

I can heal shit, and I - fuck, it's not even the healing isn't it? There was a giant massive hole in the sky and demons - whatever the hell they actually were - had fallen through it and - and Amy had closed it.

If people could worship capes back home, then why wouldn't a bunch of medieval people think she was - a god? An angel? A saint?

"Stop! Get up! I'm not - I don't have any fucking blessings to give!" Amy said quickly, feeling herself breathing heavily again. She closed her eyes. Everyone's going to look at me. It's going to be right after my debut all over again. So many people stopping her in the streets, at school -

"I - I'm sorry for - I did not mean to presume-" the elf stammered out, lifting herself up a bit, sort of on all fours, still looking studiously at the ground. "They say you saved us. The Breach stopped growing."

Just stopped growing? Not closed? Okay, so not growing was good, no 'swallow the whole world' and all, but - that wasn't solving the problem.

And since Amy was the one with the fancy glowing mark on her hand, then -

I'm going to have to - If they still needed her to close it... Amy couldn't just - she had to stay at least long enough to do that? If this stupid mark was the only way...

She couldn't leave all the people who might get hurt by demons (fuck it still felt weird to say that. There had to be - demons couldn't be real and yet they were or at least they were something and she didn't think they were tinkertech or projections anymore but what the fuck were they?!) if the Breach wasn't closed and -

"It's all anyone has talked about for the last three days." the elven woman added added, finally looking up at her.

"Three DAYS?!" Amy didn't mean to screech that last word out so high - didn't even realize she had until she saw the woman flinch a little as she slowly stood up. "I was out for three days?!" She didn't feel like - she didn't feel like she was starving, so they must have... they didn't have IVs here but -

Broth maybe? Lots of broth and water down my throat while I slept?

But she was out for three days? And - and then there's -

Amy swallowed.

"Yes, your worship," the woman answered. "I - they - Lady Cassandra - she wanted to know as soon as you woke up." She started backing away, towards the door. "At once, she said. At once!"

Before Amy could even begin to process being called 'your worship', the woman was out of the door and closing it behind her, scampering off like she was terriifed of Amy. Amy wrapped her arms around her stomach, gut churning, throat tight.

All that shit and the Breach still isn't even closed. Fuck. And now - now she -

There were going to be so many eyes on her. And -

"I...I guess they're not going to put me on trial, at least?" Amy said, desperately grabbing onto something that might be a bright side. But was it actually the bright side? She bit her lip, then looked down at her hand, tracing the marks.

She wanted - she wanted to be back in the Bay. Back home. She wanted her own bed and her own room and her sister and she'd even take a lecture from Carol or one of her textbook disapproving glares or -

Amy felt tears in her eyes and she didn't hold them back, bursting into sobs, feeling wetness trailing down her cheeks. She wasn't even sure exactly why she was crying. Not which thing, not which problem pushed her over the edge.

There was a whole raft of reasons to cry. She was trapped on another Earth, and she didn't have the slightest idea how to get home, or if she ever would. If she'd ever see her sister again. If she'd see Carol, or Mark, or her cousins, her Aunt, her Uncle. She had this stupid mark on her hand and the Breach was still there and what else would she have to deal with to see that fixed? She was apparently the object of worship and - and -

And then there was the fact that the Earth she was on was some medieval shithole where magic was a thing and biology didn't even begin to make sense and - and - demons and -

She was never going to see her sister again, was she?

So far, no parahumans. No tinkers. Tinkertech is how people found about and - and contacted Earth-Aleph, right? So - so how -

How could she get home? Could magic send her home? Magic wasn't a thing on Earth-Bet, so -

"Vicky..." Amy whispered, grabbing the pillow behind her and hugging it tight against her, feeling herself rock back and forth on the bed, sniffling, nose starting to stuff up - she kept bawling, unable to stop herself, and not wanting to.

What was there left? No Victoria, no... no Carol, no - no Mark, nothing. She had nothing. Just herself. And and that - and that wasn't anything.

Eventually the tears started to slow, and then stop, but more because she had no tears left to cry, than managing to make herself stop. The pillow was soaked, the nightgown was pretty wet too, at least near the top... she swallowed, lips and mouth and throat even drier, making the whole motion almost painful.

Sniffling, Amy slowly put the pillow down, taking in a slow, shuddering breath.

Victoria wouldn't cry like that. Her sister would miss her, and miss Carol and Mark too, more than she did, but Vicky wouldn't become a sobbing mess. She'd -

She'd focus on the problem in front of her. And try to figure it out. This wasn't powers - though her sister wouldn't have had any way to know that and - and would probably still think that Solas was a Parahuman and that the demons were projections...

Like the fucking nerd Vicky was, she'd try to figure it all out. How it worked and what it all meant and how to fit it into all those Parahuman Studies books she'd read and -

Amy wasn't her sister. But her sister was the best hero - best person - Amy knew. Amy could never even hope to be even close to as amazing as Vicky, but...

Right now, Vicky would focus on the fact that the - the Breach is still a thing, apparently. And she'd handle the worship better. Vicky loved her fan clubs, her meet and greets. The publicity events. She thrived on attention and notice and -

Vicky wasn't vain, whatever idiots on PHO that Amy maybe got into fights with online using an alt account thought. She wasn't self-centered or an egomaniac, but - she enjoyed the spotlight. She wouldn't like being treated - treated like some sort of saint or... having people bow down to her...

Okay, she might like it for a little bit, but it would get old, quickly...

Amy tried to take another breath, then sniffled, swallowed dryly and looked to the cup on the desk. She got out of the bed, bare feet on a cold wooden floor and walked over to the table by the window, picking up the clay cup and looking inside. It looked like water. Smelled like it - or rather, didn't smell.

Power, time for you to do the only thing I actually almost like about you and make sure I don't get diarrhea or whatever from anything in this water.

At the first touch of the cold, refreshing liquid against her lips, Amy started greedily glugging it down, finishing off the whole thing almost faster than she could really realize she was doing it. She smacked her lips, tongue darting out to catch a few drops off her upper lip.

Amy stood there, swallowing again, taking another few breaths.

Okay. Breach. A thing. And - and - maybe most people aren't all... beg for blessings? Maybe? It was a plaintive, wishful thought, but she latched onto that.

Her sister would keep trying to get home, there was no doubt about that. But she wouldn't abandon all the people that needed help here, not if she was the only person who could help. And - and -

Amy couldn't either. Not just because it wasn't what Vicky would do but -

If she tried it, Amy knew the guilt would eat her alive. It would be worse than when she laid in bed, unable to sleep, all the people at hospitals suffering, hurting, dying because she wasn't there...

All the people in Brockton Bay she couldn't heal, because she was here -

I'm not there. I couldn't heal anyone in the Bay right now no matter what. It's like getting upset about people in hospitals in L.A.

Amy barked a hollow laugh. As if she didn't get worked up over that sometimes, when she had too much time to her thoughts, on a bad day. All the people she'd never be able to help, all the people dying all over the world she couldn't save, because she had to sleep and continue just figure out ways to heal faster and - and

Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Amy bit her lower lip again, trying - and failing - to banish those thoughts. She didn't manage that, but she at least was able to return her main focus to the reality in front of her.

Amy looked at her clothes, folded up neatly on the table. They'd been cleaned - no blood on her robes, and her robes and her shirt had had the rips from that shade's claws sewn closed - it was a little obvious, but they'd made the effort, at least.

Robes in hand, Amy shivered. Out of the bed, the air was mostly brisk, rather than freezing, but all she was wearing was this scratchy nightgown...

Panacea didn't mean anything here. Her robes didn't mean anything. And they weren't exactly thick, but - it was something.

The window had wooden shutters that came inward, and she pushed them closed. She rubbed at her forehead.

Coffee. She was never going to have coffee again, was she?

She started to tug the nightgown off, but before she could do more than lift it as far her chin, the door opened and Amy let out an involuntary 'eek', jumping backwards, hands falling to her sides and the dress settling back down on her shoulders.

Katerina was standing in the doorway, ducking just a touch to get through the door. Her red hair was tied back into a loose ponytail, her sword slung over her back and wearing her armor.

"Amy, Lady Pentaghast and the others need to speak with you -" Katerina cut herself off, closing the door behind her. "Are you alright? You've been crying?" Katerina asked quickly, concern in voice, her posture, she came a little closer to her, reaching a hand out, and Amy pulled back. Her expression - genuine, concerned, worried - it reminded her of fucking Dean and all his well-meaning 'I just want to help you, talk to me' bullshit, the few times he'd tried to get her to open up.

Prying into her emotions with his stupid fucking powers and -

"I don't want to talk about it," Amy snapped. "Get out so I can change!" She pulled her hands down her face, trying to wipe away any remaining errant tears, trying to make it less obvious she'd been crying. Pointless, probably, but she didn't need anyone pestering her about it. Asking for details and -

Amy took a breath. "Go!" She gestured at Katerina.

Katerina hesitated a moment, opened her mouth, and then nodded slowly. "Fine. I'll be right outside. Don't dally, Lady Pentaghast is not the most patient of women."
"Really. I couldn't have guessed." Amy snarked. She rubbed at her head. Was there anything that had caffeine? At this point she'd take fucking tea.

Katerina chuckled, "Fair enough." She stepped back outside, waiting and Amy pulled off the nightgown, tossing it on the bed and putting on her clothes. Underneath her clothes were a few things - her official New Wave phone, which was borderline useless here, since she couldn't call anyone. It had a really good battery, and was pretty fancy in general, not quite tinkertech but inspired by and derived by a lot of tinkertech. The battery could even be recharged in the sun, slowly, though it wasn't good for the battery's long-term life, apparently.

She picked it up, pressing a button, but the phone was dead. Good battery or not, it had been on for god knew how long. She knew what she'd have seen if it was still working - her lock screen: Vicky hugging her with one arm, both of them looking at the Camera, her sister's other arm out of the screen - holding her phone to take the picture. Amy was smiling, Victoria was smiling...

It had been one of Amy's rare good days, a day she'd been able to mostly forget to feel guilty, hadn't ruined everything with her disgusting feelings, had just... been able to enjoy spending the day with her favorite person.

Amy blinked back tears, eyelids fluttering quickly and looked away from the phone. She... she'd worry about deciding if it was worth charging the battery or -

She stuffed the phone in her pocket. Apart from that - her wallet, with her ID (actual and student) and some dollar bills, a few coins and a picture of Victoria taking off. A wrapper for some kind of tasteless energy bar she'd eaten hours before the bomb that had taken her here. She remembered stuffing it into her mouth and then shoving the wrapper into her pocket and getting back to work...

She'd only eaten it because one of the nurses had pestered her to eat something, and it was easier to do that than block her out.

I guess they didn't know what it was and didn't throw it away?

Amy didn't bother taking the wallet or the wrapper, and then she looked at her robes. They were warmer than nothing, and they had a hood. If people were going to stare at her or... or worse, then being able to hide her face was at least better than nothing.

At least nobody will be calling me Panacea here. No pretending that there was actually some sort of separation between her and her cape identity. Even years on, she still didn't get why everyone else in New Wave insisted on using cape names when in costume.

Amy approached the door.

She wanted to go back to the bed, get under the covers and just... pretend. Pretend this wasn't happening. Pretend she was going to go to sleep and wake up back home and this was all going to be a dream.

It wasn't.

And -

Amy looked at her left hand, at the faintly glowing lines of the mark. It still ached, but barely. A very dull, distant sort of ache, easy to forget, especially with how much her head hurt.

Coffee.

She took a breath, pulled her hood over her face as much as she could and grabbed the door handle, opening it.

Brisk air rushed in, hitting her face full blast. Katerina was standing in front, and past her, two more soldiers, standing at attention... with fists clasped to their chests. The local version of a salute.

Amy looked away from them, ignoring Katerina say they needed to move, and turned her eyes upward. The Breach was still there, up in the sky, but it looked... calmer, less angry. It wasn't expanding, and her mark wasn't doing the thing it had before, where it randomly started spiking in pain as the Breach expanded so...

At least I accomplished something. What had she done wrong? Had she not held her hand right for long enough? Or - or had the rift not been good enough?

Maybe we do need to fly up there?

Amy heard murmurings and voices ahead, and she looked back down, past Katerina and the guards and her heart plummeted in her chest at the assembled mass of people - some wearing red and white robes kind of like the ones Chancellor Roderick had, more soldiers, and just... people. Civilians? The people who lived here in Haven? She was back in Haven, right? Seemed like it...

They were all looking at her, and all the soldiers had fists pressed against their chests and -

Amy closed her eyes. She took another deep breath.

Katerina's hand touched her shoulder.

"Amy?"

Amy let out a small 'ah' and jumped a little, opening her eyes and looking up at Katerina - literally, as she was reminded how much taller than her the other woman was.

"I don't suppose there's any chance you can make them all go away?"

Katerina blinked for a moment, then looked back over her shoulder and then back to Amy. "No? I - they all want to see you. Nothing wrong with people getting a chance to thank their savior."

"I didn't save anyone. That thing," she gestured at the hole in the sky, "is still there."

"It's not expanding anymore. It's not raining balls of fire. No new rifts are opening around the village. It's better than things were before you started sealing rifts," Katerina pointed out. "I can't just make everyone go away."

"Fine. Just - keep them away from me." Amy muttered. "Make sure they don't - thank me or - ask for my blessing or whatever."

"...ask for your blessing?" Katerina furrowed her brow. "Are you giving those out now?"

"No!" Amy half-shouted, flushing when she realized everyone would have heard that. She lowered her voice, "I don't have any fucking blessings to give! That - the - woman who told Cassandra that I was awake fucking prostrated herself and asked for my blessing and - I don't - I don't have one. Why would she even do that?"

"Well, you can heal people with a touch - without using magic -, you did save us from the Breach getting worse, and... everyone's calling you the Herald of Andraste." Katerina ticked them off on her fingers.

That name. It rang a bell, but it took Amy a moment to remember. The Temple of Sacred Ashes. Katerina had muttered something about it being the resting place of 'Andraste'. Sacred Ashes, temple, resting place. Obviously some kind of like... holy person.

"Who the fuck is Andraste?" Then Amy shook her head. "Nevermind, I don't fucking care. I'm not a Herald of anyone or anything. I'm not holy, I'm not - I don't have any blessings and my power isn't one either." Amy pulled her robes tighter around herself. "Let's... let's just get this over with. You said Cassandra isn't very patient."

"True." Katerina started off, and Amy followed her, staying as close as she could, having to pick up her pace to match Katerina's stride, but it wasn't like the other woman was trying to move quickly, so it wasn't hard. She heard the murmurs more clearly, as they passed, people on both sides of them.

"That's her... that's the Herald of Andraste."

"They say she's a mage."

"I heard she doesn't use magic. But she still healed Jacen." Another said. "He was dying and then she touched him and he wasn't. She's blessed by the Maker."

"Impossible. She's just a mage. Look, she's got robes!"

Amy tried to ignore them, but it was hard.

"They say when she came out of the Fade, Andraste herself was watching over her."

Right yeah, a dead woman was personally watching over me.

A part of Amy pointed out that this was a world where magic and elves and demons and fuck if she knew what else was real, but Amy was going to draw the line at ghosts, damnit! There had to be some fucking sanity in the world!

Amy didn't say anything. Back when she'd started healing, when her power was new and there was still an almost enjoyable novelty to it all, she'd argued with people who had said her powers were a gift from God, or thanked God for sending her to them or... whatever else.

It hadn't gone anywhere, and eventually Amy had given up on it. Here, where she didn't even have a passive, loose understanding of the religion?

"Hush, we shouldn't disturb her," another said, and Amy shrunk in on herself more. Even with her robes and her hood, random people could tell how fucking pathetic she was.

"You said it was Cassandra and the others. Who exactly are the others?" Amy asked, trying to avoid thinking about the people staring, as they started to finally get close to the end of the knot of people assembled on the path. Up ahead she could see the big stone building that she'd woken up in originally, her prison in the basement...

"Leliana, I assume?" She asked. The older redheaded woman had seemed to be as in charge of things as Cassandra. She'd said something about being the 'left hand' of Divine Justinia. So... important person.

"Lady Pentaghast and Sister Leliana, yes," Katerina answered, looking back over her shoulder a moment as she talked. "Commander Cullen and Lady Montilyet are there as well."

"...I have no idea who those people are." Amy pointed out once Katerina didn't follow through on explaining anything. "Not from Thedas, remember?" She was going to have to repeat herself on that front a lot, wasn't she. That and 'my power isn't magic'. Though Cassandra and Solas had both confirmed it, so obviously mages and the people who had policed them had some way of... detecting magic?

Fuck, I feel like an idiot even entertaining all this. But it was the reality she was dealing with. Maybe there was a scientific answer, maybe there wasn't - either way, Amy didn't care. It was magic, for all intents, apparently. Not powers, not tinkertech. Magic.

"Commander Cullen is in charge of all the soldiers here," Katerina explained.

"So... your boss?"

"My commanding office, yes, more or less." Katerina agreed. "Lady Montilyet is some sort of noblewoman from Antiva. A diplomat, I think." The swordsman shrugged, "probably was supposed to help with the negotiations before the explosion..." Katerina trailed off, and went silent for a long moment as they kept going. They passed another smaller group, and Amy caught part of their quiet discussion as these people too stared at her.

"...the Breach is still there though."

"...stopped it getting worse..."

"...smaller rifts still all over. Near the crossroads."

"...can close those too..."

Amy grit her teeth and let out a frustrated breath. More of those rifts. And she had to close those too, since who the fuck else could, huh?

"More rifts?"

"That's the rumor." Katerina confirmed. "Probably one of the things Lady Pentaghast wants to talk to you about."

"She didn't say?"

"No," Katerina shook her head. "She just told me to fetch you."

"Fun." She let out another long, exasperated breath as they finally reached the big stone structure. A church, maybe? Or whatever they called those here. Temple?

The heavy-looking wooden double doors were painted with a yellow sunburst pattern. There were a bunch more of those red and white robed people clustered around - priests and priestesses? - talking, but they got quieter as Amy and Katerina got closer. One of them started to approach.

"Lady Pentaghast needs to speak to her immediately," Katerina cut in before the man - an older man just starting to go gray - could do more than open his mouth. After a moment, he nodded and stepped back. Amy muttered a thanks to Katerina, and then watched Katerina push the double doors open, revealing the interior of the building.

"Just ahead, through that door there at the far end," Katerina gestured, past the pillars and the torches blazing in metal holders - Amy couldn't remember the right word for them.

"...At least I know they're not going to put me on trial if they think I'm some holy fucking savior." Amy murmured to herself.

"Hessarian burned Andraste to death before deciding maybe she had the right idea, so I wouldn't count on it," Katerina offered, and then turned, having the gall to fucking grin for just a moment after saying it. "But Roderick has been insisting you be dragged to Val Royeaux for trial for the last two days and no one's been listening to him so you're probably fine."

"...you suck at reassuring people."

"Somehow, I think false reassurance would annoy you more," Katerina countered. Then she took a breath, and her expression was more somber. "I don't know what's going to happen, but you were brave enough to stick with us through all those demons even though you're not a fighter."

It wasn't bravery. She just didn't have any other choice. She wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she hadn't kept going.

"So I should be brave enough to handle this?" Amy cocked an eyebrow, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Oh, Lady Pentaghast is more terrifying than any demon," Katerina chuckled. "But she is a fair woman, and a good one. She's famous. They even named her a Hero of Orlais for her actions protecting Divine Beatrix from blood magi. Killed a dragon and everything."

"Dragons?" Amy rolled her eyes. "Of course there are fucking dragons here too."

"You say you're not from Thedas, and you seem surprised that elves, dwarves and dragons exist, but you know what they are?"

"Because they're fantasy! Fairy tales! Things dreamed up by people's imaginations! And now here I am in a place where it's all real!" Amy bit her lower lip. "I used to read stories about magic and dragons and heroic adventures in places like this." Back before everything had become too much. She hadn't planned on giving up on books - for years, they'd been her primary retreat from the stresses of living with Carol and not really having friends and -

And then she'd gotten her powers and... she just sort of stopped. Stopped reading, stopped wanting to read, stopped being able to enjoy it...

"I never wanted to live through them." Amy said quieter, looking down at the floor. "I don't need this crap." She looked at her left hand again, glaring at the faintly glowing marks. "Why couldn't the stupid Breach have just been closed?"

"Not a clue. But with any luck, Lady Pentaghast or one of the others has a theory." Katerina offered. "Go on, you really shouldn't keep her waiting."

"What is she going to do, kill the healer? Kill the person that can close these rifts and the Breach?" Amy chuckled darkly, humorlessly.

"Worse. She'll yell at you." Katerina answered with a grin, before turning back and leaving the building, the heavy wooden doors swinging shut behind her.

Can't be worse than Carol giving me shit. Amy swallowed and took a breath, and then proceeded through the large, open empty space to the far end. As she got closer, she heard voices:

"Have you gone completely mad?!" That sounded like Chancellor Roderick. "She should be taken to Val Royeaux immediately, to be tried by whomever becomes Divine!"

Okay, so Val Royeaux is... Rome? If the 'Chantry' was basically the Catholic Church and the Divine was the Pope, then it sounded like Val Royeaux was the capital of it, center of its system. Katerina had said Roderick wanted her tried still, but -

"I do not believe she is guilty." Cassandra's voice countered, firm, unyielding.

"The prisoner failed, Seeker. The Breach remains. For all you know, she intended for this outcome!?"

"She is barely more than a child!" Okay, I'm 17, I'm not a fucking kid. Granted, Cassandra was probably around Carol's age, so that... that made sense for her to say that, but Amy was technically old enough to drive and - she wasn't just some snot-nosed little eight year old brat.

"She is a mage, and they are all dangerous regardless of age!"

"She is not a mage. Whatever her abilities are, they are not magic. They do not draw upon the Fade."

No, they're from... wherever the fuck powers come from. God, another place her sister would be able to explain things so much better. She could at least offer the theories about the origins of powers. Amy didn't even have that much - just a few half-remembered details from her power testing, and all the times Vicky talked about what she learned about powers - her sister's excited sharing of that stuff tended to blend and blur in her mind.

Amy stilled, listening to the conversation for a moment, standing in front of the door, reaching, but not quite touching the doorknob.

"You speak the impossible as if it is so simple, Lady Cassandra! How can you be so sure?"

"I am a Seeker. Just as Templars, we know when magic is used, and when it is not. She is not a mage, and she was not behind the destruction of the Chantry, or the opening of the Breach." It was nice to know that the woman didn't think she was guilty, but Amy could have used that belief earlier. And how much of it was because people apparently thought she was... holy or blessed by God - or the Maker, they called him here.

"That is not for you to decide. Your duty is to serve the Chantry." And no one is in charge right now.

"My duty is to serve the principles upon which the Chantry was founded, Chancellor. As is yours." Cassandra corrected him. That sounded like something her mother might say, about the PRT. Carol and Aunt Sarah didn't really... trust the PRT. too institutional, too concerned with its own thing, long-term structural stuff to really care about principles. Too willing to... just let things stick.

The fact that Empire 88 was still running around in the city after all they'd done was proof enough of that for Carol, for Aunt Sarah. For Amy too, really. She'd healed too many people attacked, beaten, broken by those fucking Nazis to not understand intimately how destructive they were for the Bay.

Amy took one last breath - Roderick didn't seem to be saying anything so she wasn't going to interrupt, and she couldn't just stand out here the whole time.

She pressed the latch of the door and pushed against it, opening it inwards, revealing a smallish room lit by candles and torches, filled bookshelves built into the walls, a table at the center of the room, with books and maps spread out on it.

There were seven people in the room, which was almost too many for the space - Roderik, standing at one end of the table. Two guards just inside the door, where she stood now, helmets covering their faces. Leliana and Cassandra, standing on the other side of the table from the entrance, Cassandra bent over, examining something on a map, Leliana's arms crossed in front of her.

The other two, Amy hadn't seen before. One was a tall, tired-looking man with short, curly blonde hair. He wore armor, heavier than Cassandra's, with... big furry bits on his shoulders. Maybe part or a cape? It looked ridiculous, but it was also probably pretty warm. Which right now, sounded really nice.

The inside of this building wasn't cold - all the candles and torches and insulation from the stone probably - but outside? And what would it be like at night?

Amy guessed that was Commander Cullen, which meant that the other one - a dark skinned, attractive woman, with dark hair and wearing a yellow silk shirt, with poofy-shoulders, right out of a period drama, and a purplish vesty-thing, a big gold necklace around her neck. She held an angled piece of wood with a candle on a flat bit at the top, unlit right now, paper on the wood... it made Amy think of a clipboard, which it... probably kind of was like, actually.

Josephine Montilyet then?

She barely had a chance to take everyone in - Cullen and Josephine were standing on the other end of the table from Roderick - before Roderick gestured at her aggressively.

"Chain her! I want her prepared for travel to the capital for trial!"

Amy froze. The guards were completely covered in armor, so she couldn't touch either of them even if she -

"Disregard that, and leave us," Cassandra ordered, and Amy looked back and forth at the guards - who didn't seem to hesitate to obey Cassandra's orders, clasping fists to chests and leaving the room, closing the door behind them, making it feel a little less crowded, at least.

"You are walking a dangerous line, Seeker." Roderick said, a warning note to his tone, hands balled into fists at his side.

"The Breach remains, but it is still a threat, and one I will not ignore. She is the only one who might be able to close it."

"She is quite possibly the one who opened it, or at least working with those who did! Rebel mages are not above throwing apprentices into the fire!" Roderick snarled.

"I'm not a fucking mage!" Amy raised her voice. "I didn't blow up the Conclave - I wouldn't even know how to, let alone do it, and I barely even know what the Fade is, let alone how to open some stupid... rift in space-time into it or whatever the fuck the Breach is. Is this stupid fucking thing," she lifted up her left hand and pointed to it with her right, to the glowing lines of her 'mark', "the only reason you think I'm guilty?"

"You appeared from nowhere in the aftermath of the explosion, the only one found alive at the ruins, and 'coincidentally' have the ability to close the rifts opened by the explosion!" Roderick threw his hands up. "You cannot expect us to consider that mere accident!?"

"I'm not a fucking lawyer, but where I come from, I'm pretty sure a coincidence isn't enough to convict someone!" Amy snapped. "I didn't ask to end up in this medieval shithole where magic and demons and apparently fucking dragons are a thing, and I didn't ask for this stupid goddamned thing on my hand that feels like I'm being stabbed right through it any time I get near one of those rifts. And I didn't ask for all those people out there," she gestured behind her, "to start calling me a fucking - Saint or whatever the fuck it is they think I am!"

Amy didn't normally do this, didn't yell, didn't... verbalize her anger, but after everything that had happened - threatening Skitter and Tattletale at the bank had been unusual for her, but they'd both made her so fucking angry, and this whole fucking situation was insane on a scale that made the bank look like nothing.

It was be angry, or go back to crying, and like it or not (for the record, not), apparently people's lives depended on her. She had to focus on that.

"We know she wasn't involved because we saw the echoes of what happened in the moments before the explosion. Most Holy called out to her," Cassandra said. "For help. And she was not alone. There was someone else there, with her."

"Someone she did not expect, at that, and whoever it was, even if they perished in the explosion, they might have had allies." Leliana added, stepping forward. "Allies that remain."

Roderick let his mouth fall open. "I am a suspect?"

Turnabout is fair play, Amy thought spitefully, then shrank in on herself at the pettiness of the thought.

"It would not be the first time that elements from within the Chantry conspired with enemies of it to strike at the Divine," Cassandra said deliberately, sounding like she was hinting at something.

"Among others," Leliana confirmed. "As Chancellor, your authority in the absence of the Divine is significant. And Divine Justinia had many enemies among the Grand Clerics... most of whom refused to attend the Conclave."

Politics. Fucking politics.

Was this all some sort of power play? She remembered something like this, in a book she'd read once - a princess framed for the murder of her father, the King, and having to unravel the conspiracy among a bunch of the nobles to put her uncle on the throne as a puppet. It hadn't been as good as the Roaraxia books, but it had been fun.

And now it was apparently her life. She didn't know anything about this, but she was going to have to learn at least a little, right? At least enough so I know what the fuck to expect.

"But not her?!" Roderick said, incredulous, gesturing at her. "Not this false prophet you've raised up-"

"I have a name, jackass!" Amy glared at him, though with her hood still up, he probably wasn't getting a good enough look at her face to tell. "And I'm not a fucking prophet!"

"You were exactly what we needed in our darkest hour," Cassandra said firmly. "Providence provided you to us-"

"A psychotic tinker with more bombs than brains is the reason I'm here, not God or the Maker or whatever the fuck you call him."

"Your own 'Herald' denies your claims. And you hope to stand against the Chantry with her as your symbol?" Roderick scoffed. Cassandra opened her mouth to retort, but then the dark-skinned woman, Josephine, stepped forward and took this chance to cut into the conversation:

"Chancellor Roderick," she said in a calm, level voice, clearly trying to ratchet down the tension in the room. "This isn't about standing against the Chantry. But without a Divine, there is no one to lead it, and it will take time for the Grand Clerics to elect another. Time we may not have with the Breach remaining."

"And what right do you have to decide that it is you who gets to act, Lady Montilyet? Without the Divine, there is no one with that authority! What you propose is madness, anarchy!"

As he'd been speaking, Cassandra had stepped away from the table, retrieving something from one of the bookshelves, and returned with it, a heavy book iron in the cover, metal hinges built into it, clasped shut with more metal, and a the same sunburst pattern that had been on the doors of this building on it.

Cassandra slammed the book on the table hard enough to make it shake, the thud ringing through the small room. Roderick looked down at it, and then stiffened.

"You know what this is, Chancellor," Cassandra pointed to the book. "A writ from the Divine, granting us the authority to act."

"You would risk-" Roderick started, but Cassandra cut him off.

"As if this moment, under the authority granted by the Divine to her Right and Left Hands by this writ, I declare the Inquisition reborn!" Cassandra stepped closer to Roderick, raising one hand up, not quite poking him in the chest as the man stepped back, away from her.

"We will close the Breach, we will find those responsible, and we will restore order," Cassandra continued, voice firm, unyielding, her expression grim, set. Cullen didn't seem to have much of a reaction, and Leliana's expression was entirely unreadable, but as Amy's eyes darted away from Cassandra for a moment, she saw that Josephine was stiff, a little uncomfortable, judging from the grimace that passed across her face for a moment.

"With or without your approval!"

Roderick stared at her a moment, as if expecting Cassandra to say more, or to reveal she'd just been joking, but then he stormed out, wordlessly, slamming the door behind him.

Okay, so... what just happened. The room remained quiet for a moment, and Amy tried to work through what she'd just heard. Her eyes flicked down to the book. Roderick had sounded like he did know what it was, but didn't think having the 'Inquisition' be reborn was a good idea, which...

I mean, the only Inquisition I know about is the Spanish one, and I'm pretty sure they were a lot worse than that British comedy routine had them be. She vaguely remembered something about persecutions and torture from history classes.

"Well. Now that we've alienated what's left of the Chantry leadership, I suppose we should get to work on that," Josephine said, her voice chipper in a way that was obviously forced.

"We are not declaring war on the Chantry," Leliana said, as if chiding Josephine.

"No, you're just declaring them irrelevant," Josephine pointed out, "Which likely offends the remaining Grand Clerics even more. Invoking Divine Justinia's writ to reestablish the Inquisition- the implications-"

"It is the only choice. Without a Divine, and with Orlais in the middle of a civil war, and no peace forged between the Templars and the rebel mages, there is no one else who can be expected to do what must be done." Cassandra said, placing her hands flat on the table as she leaned forward.

"With what forces, Cassandra?" Cullen asked, speaking up. "What forces we have are those willing to remain that also survived the fighting against the demons after the explosion of the Chantry. We barely survived that battle. And now you propose we start a war - once we know who it is we're fighting.

"We did survive it, because of her." Cassandra looked to Amy. "You were able to close the rifts."

"Yes, but I'm not the 'Herald of Andraste'! I barely know who that even is, and I don't have the faintest idea about any of this! I'm not - I'm some fucking chosen one!"

"Believe what you will. No one is outside the Maker's will," Cassandra said firmly, without even a hint of wavering. Great. A true believer. "You were exactly what we needed, when we needed it.

"So you're going from holding me prisoner, chains and all, declaring me guilty on the thinnest of pretextes - you were going to fucking kill me in that cell - and now you're raising me up as some kind of holy icon!? Do you realize how insane that sounds!"

Anyone who tried to - anyone who tried to revere her or consider her sacred or worship or - they'd be rapidly disappointed to see it was her, not some divine prophet. Plain Amy.

Vicky wouldn't like being worshipped, not for long, but she'd know how to handle it.

"I was wrong to accuse you, and threaten you," Cassandra admitted. "I was lost in my grief and lashing out at the first target that presented itself. But you proved your innocence, and your courage."

"I'm not - I'm not brave. And I am not telling people that I'm sent by your - Maker." Amy insisted, pulling her hood down off her head, then crossing her arms in front of her.

"At this point, the idea has begun to take root, and if you continue to close the rifts, and eventually the Breach, people will believe it, regardless of what you say." Leliana said.

"Fuck me," Amy's shoulders sagged. She swallowed. She looked up at the ceiling a moment, then under her breath, very quietly, "What Would Vicky Do?"

"Your mark is the only hope we have of closing the Breach," Leliana added. "None of this will be possible without you. It is your choice, but if you do not aid us-"

"People will assume I'm guilty." Amy muttered. "Catch-22 if there ever was one." She pulled a hand down her face, letting out a long breath. "It's not like not helping was ever a choice. I can't - I can't just sit around and do nothing while people could be dying from something I can stop." Amy took in a breath. "But I'm not signing up for some - some fucking Holy War to persecute heretics and... burn pagans at the stake or anything like that. And I'm not telling people I'm the Herald of Andraste. If they want to believe it, I can't fucking stop them, but I won't lie."

"We are already at war. Someone destroyed the Conclave," Cassandra said, quietly. "The Inquisition of old restored order in a time when the world had gone mad, in the aftermath of the Tevinter Imperium's fall. They did not act mindlessly, or without care and caution - they punished blood mages and those who would kill innocents in the name of Andraste in equal measure."

Okay, so that... doesn't sound like an Inquisition.

"Then... as long as that's what's happening... not like I have a fucking choice anyway." Amy sighed. She looked at the map on the table. There were various flags pinned into it, marking specific locations. There was a mountain range with a series of pins, and the word 'Haven' marked by one of them. On the eastern side of the mountains, a country labeled 'Kingdom of Ferelden', on the western, a much larger one called 'Empire of Orlais', and then another one called 'Kingdom of Nevarra' north of Orlais and a region labeled 'the Free Marches' north of Ferelden, across what looked like some kind of sea.

The map cut off, but it looked like there was more continent than that to the north.

"So fine. I'm in." She took a breath. "And when this is over..." Amy paused, blinking rapidly, trying to make sure she didn't start crying again. "When this is over... promise you'll help me figure out how to get home." If it's even -

Amy cut that thought off. She had to believe she could get home. She had to believe she'd see Victoria again.

And if I tell myself that enough times, maybe I'll actually believe it. Hadn't worked for anything else, but-

Cassandra walked over to her and held out a hand. "If you can help us close the Breach and restore order, then when this is over, I will help you, if I can."

"Then I guess you have yourselves a healer and a rift-closer." Amy shook Cassandra's hand, then let her arm fall by her side. "But how exactly are we going to close the Breach? Why didn't it close before? And -" Amy sighed. "I'm just here for closing the rifts, the Breach, not all the politics and religion bullshit but - I - I need to know some of it, I guess." Vicky would want to know. She'd probably ignore half the nuances and charge in headfirst anyway, but she studied up on all the capes in the Bay, and beyond, all the time. Forewarned is forearmed. She'd want to know the details.

"What kind of mess did I land in the middle of?"

---

Author's Note: For those that haven't read Ward or even read the handful of excerpts I have, Roaraxia is the name of a series of fantasy books she read (and really liked) pre-triggering that is mentioned in a flashback in Ward. As I said, I take what I like from Ward, even if I'm not holding myself to it, and that was a detail I liked.

Also, the fact that the 'Common Tongue' of Thedas is English and uses the Romance Alphabet (and thus Amy can read it) is definitely all kinds of bullshit, but I really don't want to have to deal with Amy needing translation and being unable to read anything here in Thedas, so... I mean, travelling to Thedas via Bakuda-bomb is also kinda bullshit, so it's kind of part of the territory. Please go with it.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: People familiar with Dragon Age will find that this chapter may drag a bit. It is a lot infodumping and explanations about things that Amy does not know but anyone who has played Inquisition (or even just the first two games) would know, or otherwise find familiar. Hopefully this will be engaging enough to read anyway, but best to warn up front.

As I said, I am always willing to hear out and take into account good-faith critique about my characterization of various people, Amy and otherwise. Some characters are harder for me to get right than others, and I do my best to do so, but obviously, sometimes I may get it wrong.

---

What kind of mess did I land in the middle of?

"You managed to land in one of the more... eventful times in the recent history of Thedas," Leliana said, and began ticking off details and names that Amy didn't know the meaning of, beyond loosely grasping what a mage and templar were. "The Fifth Blight ended ten years ago and the after effects are still reverberating throughout Ferelden, and indeed, all of Thedas. Kirkwall was a slowly boiling pot that exploded four years ago, the mages and templars began their war shortly after that, Orlais broke out into civil war last year, and... well, the Conclave just blew up, taking the one person who had a chance at convincing people to stand down peacefully." Leliana set her jaw a little as she said that last part, though her otherwise calm expression and careful tone were hard to read.

"None of that means anything to me, though that's the third time Kirkwall has been mentioned since I showed up here." Amy pointed out. She looked at the map, and found Kirkwall marked on it. It was coastal, in the 'Free Marches' part of the map, but that really didn't tell her much. "I don't understand any of this. I barely believe that what I saw Solas doing was magic or those things we fought were demons." Solas didn't have powers and... while the demons could still be projections...

She was a lot less convinced that had to be the case than she had been before she grasped that mages weren't just capes by another name.

"I'm somewhat confused by that," Josephine said carefully. "I know little of the world beyond Thedas, no one really does, but shouldn't magic and the Fade and demons be a fact of life as well?"

"I'm not from a different continent. I'm from a different world entirely! Where I come from, there's no magic. No demons. No elves or dwarves or dragons. Those are all just fairy tales." She blinked, then, "Fuck, wait are there fairies here too? Ghosts and goblins and god knows what the fuck else?"

"Fairies don't exist, though some ancient traditions confused spirits and demons for them, according to Seeker texts," Cassandra said. "Goblins... I do not believe I've ever heard the term."

"Little gross creatures, sometimes green, usually like, 3 feet tall?" Granted, there were a lot of versions of goblins out there, in fiction that she'd read, but this was a pretty common version, with variations. None of the others said anything.

"Well, okay, at least there's some line. But I'm gonna have to deal with dead people hanging around?"

"Ghosts are not the souls of the departed. All pass into the hands of the Maker to be judged after death. What people call 'ghosts' are just demons and spirits, caught in their echoes in the Fade," Cullen said quickly.

"...Okay." Amy stared at him, blinking. That was... how much of that was religion? Fuck, for all she knew the 'Maker' was a real thing too, and not just religion. She'd read stories where gods were real, after all.

"There is only this world, the one the Maker forged." Cullen said, surprisingly calm for a fanatic relying on his religion to explain the world. "Leliana said you told her this before, in-" he paused.

"In the cell you were holding me in?" Cullen nodded.

"But," the Commander went on, "That - that should be impossible."

"Nothing is beyond the Maker's sight. The Chant of Light was inspired by the Maker, but it was penned by mortal hands," Leliana explained. "I don't entirely grasp what it means for her to be from another world, but I do not believe she is lying."

"I'm not lying!" Amy had to resist the urge to shout, and of course, everyone here was a believer in this religion and she still had no idea how real it was. The idea of this 'Maker' being real was absurd, but so was everything else she'd had to deal with since she'd woken up in that cell.

I'm not going to ask them though. Wouldn't really get her a real answer. If he was real, they'd say he was. If he wasn't, they'd also say he was.

And would they even know? Not like anyone could know God existed. Wasn't that the whole point? Sounded right, from sermons she'd gotten from stupid people at hospitals that tried to convince her her powers were a gift from 'the Lord'.

"I'm not from here. I don't know anything you guys would know, and on my world, we know the whole world. All seven continents and four oceans... and seven seas." Okay, she knew it was more than seven seas, but she had no idea how many there actually were, so she'd just say that. Wasn't like this was a geography test. "And we're not... we have electricity and the internet and cars and helicopters and guns and a billion things you don't have here. Wherever this is, this isn't Earth-Bet."

"That is what you call the place you come from?"

"I come from Brockton Bay, in the United States, but that's on Earth-Bet, yeah." Amy answered Leliana's question. She furrowed her brow, then, "Look, I barely paid attention when they talked about in my classes, but - multiple worlds were a theory for like... years? Decades? Something something physics." She realized how stupid she sounded, and tried to search her mind for an analogy, maybe something she'd read or seen in a TV show, or...

"It was all just a theory, no one proved it until like... a decade ago? Two?" Amy pulled a hand down her face, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I don't remember how long. But this Tinker, Professor Haywire, he opened a portal to another Earth, which we call Earth-Aleph. And then no others, but... Earth Aleph is also not all... swords and bows and...medieval stuff."

"Every word you speak only produces more questions," Cassandra said, setting her hands on the table and leaning forward.

"Join the fucking club!" Amy rolled her eyes. "I'm seventeen, and I - I didn't -" she flushed a moment, then looked down at the ground. "Look, I'm not smart like my sister, and I didn't bother to pay much attention in school the last few years so - there's just things I don't know how to explain, okay?"

"The same sister that you say knows how to fight?" Cassandra asked, and Amy nodded.

"Vicky - Victoria." Amy nodded, blinking repeatedly. "She's - she's - she's a hero. She can fly and break people into a pulp and she's smart. Studies powers and aces all her classes and..." Amy closed her eyes, inhaling, covering her face again, trying to hold back any tears. "She'd - she'd know how to handle all this... though she might also have just broken the chains and broken all your arms before anyone could explain the situation to her." Cassandra looked skeptical, and Amy laughed, "You know how I can heal without magic? My sister can break through stone walls unharmed just by punching them, or flying at them fast."

"Your sister can fly?" Cullen shook his head. "And you - Cassandra said you can heal without magic, but how is that possible?" He looked to Cassandra, "I know you'd be able to feel magic's presence, especially being used to heal you, but I don't - how is it possible?"

"Well, it's not a blessing from some divine being, so don't even start with that," Amy cut in before anyone could say anything else. "Nobody fucking knows how powers work, not really. They just... do. Vicky could give you a better answer, but..." Amy swallowed and trailed off. She inhaled, closing her hands into fists, opened them again, trying to remember her sister's talks and explanations and things she'd learned and heard and picked up....

"Thirty years or almost, they just... started cropping up. People able to do all kinds of insane things. There's a hero, named Legend. He can fly and shoot beams from his hands that can do all kinds of stuff. Velocity - he can run fast, like, faster than a car, sometimes." She blinked, remembering that would mean nothing to them. "Or - like... I mean, I haven't seen it, but he can definitely run faster than a horse can gallop."

Aunt Sarah had dragged all four of them - her, Victoria, Crystal and Eric - to enough horseback riding stuff during the summer when they were all younger for Amy to have a vague idea of how fast horses could go, and Velocity was like... sixty miles an hour, right?"

"There's an absolute bastard of a guy called Hookwolf, back home. He can turn into a wolf made of knives and hooks and sharp pointy bits. I've seen the effects of what he can do to people. I've healed the damage he's done to people. I mean... you guys can imagine what a wolf made of knives can do to some random civilian, right?"

Josephine looked away for a moment, and Amy thought it looked like she was maybe nauseated for a moment, while Cullen and Cassandra had their jaws set grimly, and Leliana's expression remained unreadable.

"Powers can do... all kinds of stuff. Mine let me heal. Anything. Cancer, if someone has a missing arm I can regrow it, any kind of disease... as long as they're alive I can keep them alive."

"And give them cancer." Leliana observed, and Amy bit her lip.

"I wouldn't actually do that. I don't -" Amy started, then, "Cancer is just cells going crazy and multiplying out of control. I can do that."

"You also threatened to render all the guards impotent." Cassandra added.

"I can -" Amy let out a breath. "I heal. Okay. That's what I do with my power. If you had someone with a missing arm or leg, I could prove that to you, if you wanted. As long as there's enough body mass to spare."

"Body mass to spare?"

"I don't know how magic does it, but when I heal someone... I have to take the material from somewhere. Usually excess fat or turn a little of their blood into bone cells to mend a broken bone or - in serious cases I can use muscle, - that's why I said that... scout I healed back in those tunnels needed to eat after I was done with him."

"...he was quite ravenously hungry that night," Leliana mused. "More so than one might be after a fight, usually." She sounded satisfied to have an answer to that, if Amy was even remotely gauging the woman right, which she probably wasn't. "But that doesn't exactly answer the question of what else you can do, and how you're able to do it."

"I just told you I don't know how powers work! They just... happen!"

"Were you born with this ability?" Cullen asked. "Mages are born with their abilities, though it may take time for their powers to manifest properly, and longer for them to be able to use them safely... assuming they aren't possessed first."

"Demons can do that too? Fuck, this is just a fun world you people live in."

Nazis and Slaughterhouse Nine and Endbringers running around rampant, or demons, possession and giant fucking holes in the sky. Why couldn't I have landed on some nice, peaceful world where no one had anything worse than a fucking skinned knee?

"The threat of mages giving into a demon, allowing them to possess them and becoming an abomination is one of the primary reasons the Templars exist." Cullen said. "Or... it was supposed to be." He added.

"Fun." Amy repeated. Then she shook her head, "No, I wasn't - I wasn't born with my power. I-" She licked her lips, looking down at the ground. "And like I said, it wasn't a blessing. I get enough of that shit from people back home telling me God or Jesus or whoever the fuck else they worship saying my powers are a divine gift."

She inhaled, exhaled. "We call people with powers 'parahumans'. Maybe... one in seven or eight or nine thousand people is one? I think? I don't really remember."

"Because you didn't pay attention in your schooling," Cassandra crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I'm seventeen! And I spend more time healing people at hospitals than I do sleeping, so yes, I don't pay much attention in my classes, okay? I get enough shit about it from Carol - my - mother - about that." she added, realizing they'd have no idea who Carol was.

Of course, she wasn't actually Carol's daughter, and Carol never let her forget it, even if she never said it to her face, but... Amy closed her eyes and inhaled.

"Parahumans get their powers after what people call a trigger event. Trigger events are..." Once more, Amy closed her eyes, inhaled, and stepped back, leaning her back against the stone wall behind her. "They're... traumatic events. My - Carol and my Aunt Sarah triggered when the people kidnapping them tried to kill them. My cousin Crystal when... a gang of people tried to..." she swallowed. "Tried to kill her, or worse." She didn't exactly know that many trigger events, and - she wasn't going to talk about Victoria's... that was...

People still thought she just triggered from that foul ball... because she kept saying that in interviews.

Amy knew better. Victoria knew better.

"And you?"

Sure, ask about the worst fucking moment of my life, why don't you?! Amy inhaled, then inhaled again, feeling her breathing faster, shallower, that fucking day flashing in her mind - she had it in her nightmares too much. She'd wish too hard that she didn't have powers, that she'd never triggered, and then she'd remember Victoria, and lying there on the floor in that mall, so much blood... so much blood...

"Leliana," Cassandra's voice cut in. "I don't think we need to know."

"We need to know who we're dealing with and how her abilities work." Leliana countered. "How many times have we encountered mages turning to blood magic or becoming abominations only in desperate moments? She is our only hope for closing the Breach, but we know nothing about her.

"I think it's quite clear she'd rather not discuss this, Leliana," Josephine added. "Perhaps later-"

"My sister was dying in front of me! Bleeding out and if I hadn't triggered and hadn't been able to get the bullet out of her and heal her then she'd have died! I triggered with the ability to heal and to - to manipulate the biology of what I touch while covered in my sister's blood!" Amy shouted, only realizing what she'd done as the words left her lips. She closed her eyes, unable to hold back tears now - she wasn't sobbing, not yet, but even after her breakdown after waking up, she still had tears left in her and -

She was sitting on the floor now, knees pressed up against her chest, shallow breaths, tears still springing from her eyes. It wasn't just remembering that day, or the nightmares on if she hadn't triggered, or hadn't been there or triggered with a different power (on those days when she wished that if she had to have a power, couldn't she have had a different one) or -

She wasn't going to see Victoria again, no matter how much she tried to get home. No powers. No tinkers. No -

She could hear the others talking, maybe there was an argument, but she just stayed there for a moment, not registering anything for a moment, trying to hold herself back from sobbing - a tiny part of her felt mortified she was doing this in front of them, but she couldn't help it.

What else was she supposed to do? The most important person in her life... out of reach. The rest of her family. Everyone she knew. Everything on Earth-Bet. Books and music and TV and cars and electricity and comfortable beds and coffee and -

And here she was and -

She blinked, looking up as she noticed Cassandra standing next to her, and the woman extended a hand and Amy reached out, taking it and standing up, back pressed up against the wall again for support.

"Are you fit to continue speaking? Not - not about how you got your powers," Cassandra quickly added.

Amy swallowed, "I'm suffering a caffeine headache because I haven't had my morning coffee, and I'm cut off from everyone and everything I ever knew, and I'm still grappling with that fact and I just..." she trailed off. "But yeah, I'm as ready as I can be."

"Coffee is quite a useful drink to wake up with," Josephine said softly. "When we are done here, I believe I can spare some of mine for you, Amy."

Amy blinked. "You have coffee? Oh thank God," Amy said that last part in a quieter tone. "Please, yes, god, thank you."

"It is a common drink in my homeland of Antiva. Less so this far south, especially... here, in Haven. I am the only one here with a taste for it. Or I was, anyway." Josephine explained. "I only brought enough for myself, but under the circumstances-"

"I'll take anything you're willing to share," Amy said quickly. She tried to take another breath, forcing herself to go slower, trying to get a little more calm. It was absurd, she was in tears a minute ago and now she was begging for coffee and trying to focus on this stupid meeting. Bouncing between breaking down and trying to focus on the problems in front of her.

People's lives still depended on her. Differently, maybe - though there were probably people to heal here in Haven too, with medieval hygiene and shit - but... she had to stay focused on that.

"I think at this point... many of the questions about your powers and... the para-humans of your world," Leliana didn't exactly stumble over the unfamiliar word, but she did say it slowly, "and indeed, questions about your world in general can wait. You do not believe the Maker sent you do us in our hour of need."

"No, I don't."

"So then how do you think you came to be here?"

"One of Bakuda's bombs went off, and then I woke up in the cell." Amy explained, letting out a long, exasperated breath. "Her shit can do all kinds of stuff, so I suppose one of them sent me here." Or she could be dead and this was hell, but Amy was pretty sure hell would be more painful than annoying. And right now, she wasn't in much pain from this stupid thing on her hand. "I have no fucking memory of what happened after I got here, or how I stumbled upon... whoever it was that was with the Divine, in that... echo we saw."

"Unfortunate, though I suppose you wouldn't have recognized him even if you did remember his face," Leliana observed. "I have questions about this... Bakuda, you mentioned her in your cell, but perhaps it is time to proceed to answering your questions."

"Great idea," Amy agreed. She licked her lips, realizing she was thirsty. She looked around and saw a metal pitcher and wooden cups over on a small table in the back of the room. "Please tell me that's water and not alcohol."

"It is water," Cassandra confirmed, and Amy walked around the main table to the pitcher, pouring herself a glass - cup - of water.

"Before we move on to explaining... well, everything, to you, I do have a few more questions about you," Josephine said. Amy swallowed the mouthful of water she already had as Josephine went on quickly: "Not about your ability to heal, though I'm not sure we'll be able to convince most people who hear of it that it is not a gift from the Maker, but about you."

Of course we won't. Some people back on Earth-Bet still thought powers were from God. Also some that thought Scion was God. Or that powers were from aliens or demons or fuck if she knew whatever other insane theories existed.

And here? She could explain Corona Pollentia and Corona Gemma forever and get nowhere.

"Why do you need to know about me?"

"Because you are the Herald of Andraste." Josephine held up a hand, once again tacking on more: "You do not claim to be, but the idea has spread throughout those here in Haven, and is already spreading beyond. People will believe it. And, as the only person who can close the rifts and the Breach, you are the most important person in this entire effort. People will have questions about who you are, where you come from... we can tell the truth, that you are from far beyond Thedas and your abilities are not magic, but that will not be all people want to know."

"And," Josephine added as Amy inhaled slowly, closing her eyes as she realized the implications of what Josephine was saying, "the Inquisition lacks the manpower or resources to deal with the problem before us. We must recruit, we must make contact with nobles and other people and groups that can provide us with assistance."

"And that means making your 'Herald' who can heal with a touch part of your PR campaign." Amy said softly. "Fuck." She hated New Wave PR events, hated when reporters or interviewers tried to ask her questions... it happened less these days, enough times where she'd given people nothing to work with, one-word answers, or ignored them and she just wasn't photogenic like the rest of her family, so... she'd been able to avoid them.

"P....R?"

"Public Relations. You know, spreading a specific message about you or your organization. My family did it all the time." Amy looked down, "I hate it."

Josephine made a small 'hm' noise, "An elegant way to put it. But yes - we are out on our own, without Chantry support, and as it stands, neither Ferelden, nor Orlais support us, let alone anyone else."

Those two countries on either side of the mountains they were in.

"Alistair is a friend. He will support us." Leliana said firmly.

"King Alistair is not free to simply do whatever he wishes," Josephine cautioned. "You know as well as I that he depends on the support of the Bannorn, and his friendliness to the mages during this war has cost him much support."

"Ferelden is still recovering from the Fifth Blight, there's only so much support they can provide even if their King does back us fully," Cassandra cut in.

"The point being, Amy, that people are more likely to support us if they know why we believe we have a chance to fix this... and know more about who that chance is." Josephine forced them back on topic. "Your surname is Dallon, and you just said your family has experience with 'public relations'. Is your family noble? Do people with abilities like yours govern, the way magisters govern in Tevinter?"

"We don't have nobles where I'm from, and no, people with powers don't run the show." Some people thought they should, cape supremacists - groups like the Elite... "My family are heroes. We all have powers - my Aunt, my Uncle, my cousins, my parents, my sister, me."

"What exactly makes them heroes? You said you spent more time at hospitals than sleeping. I can see why people would consider such selfless work to heal others heroic-"

Amy wasn't sure if she actually spent more time healing than sleeping, but given how little she actually slept some nights, and all the times she went out at night to hospitals, and especially during crises like Bakuda's rampage...

It had to be close, sometimes, if nothing else.

"I'm not a hero. My family is, I'm not." Amy interrupted. "My family are heroes because they use their powers to fight criminals, and villains. Like Hookwolf, and the entire gang of Nazi shitheads that he's part of. Or the ABB."

"Your family works to protect the innocent people of your home from criminals and murderers?"

"Yeah. It's a team, New Wave." Amy nodded. "My Aunt Sarah is the leader."

Josephine wrote something down on her clipboard with her quill, then dipped it into ink again.

"A healer in a family that fights criminals... what sort of crimes do these criminals commit?"

"All of them?" She wracked her mind, "Empire 88 beats up people over their skin color, smuggles guns and drugs, forces people to pay protection, steals from people who don't... they terrorize the city. The ABB does the same, and they force girls to work in their brothels." The part about kidnaping girls off the street to work in their brothels or whatever was a rumor, and probably not true - Victoria thought it was one E88 spread because it played on racist tropes about threats to 'good, decent white girls' - but they did force the girls working for them to stay, beat them and addicted them to drugs and took most of their money...

She'd had to treat girls who were rescued from their brothels before, flush their systems of drugs, and mend poorly healed broken bones and bruises and sometimes worse.

"In the old days, they fought gangs like the Teeth, who just... fucking murdered people because they could."

"Worthy opponents, certainly," Josephine nodded. "A healer, child of heroes, sister to a hero, and willing to do what must be done to close the Breach... I believe that can be worked with." She set wrote some more, then set her quill down again. "I may have more questions at a later time, but there are matters to attend to."

"Quite," Cassandra said, crossing her arms in front of her. "There is much that will need to be explained to you."

"I'm not entirely sure where to begin summarizing this situation. Do we start with Kirkwall, the dissolution of the Nevarran Accords, do we go all the way back to the Tevinter Imperium?" Cullen began, "You don't even know what the Fade is,"

"Something about it being where demons are from."

"The Fade is the realm of spirits and demons, the Maker's first children. It is where people go in their dreams, and it is also the source of magic." Leliana explained. "Mages channel the energy of the Fade to make reality as... mutable as dreams can be, in essence." Cassandra and Cullen both looked at her, and Leliana shrugged, "I learned a great deal when travelling with the Hero of Ferelden during the Fifth Blight," she explained.

Okay. That... makes as much sense as 'magic' does anyway. "Magic comes from the Fade, mages draw on it... and demons are from the Fade and can possess mages. There's a connection there." Amy wasn't a complete idiot, she could add two and two together and get four...

Sometimes.

"Demons are jealous of mortals and of our material world," Cassandra explained. "Mages are the vehicle by which they can have means to interact with it, either by possession, or being summoned... and now these rifts, and the Breach. They will try to trick or convince a mage to make deals with them, or try to overpower their will until they accept possession. Once that happens, they become abominations - a single abomination has the ability to destroy an entire village. It is to protect people - mage and non-mage alike, that the Templar Order was created."

"And then it failed, utterly." Leliana countered. "Kirkwall was merely the worst case, but abuses against mages at the hands of Templars could be seen in every Circle. The rebellion was sparked by what happened in Kirkwall, but-"

"There were abuses in Kirkwall, and Meredith was insane, but the city was crawling with blood mages and abominations," Cullen interrupted. "I - I do not deny that things happened outside of it, but the alternatives are worse."

"Alternatives are not the problem right now. The Circles do not exist, and the Templars as a whole have broken from the Chantry." Cassandra raised her voice just a little. "We must focus on the Breach first." She set her jaw, "The Seekers' role in monitoring the Templars failed."

"I still have no idea what you're talking about. Why does Kirkwall keep coming up, and who is Meredith, and since I remember both came up when Varric saw that red stuff... what the fuck is that?" Amy demanded. "I have so many questions, I don't even know where to start!"

She looked down at the map, "I - okay, let's start with the basics: Everyone's calling me the Herald of Andraste. Who the fuck is Andraste? Kateria mentioned someone called Hessarian burning her to death, and her ashes were at the temple that blew up?"

"The Temple of Sacred Ashes is where Andraste's surviving companions took her remains, yes." Leliana said. "It was lost to most of the world until it was rediscovered ten years ago, and its sacredness made it seemingly the perfect neutral ground to host the Conclave. Even the mage rebels still follow the Chant of Light, or most of them, anyway. Divine Justina was respected by enough figures on both sides, though neither Grand Enchanter Fiona or Lord Seeker Lucius came personally."

"...the leaders of both sides of a war don't show up to a peace conference that blows up, and you don't assume one of them was behind it?" Amy blinked. "You blame me instead?!"

"Either of them certainly could be involved, but at the time, we had no way of knowing if you were working for one of them or their agents... whoever it was that intended to use the Divine as some sort of sacrifice may still have had allies in either camp." Leliana said.

"Or both." Cassandra offered. "Treacherous Templars have worked with blood mages to strike at the Divine before."

"Back on topic!" Amy insisted, "Who is Andraste?!"

"The Bride of the Maker, who led the first Exalted March and broke the power of the Tevinter Imperium," Josephine answered.

"The Bride of the Maker. And the Maker is... the one you all worship. Created the world and all that?"

"Yes."

Okay. So Andraste was a big deal. "Okay, so everyone worships the Maker and... honors Andraste?"

"The Dwarves in Orzammar keep to their own faith in the Stone, and the Dalish Elves follow their own gods, but otherwise, yes. Even the Tevinter follow the Maker, though they have their own version of the Chantry." Josephine explained, "And their own Divine."

Great. Amy's knowledge of European History could probably fit on the back of a postcard, but she knew religious war over who was Pope or if the Pope mattered had been a thing once.

"Not to mention all the slavery, blood magic and letting magisters run the show."

"Slavery? You have slavery here?!" Amy recoiled just at the thought.

"Only in Tevinter. It is illegal elsewhere."

"Good." Amy said firmly. Then she sagged a little, "Okay, can you... can I get like, a really quick history lesson? Tevinter was overthrown, but still exists, Andraste died, but... what, went to the Maker's side?" The others nodded. "And... there's Circles and Templars and the Chantry..." It sounded like their Bible was the Chant of Light from what they said, and the Chantry was the church...

"I'm still so fucking confused."

The other four looked at each other for a moment then finally Leliana spoke:

"In the Ancient Age, the Tevinter Imperium ruled all of Thedas, more or less. They had destroyed the elven realm of Arlathan and enslaved the survivors, and built their empire on the backs of their slaves, and on blood magic and pacts with demons. They worshipped the Old Gods, powerful demons that masqueraded as divine."

"Tevinter bad and evil. Got it." Amy nodded. Since they apparently had slaves, and still did, that seemed about right to her. Also, she just... anything called 'Blood Magic' couldn't be good, right?

"Eventually, seven Tevinter Magisters, the highest of priests of the Old Gods, sought to enter the Fade by means of mass blood sacrifice, and at the behest of the Old Gods, claim the throne of the Maker in the Golden City. Instead, they corrupted it with their sin, creating the first Darkspawn, and turning the Old Gods into the Archdemons that lead them during each Blight." Leliana explained.

"...Okay, that's..." Amy blinked. It sounded very... over the top. Like Garden of Eden type shit. But again. Magic. Demons. She could imagine that being the plot of a fantasy novel and she was fucking living in one. "That's... a thing that happened, apparently. And Darkspawn are?"

"Creatures of pure evil and destruction." Cassandra answered. "They are nearly mindless on their own, though in larger groups, they show... rudimentary grasp of tactics."

"And during a Blight, far more than that, under the leadership of an Archdemon." Leliana added. "Their blood is corrupted, and Darkspawn will spread a terrible taint to the land around them, and those they fight. If tainted, death will follow soon, for there is no cure, unless one becomes a Grey Warden. And even that only delays the process."

File in another term I don't understand. "Okay. I..." She found herself wondering what this taint was, how it worked... she'd never met a disease she couldn't cure, and 'no cure' could just mean they didn't understand medicine enough.

"Magic can't cure the taint?" Magic being a healing thing here meant there was less... on Earth-Bet, she was the only chance for a lot of people, or at least the best chance. With healing magic... that wasn't as true. Which... was good. Less people that only she could help...

"No. Magic's ability to heal is limited by the skill of the mage, their power, and how much energy they have to draw on." Cassandra answered. "In the hands of the skilled and powerful, or with more power to hand, it can regrow limbs, or even heal most illnesses, but there are things beyond even the skills of the greatest of healers."

"The First Blight nearly destroyed the Tevinter Imperium, and it turned many away from the Old Gods, as they ceased answering prayers." Josephine said, setting her clipboard down as she kept going. "The Tevinter were forced to focus on defending their core territories, in the north, leaving much of the world to their own. It was the Grey Wardens who devised the means of permanently killing the Archdemon, which made defeating the now leaderless darkspawn far easier,"

"And there's been four more Blights since then? Including the one that hit Ferelden ten years ago?"

"Yes. The Hero of Ferelden managed to end the Blight in less than a year - the First Blight took nearly two centuries, and even the fourth lasted for twelve years." Leliana answered.

"Wow." That sounded impressive, but Amy honestly didn't know enough to say how much. So she just went with 'wow'.

"With the Tevinter weakened, and the faith in the Old Gods broken, Andraste was called by the Maker to lead an Exalted March against them. She was the wife of Maferath, a powerful warlord in what is now Ferelden, and she urged him on this holy cause. Blessed by the Maker, and she rallied many, including rebelling elven slaves, to her cause. Unfortunately, Maferath grew jealous of Andraste's relationship to the Maker, and betrayed her to the Tevinter in exchange for being allowed to keep the territory he conquered."

"Which is when this Hessarian burned her to death?"

Okay, so she's the Bride of the Maker, but also married to this Maferath guy. Who betrayed her. When did the marrying the Maker thing happen? Amy figured she had to be getting some sort of... like, biased version of events? History was big and complicated and this all sounded very simple. Very 'and the evil Romans just crucified Jesus because they were evil'

Or whatever the fuck they taught in Sunday school and on those bible cartoons she'd always skipped past as a kid.

"He was the Archon, leader of Tevinter at the time." Leliana went on, nodding to answer Amy's question. "He was moved by her faith, and it is said that the Maker spoke to him through her. He granted her mercy by killing her rather than allow her to continue to suffer the slow death in the flames. It was after this that he would eventually convert to the following of the Maker, and lead Tevinter to turn away from the Old Gods. This sparked a civil war, and he revealed Maferath's betrayal, causing his realm to crumble."

"And this is when the old Inquisition was a thing?" Amy asked, recalling Cassandra's earlier comment, and Cassandra nodded.

"They were those who rose up to do what needed to be done, to protect the people from those who might use magic to rule others, but also to protect mages who had done no harm, protect the innocent in the time of a world gone mad." Cassandra said. "Just as is the case now. The Inquisition of old worked with the Chantry and Kordilus Drakon to combat the Second Blight, proving that magic and mages could still be used for good, to serve man, not just to rule him. So the Nevarran Accord was signed, creating the Circles, Templars and Seekers, as they exist... existed." She let out a breath. "I can admit that there were... flaws in the execution."

There's a rebellion about it, so yeah, sounds like it. But Amy didn't know enough about magic or mages or Templars to -

"And this rebellion? Why? Why are mages rebelling? And Templars? What are they rebelling against? Both sides of this civil war are also fighting... who else exactly?"

"There are many things that led to the rebellion," Leliana explained. "The Circles were supposed to serve as a place where mages could learn to control their powers, and be kept safe from those who would hate them for what they are. Instead, they became prisons."

"Mages are dangerous, even the most well-intentioned can fall prey to possession, and if one gets it into their head to do worse-" Cullen started, then cut himself off, seemingly forcing himself to take a breath. He looked over to Amy. "The role of Templars to protect mages was forgotten by most. Too many of them, of us... we did come to see mages, all mages, as the enemy. Many mages chafed at the circles, and many tried to run or did. Some because they wished to practice blood magic, or otherwise abuse their powers."

"And others merely because they wanted some freedom to live their lives," Leliana interrupted, raising her voice a little to speak over Cullen.

Imprisoning people for what they might do, rather than what they can do. Amy swallowed, throat feeling tight. If people back home knew what she could really do, the full breadth of it, would they want to do that to her? If they realized the sort of damage she could do? Amy had never wanted powers but at first she'd told herself that at least she'd been able to save her sister, and her power didn't mean she had to fight, that it could just let her help people. If she had to have powers, better than the alternatives?

"All too many apostates free of the circles turn to abusing their powers. There is a place for the Circles," Cullen insisted. "Rebellion and plunging all of Thedas into war as a result was not the way."

And then she'd realized just what she could do. To brains. To... anything. If she wanted to, she could make plagues more horrifying than anything. Her power wasn't healing, no matter how much she insisted...

But that's what I use it for. Amy told herself. Whatever else, whoever else she might - whoever...

I'm not a hero. But I - I use my powers to help people. The idea of being thrown into a cell just because of what she could do, of people, her family, Carol - Vicky - finding out and -

It was one of her worst nightmares. Only on the worst days.

"We aren't here to rehash the same arguments over and over again," Josephine said in a calm, level tone, pre-empting the others. She turned back to Amy, "There are already a dozen books attempting to discuss just what led to the rebellion, tracing it back through the centuries. Trying to summarize a conflict like this when you know so little of the context is pointless."

"I'm stuck living right in the middle of it." Amy countered. "I - I don't like the idea of people being imprisoned just because of what they might do." If they were afraid of someone getting possessed...

I suppose I should be glad these people probably have no fucking idea about germ theory or microbacteria or...

Amy closed her eyes, breathed, opened them again, hands clenched tight, fingernails digging into the base of her palms.

"Circles are not supposed to be prisons," Cassandra said. "But they failed in that purpose."

"And Kirkwall figures into this?" The city kept coming up. "How?"

"How much Kirkwall truly matters is... complicated. It became a symbol, regardless." Cassandra explained. "Knight-Commander Meredith was the leader of the Templars in the city, and she was always strict on the mages under her authority."

"Given how often blood mages and abominations showed up in the city, some strictness was justified," Cullen said, just above a mutter, but then he shook his head, raising his voice. "But she did take it too far, eventually. When the Qunari killed the Viscount, she decided she should rule the city to protect it from blood mages, and turned the city upside down trying to root them out, punishing mages severely for the smallest infractions, or even imagined ones, by the end."

"There had been a movement, sneaking mages out of the Gallows, getting apostates out of the city, working against Templars." Cullen said, then paused and elaborated: "The Gallows were an old Tevinter fortress repurposed to house both Templars and Mages, "Meredith was able to eliminate them within a matter of months, but she continued to see enemies everywhere. And then matters came to a head four years ago."

Okay, so paranoia, oppression... Amy let them keep talking. At this point, trying to figure out what she thought of all this was...

"The Seekers were investigating the matter, but... too many of us believed that perhaps she was right, and actually going to Kirkwall to see for themselves was delayed. Lord Seeker Lambert may not have gone as far as Knight-Commander Meredith, but he agreed with her more than he didn't," Cassandra admitted.

It was more than Amy could really deal with right now. She wanted to just shut her brain down and not have to think about anything, process it. She pressed her fingers into her head just above her eyes, covering her face, speaking through her hands for a moment, "This is a lot that I need to wrap my head around, so can you - how did things come to a head?"

"An apostate, Anders, used magic to destroy the Chantry in the city, killing the Grand Cleric and hundreds of people in the resulting explosion." Cassandra said bluntly.

"Fuck." Yeah. Explosion that killed lots of people would set people off. Something about Earth-Aleph fingered at the back of her memory. Members of some religious group killing a lot of people in an attack and - every member of the group getting blamed by a lot of people?

It came up in a class once, or something, but Amy had no memory of details.

"Meredith's response was that this was proof that all mages in the city were corrupted beyond recovery and that they must all be killed, that there was no other solution."

"The Fuck?" Amy glared at Cullen. "She wanted to just... kill everyone?!"

"Meredith was mad. None of us realized it until it was nearly too late, but she had been getting worse for years." Cullen shook his head. "There are excuses, but..."

"Had the Champion of Kirkwall not stood to rally any willing to fight in defense of the mages in the Circle, the innocent - children, the infirm, the elderly - then Meredith may have been able to cover it up." Leliana said quietly. "But Kiandra Hawke did, and she was able to allow enough mages to escape to spread word of what happened."

"And that's what started the rebellion? Then why did Templars rebel? This is fucking insane!" Amy let out a ragged breath.

"The Templars rebelled because Divine Justinia did not support them cracking down on the mages as they discussed the prospect of rebellion. She became Divine seven years ago, and tried to reform the Circles, but she faced much resistance from within the Chantry. After Kirkwall, the leadership of the Circle voted down breaking the Nevarran Accord at first, but Lord Seeker Lambert's actions made matters worse in the aftermath, and when the Divine tried to restrain him..."

"Templars were told for years, centuries, that they were the trusty right arm of the Chantry, the only thing protecting the world from mages gone amok, and then they were addicted to lyrium at the behest of the Chantry to make them better warriors and better at suppressing magic. Not to mention when sometimes Grand Clerics would withhold lyrium to reign certain groups of Templars in." Cullen interrupted Cassandra. "For centuries, they were left to risk their lives against blood mages, abominations, demons, protected the Chantry from threats..."

He shook his head and let out a sigh, "Too many felt ill-used, abandoned and disregarded by the Chantry for all they sacrificed, and Divine Justinia trying to reign them in was the last straw for too many."

Amy wasn't sure what to think about that, it was all too much, and she felt... she was kind of numb to the tide of information still washing over her. She would have to think about it and -

The Templars were still sort of like the PRT - people who regulated the powered people, even if mages weren't parahumans. But they were a lot more than that, and they were... what, pissy they weren't being appreciated for it? And to rebel over that? Compared to mages who were upset about a bunch of innocent people being murdered for one person's actions?"

"I don't agree with those of my fellows who rebelled, but I understand their frustrations," Cullen concluded.

Then Amy's mind picked up on something Cullen said. 'Addicted to lyrium'.

"Wait, wait, you - you purposefully were addicted to a thing? Like, on orders? Not because you just decided to do drugs? And - lyrium? Like the stuff Varric was worked up about at the temple?"

"Red Lyrium is different from normal lyrium, and appears to be much more dangerous." Cassandra explained. "There is much we don't know, can't know, but one of the things that drove Meredith to her insanity was prolonged contact with red lyrium."

"And normal lyrium is just totally safe, but also addictive?" Amy shook her head, "There's almost nothing in the world that's both addictive and safe, I can't imagine that's different here." Even caffeine had risks, they just were situational or required massive amounts of it and Amy also didn't care about those risks.

"No, it's not safe." Cullen said curtly. "In small amounts, such as used by mages to replenish their magical energies, yes. In the amounts and frequencies used by Templars, no. Losing your memories are the least of the problems that can emerge after long enough use. And we're never told the full extent of that danger before becoming Templars, taking our oaths and taking the first doses." He set his jaw grimly,

"Why the fuck do you use it then? Some sort of initiation hazing bullshit?" Drug addicts were just people too obsessed with their own bullshit, or too selfish, or just couldn't restrain themselves to just... not get addicted in the first place. To not actually shoot up with heroin or snort cocaine or whatever else. But if you were a soldier and your superiors told you to take the drug, that was different. Still fucking stupid, but.

"Lyrium is the source of our ability to suppress magic. Taking as much of it as the Chantry requires makes it stronger, but some lyrium is required no matter what."

"So no lyrium, you can't fight mages?"

"A mage still dies to a sword in the stomach all the same, but the abilities of Templars and Seekers allow us to prevent mages from using magic near us, or at least make it substantively harder." Cassandra explained.

"So you're a lyrium addict too?"

"No," Cassandra answered curtly, "Seekers acquire our abilities differently, and the process by which we do so is... difficult to replicate. That is why there are so few of us."

"And your religion's solution was to give your soldiers drugs and make them addicts, just to get more of them." She scoffed. "Fuck, I don't even -" she pressed the bases of her palms to her forehead. "Okay, fuck, I really don't know what to think about any of this. It's insane, it feels like the plot of a fantasy novel and I just - I just want coffee and maybe something to eat and to collapse and process all of this shit."

"Understandable, under the circumstances." Josephine nodded.

"Agreed. There is still more to discuss, about how we move forward with the Breach," Cassandra nodded. "But matters there are still being determined."

"So you at least have some ideas on how to try again?" Amy asked, letting out a sigh of... not relief, but at least... less tension?

Cassandra nodded: "As far as Solas and the others mages here - ones that did not rebel - can tell, the problem was that your mark wasn't powerful enough to close the Breach entirely. So if we can get more power to aid the process, or find a way to weaken the Breach, then that should allow us to succeed on a second attempt."

"But we must be sure before we try. You were able to stop the Breach from growing, stabilize it - no more balls of fire raining from the sky - and that has been enough to convince people you are the one who can close it. But a second failed attempt could cause people to lose faith." Leliana said, hands clasped behind her back.

"I don't really care if they lose faith in my 'chosen one' status," Amy muttered.

"If people lose faith in the Inquisition, then we won't be able to accomplish anything, or muster the resources required to close the Breach, let alone restore order." Leliana countered bluntly. "Power rests where people believe that it does."

"Well, that part is not my problem. Once you guys figure it out, let me know, okay?" Amy said, then looked over at Josephine. "Are we done enough that I can take you up on that offer of coffee?"

"I believe so." Josephine agreed after glancing over at the others, who didn't object.

"Thank you."

"One moment," Cassandra took a book, and then another, off the shelves, and brought them over. "There is obviously much we had to leave out, but reading these will help you."

Amy looked at the two books, reading the titles on their spines. The first, The Chant of Light, made her grimace. Of course they'd give her the bible.

"I'm not reading your holy book, I'm not - I don't believe in God, so I'm hardly going to start believing in the Maker." Amy snapped. "Fine everyone else believes, but I don't." She started to hand that one back, but Cassandra didn't accept it.

"Just consider it."

Amy rolled her eyes again, and looked at the other book. In Pursuit of Knowledge: The Travels of a Chantry Scholar by 'Brother Ferdinand Genitivi'.

"Brother Genitivi's work was, until recently, one of the most read books in Thedas, and it is an excellent primer on many matters." Cassandra explained.

"And he has been at risk of censure by the Chantry for his candor more than once," Leliana added.

Which means maybe it's more likely to be accurate.

"Okay. Fine." Amy accepted the books. "Coffee, please?"

"Of course," Josephine led her out of the room they were in and off into another side room in the same building, smaller, and a little cozier, with several bookshelves against the wall, and a neatly organized desk with more books and papers. There was a small fire burning in the fireplace, and Josephine grabbed a poker and poked at the flames and ashes and charred wood and all that inside, then she put a split piece of log into the fire, to help it get hotter.

"This is your office then?" Amy looked around.

"I've taken over the space, yes. In the three days you were asleep, I've sent out messages to my friends and contacts across Thedas in an effort to obtain more support for our efforts." She let out a sigh, "Cassandra and Leliana were within their rights to put Justinia's writ into action, especially under the circumstances, but the way they chose to do it will certainly do us no favors." She shook her head, then let out another breath. "But, you do not care about that."

Amy nodded, and Josephine opened a drawer in her desk, retrieving a small manual coffee grinder - Amy had seen those at this one fancy-schmancy place she'd stopped by, though this one was smaller and looked a lot more basic.

Then she took out a metal box and opened it, revealing coffee beans within.

"I admit I have so many more questions about this... Earth-Bet you come from." Josephine said, as she started turning the grinder. Amy hadn't realized how much work would have to go into getting coffee for yourself, especially if you were the only person who drank it.

Is everyone here a tea drinker, or do they just... not drink caffeine? How does anyone function without it? Then again, there were nurses at Brockton General that somehow did without it, so it wasn't technically impossible. Somehow.

"What little you've said makes it sound very different from Thedas. Not just because of the absence of magic," she went on, pouring the coarsely ground beans and water from a pitcher into a small iron kettle-looking thing, stirring it up and placing the kettle on a hook over the fire.

"You have to do that every time you want a cup of coffee?" Amy asked. Grinding the beans yourself and putting the water over an open fire rather than just... put water and grounds into the coffee maker and turn it on.

I miss electricity already.

"Back home in Antiva, or even Val Royeaux, I could go to a cafe and have it made for me, but that's not an option here." Josephine sat down in her chair. "Few in Ferelden enjoy the drink, and it isn't even particularly popular among Orlesians."

"Well, anyone who doesn't like coffee is allowed to be fucking wrong," Amy muttered, and Josephine giggled just a little.

"I might not agree with such blunt vulgarity but I do agree." She admitted. "I take it you get your coffee from cafes, back home?"

"Or things like that, yeah." How could she even begin to explain those coffee vending machines at the hospital, or a coffee maker? "Plus I'm usually the last one out of bed, so Carol or Vicky are the ones to have already made the coffee."

"Carol is your mother, and Vicky your sister, correct?" Amy nodded. "I have a younger sister, Yvette. She is a painter back home in Antiva. She takes endless delight in sharing embarrassing stories about my youth with people whenever we are both together at the same event, but... she is still my sister." She smiled softly, a fond expression on her face.

"Vicky won't stop trying to drag me on dates with her and her stupid boyfriend and whatever guy she's trying to set me up with this time, but she's still the best person I know." Amy said. "She's a fucking nerd too." She couldn't help but smile as she said it, no heat in her voice. She blinked repeatedly, a few tears threatening to rise, talking about her reminding Amy how unlikely she was to see Vicky again -

"No, please, don't cry, I didn't mean to upset you." Josephine removed a handkerchief with a coat of arms sewn into it from a pocket and handed it to Amy.

Amy took it, flushing, dabbing at her eyes.

"No, I just... my sister is the most important person in my life. And they probably all think I'm dead back home and..." she pressed the handkerchief against her eyes again. "I'm not going to stop missing her any time soon."

"I don't think anyone could expect you to. Is she your elder, or your younger sister? If you feel willing to continue speaking of her."

"She's older by a month and change." Amy swallowed. The books on her lap felt weird. The covers were probably thick leather or something, she'd handled some really old books once, they kind of felt like that, but... not, since these weren't old, probably. The paper inside looked different too.

"Just a month? Are months longer than thirty days where you're from?"

"No?" Amy blinked, confused by the question, not following at all.

"Do you have -" Josephine furrowed her brow and her nose crinkled a little, and then, "...is one of you adopted?"

Amy stared at her, trying to understand how Josephine made that - accurate - leap. Oh. Wait. One month isn't enough to like... conceive a new kid and give birth and -

"I'm adopted," Amy answered.

Josephine said nothing for a moment - just a moment - then nodded. "Very well."

"I don't know anything about my birth parents," Amy lied flatly, "And I am a Dallon," she lied again.

Different lies, but still. Both lies.

"Your family is your family." Josephine agreed simply. "I don't mean to touch on any sensitive matters. Merely making conversation." She stood up from her chair and checked the kettle, then carefully took the longer handle off the hook, and set it on the floor a distance away from the fire, probably to let the coffee cool a little to be drinkable now?

"I'm not - I can't really make conversation right now. I just... This world is fucking insane." Amy knew it was a bad idea to just say it like that, but she didn't care. Couldn't care. "I used to read books about shit like this, about worlds of magic and elves and dwarves and... I liked them, but I don't - I don't want to live it!"

"I cannot really imagine what it's like for you to experience all this. This is... nothing like the experience I thought I would have when I agreed to Leliana's request to come and assist the Divine during and after the Conclave, but I am at least in places I have heard of. However..." she grimaced, "lacking in the usual amenities they are." Gesturing to the room around her.

Josephine set out some very nice looking porcelain cups on dishes - they looked like teacups, mostly, if a little wider and shallower.

"One does make do as they can, of course." Josephine said brightly. "I will be happy to do what I can to help you, under the circumstances." She picked up the kettle and poured some into the two cups. It was a very dark brew, but it smelled like coffee. A little different than what she was used to, but that barely mattered.

"Thank you," Amy said quickly, and tried not to snatch the cup up off the dish, instead lifting it to her face and inhaling the smell of it. Her sister didn't understand how Amy could drink black coffee, and it had definitely been an acquired taste, but really, taste wasn't the point for her. But the smell of a good, fresh coffee...

It was a moment Amy really did enjoy, when she was actually able to do that, rather than just downing a cup of whatever cheap crap she could get to keep going at the hospital.

"I love you," she murmured, and she heard Josephine giggle.

"I believe you're talking to the coffee, rather than me?"

Amy didn't say anything, she just took a sip of the coffee.

It was... coffee. It was different from any coffee she'd tasted before - it was a dark roast, bitter (she liked bitter, and didn't use cream or sugar), and it didn't taste quite as strong as the coffee she was used to, and it was a lot oilier than anything she'd had before.

But it was coffee.

Amy let out a long exhaling breath.

"Okay, so - I - what do I have to do to get you to share more of your personal coffee stash? I don't do healing on request but like - if you or anyone or - I'll heal anyone you want. Is anyone in your family sick?"

Josephine laughed, "I will bear that in mind, but as far as I am aware, my parents and my siblings are all quite healthy. I will certainly be willing to share, though if you would be willing to indulge my curiosity about your world in the future, I'd appreciate-"

"Done. Next time, Coffee for answers about Earth-Bet, as best as I can give them." Amy agreed. "But I'm serious about owing you a healing or -" Amy cut herself off before offering to do other modifications - she would, if Josephine asked, if coffee was the price, but like...

She still wasn't sure if admitting just the full range of what she could do was like... a great idea. Even for coffee.

She sipped at the coffee again, sighing again after she swallowed.

"I'll bear that in mind, I promise." Josephine agreed. Thankfully, she stayed silent and sipped at her own coffee while Amy drank hers, savoring it more than she was used to. Hopefully Josephine would let her have more tomorrow, but since the older woman had emphasized she'd really only originally brought enough for just herself...

I am going to have to demand coffee if they want me to keep closing rifts, I swear to god. Amy resolved that that was going to have to be a thing. Sure, she wouldn't actually stop, but like... the hospitals only made her pay for her coffee sometimes - usually after the 3rd or 4th cup - so if she insisted they probably would go for it, right?

Amy wasn't sure how long it took for her to finish - maybe ten minutes? - but it was longer than she usually took to drink coffee. It did feel like there was just less strength to this coffee - maybe it was the bean, or the way she brewed it, or the amount of grounds for the water... Amy didn't know.

She set the cup down on the dish, Josephine still with more than half of her coffee to go as she was reading a letter.

"Thanks for the coffee, and... for all the information you gave." Amy said after a moment, standing. "I have a lot to think about."

"I'll be happy to provide answers to any questions you have. Though I am far less versed in matters of magic and the Fade than others." Josephine said, inclining her head slightly.

Amy nodded back and then left the room, greeted by Cassandra, who had been leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

"Done working out how to close the Breach?"

"Hardly, but there is little that can be done today to resolve the matter," Cassandra said in a frustrated, grumbling tone. "Where are you going next?"

"The place I woke up. I... I guess that's my place now, while I'm here?"

"It has been set aside for you. If there's anything you need, let someone know, we'll try to arrange what we can."

"I need coffee." Amy said bluntly. "I know Josephine said she only brought enough for herself, but... seriously. If you want me closing rifts, I need coffee."

Cassandra stared at her, then shook her head, "I will never understand why Antivans enjoy that drink so much."

"Everyone's allowed to be wrong," Amy muttered.

"I'm sure it can be arranged for more coffee to be brought in, along with other supplies as needed," Cassandra said, walking towards the exit, gesturing for Amy to follow alongside. After a moment, Amy complied, the taller woman shortening her stride to keep pace with Amy. "If you are going to close rifts, you will need armor. And training on how to fight, or at least how to not get hit."

"I'm not a fighter." Amy said quickly. "I don't want to fight."

"That is a luxury you may not have anymore, Amy," Cassandra cautioned. "I am not asking you to take the lead in battle, that would be foolish given your lack of experience and your importance. But you did get injured on the way to the Temple, and a fight can be chaotic. Even if Katerina stays with you during every battle, there is every chance a demon or other enemy might get past her."

"...are you assigning Katerina as my personal bodyguard or something?" Admittedly, the redhead was... nice to look at, and she at least didn't annoy the crap out of Amy much, but still.

"For the moment, yes, unless you have some objection. She is quite skilled, and close to you in age, making her convenient as a guide for you as well. But no one is so skilled they can be guaranteed victory in every fight. So you need armor."

"I've never worn armor before, and I - I barely remember the self-defense training my uncle gave me years ago."

"That much is quite obvious." Cassandra said, and Amy flushed.

"I'm a healer! People knew not to mess with the healer, back home."

"Unfortunately, you are here, and leaving aside demons, it is likely that you will attract enemies. You are a threat to whoever may have been behind the Breach, and anyone else you might decide you could upset their own power."

"Fuck them. I don't care about anyone's power. I just want to figure out how to close the Breach and find a way home."

"Understandable, and admirable. I despise politics, but it is unavoidable. I have arranged for our master armorer, Harrit, to fit you for armor tomorrow. Would you prefer leather, or chainmail?"

Neither. Is neither a choice? Amy didn't ask, because obviously it wasn't. And...

She didn't want to have demons cutting her again. Avoiding fighting when she had to be close to it... Amy licked her lips then bit the inside of her cheek, inhaling.

No. No. Don't think about it too much... Of course, thinking that just made her do it more...

"Leather? Chainmail? I don't - whichever fits better under the robes, maybe? Whichever is warmer?" Amy added. "It's fucking cold up here."

"Leather armor will probably be easier on you, in terms of managing the weight." Cassandra said with a nod, some finality to her tone. "And you will need to build your endurance."

Amy blinked, "What?"

"You managed to push yourself to your limits getting to the temple, but you are not used to such exertions. I've never heard of the phrase 'leg day', but I can surmise the meaning from the context of what you said about skipping it."

Oh fuck you. Fuck YOU. Amy could see where this was going, and she did not like it.

"I'm not agreeing to join twenty-four hour fitness! Fuck, I'm already so far out of my element and in over my head I can't even see daylight and now you want me to do... what, ten mile jogs every day?"

"I assumed we'd start somewhere well below that, and go from there, but if you'd prefer to begin with ten mile jogs, we can." Cassandra replied calmly.

"Was that a fucking joke?" Amy demanded, then shook her head, groaning. "I hate this. I hate all of this so much." She muttered under her breath, even though she knew the answer: "What would Vicky do?"

Fly, because she doesn't need to run. Not that her sister wouldn't do the jogging if she needed to build up the endurance anyway. Victoria was lucky that her metabolism was naturally good, and she did train and practice with fighting and stuff too, so she could stay in shape - really fucking amazing, perfect shape - that way. Amy had given up on exercise ages ago, beyond walking the corridors at the hospital, which was just not the same as jogging through mountains in a life and death situation.

They reached the doors, and Katerina was waiting out front as they opened them, though the woman was walking to Varric.

"...you're telling me the stories about Orsino were wrong?" She sounded like she didn't believe what she was saying, or whatever she'd heard.

"I'm telling you the rumors that he did some sort of blood magic ritual and became a giant flesh monster are wrong. I was there, and the First Enchanter did nothing of the sort. Which is good, because there was really only room for one sane Blood Mage in that battle, and Daisy had that spot taken."

"You never mentioned in your book that Merrill was a Blood Mage." Katerina said.

"Because it would give people the wrong idea about her." Varric replied cooly.

"Give people the idea that the Champion's lover was a maleficar?" Cassandra asked. Katerina let out a small surprised sound, and turned.

"Seeker, when you use words like 'maleficar' you completely misrepresent the kind of person Daisy was. I've met a lot of blood mages, killed most of them, but Merrill wasn't like any of them. If you thought she was a threat, you'd have gone after her while you were in Kirkwall. It's not like she's hiding, she's been out in the open in the alienage there for years."

"Compared to everything else we were dealing with, and are dealing with, yes, she is not much of a threat."

"And you don't want Hawke coming after you if you laid a finger on her." Varric chuckled, and turned back to Katerina. "This one noble bastard in Hightown once thought Merril was just Hawke's maidservant, tried to shove her out of his way - Hawke broke two of his fingers and gave him a black eye before he could even blink." He shook his head, and Amy just let all this extra stuff wash over her.

About the only thing that sort of registered for her is that this Hawke was the same Hawke that Leliana had mentioned earlier, protecting the mages from Meredith?

...and no one seems to be bothered that a woman was dating another woman? Merril was a woman, and this Hawke was, and Cassandra just mentioned they were lovers, but with no sign of any... disgust or distaste? She searched Cassandra's and Katerina's expressions, but neither seemed bothered.

Really nice to know being gay isn't against the religion here... Not that it was ever going to matter, but... not getting burned at the stake for being attracted to women was a good thing.

"My apologies, Lady Pentaghast, I was merely discussing the Tale of the Champion with Varric while we waited."

"So I gathered. Varric is quite the skilled spinner of tales, and, remarkably, he's capable of being honest, when he wants to be."

"Well, telling the truth is usually more boring, but you did make a convincing case as to why I should refrain from the usual half-truths and wild exaggerations." Varric shrugged. He looked over at Amy. "And our savior has awoken. How are you holding up?"

"I'm not," Amy muttered. She looked at Cassandra, "I need something to eat. And time to think."

"You'll have both. Katerina, take Amy to the tavern, get her something to eat." She took in a breath. "Leliana has promised that Flissa is trustworthy, but take care with her food, regardless."

"You think Flissa would poison her? Lady Pentaghast, I-"

"I will take no chances."

Fucking hell, now I have to worry about that?

"I'm pretty sure I'm immune to poison. Same way I'm immune to getting sick. Side effect of my power." Not that she'd ever tested poison, because duh.

"Handy. That's the sort of thing that could take you pretty far in the Merchant's Guild... wouldn't do anything about anyone sneaking some knives into your back though," Varric mused.

"That's what I'm for," Katerina grinned. "I'll take you there, and then back to your place," She told Amy.

"I think I'll join you. The tavern's beer isn't that bad, and I could use some lunch."

"Varric..."

"What? Seeker, I'm hardly going to corrupt the Herald-"

"Don't call me that," Amy interrupted. "And right now, I just want food, and then I need to collapse and have time to think. So no questions, and no more information about all the insane shit going on in this insane world. Everyone here's fucking crazy."

"Remind me to never bring you to Kirkwall if you think everyone here is crazy." Varric chuckled. He looked over at the books she was carrying. "Brother Genitivi, eh? Not a bad place to start. Best selling book in Thedas, before my Hard in Hightown serial started to outsell it."

Cassandra made a sort of 'ugh' sound, then turned back to Amy. "We will be fitting you for armor tomorrow, and beginning your training." She said it like there were no options, and Amy grimaced, exhaling slowly. Cassandra turned away and walked back into the Chantry.

"Training?"

"Apparently if I'm going to be traipsing around closing rifts, I need to get better at walking long distances." Amy grumbled.

"She's probably not wrong." Katerina offered, then looked Amy over, smirking faintly for a moment. "And armor's just a good idea if you're going to be getting anywhere close to demons."

"Speaking with way, way too much experience she's right, kid," Varric said. He looked at the closed doors of the Chantry, and leaned in closer, voice quieter. "Really, now that Cassandra's out of ear shot, how are you holding up?"

"I'm fucking not." Amy repeated. "Coffee helped, but this is all too much."

"Well, then let's get you something to eat. My treat." Varric offered.

"Varric, you hardly need to-" Katerina said, but Varric interrupted and shook his head.

"I am a pointlessly wealthy dwarf in charge of a major mechant family and my books make me a fortune besides that. What else am I going to spend my money on but buy food for people I plan to pester with questions, even if not today?"

Great. Amy could just tell Varric was going to be annoying as hell to deal with.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: I am moving pretty slowly, I'll admit. I do appreciate that may bug some people, and as I said before, feel free to wait and come back in a bit. Once we get moving, most of the time we will move at a faster clip, and we'll have times when I gloss over several days at a time, or summarize offscreen events, or otherwise move stuff forward. But I plan to have three distinct fics total, just covering the events of Inquisition and a bit. So that should give you an idea of the sort of pacing I have in mind here.

Amy's got a lot of problems, and a lot to unpack, and there's a lot about Thedas I want to expose her to (and a lot about her I want to expose Thedas to), so we're going to go at the pace we're going to go. There's also gonna be a lot of inconsistent chapter length, as you've already seen.

I hope you guys continue to enjoy it, but I am serious - if you think it's too slow, but do like the story, wait a while and come back and binge it. Things do move, it just may take a while. Positive feedback, likes, kudos, active discussion and the like do spur more inspiration, though I'll keep going regardless, because this story is near and dear to my heart.

Courtesy of reader KiptheOtt, this fic now has a TVTropes page. Thank you very much Kip!

Thanks to everyone who's read and enjoyed so far, and now, on with the fic!

---

The tavern didn't quite match what Amy expected - some dingy, dimly lit place with a bunch of armed men drinking and yelling and singing off-key. Maybe it was just too early in the day for that. There was a roaring fire at one end, far from the door, and a couple long, rectangular tables. There were a few people sitting at one table, the other empty, while a soldier was talking to what Amy assumed was the barkeep or whatever of the inn, something about sacks of flour.

"Flissa - three beers and something to eat. My tab." Varric said.

"I don't want beer." Amy said quickly. She'd seen what alcohol could do to the body way too much to ever be inclined to drink it, and the last thing she needed was to have her judgement compromised. Especially here, especially now.

"Well, the wine available in town is basically just -" Varric cautioned, but Amy shook her head.

"I don't want wine. I don't want any alcohol. I just want water. Just a - just clean, drinkable water." They could fucking do that, right? Did they have a well, or something? Amy could probably get away with drinking really shitty water if she had to, but it wasn't like she wanted to taste that.

Varric looked at her weirdly, and then nodded to the barkeep - Flissa. "If she wants water, get her water."

Flissa made an affirmative comment, and then after a minute, arrived with three wooden cups, two with beer, and one with water that looked clean.

Amy sipped at the water. Tasted clean, probably not as clean as something modern plumbing could do, but... good enough, she supposed.

"So, you said no questions, but it's pretty hard not to ask them." Varric admitted. Amy tried to muster enough energy to glare at him, but all she managed to do was make an annoyed sort of grunt and maybe look frustrated. Varric held up a hand. "I said I wouldn't, and I won't. Still, asking me not to talk is a punishment worse than death."

"I could always pester you more about Hawke," Katerina suggested. "The true stories, not what you put in your book."

"Everything I put in the book is mostly true," Varric said. "I just made it more interesting, and left out a few details,"

"But you mentioned Anders was an abomination." Katerina countered. "Why not leave that out?"

"By the time I wrote it all down as the one book, Blondie was dead, and the damage was done. Besides, enough people had heard what he was." Varric answered. "And frankly, I didn't care about people getting the wrong idea about him." He sighed. "I'm the one who introduced Hawke and Anders, or close enough anyway."

"Cassandra mentioned something like that. The book is vague on exactly how they met, apart from his clinic in Darktown," Katerina agreed.

Amy tried not to pay too close attention to this, but it was hard - tired or not, exhausted or not, she couldn't shut her brain off completely. She recognized Anders - the one who destroyed the Chantry in Kirkwall and started the war she'd landed in the middle of. He had a clinic?

Amy tried not to let herself linger on that thought - a healer who went fucking terrorist and killed a lot of people and - no one missed him now, judging from what Varric was saying, and the way he was saying it. Very 'good riddance'.

If Vicky, if Carol had found out what she was really like, would they have even bothered to say that much about her?

"A book has to keep the audience interested, and there's a lot of boring stuff Hawke did." Varric answered, sipping at his beer. Katerina raised an eyebrow and made a skeptical 'mhm' sound. "Sure, there was never a boring week in Kirkwall for us, but Hawke absolutely spent a lot of time running around and doing very little, or just returning people's lost property."

"She found your father's signet ring in the belly of a dragon and fought a whole pack of werewolves over it, according to the stories they say you tell in Kirkwall." Katerina said, struggling to keep a straight face.

"She found it at a pawn shop, actually," Varric admitted, chuckling himself.. "But I didn't put that in the book for a reason. By the time I was writing it all down, Hawke and Merril were in the wind, and it looked like war was starting. I don't know, I felt like maybe something closer to the truth, telling people how it all really went, might have helped."

"It didn't." Katerina commented blandly.

"I have no idea what either of you are talking about, and it's confusing the hell out of me." Amy muttered. She felt a twinge in her stomach, "And where's the food."

"Probably just finished heating up." Varric said. "Yep, here it's coming,"

A bowl of stew was put in front of her, as well as a thick slice of dark bread. Whole wheat, or rye maybe? The stew smelled like garlic and onions and vinegar, but not in a way that was like, terrible. There was a wooden spoon in the bowl, and Amy picked it up, lifting a bit of the stew out.

Stringy bits of what might have been cabbage, and bite-sized chunks of meat - not a lot of them, but it was definitely meat.

The stories she'd read did have stew being a pretty common food in taverns, and this at least looked and smelled edible... Amy supposed she didn't really have any room to bitch, either way.

Katerina didn't even hesitate, digging into her stew eagerly.

"So, I'm guessing part of the reason you're so exhausted is because the Seeker and the others decided to try and stuff a thousand years of history into your head all at once?" Varric asked. "You don't need to answer, I know the look. Plus the Genitivi Book... you're not from Thedas, so there's a lot you don't know, or understand."

"Try all of it. Whole fucking world is nuts," Amy muttered, then took a spoonful of the stew. Definitely cabbage - maybe sauerkraut, actually, because it tasted like it had been pickled, maybe. Onion and garlic flavor. And the meat was... it tasted like it might have been tough once, and it was sort of...

She couldn't name the flavor, but it was strong. Not beef or chicken or pork, definitely. Or fish.

"What meat is this?" She almost wasn't sure she wanted to know, but if it was something like... fucking horse or cat or -

"Mutton." Katerina answered.

"Sheep?" Amy remembered something about mutton stew in one of the Roaraxia books, vaguely. She took another spoonful.

She didn't hate it.

"So what, you're going to go back to your cabin and read Brother Genitivi until it all makes sense?" Varric asked.

"I was thinking more about collapsing on the bed and hope I wake up back home." Amy muttered.

"Pretty sure this isn't a dream, but I do have to compliment you on your taste if you dreamed me up." Varric grinned.

Amy looked over at Varric, "...I'm not sure I could dream any of this up." None of her dreams were ever like this, so vivid and... fucking random. "You're definitely not what I'd expect to see in one." Katerina on the other hand...

Despite everything, Amy was 17. She didn't exactly have a healthy sex drive, but a pretty girl was a pretty girl, even if everyone paled in comparison to Vicky.

"Probably not a dream," Amy admitted. "But I still can't believe any of this is happening."

"Well, if this has all been the Maker winding us up, I hope there's a damn good punchline. Between the Conclave blowing up, the sky splitting open, the Divine being dead and demons showing up everywhere, saying morale's been shit would be an understatement." He sipped at his beer. "You waking up has been the first thing to convince people to start hoping."

"Then why did you stick around?" Katerina asked. "Even after the fight at the temple?"

"I like to think I'm as selfish and irresponsible as the next guy, but this...thousands of people died on that mountain. I was almost one of them," he shook his head, "And now there's a hole in the sky. Even I can't walk away from this and hope it all works out."

Amy could... almost respect that. Varric definitely gave the air of a roguish sort of person, she'd seen the types in the books she used to read. Usually they turned out to have hearts of gold and all that.

But this is real life. Rogues with a heart of gold aren't a fucking thing. Selfish bastards are just that. Selfish. In real life, Han Solo runs off with the money and doesn't come back to save the day.

So Varric was probably going to run off sooner or later.

"What about you, kid?" Varric asked. "Mark on your hand or not, this isn't your home. Why so eager to stick around and be part of this?" He sighed. "I probably shouldn't be saying this, especially not in front of Katerina here, but you might want to consider running at the first opportunity and figuring out how to get home. I've written enough tragedies to recognize how one starts." He said that second part in a... not reassuring voice, because nothing about what he said could be reassuring, but... supportive? Concerned?

"Even if I had a choice, I couldn't." Amy muttered. "I can't just do nothing when doing nothing will mean people die." Which reminded her... Amy should heal. There had to be injured from the fighting...

But it had been three days? Would anyone who couldn't have been helped with healing potions or healing magic even still be alive? She'd have to ask.

"A hero then. I can respect that. There's a lot of heroes in the world. I've met a few. But this? That hole in the sky?" Varric shook his head, gesturing upwards with one hand. "That's going to take a miracle."

Good thing Panacea, Miracle Healer is on the case! She tried to push the unbidden thought down. Amy hated her cape name, hated the people who called her a miracle healer, always acting like her power was some gift, that - that this was something she'd wanted, asked for, enjoyed, or... fucking something.

There was nothing miraculous about how much it sucked to heal people, day in, day out, everything blurring together. Or when she had to have her arms deep in blood and viscera and internal organs just to keep people alive after a major cape battle with civilian casualties, or - or after a multi-car accident or -

I can't help anyone in the Bay right now. But I can help people here.

"Are there any sick or injured people left from the fighting?" Amy asked, not caring if the other two thought it was some weird topic change. "I should -" she started to stand up, but Katerina put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down into her chair.

Varric gave her an odd look, but didn't say anything.

"You should go back to your bed, lie down, and think. And rest." Katerina said. "No one is dying." She gestured to the bowl of stew and the bread. "Finish your food."

"Fuck, are you my bodyguard or my keeper?" Amy muttered.

"Both, apparently." Katerina observed.

"If I can heal people who are hurting, I can't just do nothing," Amy countered, grumbling, but she took another spoonful of her soup, and then took a bite off the bread. Definitely rye. Ugh.

Beggars can't be choosers, and... Amy had no right to bitch. Medieval hellhole. Sure, one in this village looked like they were starving, but there were probably people starving all over this world.

"There aren't any serious injuries. We have enough mages and alchemists for what is left, at this point." Katerina assured her. "Save your healing for next time there's a fight with demons."

Amy bit her lower lip. She'd - she'd find the... okay, not hospital or clinic... infirmary, maybe? Would that be what they'd call it?

I'll find the infirmary tomorrow. Or tonight. Or something.

"Fine."

"Good." Katerina nodded. "Then let's talk about something else: What exactly do you do, when you're not healing, or closing rifts into the Fade?"

"I said no questions," Amy muttered. She'd answered way too many of those already since coming into this damn tavern.

"Asking about what you do in your leisure time is hardly the same thing as pestering you about where you come from," Varric pointed out. "I drink, I tell stories, I play Wicked Grace. The Seeker puts in too much time beating up training dummies or sparring with people, and Katerina here... well, I'm guessing you read, if you liked Tale of the Champion so much."

"I could just be interested in Hawke," Katerina countered, but then she shook her head. "No, I read. When I can, and what I can get. There's a lot of books you never find in a tiny farming village, and books they'll never let a trainee templar get their hands on." She looked back over at Amy. "So, what about you?"

"You're a Templar?" Amy looked at Katerina. Everything they'd told her about Templars during that 'summary' she'd just gotten hadn't really made her like the sound of them. Everything her family didn't like about the PRT and Protectorate - no accountability, no oversight, nothing to stop them from hiding and covering stuff up. They served a purpose but... fuck, they were keeping people prisoners just because of how they were born. Something they couldn't control.

If they tried that on Earth-Bet, just lock up all the parahumans, just because... Villains, yeah. You had to lock them up. Criminals in general. They were evil, they hurt people, ruined lives... they had to be taken out of circulation, to protect people.

But not every parahuman was a criminal, and everyone in her little lesson had agreed there were good mages, so you don't just lock them all up.

If Katerina had been part of that... But then, if she was, why was she here, instead of... fighting the mages?

I mean, Cullen was a templar and he didn't rebel so maybe she didn't-

"I was a recruit, a trainee. I was only two years into the process - I hadn't even taken my vows yet," Katerina explained. "When they rebelled, I refused to do it. A... friend of a friend was able to reach out to Lady Pentaghast, and I joined her retinue, along with anyone else who still wanted to stay loyal to the Divine." She looked somber for a moment.

"Trust me, from everything I know about Templars, you're better off not being with them," Varric assured her.

"I know." She shook her head, "I know a lot of people assume that if either side was behind the explosion, it was the mages, but some of the things my superiors -my comrades, even - were saying about the Divine before the dissolution of the Nevarran Accord..." She let out a breath. "I'd put my money on the Templars being behind it."

"I'm almost considering taking you up on that." Varric said, "But I'm not sure a betting book about who blew up the holiest place in Thedas and killed thousands of people is the best idea. Even for me."

"Lady Pentaghast would likely try to string you up by your ears if you did it, true," Katerina agreed with a small, dark chuckle.

Amy still wasn't sure what to think - she'd joined the Templars. But... they did do good work, it sounded like. Blood magic was obviously pretty bad, between the name and the whole 'human sacrifice' thing. People possessed by demons were bad, so they needed to be stopped. But she'd also drawn a line. A good line.

Just one more thing to try and make sense of. Fuck.

Amy sipped her water, and took another spoonful of the stew. It was... growing on her. And she'd been hungrier than she'd realized. That stupid energy bar had been the last thing she'd actually eaten, before this. Probably got fed broth or honey or something while she was sleeping, but that was only so much.

She couldn't even remember the last thing she'd eaten before that bar? Breakfast that morning? Maybe? She might have skipped it. And even if she didn't, she didn't remember what it was.

"Okay." Amy took a slow breath, and then more of the bread. "Good to know." She blinked, "Are you addicted to-" If she was, Amy would have to worry about her 'bodyguard' getting some sort of craving, and - she still didn't know how she felt about Templars all being addicts. It wasn't the same as someone choosing to ruin their life with cocaine, but...

"You don't start taking Lyrium until you're further along in your training than I was," Katerina interrupted. Amy nodded, and Katerina went on. "Seriously, though, Amy, what do you do? Pastimes? Everyone has something, and with... that," she gestured to Amy's left hand "you'll need something to keep you sane."

Pastimes? What are those? Amy held back that thought. What did she do, when she wasn't healing? Dodge (well, try and fail to) her sister's attempts to set her up on double dates. Lie in bed awake and remind herself all the people she could be healing if she just went to the hospital. Watching TV mindlessly next to Mark late at night when neither of them could sleep. Going to school to take pointless classes as if she was going to go to college or live to see thirty anyway.

Those were what she did when she wasn't healing, wasn't it? That and... well, be gross about her own fucking sister because Amy just had to fucking -

She still had books. Vicky still bought her books for her birthday. Even Carol gave her gift certificates for bookstores for her birthday. And she - she sometimes tried to read one. Even sometimes made progress. But... she just usually couldn't bring herself to. It wasn't even just an issue of time spent healing. She just... sometimes reading felt like it took too much effort. And more importantly, the process of reminding herself about all the people who could be dying while she was reading weighed her down.

So... she just didn't really read. Not much. Not enough. Before she'd triggered, her pile of unread books got bigger because she just wanted more books - what reader didn't? - but after...

It grew because she barely read. Maybe a book every few months, if she was lucky. She still hadn't been able to bring herself to touch any of her Roaraxia books in... so long. Carol had ruined those for her.

"I used to read," Amy said, finally, before scraping up the last of her stew with her spoon and eating it.

"Used to? What did you forget?" Varric asked, chuckling. "Make some kind of cursed bargain to be able to heal like you do, and -"

"No." Amy cut him off. "I just don't have time. Between - healing and school and... stuff." Amy finished off her bread as well. She looked over at Katerina, who was almost done with her food. "I'm ready to head back to my... place." It wasn't a 'room', but it wasn't a 'house'. Cabin, maybe?

"Right. One second." Katerina downed the rest of her stew and drained the last of her beer, before grabbing her half-eaten piece of bread and standing up. "Thanks for the food, Varric." She nodded to the dwarf. "And the chance to talk about Hawke, some more."

"If there's one thing I enjoy doing, it's talking." Varric said agreeably, and Katerina led Amy out of the tavern and the short distance back to her cabin.

Let's call it that, I guess.

They got looks and murmurs, but a few 'stay back' gestures from Katerina - for the moment - seemed to keep people away from her, for now. Amy doubted that would last forever, if they really thought she was chosen by their god. It was bad enough when people just wanted healing from a cape.

Wanting healing from a fucking religious icon...

That would be so much worse.

"Are you going to just... stand out front of the door, or something?" Amy asked, as Katerina took position next to the door after opening it for Amy and looking inside the place for a moment.

"Until someone comes to relieve me." Katerina nodded.

"Fucking hell this is insane," Amy muttered. Bodyguard. She had a bodyguard. Multiple ones, if someone else was going to come take her place eventually. People might want to kill her.

It had been a possibility ever since Aunt Jess died, but - but this was so much worse and different...

More direct.

Whoever was behind the explosion might want to kill her, if someone was alive. Anyone who thought she was a 'threat' because she was a fucking 'prophet'.

"I..." she looked at Katerina, then, "I- thanks." she muttered that last part out, and then went inside, closing the door behind her and walking to the bed. She pulled off her robes, put the books - the one by Genitivi and the Chant of Light and flopped onto the bed, face first, lying on her stomach, unmoving for a long moment.

It was... not soft, compared to her bed. But it was softer than not lying in bed.

Why life hard and cold? Because bed warm and soft. Or something like that.

"What the fuck am I going to do?" Amy muttered to herself. What - what the fuck could she do? She had to help close the Breach, that was a given. But the rest of it. Being lost in this... medieval shithole of a world. Being... a religious symbol. A chosen one. Having to deal with demons trying to kill her and fuck if she knew who or what else.

Dragons are a fucking thing here! Amy wanted to touch one, wanted to see how the fuck that worked. How did a dragon breath fire? Some sort of chemical reaction? Just... magic bullshit?

Elves and dwarves and demons and magic. Religious politics and actual politics and SLAVERY was a thing here, even if nowhere near her and - and -

A giant fucking hole in the fabric of reality and now there's a bunch of smaller ones.

How the fuck was anyone supposed to deal with this shit? She wanted to come back here to think, to process, but she didn't even know where to begin.

Her sister. Her sister would... okay, Vicky wouldn't just 'know' what to do, but she'd be able to figure it out. She'd know how to try and figure it out. Where to start. And once she knew, she'd know. Vicky knew what was right and did it.

Maybe did it too much, what with the six criminals Amy had had to save for her, but...

Amy felt tears in her eyes again, and she didn't bother to try and wipe or blink them away, rolling over onto her side and not so much sobbing as just... crying. It was less intense then her earlier breakdown, but -

What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to deal with any of this? She could feel it, a dense knot in her stomach, weighing her down. The sheer monumentality of this. Somehow, she was - as far as she knew - the only one who could close the Breach. That meant, possibly an entire fucking planet rested on her shoulders and -

How? She didn't have the slightest idea! And - here she was just... lying in bed rather than... doing something about it.

But there's nothing I can do! No one knew how to do it, and it wasn't... Amy didn't have the slightest idea how it could be done. And -

And even once a solution existed and she had to do it and then - and then what? Cassandra offered to help her find a way home, but she still wasn't even sure if they really believed her about alternate Earths and if there were no Tinkers... unless magic could do something about it and -

Amy... she didn't ask for any of this. Who could? Who would? Some idiot who thought their life was boring but Amy... Amy missed boring. She craved boring. She dreamed of boring, those few times she actually got to have nice dreams.

She just... she just wanted to be home. She wanted her sister and her own bed and the books she was never going to read and she wanted to sit next to Mark on the couch late at night when neither of them could sleep and just mindlessly watch whatever channel had something vaguely not terrible showing and she wanted -

She just..

Amy screwed her eyes shut, trying to stem the flow of tears. Crying wasn't helping her make sense of things, but - she still

I still don't know where to start.

Amy wiped at her eyes with her shirt, sniffling, trying and failing to force a deep breath.

She had... a lot of information. Too much. And - and none of it made sense and it was all... it was so much fucking bullshit and she had to make sense of it. She was stuck in the middle of this stupid war between mages and Templars and the Fade and demons and...

Amy inhaled again.

Then...

What Would Vicky Do?

Amy had a feeling she was going to be asking herself that a lot and... it was relevant here. Because her sister was a fucking nerd. Sure, mostly about parahuman studies and other cape bullshit, but she actually bothered to take her classes seriously. Victoria Dallon was at least a contender for Valedictorian of their class, from what Amy heard, and from the work she'd seen her sister put into studying for everything...

Her sister had a system for studying and for prepping for examines and Amy... did not. Because she didn't care, didn't aim for college like her sister. She only cared about her grades enough to mostly keep Carol off her back...

Vicky had, more than once, tried to help Amy with her grades, get her to study with her or at least... study her way of doing it. Because it was good and effective and...

Amy could only remember parts of it, but writing everything they'd all just talked about now, while it was fresh in her mind. And then... organizing everything by topic and... something about identifying areas she needed more information on. More details. Questions she had. Things that didn't add up.

She was just proving her sister right about everything here, wasn't she? Amy's reluctance to exercise was coming back to bite her and she'd have permanent leg day starting tomorrow, probably, and not wanting to learn how to fight was a problem - not one Amy was going to fix, because she didn't want to fight, and she'd - she'd just be useless anyway - and then -

And now her sister's insistence she should take studying more seriously was proven right because then Amy might actually remember exactly what she should do.

But she could still do what she remembered.

Wiping at her eyes again, Amy stood up and looked over at the table. There wasn't a quill or an inkwell that she could see and... Amy really wasn't looking forward to trying to use a quill, but it was probably what they had so - quill it was. Write it down while she could remember. No paper or... parchment or anything.

Amy walked over to the door and opened it a little, poking her head out. There was a small cluster of people like, twenty feet away, gathered, staring at the door, and a few pointed when she saw her, murmuring -

Fuck.

Katerina was standing guard and Amy...

"I - can I get some... a quill and some ink? Something to write on? And..." Amy swallowed - she could use some more water too. "And some water?"

Katerina, who had been pretty attentively watching the crowd, turned to her. She was about to say something, when someone called out: "Herald!" And started to approach. Katerina raised her hands up, palms out, moving to intercept the young woman approaching.

"She's not taking any visitors right now. The - The Herald has a lot to deal with."

Amy tried to tune the woman out as she seemed to try to press the issue with Katerina - something about wanting a blessing, or - needing a blessing, or... something, maybe? Amy just closed the door again and pressed her back to it, sliding down to sit on the floor.

The idea of facing that later was another knot in her stomach, bigger, heavier, denser... Katerina was keeping people at bay and fuck if she knew if that was it or if there was more, but how long would that be?

And then wait until I start healing people... Sooner or later someone would get sick, right? Or hurt? And they'd ask her to use her power on them and it was hard enough convincing the really devout back on Earth-Bet that her powers weren't a gift from God.

I don't even fucking know how I'll do it here.

After a few minutes, Amy stood back up and walked back to the bed, sitting down on it, wiping at her eyes again, knowing she was probably leaving them red and blotchy and fuck if she knew what else, but -

She sat there, not really even thinking about anything but all the fucking shit that was coming that she was dreading, the 'awe' and the 'oh thank you' and the... 'bless me' apparently that was coming and the rest of it and it was -

There was a knock on the door. "Amy?" It was Katerina's voice, and Amy nearly jumped, startled. "Come in," Amy said after a moment to catch her breath and Katerina walked in, holding a basket in one hand, and a metal pitcher - beaten, worn, old looking metal, but not rusty or anything - in the other.

Katerina closed the door behind her. "Water," she set the pitcher down on the table next to the cup Amy had drunk out of earlier, "Parchment, quill, inkwell and," she reached into the basket and pulled out... a book. "Varric asked me to give you this."

Amy took the book, the cover red with a design on the cover that looked like... all lines arrayed in a sort of... it looked like a very abstract... key with two wings, or something? And then underneath it 'The Tale of the Champion'.

"His book about Hawke?" And everything that happened in Kirkwall.

"It's a very good one, better than his more famous Hard in Hightown serial, though this may overtake it," Katerina explained. "He said it would help you understand 'how everything went to shit'."

Kirkwall was part of the spark that set everything off... Hawke and the mage that blew up the Chantry in the city and this Meredith woman and... the Red Lyrium and...

"Didn't he admit that he exaggerates and tells half-truths?" Amy looked at the book. It was... pretty thick, actually. Like, a serious book, not some thin little thing. Though the pages themselves looked thicker than what she was used to. Probably a different kind of paper. Less refined or something.

"He also said that this book is closer to the truth. He left out a few things, like Merrill being a blood mage," she grimaced, "really hated learning that fun little detail months after I'd read the book," she let out a breath, shaking her head, then, "But - a lot of it is true, even if the fights are more dramatic. And he said it really does convey the essence of it. Besides, Hawke and her friends had a lot of opinions on mages and Templars, and Varric wrote them all down."

Amy looked the book over, then set it down on the bed next to her.

And what about your opinions? You were a Templar in training. Sure, you quit when they broke away from your version of the Pope, but you joined for a reason. On the other hand, Katerina thought the Templars were more likely to be behind the explosion, so... was she pro-mage? Or just-

Amy shoved those thoughts to the back of her head. She still needed to actually work through all those issues and questions and details.

"Besides, it's good. And you did say you used to read a lot." Katerina pointed out. "Brother Genitivi is a good writer, but Tale of the Champion is going to be a lot more fun."

Not here to have fun.

"I'll - I'll think about it." Amy muttered. "...Thanks for the stuff." She stood up off the bed and put the small stack of blank parchment, inkwell with a cork in it and the quill on the table.

"You're welcome." Katerina offered her a small smile, and then left the little cabin, probably to go back to standing guard.

Amy took a few breaths to steady her mind, then sat down and set out to organize her thoughts and what she knew and make sense of what she learned. Of course, that meant trying to use the quill and ink.

Trying.

---

The rest of the day saw her writing down everything she could remember from the conversation, everything she'd overheard.

After she spent way too long failing to get anywhere with the quill, and swearing up a storm and getting her hands covered in so much ink you'd think she'd just spent hours healing a bunch of injured squid or something.

She'd wiped the ink off on her shirt as much as she could, but her hands were still stained by the time the elven woman from the morning returned with dinner - more stew, and more bread. Amy hadn't even realized how late it was, but she took the break and ate, returning to her writing after she was done.

The sprawling, ink-blotch covered 'notes' were a barely comprehensible mess even to her, but the act of writing everything down had at least helped her organize her thoughts. At least a little. Her head still felt crammed full to bursting with information and it still felt jumbled and all over the place, but it was a little less so and that's what mattered.

• Tevinter Imperium - Bad, even if the current one was apparently less bad than it used to be. Still had slavery, so fuck them.
• Chantry - basically just Medieval Catholicism, as far as Amy could tell and recall from half-remembered history classes. She'd read a book that had had a fantasy version of the Catholic church, and the Chantry sort of lined up with them, but it was... different to see it in person. Amy didn't really know much about them yet, but they were led by a Divine (Pope) and there were Grand Clerics, who seemed to be - like PRT regional directors, but for the church? (Those were Archbishops, right? Or Cardinals? Fuck, Amy had no idea)
• Anyway, Chantry was... big deal. And headless. And the Inquisition was... apparently not popular with at least one guy who was kind of important, and Josephine had sounded like she didn't expect the rest of the Chantry to be super onboard. But it sounded like political bullshit, not like 'heretics, burn them'. But those were pretty much the same thing in European history once.
• Mages. Templars. Mages had it... even worse than parahumans, sorta. They were just born with magic. No trigger. Nothing they could do to not have magic. And then either criminals on the run, or rounded up and thrown into... prison, just for maybe. Amy... Amy couldn't get behind that. Imprison the bad ones, even kill them if they were bad enough to deserve the Thedas version of a Kill Order, but... just... suspicion shouldn't be enough. Her sister could do terrible things with her power. Did go too far, but - Vicky didn't deserve prison for the things she'd done, let alone the mere possibility of what she could do. Carol's light weaponry could kill people. Crystal and Eric and Aunt Sarah could do God knew what if they really wanted to. But none of them deserved prison. They were good people. So good people who were mages existed.
• But also... blood magic sounded pretty horrible. (But apparently someone Varric thought harmless used it and she was the girlfriend(?) of this Hawke that Katerina held in esteem and Leliana seemed to as well. And Cassandra had decided this Merrill was harmless too? How did that work?)
• Abominations... Amy didn't like thinking about those. Possession by a demon... it... it sounded insane, and Amy wasn't even sure if she believed it but... demons appeared to be real and magic was real so... Amy shoved the things that made her think of, the things it reminded her of, down. She had to focus.
• So magic could be an issue. Templars as magic police... made sense. And they also apparently were supposed to protect innocent mages too. Vicky had mentioned once how she'd learned that in the bad old days, when parahumans were new... some lynch mobs had gone after parahumans, just to kill them for being 'freaks'. Weak ones, not the kinds that could handle normal people without a problem but... So that sort of thing. But Cullen had said the Templars had forgotten that part of the job.
• Which brought her to the Templars. Addicts. Cops gone rogue. Abusing the mages under their authority. That woman that everyone apparently agreed was crazy, Meredith. Addicts were the architects of their own suffering. Too weak to say no. Too pathetic and selfish to not shoot up or drink or whatever else. But soldiers ordered to use it? That... that felt a little different. But at the same time, the Templars felt like everything Carol and Aunt Sarah had ever said against the PRT. The Protectorate. Too much authority, too little oversight, too little accountability. Cassandra had suggested the Seekers that were supposed to monitor them had lost sight of that.
• And they were pissy they couldn't hunt mages because the Pope - Divine - said maybe murdering a whole city's worth is bad? Cullen had tried to... offer some sort of context, said that they felt 'ill-used' but that wasn't really a fucking defense. Katerina didn't seem to have much sympathy for her former fellow Templars. But Amy still needed to understand more to make sense of the idea that the cops would rebel against the government - basically what it was. It didn't make sense to her. The idea of something like that happening back home felt... insane. Corrupt cops were one thing but just... the whole BBPD turning on the Mayor? Or the PRT turning against the US and Canadian governments? It seemed... impossible.
• All of that was... a lot, but it all came down to the only thing that mattered. The Breach. Someone caused it. She'd heard his voice. She'd been there and couldn't remember it!. Human sacrifice wasn't a good guy thing to begin with, exploding a peace conference was just icing on the evil cake.
• Huge rift and smaller rifts, all into the realm of demons. Demons coming out. Needed to be stopped. Amy was the only one who could. At the end of the day, that was all that mattered. She had to do that. She had to help with that, because...

"I have to help close it because how the fuck could I live with myself if I didn't." She laid awake in bed thinking about people in a hospital just in one city. She hated herself for ever trying to take any time to herself - not that she ever did much with it - and...

It would be so much worse, if it was... a whole world. Even if Vicky stepped through a portal tomorrow and asked her come home with her...

I can't just... I can't just do nothing.

Amy sipped at water again, futility wiped her hands on her shirt some more and blew out the candle and left her incoherent notes on the table. She... she felt... she felt like it was at least organized enough in her head that she could sleep. Hopefully.

She needed her rest because...

Tomorrow is apparently fucking leg day.

---

Amy's sleep that night was... oddly, some of the most restful she'd had in a while. She chalked it up to the sheer mental exhaustion of trying to sort out what the fuck was going on as she ate the breakfast of bread, water and dried apple slices provided to her. The slices were chewy, like jerky, but... tasted okay.

Restful sleep or not, without her morning coffee, Amy still felt like a zombie as she stood there, eating, trying to make sense of the notes she'd written last night. They were a mess, and her brain was too fogged to do much with them, so she pushed them aside, wondering if Josephine was awake, if she could go pester the woman for another cup of coffee...

Maybe I should wait until later today. Probably can only get the one cup a day. Plus she'd have to answer the woman's questions if she wanted more coffee from her, and that sounded exhausting to bother with right now. So she sat on the bed and sipped at the water, slowly chewing some more bread when there was a knock on the door.

"What?" Amy demanded, not remotely ready to deal with whatever bullshit was happening now.

Cassandra stepped into the cabin, wearing her armor and sword - Amy hadn't seen her not in her armor, so obviously the woman slept in it right?

"How are you feeling?"

"Like shit." Amy answered, then she sighed, "Tired. Still confused." She more groaned the words out than really said then in any sort of casual tone.

"I suppose the confusion is understandable. As for feeling tired, or 'like shit'-"

"I just need time, to wake up. Or coffee, but that's less of an option than it would have been back home." Amy pinched the bridge of her nose and pulled her hand down her face.

"I could speak to Josephine and ask her to make you some of that drink if you need it." She sounded disgusted at the prospect, which - well, the woman was entitled to be wrong, Amy supposed.

"No. I - I'll owe her answers to questions and that feels like it would be even more exhausting than jogging, right now," Amy muttered. She inhaled slowly, forcing herself to take a deep breath. "Is that what you're here to take me for?"

"First we'll try to fit you for armor." Cassandra said. "You're not getting anywhere near a rift without armor, and so you'll need to be used to the weight of it while you move."

"Ugh," Amy grumbled. Then, before Cassandra could say anything, Amy went on. "Fine, fine." She rubbed at her forehead, feeling the start of a headache. She could follow the logic of armor, she could follow the logic of exercise, but the idea of either...

Would Vicky wear armor, if she was here? Her sister had her forcefield, but it wasn't invulnerable. Would a demon's claw break it? All it took was one good blow - bullets, yeah, but arrows? Swords? Amy had no idea. Vicky probably didn't either - not exactly something anyone had tested.

Her sister would probably assume she was safe, until she wasn't. She'd been reckless about guns until -

Amy closed one hand into a fist and dug fingernails into the base of her palm, letting the sharp, sudden pain force herself back to where she was, away from the mall, away from the -

Vicky's fine. She's fine. She's still in the Bay and she's - she's fine. And when this is all done, somehow, some way, I'm going to find a way back home and see her again.

"I'm going to see Vicky again," she told herself under her breath.

"If it is possible, I will do what I can to see you reunited with your family, when the Breach is closed," Cassandra assured her again, her tone gentler all of a sudden.

"I believed you the first time." Amy said. "Just... not sure I believe myself." No one but Professor Haywire probably really had the first idea how punching a hole to another Earth worked, and there weren't even Tinkers here. Could magic even -

No. No.

She'd see her sister again. She had to hold onto that.

Cassandra didn't seem to know what to say to that, so she reached out and put a hand on Amy's shoulder for a moment. Amy almost shrugged it off, but then she just let it stay there, before Cassandra stepped back and Amy finished off her water.

"Having a fully fitted set of armor made for you will take time, but picking one that we already have that will be... good enough for the moment will be a simpler prospect." Cassandra explained, "If you are not going to be seeking out the thick of the fighting, we merely need something that will be enough to stop an attack from killing you, rather than something that will let you take hits and keep fighting."

"I don't want to be anywhere near fighting." Amy repeated the sentiment, it felt like for the thousandth time, probably was more like the 4th. "I never wanted powers because I thought I'd have to do the fighting, be part of all that... and then I got healing."

"Which means you do not have to fight. And I will not force you to now." Cassandra said. "I would not force those who do not want to fight, who do not know how, to fight. If there was any choice in the matter, I'd seek to keep you as far from potential fights as possible."

"But there's demons at the rifts," Amy sighed. "Okay. Let's get this over with. The sooner we get this done the sooner we can get the running done."

The armor fitting proved to be... annoying. It reminded her of one of the many reasons she'd insisted on her robes as her costume, despite her sister's insistence and Aunt Sarah's annoyance. Carol had been the only one to not pressure her on it, even told Vicky to stop pressuring her after Vicky tried for the 4th time.

She'd wanted the robes for about a million reasons - the hood, the way it swallowed her up, the way it didn't draw attention to the fact that she was the plain jane mousy little girl compared to her family...

But one advantage was there was zero need for a complex fitting or measuring or anything. The people that New Wave worked with for their form-fitting bodysuit costumes, and so forth, were professional tailors, and that meant extensive fittings. Amy had just a few measurements and then was pretty much free to just take whatever.

The armor fitting was measurements, and trying armor on her, but in the end, she was given a suit of armor made from 'boiled leather' - some sort of hard version of leather - hard enough it almost felt like knocking against wood when she rapped her knuckles against it. A chestpiece that was more two pieces that you tied together to hold around the sides, and some army and leg pieces - the armor guy, a bald man with an impressive moustache named Harrit had called them something else, but that's what they were.

"Seeker Pentaghast says this is the first armor you've ever worn," Harrit said as he manually adjusted the armor on her legs, crouched next to her. "So I'll tell you what I'd tell some fancy idiot Arl's son buying his first suit: Armor doesn't mean you never get hurt. It blunts attacks, if you're lucky, and makes even blows that get through don't penetrate, but," he rapped his knuckles against the armor on Amy's chest, "this won't stop an arrow, if it's got a good tip and the archer knows what's he's doing. But it will mean the arrow probably just goes an inch or two into you."

"Because that's just fine too, to get a little shot," Amy muttered, even though she knew there was a difference. She'd never healed anyone shot with an arrow, but she had healed more bullet and knife wounds than she could have even tried to count, and a bullet that didn't penetrate very far because the person was wearing some kind of armor (or, in one case, got shot through a book that happened to be in the inside pocket of his coat, which slowed the bullet down enough to make it do less damage when it hit his body) did a lot less damage.

Same with a knife wound if it just didn't get as far into the body.

"Could take this armor off, shoot you and see if you'd like to try getting shot wearing the armor instead?" Harrit proposed. "Just don't go being an idiot, chosen by Andraste or not, you're not invincible."

"I'm not fucking chosen by the Maker or Andraste or Jesus or the Flying Spaghetti Monster or anything else!" Amy snapped.

"But you are the only one who can close the Breach, so you still need to take care," Cassandra cut in before Harrit could say anything, shooting him a look. The bald man shrugged and stepped back.

Cassandra directed her to walk around next to the forges - there were a few, as well as anvils - and for to get a feel for the weight of it. She could feel the weight of armor on her body, it wasn't light or anything, but it had felt heavier in her hands than like, on her body. And she didn't feel like it would do much to... make it hard for her to move, or anything.

So after a few more alterations to the fit of the armor, and some instructions on how to take care of the armor that Amy only really grasped half of, they were off, Amy still wearing the stuff, throwing her robes back on, moving out past an area with a bunch of tents, and soldiers sparing with each other, or against wooden dummies, archers shooting at targets off to the side.

Walking in the armor was... okay.

As she found out about minutes later, running in it was not.

Gasping for breath, Amy stopped, bending over, hands on her knees.

"Jesus fucking Christ, I hate this so much," Amy had only been able to actually keep up a run for what couldn't even be a minute. Jogging at a slower pace she could do better, but that still made her legs protest and she wanted to just...

"You managed better than this on the way to the Breach," Cassandra scolded. "You clearly can do better."

Amy bit back her immediate response, seething a little at Cassandra's words, as if this was remotely the same situation.

"What exactly is the point here?" Amy finally said. "Like, apart from making me suffer." She felt a little grateful for the chill mountain cold air - she was starting to sweat under the armor and her robes but at least she wasn't doing this somewhere warm or sunny.

"The point, Amy, is to build your endurance. Reports are still coming in, but there appear to be smaller rifts all over the lands on either side of the Frostback mountains, and likely further afield."

"Then shouldn't we just focus on walking and jogging and stuff? I'm not going to be running everywhere!" Amy could hear the whining in her voice, but... she didn't even care. She was entitled to fucking whine at this point, after everything.

Cassandra inhaled sharply, a long breath through her nose, and then she shook her head, "Variable speeds are useful for effectively training your endurance," she explained. "Let's focus on walking fast for this next stretch,"
They were doing circuits around the village of Haven and the area that the spillover of soldiers and scouts and who knew what else living in tents had taken up. Amy's legs were protesting already, but -

A minute or whatever of silence, save for her own breathing as they moved, and then:

"Besides," Cassandra added as she slowed down to match Amy's best attempt at 'walking fast', "if a demon does break past the rest of us when you're close to a rift, you will want to be able to run for as long as you can."

Amy looked at Cassandra, taking a moment to catch her breath and, "Is that another joke or something?" Like, it was true, but it almost felt like Cassandra was trying to be funny in the way she said it.

"It's simple reality," Cassandra said. "I do not understand how you can be so unused to moving quickly. Did you ride a horse or a wagon everywhere when you needed to move quickly?"

"Last time I had to deal with horses was like four years ago, before my Aunt gave up on any of the kids liking riding as much as she did," Amy said, taking a few breaths between words - she wasn't out of breath, but forcing herself to walk as quickly as she could did mean she was breathing faster and shallower than usual, and talking while she did that was -

Fuck my life. Why am I doing this? I hate this! Amy bit back the whining. She knew this was important, and she - she didn't want to be unable to run from a demon if one tried to come at her again. She knew that if they were going to have to trek all over the fucking world to close rifts...

"Slow down" Casandra said after another minute, and Amy returned to a much more... normal walk. "There is much progress you will need to make," she added.

"Feel free to continue to list my failures and inadequacies." Amy muttered. "I know I'm not in shape. That's why I'm even doing this."

"And the fact that you are is good," Cassandra agreed. "But your stamina for moving quickly over long distances needs much work."

"So I can expect morning runs and walks and jogs and stuff to be a regular thing then?" Amy grimaced. "My sister would be fucking laughing if she could see me now."

"What would she find amusing about these circumstances?"

"She's always been on me to exercise, take fitness more seriously." Amy explained. "Aunt Sarah only cared that we weren't fat, but Vicky suggested I go running, since I didn't want to spar or train for fighting." Amy let out a long breath. "Not that I wouldn't take her saying she was right for the next year if it meant I could see her right now." She muttered. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

I need to stop - I can't keep focusing on how much I miss Vicky. She did. She wasn't going to stop missing her. Not having her sister around was an open wound that was never going to heal until she got home, until she saw Victoria again. But she couldn't - she had to -

She had to try to focus on the problems in front of her. That's what Vicky would do. That's what a hero had to do. She wasn't a hero, she never would be, never could be, but -

She still had to do her best. If she stopped trying, if she -

Well, I just can't stop.

One more deep breath, and then Amy started jogging again, trying to push past the ache in her legs and trying to manage her breathing -

I have to do this. I have to do what I need to do to close the Breach. That or die trying. There really was no other choice.

But at the rate this leg day thing is going, I'm probably going to die trying.

She certainly felt like dying would be the better option when she was finally done. Just a little.

---

Author's Note: Also, really not totally happy with the last parts of the chapter - the fitting and the 'leg day' stuff fought me a bit, and the chapter was proving to be longer than I'd really aimed for (and was at risk of setting back my entire pacing for this fic, taking longer than it should). So I breezed over some bits. I definitely worked on it enough to consider it 'good enough' and hopefully if you've made it this far you've enjoyed the other parts, so I just hope the last part was acceptable enough.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Amy didn't walk back to the cabin, now feeling very sweaty, so much as stumble, stagger and shuffle her way into the cabin. Her legs were sorer than she could remember them being - apart from when she was in the ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes - and she was sweaty and exhausted and just wanted to collapse on the bed, sleep and then take a shower.

Only two of those were possible. The last... Amy had no idea. How did people bathe here? Did they? Did they even know what a bath was?

Barely managing to grunt an acknowledgement at Katerina, who was once more standing at her door - did the older girl have anything else to do? Or was she just always going to be standing guard? - Amy reached the bed and flopped down onto it, not even caring for the moment that she was still wearing her robes, and the leather armor. It wasn't really that heavy, and didn't restrict her movement much. But after a few hours of wearing it and a lot of walking and jogging and a bit of running and then stretching out and more exercise - because Cassandra was not happy with just two miles jogging/walking/running, in the end - Amy definitely felt the weight of it, the extra energy it took running around with it and...

Amy managed to roll over onto her back, wincing at the way the armor dug into her. The inside of the main piece on her torso was padded, but it was still very hard and very stiff leather.

And it's still not guaranteed to keep me unharmed, Fun!

Not that there was anything that could, she supposed. Even Alexandria, the Brute of all Brutes, lost an eye to the Siberian. There was probably no one in the whole damn universe that was invincible, except for maybe Scion. And for all she knew, there was some way to kill the golden guy, just no one figured it out.

What was that old comic book superhero Vicky mentioned once? He was weak to a special kind of rock, or something?

Amy snorted a weak laugh. Scion, the invincible hero that even had a small cult, the all-powerful idiot who spent as much time taking cats out of trees as he did helping people or fighting Endbringers, weak to a specific kind of rock. That would be hilarious.

Next time a villain faces him, what, just throw pebbles at him until one sticks? Amy chuckled, still laying there on the bed. Then she closed her eyes, sinking back thinking about her armor, and the exercise she'd just been subjected to.

And that she was starving. But she was also tired. And sleep sounded like a better idea right now, in all honesty. Or a nap, at least.

But, sleeping in armor seemed like a bad idea.

Getting up to take it off seemed... like a lot of work.

Complaining about either option, Amy just sort of laid there for several minutes, unmoving, feeling the armor dig into her back a bit...

"Goddamnit," Amy forced herself to sit up, and then, after another minute of complaining to herself, stand, removing her robe, then starting taking off the armor. It was... easier said than done, and she found herself cursing under her breath as she tried, but eventually she got it all off, leaving the armor in an unceremonious pile on the floor. It probably didn't belong there, but she also didn't care, so...

Amy flopped down on the bed, still stinking of sweat and still sore. Still exhausted. She laid there for however long it was, but eventually at some point, she fell asleep.

She knew this because at some point after that, she woke up, a startled breath escaping her lips as she sat up, the sun still outside, but she'd definitely slept. She was still sore, and still smelled, but at least she didn't feel exhausted. But she didn't feel rested either.

Fuck.

Amy sat up properly, legs hanging off the bed, rubbing at her eyes, stomach rumbling.

"...she's asleep," Amy heard Katerina's voice outside, talking to someone.

"In the middle of the day?" It took Amy a moment to place that the voice was Solas, the mage who had guessed her mark could close the Breach.

"She's dealing with a lot, so I don't begrudge her getting sleep when she can. Besides, what else is there for her to do?" Katerina asked. Amy grimaced. I don't need the fucking pity, Katerina.

"I suppose there is that, for the moment. I saw Lady Cassandra had her running around the village as well." Solas mused. "I would like to examine the mark on her hand, do what I can to ensure it causes as little pain as possible, especially before we try to close the Breach again, or the lesser rifts."

"I thought you handled that after she collapsed in the temple trying to close the Breach."

"I did." He did? She looked down at her hand. It hadn't hurt anywhere near as much, but she'd thought that was connected to not being near rifts, or the fact that the Breach had stopped growing, but he'd done something to her, to the mark, to... dull the pain? Protect against it? "But this magic is entirely alien to me, so I have no certain idea if what I have done will continue to work."

"Well, like I said, she's still asleep, so -"

"I'm not asleep anymore!" Amy raised her voice. She looked for her robe, but after checking, found it still a little damp with sweat. She looked down at her own clothes and grimaced. Her clothing had been washed while she was asleep, so they did have that, so obviously it was possible to do laundry here...

So... baths were also probably a thing. But it was probably just a big tub or water or something. Not that she'd say no to a clean cloth and a bucket to wipe down with, even...

"Well, then I guess you can go in," Katerina changed tacks without missing a beat. After a moment, the door opened, and Solas stepped in, his staff slung across his back, wearing pretty much the same kinda shabby but not completely falling apart outfit that he'd been wearing before. Pretty much looked the same too otherwise. Still bald.

Bald elves just aren't a thing I think we see in fantasy much? Amy couldn't remember seeing a bald elf in the Earth Aleph Lord of the Rings movies, or read about bald elves in any fantasy books or anything. Did Elves have male pattern baldness? Did he shave? She really hoped he wasn't the elven equivalent of a fucking skinhead.

Why do racist pieces of shit shave their heads anyway?

Amy flushed as she thought she saw his nose wrinkle a moment. "Sorry, I haven't had the chance to wash up after the running and - I just kinda came back here, and fell asleep."

"Understandable." Solas inclined his head in a small nod. "As you may have overheard, I would like to examine the mark on your hand, see what I do to minimize the pain it may cause you."

"It's not hurting much right now, so whatever you did probably helped," Amy said. "Uhm - I - thanks for that, by the way." She remembered something Varric had said on the way to the Breach, about how he'd kept the mark from killing her before. "You helped with it when I was unconscious the first time, too?"

"I did. Between the Breach still expanding and how unfamiliar I was with the magic, I could do little. I still don't quite understand it, but trial and error made the second time a little easier," Solas explained. "And I have had some time to reflect on what I've learned about it, so I may have an easier time still, this time. So is my hope, anyway."

"Well, if you can stop it hurting at all - I'd really appreciate it," Amy forced herself to try to be nice. She didn't have anything against the man, but nice was never really her default state. Especially when she was tired. But she wasn't as tired now, even if she still didn't feel rested. At his prompting, she held out her left hand.

"I don't believe I can do that, unfortunately," Solas said, holding out one hand, a soft yellow light glowing from it. "As far as I can determine, a piece of the Fade has somehow lodged itself in your hand." Solas spoke in a very calm, level, controlled manner, so it was hard to tell, but Amy thought it seemed like he was frustrated by it. "And since I can't even begin to imagine how one might remove it, it will be there, and it will cause you some pain."

"Fuck." Amy bit her lower lip. "How the hell does a piece of the realm of dreams... fuck I feel like a crazy person for saying that - how does -"

"I do not know." Solas admitted. "I have dedicated my life to the study of the Fade, and I must admit to not understanding how this happened, or how it works." His hand stopped glowing and he touched her hand, holding it between thumb and fingers, pressing against it gently. Amy grimaced. "My apologies. I am trying to understand what I am... sensing, from the mark."

"Should I be worried?"

"I think given the circumstances, we should all be worried." Solas deflected the question, "But there doesn't appear to be any immediate danger to you from the mark. The wards I placed around it appear to still be intact, though it would be best to reinforce them."

Wards. In fantasy terms, in books she'd read, they were always like... defensive magics, right? Protections and all that. So it made sense that he would use those on her mark. But - he used magic on her.

Amy's power didn't exactly allow her to detect lies - but the human brain and body did react in certain ways when lying, and she could usually pick up on those. The better she knew the person, the easier, but... Solas wasn't human. Still. She tried to focus on his brain - it was human-ish, even if totally wrong. It frustrated her, how close it was, and yet how fucking different.

"That's all you did to me? Nothing else?"

"Some healing magics as well, to try and repair the damage the pain did to you, but nothing more." Solas answered. Nothing in what he said seemed to be a lie, as far as she could tell from 'looking' at his brain, but...

She almost wanted to ask him to tell an obvious lie to see what it would look like, but then she'd reveal to him she could tell if he lied, and then -

Well, then he might start being really careful about what he said to avoid lying, or he could just attack her or just not let her touch him to tell.

"Okay. Good." Amy accepted the answer for now. But at the same time - she couldn't trust this guy. Who was he? Why was he here? "The Chancellor - he called you an apostate. Which... I think is the term for mages not in the Circles?"

"Technically, with the Circles dissolved, all mages are apostates," Solas gave another deflection. He let go of her hand, then put both of her hands on her wrist, both glowing with a very soft, pale blue light. "But I was never in the Circles, if that is what you mean. Does that trouble you?"

"I think the Circles sound pretty fucked up, so not really?" Amy shrugged. "I'm not from Thedas. I don't - I barely understand any of this shit. Still trying to make sense of it all. I'm just - just trying to... make sense of it all." She repeated herself, flushing.

"I don't know if I would ever have put it like that, but I can agree with the sentiment," Solas murmured. "Elves are mistreated across Thedas, elven mages even more so."

"Okay, but didn't elves fight with Andraste to overthrow the Tevinter? Like, siding with the prophet to overthrow the evil empire seems like a reason to be friendly?" Amy doubted it was that simple, but - she tried to think back to the 'lesson' Cassandra, Leliana, Cullen and Josephine had given her and she realized elves hadn't come up after the mention of them working with Andraste against the Tevinter.

"They did, though it is a fact rarely talked about by the Chantry today. After the fall of Tevinter, a region called the Dales was given over to the Elves. For a time, there was... peace, even if not friendship," Solas explained.

"But not forever?"

"The Chantry objected to the fact that the Elves of the Dales returned to worshipping their own gods, rather than the Maker, the rising realm of Orlais eyed their lands greedily - and the Elves had refused to help the human realms during the Second Blight." Solas explained. "Tensions rose, and eventually, war began."

"Fucking religious bullshit." She should have guessed the Chantry would go to war over converting people. Fine, the original Inquisition hadn't done that, but of course the fantasy version of the Catholic Church would do that. "I'm guessing the elves lost, then?"

"They did. Those who surrendered were forced into the great cities of the human kingdoms, boxed into closed off communities called alienages, they are... given little regard, by their human neighbors, and have few rights compared to them. The city elves have been forced to forget much of their history, and they follow the Chantry. Those who did not surrender became the Dalish - nomads, who try to hold onto their past, though often with poor memories of it."

"Fuck, they stick them in ghettos and force them to be slaves?" They said there was no slavery outside Tevinter. She grimaced, ready to...

Do what? Free them? How? Go and yell at Cassandra and Leliana and the rest for lying to you?

"They are not slaves," Solas corrected, and Amy let out a small breath, at least slightly relieved. "Though at times it can be a distinction without a difference," he added. "Their ability to leave the alienage is restricted by custom and by the prejudice of their neighbors as much as by law, and there are many other restrictions on their behaviors. Rare is the city elf that can rise to be more than a menial or servant."

"So second class citizens, then," Amy sighed. "Fucking racist bullshit." She clenched her jaw.

"You seem quite offended by the treatment of my people."

"You shouldn't fucking oppress people just because of - well, I mean, you shouldn't oppress people. Throw criminals in prison, yeah, but that's - criminals are criminals. People don't choose to be born elves or humans or whatever." Amy believed the words she was saying, but she had to admit she wasn't saying it with much fire, much conviction. Her sister would be more up in arms about it. Enough to want to go try and change the whole world, if she could. But she'd at least... dial it back to something closer to achievable, to start. Or at least, a Victoria Dallon definition of 'achievable'.

Which didn't really match anyone else's definition.

"An admirable belief, even if one not felt by many, elven or human, in Thedas. My experience with dwarves is limited, as with Qunari, but neither of them hold such beliefs often either."

"Just because a lot of people don't believe something doesn't mean it isn't the right thing," Amy let out a breath. "Back home, there's people who hate other people just because of their skin color, or because they're -" she cut herself off, realizing the word 'Jewish' would make no sense, and honestly not knowing enough about antisemitism to explain it to someone with no frame of reference, "because they're from some other... ethnic group."

"Hatred based on skin color?" Solas raised an eyebrow. "I have not heard of humans in Thedas having such hatreds."

"Lucky Thedas. Over a hundred years ago, hundred fifty, something like that, people kept people with brown skin - like Josephine Montilyet - as slaves. There was a big war to end it, but even for a long time after, people like her - we call them black people, even if their skin isn't actually black," and that one still made no sense to her, "they still were - didn't have the same rights as white people. Eventually that changed, but there's still people who hate black people or anyone else not white. My family fights to protect the city I live in from a whole group of them - they call themselves Empire 88. Racist pieces of shit."

"So you are a hero where you come from, and the chosen hero of Andraste, blessed to save us all here?" There was something sarcastic, droll about the way he said it. At least someone who doesn't believe I'm chosen.

"I'm not a hero, and I'm not chosen by anyone. Or blessed or anything like that," Amy said quickly. "And it doesn't sound like you believe I am either."

"I do not keep to the teachings of the Maker, or Andraste," Solas said. Which made sense - Solas was an elf, and one who sounded pretty unhappy with elves being treated, and he wasn't living in some ghetto or part of the Circles run by the Chantry so... he probably worshiped the elven gods then? "But what I believe, or what you believe, is in some ways, ultimately irrelevant. Heroes are as much a matter of perception, as reality." He let go of her hand, and Amy let it fall by her side.

"The Fade is the realm of dreams, but it is so much more than that. Everything mortals do, leaves an impression in the Fade. In most cases, it is... ephemeral, but there are places - buildings with long histories, battlefields, graveyards, sites of great import, where the impression is lasting. I have travelled to those places, and dreamed in them, wandering through the memories left behind, re-enacted by the spirits drawn to such places."

"Wait, so you like - you can see the past?" That was -

Well, it would make history class easier? Amy could imagine Vicky would want to know more about it, and how it worked. Even with as little as she cared about the past or history, generally, normally, she could see how someone might find it... cool, to be able to look back on the past like that.

"In a manner of speaking. But it is not so simple as seeing what happened." He paused, then, "During the Fifth Blight - did they tell you of Blights, and the most recent one?" Amy nodded, "Early in the Blight, there was a battle at Ostagar. I do not know all the particulars, but the plan was for the Calian, the King of Ferelden to hold the line, draw the Darkspawn in, and his closest advisor and the father of his wife, Loghain, would close the trap. There was to be a signal fire lit that would be the sign to make the attack. The plan was to, at the very least, deal a significant blow to the Blight, to buy more time, if not defeat it outright then and there."

Amy let him go on, not sure what he was getting at. But given that Calian wasn't the King of Ferelden - that Alistair guy was - and that the 'Hero of Ferelden' was the guy who had ended the Fifth Blight...

She was guessing it wasn't that simple.

"Loghain did not act. He claimed it was because the signal fire was lit too late, or not at all, and so he left to save his own troops from dying pointlessly. Others claim he abandoned the King - his actions afterwards were to seize power, though he claimed to have done so purely in the name of protecting Ferelden."

Amy blinked, then, "...and you couldn't tell which is which when you went to this... Ostagar?" That would make sense, as to why he brought this up in response to her question.

"Precisely. The impressions left in the Fade are those of human emotions. When I dreamed there, at one moment I saw heroic Wardens lighting the signal fire, and a power-mad villain sneering as his King is left to fall. In the next, I see an army overwhelmed, and an experienced commander refusing to let more men die in a lost cause. I cannot tell which was real, because in the Fade, it is all real."

"To many, even today, Loghain was a hero, betrayed by the Hero of Ferelden to put his friend Alistair on the throne. But to just as many, perhaps more, Loghain was a monster, a tyrant, a fool."

"Which is why you said heroes are a matter of perception." Amy didn't believe that. It didn't matter what people believed about her - she wasn't a hero. And even if nobody believed that New Wave were heroes, as long as they protected people and fought villains and were good people - and they were, her family was good - then they were heroes.

But... what people believed was what mattered for how they acted.

"Every war has its heroes. And make no mistake - the Inquisition is at war, even if it is impossible to say who they are at war with, yet."

"So you don't have any idea who was behind the Breach? Not placing bets on the rebel mages or the Templars?"

Solas shrugged, "I do not believe it was either of them. Circle mages do not delve as far into the Fade as I, preferring to develop more... immediately useful skills, such as enchantment, healing or blasts of fire and lightning. And Templars... I cannot imagine how they could achieve this sort of outcome, even unintentionally."

He turned away for a moment, looking at the window, "If we are lucky, whoever was behind the destruction of the Chantry, who tried to sacrifice the Divine, died in the explosion, and we might only have to deal with what few allies they may have that live."

"And if we're not?" Amy didn't think she would be that lucky. She thought back to that twisted, misshapen shadow that had been speaking of Divine Justinia as 'the Sacrifice' the clawlike hands. She bit her lip.

"Then we should all be worried. Anyone who can command the sort of power needed to do this is dangerous indeed." He shook his head, then turned back to her. "The wards around your mark have been reinforced. I believe that being near rifts and closing them should be at least somewhat less painful, at this point."

"Thank you," Amy said, looking down at her left hand, feeling the dull ache. "I guess I'm just... going to have to get used to this ache then?"

"It is unfortunately likely, though hopefully once the Breach is closed, it will no longer hurt."

"Well, hopefully, once the Breach is closed, this thing won't even be here anymore," Amy muttered. She sighed, looking down at her hand. This guy was an elf and an apostate, which, as far as she could tell, meant he wasn't exactly popular with like, the people who ran things in Thedas. Especially the Chantry.

On the other hand, he was helping, and Cassandra and the others seemed pragmatic. He probably figured the Breach was a problem for everyone, and they obviously did too.

"I admit, I have many questions about you, and where you came from. Never in all my studies of the Fade, of even the most ancient of pasts have I heard of any whisper of worlds beyond this one being accessible in any real sense." Solas added.

"Don't really know how I got here, so I can't help with that. But where I'm from, we had access to one other world, a portal. People figured there were more, but didn't know how to access them." Amy scoffed, "I'm a pioneer!"

"So it would seem. I will leave you to your privacy, but if you would be willing, at a later time -"

"I can answer some questions, yeah," She was already committed to answering questions for Joesphine, might as well answer questions for Solas too.

"Thank you," he gave her a polite nod, and departed.

---

The rest of the day was... simple enough. Amy stayed inside for a while, asking for a bucket of water and a cloth to clean herself up with - maybe there was a way to get a bath, but it was probably just a big tub with water in it and Amy didn't really want to do that with how chilly it was here. Plus, in the Roaraxia books, there had been a scene where the main character had taken a bath when at a farm and that had been outside. She definitely wasn't doing that. Not here.

She got both, as well as a coarse, almost caustic soap that didn't smell *great*, but at least it didn't smell as bad as she did.

She washed up as best she could, and then tried to wash her hair a little, swearing up enough of a storm as she tried to handle the worst of her stupid, tangled rat's nest that Katerina knocked on the door and asked if she was alright.

Amy had nearly jumped out of her skin there, but shouted back that she was fine. She gave up on her hair, feeling like she'd ripped half of it out, but she knew that the strands she'd pulled and the bits she'd accidentally ripped out weren't actually that many.

She still didn't really feel reading the book by Brother Genitivi. Each question that the book answered raised a dozen more, and Amy tried to write them all down, but quickly ran out of paper, with how many mistakes she made, still unused to quill and ink.

It was... weirdly written. The style was nothing she was familiar with, it wasn't like the nonfiction she was used to, it was more... casual and conversational, almost, which made it kind of easier, but since Genitivi kept referencing places and things and ideas and events she still didn't get... it was kind of annoying.

But then, she went to finally get a cup of coffee from Josephine, and in exchange, she answered questions. The diplomat seemed to be at a loss where to start, which made sense - Amy had been at a loss where to start asking questions, and really, still was. Maybe not as much of one before, but still, it was so much.

In the end, Josephine had asked Amy to speak about her home, and so Amy talked about the Bay - the way the city had been on the decline for years, the shipwrecks blocking the Bay, the gangs, the Protectorate, the PRT. She talked about her family.

Well, no, she talked about her sister, mostly, once they got that far. About how her sister studied powers, and how she was so determined to make the Bay better, to punish the criminals that were destroying the city even more. How she would take kids flying, delighting in their simple enjoyment of it.

Vicky would be better with my power. She'd love to be able to help people. She'd actually like healing. And she - she would be - she could do the other stuff too, safely. Actually use everything it can do.

But then, well, her sister wouldn't be able to fight, and Amy knew how much Vicky had always wanted to be able to fight alongside Carol and Mark and Crystal and everyone else. Besides, if Amy had to have a power... better for her to have this one, that kept her away from the fighting.

Or, it had, anyway.

Once her conversation with Josephine was done, and the woman had to return to other matters - which appeared to be writing letters to other nobles and important people in Thedas to try and get them to help the Inquisition - Amy had gone back to the cabin, ducking an invitation to the tavern with Varric, probably so he could pester her with questions.

And she had to deal with stares, and murmurs, and thank god no one came up to her, but she figured it was only a matter of time.

When she got back to her cabin, it was revealed that no, Katerina wasn't always on guard at her door. There was another soldier there, though he didn't do anything other than salute as she approached and he greeted her, saying 'Herald.'

"Not anyone's Herald," Amy had muttered, but arguing with him had seemed pointless. Food was brought in by an obsequious, repeatedly bowing woman, more stew and bread. This one had more mutton, and onions and what maybe was a turnip - she'd never eaten one of those before, but it maybe seemed like it was one - and she... didn't like it anywhere near as much. But it was good. And so Amy ate it, and then she read for a bit before going to sleep again, or trying to.

---

It was on the next day, shortly after washing up (and halfway through redressing) after another exhausting walk/jog/run, that Amy was asked to heal someone.

"Amy," Katerina's voice was at the door. "I - there's -"

"Please, Herald, my son!" she heard a woman's voice, pleading, begging, terrified.

"I'm not anyone's Herald!" Amy snapped, without even thinking about it, then she blinked, registering the words. The tone.

She'd heard that all the fucking time, at hospitals, or those rare times when she'd healed on site. Parents, pleading for injured children. Dying children. Sometimes kids for their parents, but there was usually a different note there.

Jesus fucking christ, am I connoisseur of how people plead for me to heal their dying loved ones?

Amy hadn't had to heal anyone since the fight against the demons in the ruins of the Temple, when Katerina had gotten hurt defending her. She'd tried to find someone that first day waking up, feeling agitated about not healing, but Katerina had insisted no one needed it. But someone did now.

Amy couldn't not. Especially not a kid.

But if she did...

People have healing magic and don't worship mages, thanks to their god saying magic bad or whatever but - I don't have magic. I'm not using magic. And they already think I'm fucking sent by the Maker.

That wouldn't, couldn't stop Amy - but -

All those thoughts, the tightness in her gut at the realization of how people would react, how she'd get more whispers and more murmurs and more people asking for healing and word would spread and the awe and the reverence would get worse and -

"I'm coming out!" Amy's shirt was on wrong but she couldn't stop for that. She did grab her robes, throwing those on quickly as she made for the door - putting those on fast was something she could do in her sleep at this point - and burst open the door.

Katerina was there, a small crowd was watching, gathered, a semi-circle around three people. An older man, going a little grey, a woman, maybe in her thirties, maybe not, Amy wasn't sure. The older man was holding a boy, young, maybe ten at most, the boy was unconscious, and his left leg was covered in blood, his skin pale and -

Fuck.

A bone, broken, snapped, visible, thrust out of the skin, blood and even muscle tissue and -

She'd see worse, it didn't phase her at all

"Put him down on the ground, gently, now!" Amy snapped, rushing towards the kid, all concern about the crowd, being called Herald, anything else leading her.

"He was playing out by one of the ridges, I told him - I'm always telling him to not to and he -" the woman - his mother - said, fast, frantic, tears in her eyes. The father set him down, slowly, gingerly, and Amy put her hand on the boys hand - at least they wouldn't need to cut away more of his torn, bloodsoaked pants for her to do her work.

It wasn't just the compound fracture in his left. He had a broken hand, a hairline fracture in his skull - though his brain seemed remarkably fine, overall. The kid wasn't malnourished, but he definitely wasn't as well fed as your average American kid. A lot less fat cells to work with, a lot less muscles cells to repurpose...

A fracture in his right femur. Cuts and scrapes - she could worry about those last, but he was bleeding, he was bleeding a lot, and the internal bleeding from the compound fracture could be the worst part of it.

Could healing magic not handle this? Potions probably couldn't, not fast enough, based on what she'd seen them do, felt them do to her. Did they just race to her first because they'd heard about what she'd done to that scout, how she'd healed him more? Did they just want to have her heal their kid rather than a dirty, filthy mage? How many mages other than Solas did they have here? Any? There were former Templars, so maybe some Mages would want to join with them?

None of that mattered. Amy shook her head, trying to clear her head, to focus.

"This is going to - just, stop talking!" Amy raised her voice at the mother, still talking, begging, pleading, panicking. It was a human response, Amy knew that, had to deal with it too many fucking times, but she always hated it and it always distracted. "I need to focus."

Clot the blood. Stop the bleeding. That had to come first. The kid wasn't dying of blood loss yet, and he wouldn't, not now. She directed the clots to form, and then there was the question of the bone itself. Compound fractures were always complicated to heal - she had to get the bone back into the skin so she could seal it all back together...

Take mass off the bone, store the mass inside the body... the bone outside of the child's skin started to dissolve, as far as the eye could see, disintegrating, but she redirected the cells, into the other side of the bone, rebuilding the whole structure from the inside.

As she did that, she took what little fat cells she could get from him to start freeing up the mass to heal the worst of his injury. She couldn't really use much blood, not with what he'd lost... she could take from his muscle, but -

She bit her lip, watching as the bone finally 'vanished' from above the line of his skin, the slowly rebuilding bone within his body now reaching the stump of where it had been. She manipulated the blood to gather up the remaining shards of bone embedded in tissue and moved them in, pressing it all together, using a bit of the freed up mass from fat cells to stitch the bone back together. Then, the skin, closing up the hole the bone had punched into the skin, the muscle.

She was running out of biomass to actually use. If this was - if this was Earth-Bet, she could set up some sort of IV drip, or something, use that to help, at least, but that wasn't really an option, so -

As the wound closed up, the last of it done with mass scoured from the muscle tissue - not enough to cause serious harm, but enough that he would notice, he'd be weaker, frailer for a bit, though as he ate more, his body would correct itself, to an extent - she could hear gasps and murmurs from the assembled crowd, surprise and awe and what sounded like someone praying. The mother fell to her knees, reaching for her, words of gratitude spilling forth, a hand reaching for her -

"Let the Herald focus on healing your son," Katerina said, her hand going to the mother's shoulder. "Everyone who isn't this boy's parents, step back," Amy realized, out of the corner of her eye, that the assembled crowd had started to close in. "I said, step back. Let the Herald heal the boy."

"Not the fucking Herald of anyone!" Amy snapped, raising her voice. "Your Maker didn't give me my power, and he didn't send me here to save you all!" And if somehow this was a fantasy world where the god or Gods was actually real - which it couldn't be right? Like, there was no way it was - and the Maker had somehow had a hand in her being here (which he fucking didn't) then the Maker was an asshole.

Huge asshole.

"Now everyone - you too Katerina - shut up and let me finish doing what I can for this kid!" Amy went on, still shouting, and then she returned her focus to the boy. The remaining bone fractures and breaks were about the limit of what she could handle. The scraps and cuts that were left were minor - painful, and a risk of infection, so his parents would have to clean them or get a potion - did those cost money? Was that why they'd gone for her first?

At least there's no goddamn health insurance here. There was no way a medieval world, no matter how shitty, would invent something that cursed. Health insurance was a uniquely modern evil. Had to be. Right?

Amy cast her focus around the kid's body, taking a little mass off of the muscle there, a little bit there - the kid didn't need a blood transfusion, he could survive as long as he got plenty of food and the right kinds of food. Red meat, if that was an option. Beans. Liver. Dark green, leafy vegetables. Oranges and lemons, the Vitamin C could help with the iron absorption too. Amy scoured her brain, trying to remember bits and pieces of medical knowledge she'd picked up from studying and from the doctors and nurses at the hospital and...

Cabbage? Cabbage has vitamin C, right? And they had a lot of pickled cabbage? Fuck, this would be easier if Amy had a fucking nutritional guide in front of her. Or a fucking search engine on an internet-capable phone.

Amy let out a breath, and took her hand away from the boy's hand.

"I've done what I could. He's still got cuts and scrapes and those need to be cleaned and bandaged. He's lost a lot of blood, and I can't just - I'm not a mage, I don't know how magical healing works, but what I do uses his own... mass to heal him. He's going to be really hungry when he wakes up, and he'll need to eat, a lot." Amy said, speaking quickly and clearly, as authoritatively as she could. The way she did at hospitals. Didn't always work, but -

"Beans, animal liver if you can get some easily, red meat - I think - I think mutton counts." Lamb did, so mutton had to, right? "Cabbage - if you have some that you didn't cook. Cooking makes it less useful for helping with after blood loss."

"Thank you, Thank you," the mother said profusely, still weeping, but at least these ones seemed to be tears of joy. She clung to her son, and the father crouched down, one hand on his wife's shoulder, the other reaching out to grab his still unconscious son's hand.

"Thank you for saving our son." The man said, voice thick with emotion. "We - I - you're-" he stumbled over his words, as if unsure, unable to know what to say. Before he could figure it out, another voice from the crowd started up, an older woman.

"See, the work of the Andraste''s Herald! She can do what even a mage would not be able to do! Her touch alone healed this child's injuries!" Amy felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. No. Fuck. No. No. No.

Amy turned a little, and saw a woman in the red and white robes that she knew what the Chantry people wore. So a priestess or something. She was starting to preach to the crowd.

"The Maker sent us to her, blessed to act and blessed to save his faithful children, from this Breach." She went on, referencing something in the Chant of Light, a verse or whatever, and then kept talking, more of the same...

The crowd around seemed to be hanging on her words or at least believing them, some had their hands clasped, praying, others eying her with even more awe and reverence. A few didn't seem to be, at least, thank God (and yes, Amy was aware of the irony, but she wasn't actually sincere, it was just... a language thing you picked up), but...

Amy stood up, staggering back. This wasn't too bad yet, but now - it was just going to get worse, and she didn't want to be here. Didn't need people coming up to her and bowing or kneeling or asking for blessings or -

"I wasn't sent by the Maker or Andraste." Amy said, not raising her voice, shoulders slumping. What would Vicky do? Amy didn't need people worshipping her or revering her or - but - she couldn't fight the entire religion, and constantly telling people to stop calling her 'Herald' was going to get really old, really fast and...

She couldn't not heal people, and she couldn't not help with the rifts and the Breach and -

Vicky would appreciate the reverence more. Amy could - she could fake it, a little, right? She got that back home and she hated every minute of the weepy tears of thanks and the other forms of gratitude... it had been nice once, before it had all become the same rote, in and out and day after day and the reality of what her left had to be had set in and -

But it wasn't now. But she endured it. It was easier when she could just... move on to the next patient and then leave the hospital and there was a fucking reason she didn't leave the house to go places much - okay, lots of reasons, but -

I just have to - I just have to -

She'd just have to put up with it, a little.

"Your modesty does you great credit, Herald," the priestess - Sister? Like a nun? Was she like a nun? Her outfit didn't look as stupid as the one nuns wore, but she could still basically be the Chantry version of a nun? "But -"

"But nothing. I don't know how I got here, or why I can close the rifts and given time, the Breach," Amy really hoped she wasn't lying about that one, but she had somehow managed to make it stop growing and that meant she probably could close it, right?

Right?

"But I know why I can heal, and it was before I even heard of your Maker that I could do it." Vicky wouldn't shout at them... and Amy didn't want to shout at them, she wanted to go back to her stupid cabin and lay on her bed and...

And what? Wallow in dread?

"The Maker knows all, sees all - he planned for your arrival to-"

"If anyone else has friends or family here in Haven that is sick or hurt or anything - go get them and bring them here if you can bring them and if you can't - I can go to them, or something!" She raised her voice as she said that, talking over the priestess. She needed to shut her up or at least distract the people listening.

Move onto the next patient. That's what she did at hospitals, when people tried to thank her too much or say she was a blessing from God or ask her to do more than she was willing to do or make requests for her to like, jump the line. She didn't have doctors here triaging, but Haven wasn't that big, and there were only so many people here.

Move on to the next patient. She could do that here, right?

Of course, once word spread of her doing this people would

"Arthritis and old injuries that didn't heal properly or even minor, chronic conditions." Did people even have the word arthritis? They knew what cancer was, so - maybe? "You can all hear the - the sister," fuck she hoped that was the right term, "preach later, but right now, let's just - bring me people who need healing. Any healing. Okay?"

The sister stared at her a moment, and then Katerina was at her side, voice a whisper.

"Amy, are you sure? You don't need to do this."

Why does she care? Why is she trying to sound so goddamn supportive? Some kind of good cop, bad cop shit? Does she pity me? Think I'm pathetic because I can't fight? She didn't need Katerina's well-meaning pity. She got enough of that from Dean.

"Yes, I'm fucking sure," Amy said in the same low voice, as some people in the crowd seemed to be scrambling away, mabe to get sick or hurt or whatever loved ones. "I'm not made of glass, healing is what I do. Three hours a day, most days, at least." Not entirely true, but close. Fifteen hours a week officially, and all the extra times she snuck out and of course while Bakuda had been going nuts she'd been there for a lot more than the usual limits per day, and no one cared.

Why would they? Miracle healer. They needed her.

Still better than reverence and shit.

Move onto the next patient.

"Just - make sure they form an orderly line and no one tries to force their way up first or anything." Amy said.

Move onto the next patient.

The sister seemed at a loss for words for a moment, then finally she bowed slightly, hands clasped in front of her.

"You are of course, correct, Herald, to prioritize the health of the Maker's faithful. I will go and ensure everyone in the village knows of your words." She bowed again, and then turned quickly. Thrown off, but still thinking she was chosen because of course the local primitive screwheads did.

If I was like the guy that Bruce Campbell played in that movie I could shoot a shotgun and call it my boomstick. What was the name of that movie? Hordes of Darkness? Army of Evil? Something stupid like that. The campy as hell movie had been fun to watch with Mark, though.

I'm going to regret this so much. Amy thought to herself, as Katerina barked a few orders to some of the soldiers that had been in the crowd, telling them to make sure there was an orderly line.

But it was still the best solution.

Move onto the next patient.

---

Amy regretted the healing. It hadn't actually taken that long - there were only so many people in Haven, and not that many that were hurt. There were more that had some degree of minor chronic conditions - one with a weak heart that had apparently required a regular drink of something made with herbs to keep him alive. Herbs that would be poisonous in large amounts, but that was medicine for you.

Another did in fact have arthritis. A third had a poorly healed broken arm - it worked, but the pain was regular and their range of motion limited. Things like that.

Stuff she might not have even bothered with, for most people, back in the Bay. The doctors triaged and with so many bigger problems, so many people, not to mention the medical tourism...

But Amy could handle it all. And moving on to the next patient, shimmying each one away so she could get to the next had let her mostly avoid the worst of the thanks and the prayers and the pleas and the slowly gathering reverence. Amy hoped her being curt with each one helped with that too.

But after about a dozen people, there wasn't anyone else asking for her healing. Maybe there were more people with minor problems, but... they didn't ask, and she wasn't going to check everyone. She could have - checked everyone for any sign of any issues, cancers no one had noticed, fuck if she knew what else.

But she didn't.

She told each one she healed they'd need to eat a bit more, but none would have as much of a need for more food as the boy had.

Then? Then she'd gone back into her cabin and closed the door and thrown herself on the bed and wished she could just sleep.

She couldn't though. But she'd laid there, feeling... worse.

Why couldn't she just... appreciate gratitude? Why couldn't she fucking appreciate that she had the ability to save lives and... why couldn't she enjoy helping people like this? Why couldn't she just... like healing people? Vicky loved her power.

Why can't I?

What kind of - what kind of person hated healing so much? Brushed off the thanks of parents after she saved their kids, or kids (or adults with elderly parents) when she saved their parents? Or just saving someone's friend?

Not that she didn't know the answer.

What kind of person? Someone who didn't care about people. Someone who - someone who wasn't a good person.

Her, in other words.

The rest of the day she stewed in the cabin, shut away from the world. Reading more of Genitivi's book, or trying to. Dinner was brought in. She ate that. She heard Katerina telling others that she wasn't having visitors. That Amy had done what she was able to do for now.

She didn't even go to Josephine to get coffee. She just... no. No going anywhere.

Eventually, the lack of caffeine and exhaustion and everything else set in and she managed something resembling sleep.

The next day, she didn't want to get up. She didn't want to do any running.

"Amy," she heard Cassandra's voice at the door.

"I'm not running today." She didn't open her eyes.

"This is about the Breach."

Amy threw the blankets off, sitting up, groaning, eyes opening. "We can close it now?"

"Not yet, but we have an idea of how to proceed."

Amy pushed herself out of the bed and onto her feet. She got dressed, feeling... wrung out. She needed coffee. Needed to keep sleeping. But... but neither was really an option.

She tugged on her robes - she didn't even know why she kept using them. Probably just the hood, the way she could use it to hide in - and stepped out, covering her eyes blinking at the sunlight.

Cassandra was waiting there, a small crowd still watching, but - Amy tried not to look at them. Tried not to watch them, watching her.

"So what's the plan then?" Amy managed to ask, after they'd started walking to the Chantry. "Did you figure out why I couldn't close the Breach?"

"That was determined rather quickly. Solas believes, and our other mages agree, that your mark lacks enough power to close the Breach - one rift is one thing. The whole Breach is far larger."

"Okay, then why didn't we do something about that sooner?" Amy demanded. "It's been three days since I woke up, so what gives?"

"We have six mages here in Haven. That is not enough. The last six days since the Breach was closed have been occupied by trying to resolve that problem." Cassandra explained, as she pushed the double doors into the Chantry open, and Amy followed her inside. Cassandra looked at Amy's hand.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Just a little," Amy sighed. "For now." She sighed. "I just want this over with."

"That makes two of us. Reports are still coming in, but rifts are indeed opening all over Ferelden and Orlais, concentrating in certain areas more than others."

"Road trip in my future then?" Amy muttered. "Fun."

"For more reasons than just the rifts." Cassandra answered cryptically. She opened the door to the back room she'd gotten her history lesson in. And as the door opened, she smalled it.

Coffee. A cup was waiting.

"Oh god yes," Amy muttered, "Thank you," it took all she had to not snatch the still warm cup of coffee up with both hands and chug it all.

"You are quite welcome." Josephine nodded. Amy sipped at the coffee for a long moment, then looked at the assembled four... leaders of the Inquisition? They were in charge of it all, she supposed.

"Cassandra said you have a plan to close the Breach." She sipped at her coffee some more. "What do I need to do?" They'd already known what they needed but they just needed her for her mark. Which made sense they'd only all her in when they had something for her to do.

"It's a little more complicated than that, unfortunately," Josephine cautioned.

"We need more power to close the Breach for good. Which means mages." Leliana elaborated. "Likely a hundred at least, from what Solas and our other mages have said. Unless we want to spend months gathering together every isolated and hidden mage we can, cobbling together a force and preparing them to act as one, then our only real option is to approach the rebel mages for help."

"That is not our only option." Cullen disagreed. "We barely understand the Breach, even Solas admits that. We should approach the Templars - they could weaken the power of the Breach, make it possible for Amy to close it with the power in her own mark."

"You don't know that." Leliana countered.

"I was a Templar. I know what our abilities can do. We suppress magic by strengthening reality around the mage, making it impossible for a mage to use the Fade to impose their will on reality. The Breach is the intrusion of the Fade on reality. For all you know, throwing more power at the Breach could make it larger!" Cullen snapped.

Okay. This is - this is politics. Leliana wasn't a mage, but she had been able to get that Leliana was very sympathetic to them. Cullen was a former Templar, but unlike Katerina, seemed more partial to them.

"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get in contact with either the rebel mages or the rebel templars gathered under Lord Seeker Lucius." Josephine cut in before the two could argue further. She gestured to the map. "When the Conclave was called, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire, though more extreme elements of both groups refused and were expelled. They are currently fighting in the Hinterlands, and causing much destruction to the local population there."

Amy saw a spot on the map, in Ferelden, labeled 'the Hinterlands'. There was a lake near it, a big one, and a place - settlement? City? Town? - marked 'Redcliffe' there at the base of the lake.

"The rebel mages under Grand Enchanter Fiona withdrew to Redcliffe. Leliana has sent messengers and ravens to try to arrange their assistance, but they have not responded. Word of you has spread, and though it has only been three days since you woke, even while you slept, , news of you passed from one to another. By now, many of those in the Chantry have heard of you and spoken against you. Denouncing the Inquisition, and our 'false Herald'."

"There was that one Sister who was praising my 'Heraldness' to the skies yesterday," Amy muttered.

"So far, it would seem those who believe you were sent by the Maker are the minority."

"Still wasn't sent by him."

"Your arrival was fortuitous beyond all logic, Amy. The Maker's hand clearly played a role in your mark," Cassandra countered.

If the Maker plucked me from my home and dumped me here, then he'd better fucking hope I never meet him because I'll give him cancer. Amy somehow managed to convince herself to not say that thought out loud, and instead she just grunted, disgusted.

"Whatever."

"Your insistence that you are not chosen and blessed by the Maker might have convinced more people if you hadn't healed so many yesterday." Leliana noted, hands clasped behind her back.

"What the fuck was I supposed to do, let the kid bleed out internally, let alone all the external bleeding, from the compound fracture?"

"You then went on to heal a dozen more."

"To shut that fucking Chantry sister up. Better to heal people than have her tell the whole crowd I have a direct line to the Maker." Amy snapped. She let out a breath, shoulder's sagging. "Besides, then I had the excuse to just get that done and go back into the cabin and everyone left me alone for the rest of the day." She shook her head. "My power has nothing to do with the Maker, I promise. This stupid mark probably doesn't either." She held up her left hand.

"So, mages aren't responding. I don't really like the idea of going to the Templars for help, but the Breach needs to be closed, so why not do that?" The Templars - she got they were probably needed but a bunch of addicts who penned mages in for shit they were born for and were soldiers for some stupid religion were just... not her idea of a good time.

"Unfortunately, our attempts to contact them at their fortress in Orlais that they retreated to when the Conclave was called have also been a failure. The Inquisition is a new organization, and a threat to the established power of the Chantry, or at least, it is seen as such," Josephine explained.

"So nobody is taking our calls." Amy muttered. "Great. And you called me here just to update me on how we're spinning our wheels?" They all stared at her a moment and Amy realized that metaphor probably made no sense. "Going nowhere. How we're going nowhere?"

"Not quite. It is hard to say as of yet if word of you has reached Val Royeaux, or how far the Chantry's denunciation has spread, but it will continue to spread. The Inquisition lacks allies, and perhaps more importantly, we lack credibility." Josephine continued. Amy snatched up her now more lukewarm coffee and took a big sip as the woman spoke, and then she set it down.

"Credibility? The fact that the Breach isn't getting any better should count for something? I didn't go through that whole thing feeling like my arm was going to rip off for nothing!" Amy raised her voice with every word, then sighed, cup down on the table, leaving forward a pit, palm on her forehead, slumped a little.

"You have a plan on how to fix that? Please? Please tell me there's a plan." Amy hated that she was reduced to begging, but she wanted - needed - this shit to be over.

"There is an influential Reverend Mother in the Hinterlands, tending to wounded refugees at the village at the Crossroads." Leliana pointed to a spot on the map, looking like it was near the base of the Frostback Mountains that held Haven. Didn't even look all that far, as the crow flew, from Haven. Not that she knew the map scale. "She knows many of the key players in the Chantry that survived the explosion of the Conclave better than I, and Mother Giselle's word carries some weight. She has asked to meet with you."

"You think she can make it so the mages or Templars will listen to us?"

"She can improve our chances. And there are rifts in the Hinterlands. Closing those could build goodwill and serve as proof that whatever else you are, you truly are our best hope for closing the Breach."

"The Hinterlands. Where the extremist Templars and Mages who didn't agree to the ceasefire are fighting? And there's rifts." Amy pulled her hand down her face. "Fuck my life." She sighed. "What if this Mother Giselle is a trap?"

"You will hardly be going alone," Cassandra clarified "The Inquisition may not have many forces, but we can and will send what we have to the Crossroads to help protect the refugees, and Mother Giselle, as well as prepare the way for you. I will go with you, as will Katerina."

"Solas and Varric too?" Cassandra made a face at the mention of the dwarf, but didn't say he wasn't coming, so he probably was. Amy didn't know what to think about him, but his crossbow was good at killing demons so... better to have him than not? Maybe? "Great, it'll be like the death march to the Temple all over again." Amy let out a long, exasperated breath. "I don't really have a choice, I suppose. Is this the best option?"

"For the moment. It has only been six days, I am prevailing upon my contacts for more aid and recognition, but if this will allow us to close the Breach sooner..." Josephine trailed off, and Amy nodded.

"Okay. So. Road trip to the Hinterlands. Talk to this Mother Giselle, close rifts and... I guess heal refugees. While other people do the fighting against the guys who didn't do the ceasefire?" She could stay in the Crossroads until like, ways to rifts were cleared and then go with people to those and...

"It is not much, but it is a start, and it will give the Inquisition more influence and resources. And hopefully spur recruitment, especially given we'll be sending at least half the soldiers and scouts we have left into the Hinterlands." Cullen nodded.

"When do we leave?"

"Hopefully tomorrow, assuming we can get everything ready. You said you have some experience with horses?"

"...not in years, but... yeah..." Amy didn't like horses. "...just how far is the trip to the Hinterlands?"

"For an experienced scout or soldier, used to the march, seven or eight days on foot. At a minimum."

"Eight days?" And that meant probably camping and shit too.

"Four or five on horseback." Cassandra added. "So we'll need to see if you remember enough to be able to actually ride."

"Four or five days getting my ass numb on a horse, or eight or more days of walking. Great choices. I miss cars and busses." Amy muttered that last part under her breath. "Fun."

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: I could very well write four or more chapters just on the travel between Haven and the Crossroads alone. But I'm not going to - there's a lot of stuff I could put there, a lot of stuff to unpack with regards to Amy and a lot of stuff to subject her too, but at the same time, I do actually want to move the story forward, and we will have plenty of time for Amy to stop and linger and cope with more of Thedas's weird shit and her own many and sundry problems.

What that means is that when I do take the time to show a conversation 'onscreen', as it were, even one that seems like it's mostly just recapitulating stuff you the reader should know, I do have a reason for actually showing it to you. Plenty of conversations and side bits will be breezed over or summarized or the like, when there's no direct purpose to showing them. But when I do show a conversation, it's to illustrate characterization, develop long-term storylines or seed certain plot points that will be sown later.

We are entering the Hinterlands in this chapter, and for those who haven't played Inquisition, or don't read much Inquisition fanfiction, the Hinterlands are sort of like Leviathan, in the sense of being a 'fic-killer'. A lot of fics lose steam in the Hinterlands and sort of peter out there. Far from all but it is definitely a common phenomenon. That will not be happening here, I can assure you.

We will not be spending much time chronologically in the Hinterlands on this visit, largely because Amy herself will not be doing much directly. She can't fight, and so a lot of the side quests that bog a writer down she just can't be directly involved in, and they wouldn't take her to go kill bandits on the East Road, or the extremist Templars at their camp by the river, etc. And even when there is fighting she's near (such as the rift closures), since she's not going to be involved in it, there's just not much need to spend a lot of time describing it at this point - the fighting to close a rift very quickly becomes 'seen one, seen 'em all' after a bit.

But, because Amy takes 1,000 words to do anything half the time...

The plan is that this visit to the Hinterlands will encompass the end of this chapter, and all of the next, and the first chunk of 11. That is a decent amount, but the time we do spend in the Hinterlands will, as I said just above, not be on her doing all the little sidequests at least. But by the middle of chapter 11, we will be out of the Hinterlands and moving on with the rest of the story, and with Amy's continued angst.

Not that she's not gonna get angst in the Hinterlands. Amy and angst go together like Carol and being a shitty mother.

---

I fucking hate horses.

Amy hadn't been all that fond of horseback riding when Aunt Sarah had roped her and Vicky and their cousins into going riding, all those random summer days over the course of several years. But at least they'd been days when Carol hadn't been around, and her sister hadn't enjoyed horseback riding anymore than Amy had. Misery loved company and all that.

Which technically she had here as well, because Varric was not having a good time either.

But... that had been short periods of being roped into riding a horse for half an hour, at most.

Not for six or seven or however many hours she'd ridden that godforsaken stupid animal.

"I am never riding a horse again," Amy slumped forward, feeling utterly exhausted. Her ass was beyond numb, and she barely felt like she could walk, legs pretty numb too.

"Then I guess we're walking the rest of the way?" Katerina asked, chuckling, extending a leather waterskin to Amy. Amy let out a long groan and snatched the waterskin, bringing it to her mouth, making a face at the taste of the water, some spilling out over her face. She handed it back to Katerina after a moment, swallowing it, groaning again.

The trip to the Hinterlands consisted of more than just Cassandra, Katerina, Varric, Solas and herself. Twenty soldiers and scouts, and two mages were also among the group, all intended to provide aid to the refugees in the Hinterlands, and of course, protect her.

Protect the precious Herald.

"If we had a choice in the matter, I'd be right there with you." Varric muttered. "I remember when I was almost never more than a dozen miles away from Kirkwall. Now I'm experiencing the joys of nature. Again." He looked around. "Still better than the Deep Roads, at least."

Tents were being set up, quickly and efficiently by the soldiers - it was... well, it was a lot like those handful of times they'd gone camping, back before she'd triggered, before Victoria triggered. She supposed the basic concept of a tent was pretty simple and probably hadn't changed in a long time. Set up poles, put the tent over the poles, boom, you had a tent. The tents themselves looked like they were made of leather, probably to repel rain. They'd traveled as much down the mountain slopes as they had east, and while it was still brisk out, it was noticeably less cold overall.

Which would eventually be a mixed bag, since she was - at Cassandra's insistence - wearing her armor under her robes. Right now, it wasn't that bad.

"It would not be practical to switch to walking at this point, Amy," Cassandra said from behind her and Amy nearly jumped, startled, then turned. Cassandra seemed completely unbothered by the fuck if she knew how long ride. The woman probably rode horses a lot.

Amy had kind of sort of remembered the basics of how to keep her horse steady, but in the end, Katerina's horse had been roped to hers, so that where it went, so too went Amy's. She'd been put on a brown horse that she'd been assured was 'very docile'. It hadn't thrown her off, so... yeah, close enough.

"We have much ground to cover, and the sooner we do, the closer we get to closing the Breach." Cassandra added. "Still... we can perhaps take things a little slower tomorrow." She added.

"I don't think it really matters how fast the horses move, it's not like they were galloping or anything today," Amy muttered. "How the fuck does anyone move after riding these things?"

"Practice, mostly," Cassandra answered. "Seekers must travel great distances to perform their duties, so I have had much time in the saddle. Do you feel pain, or just soreness?"

"I don't feel much at all," Amy staggered a bit, and then her leg gave out from under her and she stumbled, falling backwards, crying out in shock and dismay - Cassandra's hand caught onto her arm, catching her before she could land on her ass.

"That should pass, in time. It is unfortunate, but to be expected." Cassandra explained. "But if you do feel any pain, or any chaffing in the legs, or worse, tell me immediately."

"Can't have your precious Herald getting hurt, right?" Amy muttered.

"You are a child in my charge. I would not want to see you harmed even if you were not the Herald, Amy." Cassandra answered. There was the sound of raised voices nearby, and Cassandra turned her head, still holding onto Amy's hand. The older woman wore gloves, so Amy couldn't sense her biology - Amy didn't know if that was deliberate, or not. Riding gloves were a thing, and Cassandra wore gloves a lot, so it was probably just normal for her.

"No, - no, do not tie the horses there!" She raised her voice, and then turned back to Amy, letting go of her hand slowly. "Lean against one of the rock faces, catch your breath, and then walk around a little as camp is set. It will help with the soreness and the numbness," She turned back away and stalked off, shouting orders at the soldiers.

Amy looked around for the closest rock face - they were in a bit of a sheltered area off the main path they'd been taking down the mountain - it wasn't really a road, but it was apparently the route merchants and travellers used to get to Haven from Ferelden. Something about pilgrims coming to the Temple.

She'd only been paying half attention to what Katerina had told her, too focused on staying on the horse.

A few shaky steps later, and she managed to get there without falling over, turning, back pressed against the rock face, closing her eyes, breathing in and out slowly. A bit of feeling sorta returned to her legs as she waited, hearing the bustle of people setting up camp and probably lighting cookfires and whatever else you did when you were moving this many people and camping out in the woods.

Amy knew the saddlebags on her horse were packed with food - jerky and dried fruit and what Amy had to guess was some sort of hardtack and a bunch of other stuff that would keep on the road. As well as supplies that could actually be used to cook over campfires. She didn't know if there'd be any hunting or gathering.

At least I'm safe from food poisoning. Probably. New planet could mean new diseases, but... she was pretty sure her power would handle that. The stupid thing had to come with a few upsides, right?

Finally, Amy opened her eyes and took a few more steps, somewhat more sure in her movements, feeling a little less numb. She took a few small steps, not heading anywhere, then a few more. Eventually, she started taking a bit of a circuit around the camp, still walking slowly at first, not taking any big steps, but by the time she had done a full circle nearly back to where she'd started, her legs were starting to feel... well, sort of worse, actually?

But soreness was probably better than numbness, technically, so she accepted it. Katerina had silently followed her around as she'd walked, not bothering her, but it was impossible not to notice the woman's presence.

"Herald, Lady Pentaghast has instructed that this tent be set aside for you and your guard," one of the soldiers said, waving his arm to catch her attention first. He pointed to a tent near the center of the assembled tents and little firepits and slowly building mounds of dried wood and dead leaves and shit.

"For both of us?!" Amy felt a heat in her cheeks for a moment. When the Dallon and Pelham families had gone camping, years and years ago, she'd always shared a tent with Vicky - and since it was all before either of them had triggered...

Well, it hadn't been as hellish an experience as sharing a tent with Vicky would be now.

But even if she was sharing a tent with Vicky now, at least it would be her sister and not some... stranger. She'd have to take off her armor and - she would have to sleep in her clothes in her bedroll (because they had one of those and sleeping in a bedroll in a tent was somehow not one of the parts in the YA fantasy books she'd used to read that she'd ever wanted to live through) anyway she supposed so...

She looked over at Katerina a moment, then grimaced.

Katerina was a complete stranger, and - she wasn't anywhere near as pretty as Victoria (who was?) so that - that should be fine. It wasn't like she was going to changing into the sort of nightgown-thing she'd been using as pyjamas since waking up in that cabin in front of her. Or watching Katerina change into anything either. She doubted the woman wouldn't also be sleeping in whatever normal clothes she was wearing under her armor.

"If someone attacks the camp at night, best if I'm close to hand to protect you," Katerina explained.

"I - yeah - okay, that makes sense, but -" Amy cut herself off, shoulders sagging. There was - there probably weren't enough tents for her to have her own and - and arguing wouldn't get her anywhere and she just...

After a while longer of just sort of pacing around, head aching due to lack of caffeine - once they got more coffee into Haven, Amy was going to have to learn how to grind her own and make some sort of campfire coffee if they were going to be travelling all around the goddamn world to close rifts.

But finally, camp was set, and Amy found herself sitting on the ground next to a small fire with Solas and Varric and Katerina. The four of them, as well as Cassandra, were all camping at the core of the camp, but Cassandra was out on the edges of the camp, probably on watch or - something.

It wasn't dark yet, but the sun was starting to set. Amy was handed a wooden cup filled with water from a waterskin, some dried fruit and meat, and some bread so hard she was pretty sure it would break her teeth.

"There's better hunting further down the mountainside, apparently, so we won't be having to eat this all the time, but try dipping it in your water to soften it up first," Katerina said, about the bread.

Varric grimaced at his own piece of what Amy was just going to call hardtack. "The Hanged Man doesn't even really have cooks, and the food there is better than this," he grumbled. Amy nibbled on her jerky, not feeling super hungry, but knowing she'd have to eat. Solas started to eat his food without complaint, as did Katerina. Varric broke off a piece of his hardtack with some difficulty, then looked over at her.

"So, Amy, any chance you're willing to talk more about yourself? Your power? The whole 'I'm not from Thedas' thing?" He asked, apparently deciding he'd rather talk than eat hardtack. "I've got about a million questions."

"You're hardly alone."

"You're one of several impossible things that showed up all at the same time. If someone doesn't have questions, I'd start questioning their sanity." Varric countered. "Where do you come from? Apart from the Qunari, no one really knows much about other continents, and the Qunari aren't talking, from what I know."

"I'm not from another continent. I'm from another world," Amy said with a long sigh.

Varric blinked, "Another world?" He sounded utterly baffled by the concept, just... completely not getting it.

"Where I come from, there's no elves, no dwarves, no magic, no demons, no Fade, no dragons, none of the insane shit you guys have here. Also, we have better technology and Thedas isn't on any of our maps."

This world is so much more different then Earth-Aleph is from Bet.

"I'm not - I'm not a... I don't know the science of it, so don't ask, but back home, we know about other worlds. Alternate... universes. It was all theory and stuff before a guy called Professor Haywire proved it and opened a portal to another Earth. The one I'm from is called Earth-Bet, the one he opened a portal is called Earth-Aleph."

"And then what's this one called?" Varric asked, sounding as much like he was humoring her as anything else.

"No fucking idea. Earth-Thedas?" Amy shrugged. "Earth-Aleph is... really similar to Earth-Bet. Same continents and same basic history for most of it, and then not." Amy was pretty sure Scion was the divergence, but she wasn't sure. "Like I told Cassandra and everyone else who's asked and then some, I don't know how I got here."

"You mentioned something about 'Bakuda's Bomb' sending you here when you were in your cell," Varric said. Amy stared at him. Varric hadn't been there. "Guards talk, especially when you buy them a drink. It's nothing Nightingale declared secret."

"Nightingale?"

"Before Leliana became the Left Hand of the Divine, she was one of several agents that worked on Divine Justinia's behalf, and she was known as Nightingale." Katerina explained.

Huh. Kind of like a cape name, I guess? Well, no, it was probably more like a code name or something like that. Amy didn't really do spy stuff, but she'd seen a few Aleph spy movies, usually because Vicky dragged her to one, or because it was airing late at night and she was watching it with Mark.

"Yeah, one of Bakuda's bombs went off and suddenly I woke up in the cell. And... there's a gap in between."

"When you saw the one behind this, with the Divine," Solas noted, and Amy nodded.

"I mean, last I heard, bombs just went boom - either with alchemy or the Quinari explosive powder," Varric began, "So how exactly can one... move someone from one world to another."

Again with the Qunari. Who are these people? It sounded like they had gunpowder, or something like it. Fun. Just more shit she might have to heal people from.

"Bakuda's bombs do all kinds of insane shit. Turned one guy inside out, created a whole... lava field out of nowhere, turned one guy's hands into ice - just... solid ice, where hands used to be." Amy shook her head. "Tinkers are bullshit."

"Somehow I don't think you mean a travelling tinsmith or anything like that," Katerina leaned forward.

Huh. Is that where the word came from? Amy didn't really care, so the thought was pushed aside as irrelevant.

"No, fuck..." She'd have to explain powers again. "I can heal people without... magic because that's my power. Back home there's... people with powers. My sister can fly and break stone walls with a punch and can take - she can just completely tank a hit from someone, no problem." No need to mention the part where her forcefield needed recharging. "My... my Aunt can fly and shoot lasers." She paused, "Like fire, but... not. Or maybe more like lightning. There's like... eighty, ninety people total in the city I call home that have powers?" There were the big names, but there was always a fluctuating count - new triggers, new arrivals, minor capes dying or leaving or whatever. Black or Hispanic or Asian vigilantes who didn't want to join the PRT or Protectorate had a bad habit of vanishing within a few months. Probably killed by Empire 88 or, in the case of the Asian ones, the ABB if they didn't want to join.

"Velocity can run really fast - like, faster than a galloping horse, and can do it basically forever." Okay, maybe not, Amy didn't know for sure. "There's this creepy bitch called Skitter that can control bugs."

"Control bugs? Your sister can fly and break stone and your Aunt can shoot fire... and someone controls bugs?" Varric chuckled, making the mistake Amy could have easily made if she'd heard about Skitter before the bank.

"It's a creepy-ass, gross power, but it's only funny until she sicks a bunch of deadly spiders on people to hold them hostage during a robbery. Or has hundreds of bugs all biting you at once." She gestured around them, "There's probably hundreds or thousands of bugs within a two hundred foot radius of us."

"It is said in the jungles far to the northwest, that there are ants that march in massive numbers, consuming even small animals that cross their path, stripping the flesh from them with remarkable speed." Solas mused. "Seheron is said to have mosquitos with bites that carry deadly diseases."

Varric grimaced, and Katerina frowned, and Amy went on.

"The point is, people have powers. Some decide to be heroes, like my family or the Protectorate - the heroes that work for the government. They fight the criminals and gangs that are led by the other people with powers - parahumans, we call them - who are villains. Empire 88, the ABB, random thugs and murders and other assorted bastards." Amy grit her teeth, taking a breath.

She didn't have her sister's righteous burning fury about the criminals in the Bay, but she still hated them.

"So, wait, back up - this girl who controls bugs, her name is Skitter? And the guy who runs fast is called Velocity?" Varric chuckled. "Those can't be the names they were born with. If I tried that in a book, my editor would throw the manuscript at me."

Amy blinked, staring at him for a moment, then registered what he meant, shaking her head. "No, that's their - most - most parahumans wear masks. Have usually stupid costumes and use fake names. Usually they pick their own, sometimes people get labeled by their enemies." Amy explained. "My family doesn't hide behind masks, but we still do the name thing for... reasons. So my Aunt is Lady Photon, my - my dad is Flashbang, because he can create little balls of light that can explode and blind you for a bit, or worse."

She always felt like a liar when she called Mark 'my dad' or Carol 'my mom'. In a way she didn't for calling Sarah her Aunt, or her Uncle or cousins.

"So what's your name then?" Katerina asked, smiling a little.

Fuck. "Panacea," Amy said after a moment. "It means universal cure in a different language. Or something like that." She bit her lip, and glared at Varric, then the other two. "None of you are allowed to call me that. My name is Amy. I hate being called Panacea. It's stupid. Everyone knows who I am, whether I'm wearing these robes or not."

"And so this Bakuda has powers as well. And that too is her false name?" Solas steered the topic back to the point, and Amy nodded.

"It means bomb or explosion or something in Japanese - another language." Amy added. "Which is because she makes bombs. She's a Tinker. Their powers are all about making crazy stuff that can do all kinds of insane bullshit. Armsmaster has a halberd that can like, shoot a grappling hook and stun you with electricity and probably make a perfectly toasted slice of bread, or something insane like that. Kid Win has this..." she gestured, trying to figure out how to describe a hoverboard. Did anyone surf here? "Flying piece of metal. And these... pistol things that shoot lightning at people."

And that big ass cannon he'd tried to use at the Bank that had gotten stolen from him. Chris had gotten a real chewing out from Piggot about it, from what she'd heard.

"A halberd that can make toast, and a flying piece of metal. Sounds a lot like magic to me."

"But it's not. My healing isn't magic - Solas and Cassandra can both confirm that."

"It certainly does not draw on the Fade, nor does it use blood or Lyrium in any way." Solas confirmed. "If it is magic, it is like no magic I have heard of, or can imagine." He cocked his head to the side. "What exactly is the origin of these... abilities?"

"Nobody really knows. They just started... appearing, a little under thirty years ago." According to Vicky, some people theorized that powers might - might have existed in very, very small numbers before, perhaps being the source of like, stories of people with magical abilities or whatever. The Corona Pollentia had never been noticed before the known emergence of powers, but it wasn't like people had a great understanding of the brain hundreds or thousands of years ago.

Amy vaguely remembered something about the Ancient Egyptians not even thinking the brain was like... important, as an organ. Or something like that. It had been in a documentary about mummies she'd half napped through a few years ago.

"There's people who have theories. My sister -" Amy's voice cracked a moment, and she hit her leg with a balled fist, biting her lip. I can bring Victoria up without breaking down, damnit! She took a slow, deep breath, then started again, her fist unclenching, digging her fingers into her leg through her pants as she kept talking:

"My sister could explain them all. She actually pays attention to them."

"...You have the ability to heal all manner of affiliations and injuries at a touch, without the use of magic, and you don't care as to the how?" As far as she could tell, Solas was a pretty calm, detached guy. Not a lot of inflection in his tone, probably controlled his reactions. Apart from the occasional sardonic note. But here, as he leaned forward a good bit, he actually sounded genuinely shocked, stunned, surprised, and even like... upset by what he was saying.

"Not really," Amy shrugged, "I didn't ask for this. But I can do it, so I use it to help people." Amy sighed, letting out a breath. "It's just my life. How doesn't really fucking matter to me."

Solas stared at her for a moment, then leaned back so he was sitting straight up as before. "I see." His tone was back to normal, making it impossible for Amy to tell if he was silently judging her behind that calm expression. He probably was.

"How exactly does your power work?" Solas asked, after a moment, curious. "Healing with magic is a simple affair when it comes to simple matters, but more complicated with more complicated ones. A cut or minor illness is far simpler than a cancer that has spread throughout the body, or a disease that can ravage the deep corners of the lungs."

"When I touch a person's body - or an animal or plant, or whatever - I get an intimate look at the biology, down to the cells -" she paused, then, "To the most basic parts, the fundamental building blocks that make them." Amy finished her answer, hoping she wouldn't have to give a full biology lecture about cells. "It's - I can't explain it easily. It's not like I'm seeing it with my eyes, it's a... sixth sense, I guess, something my power lets me use to make sense of whatever I'm picking up."

"Touch enough people, learn enough about how the body is supposed to work and look and you can pretty much stitch someone back together."

"Yet you had no trouble healing me, or the scout, despite there being no elves where you come from?" Solas asked.

"Your injuries were pretty minor," Amy explained. "The nasty hit on your leg, and then a really small fracture on one of your ribs. Easy to look at all your other ribs and know what a working rib looks like. Then I had your body to compare the scouts to, and I could use the parts of him that were working as a guide for the rest." She sighed.

"But it was one of the more complicated healings I've done in a while, since I had to figure that all out."

"Interesting," Solas said after a moment.

Varric chuckled, "I haven't needed you to heal me yet - I tend to prefer to avoid getting hit in the first place - but maybe I should let you have a look at me now, before you need to heal me." He held out a hand.

"...not the worst idea I've ever heard of." She had to admit, a part of her was curious how different dwarves were 'under the hood' than humans and elves. With elves, the fact that they were both so much like humans, and so much... not was the real jarring part. They were nothing like humans internally, and yet -

And yet.

Dwarves? She had no idea. But she had to assume they would be different too.

She stood up and walked around the edge of the small fire to take Varric's hand.

She was less surprised at how different Varric's biology was than a human's, now that she'd had the experience of touching an elf. But she was also less surprised because it was...

Well, it was less different.

It was different. There was no way anyone looking at dwarven DNA would ever say it was human. But it was, at least, made of the same basic stuff - Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine. In ways and combinations she'd never seen before, but as she zoomed in on it, she could say it was... recognizable. It was...

Something resembling normal.

She 'zoomed' out, restored her focus to Varric's whole body. She didn't know if Varric counted as a perfect specimen of health for his people, but she didn't pick up any signs of like, foreign bodies or organisms - lots of microbiota, but as far as she could tell, it was stuff that belonged there, like the stuff in his gut. Different than the stuff in a human's gut, but... it seemed like it belonged.

She started cataloging major differences - there were tons of small ones, but they were less extreme than that of an elf. An elf had been like... someone set out to make a human, didn't know what they were doing, got everything wrong, and still ended up with something that worked.

She had no idea if that was true - it sounded insane - but it seemed absurd that something that looked so close to human in the weirdest ways but was also so, so, so very much not human could have happened naturally.

Dwarves, on the other hand, were less... weird. She couldn't identify all smaller bits or their purposes, but there was at least one organ that seemed like maybe it was vestigial. She'd have to spend more time examining dwarves to be sure.

Dwarven eyes were much, much better at picking up low light - like elven eyes, though the details were different. Their muscles were denser, more muscle tissue in the same amount of space. She had no idea if Varric's propensity for body hair was normal among dwarves - he did have quite a lot of chest hair - but he seemed to have a high genetic predisposition for facial hair, which fit with the whole 'dwarf' thing. He shaved though, clearly.

Dwarven lungs were one of the more unusual elements. They weren't human-like, in shape, or looking like they were trying to resemble human lungs, but they were lungs, regardless. And they had these weird... filaments inside them. At a guess, Amy could imagine they were for filtering air, or maybe getting like... Carbon dioxide out of what they breathed? Dwarves were supposed to be underground, or from underground, and air could get bad or used up in tunnels and stuff, right?

There were some other things of note, but it was... it was clear that dwarves were their own thing - at least as far as she could tell - and... just less maddeningly weird than elves. All the organs were different, but...

They felt like they fit. Not perfectly, not even close, but it all sorta made sense.

Still. Stuff to think about.

"Amy?" Varric's voice jolted her out of her thoughts. "I'd make a joke about being irresistible, or the chest hair, but you're not even really looking at me at all. Are you okay?"

Amy shook her head, not to say no, but to sort of jolt her focus back to the here and now, letting go of Varric's hand. "Yeah, I'm - I'm fine. Just... there's a lot going on with your biology. And then I started comparing it to human and elf and - you've got these like... filament things in your lungs. Kind of got caught up trying to figure out what they were for."

"I can't say I ever studied anyone's anatomy very much, beyond knowing the best places to shoot someone to have the best shots at killing them. Should I be worried about my lungs and these... filaments?"

Amy shook her head, "No, I don't - I don't think so. I think they're for like, filtering when you breathe in air, or maybe making it easier to breathe bad air down in like, deep underground tunnels."

"Don't have a lot of experience with deep underground tunnels, my trip to the Deep Roads aside, but I suppose that makes sense," Varric mused.

"Okay, that's the second time you've mentioned the Deep Roads, what are they?" Amy asked, moving to sit back down where she had been sitting. "Underground roads, obviously, but..." she trailed off.

"Haven't gotten to that part in Genitivi's book?" Varric asked, an amused note in his voice. "Or mine?"

"Haven't read yours, and no." Amy answered.

"Well, you're right, they're underground roads. Back before the darkspawn showed up, the dwarves built them all over the continent. You could go from a thaig underneath Ferelden all the way to one up in Tevinter without going to the surface." Varric shook his head, "I didn't grow up underground, so it's not really for me. These days it's all cave-ins, getting lost and tons and tons of darkspawn."

"Sounds like a fun time."

"Oh, absolutely thrilling. I was down there for a few weeks, and that's enough for a lifetime."

Amy went back to her food, and Katerina and Varric went to talking - well, mostly Varric talking and Katerina asking questions - about Varric's 'Hard in Hightown' book. After a little bit, Solas raised a hand up a little, catching her eye.

"Yeah?" Amy rubbed at her temple, finishing off the last of her hardtack, the soggy and still crunchier than she'd like bit of bread, and it was still tasteless but at least she wasn't much hungry now.

"I am still trying to understand your power," Solas said.

Amy snorted, "Good luck."

"I'm trying to grasp it in comparison to magical healing. From what you say, it sounds very different, though the effect on the body itself felt quite similar in the moment." Solas went on. "At least it did when you healed me."

"I mean, I guess having bruises and the damage from them and a fractured rib healed is going to feel the same, magic or parahuman power." Amy sighed, hating that on some level she was actually curious how magical healing worked. "Make a habit of getting your ribs fractured?"

"I have wandered Thedas, largely alone, for many years. I am an elf, and an apostate, in a land where neither are welcome. Getting into fights, or accidents, is unfortunately not a foreign occurance to me." Solas admitted. "And there have been ancient ruins I have delved into, to dream in, that were not truly abandoned."

"Oh, so you've done actual Dungeons and Dragons shit." Amy chuckled.

"...I try to make it a point to avoid dragons, though I have been to ruins that had dungeons."

"No - it's a game, back home. People play... characters, and they pretend to go into ancient ruins and fight monsters or undead or whatever and come out with loot." She blinked, and looked Solas over. He didn't look like he'd missed a lot of meals - he was thinner than a human of his height should be, but he wasn't human, and it didn't look like - and hadn't felt like - he was malnourished. His clothes were well-maintained, but didn't look fancy.

Plus, elf, apostate, wandering - guy probably didn't have money.

"I don't think you do the looting thing, though."

"Not as such, though I find the knowledge I gain from my time dreaming in these places to be worth far more than any 'loot'." Solas sounded almost reproachful.

"Didn't say it wasn't. I don't play, just... hear about it." One of the guys her sister had tried to set her up with once, had been really into it, tried to talk her into playing. He'd been super smart, some computer wizkid, and Vicky had thought they might be a good match because he also read a lot of the same books she'd used to read.

It hadn't gone any better than any other double date.

"And it's all pretend anyway. We don't actually have like... ancient ruins with loot, back home. Not really."

"I see." Solas shook his head, "But back to the topic of your power-"

"How about you tell me how magical healing works? Like, I hear it has limits, but what are they? Beyond not being able to cure the darkspawn blight stuff."

"The Taint, as it is called when people catch it," Solas corrected. "There are two primary limiters on healing - the skill and knowledge of the healer, and the power they have to work with. Either their own, or sufficient supplies of lyrium. Or, for the unethical, blood."

"Blood magic can heal?" That seemed... not how magic was supposed to work, right?

"Blood Magic can do all that ordinary magic can do, and more." Solas explained. "There is a reason Tevinter went to it so readily, why they still practice it even if in secret." He shook his head, "it is a crutch for power, but one that works, unfortunately. The elves of ancient Arlathan understood magic on a very fundamental level - Tevinter could only achieve even half of what they did with the brute force of blood magic."

He shook his head, "As for healing... you are aware that magic is using the Fade to make our world as mutable as the world of dreams, at least momentarily?"

"That sounds familiar."

"Healing is, essentially, that. You channel the power of the Fade to deny the reality of their injury, and thus, undo it. This is why simpler injuries are thus simpler to heal - a cut, a bone broken in a single snap, a minor symptom, or an infection targeted to a single discrete area. But for a more severe injury - multiple breaks in a bone, complicated illnesses with multiple dangerous symptoms, the effects of age upon the body - it requires far more knowledge about the body and the problem being cured to target the power effectively. Or... one can supply more power."

"And brute force their way to healing?" Amy followed his logic.

"Precisely."

"So a good healer needs to know anatomy and virology and -"

"Virology?"

"Sorry. One of the things that causes diseases are viruses. Virology is the study of viruses."

"One of the things?" Solas looked at her curiously.

Amy blinked, "Oh crap, I don't even know what you people know about how disease is spread. I'm sure you don't have germ theory." Solas didn't look like he recognized the term, and Amy dropped her face into her hands, speaking through them. "Fuck. I don't - I don't even know where to begin. I'm not a doctor, or -"

"An expert in virology?"

"Or anything else. I'm 17. I haven't even finished High School." She shook her head, waving her hand at the quizzical look on Solas's face. "Not worth going into."

Amy looked away, looking at the stars and the moon above. She hadn't even really thought about like... the local knowledge of diseases and how they were transmitted and - she remembered something about how medieval Europe got some things right when trying to deal with the Black Death, but also got a lot of things wrong. Magic seemed like it might make things better, to a point, if you had access to it, but - no knowledge of germ theory, or bacteria, or viruses, or prion-based diseases.

So that lack of knowledge probably made healing diseases a lot harder.

People are actually alive, and not all covered in filth and stuff, so they have some idea that being clean is good, probably. And they probably can add two and two together and get four sometimes, on what to avoid to avoid getting sick... to a point.

Amy had to take a lot of extra lessons in biology before the PRT would let her heal people outside of very controlled circumstances, but it wasn't like she was on the level of a Doctor, or even like, a Bachelor's degree on the subject. Her knowledge was very targeted and very specific, and the process of learning was made faster thanks to her power.

She still sometimes found herself lacking the proper terminology when she healed people at hospitals, trying to explain what she'd done to a doctor or a nurse. She sometimes tried to get it right, when she had the energy to make the effort, since they took her more seriously when she did, but especially during her late night healing work, she usually didn't even bother.
But she could still understand all these things on a level no one else really could, whatever the words she might or might not have...

"I suspect, with your power, you know far more than you realize, and certainly more than any healer trained by the Circles." Solas suggested.
Amy almost felt like crying as the weight of all that hit her. Not - sobbing or anything, but just - she blinked, trying to make sure she didn't start tearing up. She was - she was already being looked on as 'Herald' - her attempt to forestall the worst of the reverence with the healing hadn't stopped the looks of awe and the occasional bow. And if she closed the Breach, that would just get worse. Every time she healed someone it would get worse.

And now, she was looking squarely down the barrel of the prospect of being the only person on this godforsaken world that could teach people about germ theory. About viruses and bacteria and prions and diseases caused by fungi and - parasites. Did people here know about tapeworms? Were tapeworms even a thing? They had to have something similar, how much did people know about the hundreds (or more) different kinds of parasites that could infect humans. Amy didn't even have the number offhand, and even if her phone was working she could hardly use a search engine to find the number.

I don't need this.

"Maybe, but -" She finally started, then she blinked, doing a double-take as she processed something else Solas said. Or... what he didn't say. "You're not Circle trained, so do you think you know more about it than I do?"

"I cannot say, but it is unlikely," Solas admitted. "I am more than capable of using healing magic, but there are many more so than I, trained by the Circles, or otherwise. It has never been a focus of my practice, nor is it an area I am specifically gifted in."

"Mages can be gifted in specific kinds of magic?" Amy felt like hitting herself after saying that. Of course there'd be mages better at certain kinds of magic. It came up in fantasy stories all the time too.

I just - I still sometimes feel like I'm going mad, just... accepting that this is all magic. If her sister was in her situation, Amy knew Victoria would probably still assume it was all powers. Amy still wanted to believe it was, but... the complete lack of Corona Pollentia in anyone she'd healed or touched, active or otherwise, even Solas - the guy who could throw ice around and heal and apparently see the distant past by dreaming in ancient ruins - didn't have one.

Maybe 'magic' wasn't the right word. Maybe if Amy knew more science she could... something quantum something light is a wave and a particle something something about it all, make sense of magic that way. But biology was the only science class she'd ever done well in. She'd barely scraped by physics with a C. (With of course, all the predictable lectures and disappointed glares from Carol. The woman was nothing if not consistent).

It wasn't her fault Arcadia had put her physics class in first period last year. She was usually still waking up then!

"There are many ways of dividing magical techniques and approaches, and people often find their talents lend themselves to one more than another. It is rare that a mage cannot develop their skills in other areas with sufficient focus and effort, but just as some people can find building certain muscles easier than others... some can find some areas of magic easier to use."

"And some people just get blessed with perfect metabolisms and never have to worry about getting fat no matter what they eat." Granted, that wasn't a problem Amy would ever have to worry about here. Sure, she wasn't starving, but it wasn't like she could go down to the local Fugly Bob's.

But it was still unfair - on several levels - how Vicky had just been blessed with a perfect metabolism. Or close enough anyway. In addition to everything else she had going for her.

Solas inclined his head in a small nod, "I'm not familiar with the word 'metabolism', but I am aware of the phenomenon.." He said nothing for a moment, then, "It seems you have much on your mind to think about, and you have given me much to think on. I would be curious to talk to you more, about your power, at a later time."

"Not much more I can tell you, but sure, whatever." Not much more she would tell, anyway. Solas stood up and Amy exhaled slowly as he walked away, out towards the edge of the camp, covering her face with her hands again.

She looked over to where Katerina and Varric were still talking, apparently about someone named Bianca? Probably a character in one of his books, or one of Hawke's friends, given how much Katerina asked about Hawke - she was a real fangirl.

Amy let out a long breath. She wasn't tired, really, but she didn't really have much else to do. It was dark now, but between the moonlight and the light from the campfires, she could probably read, at least.

She could try to read more of Brother Genitivi's book, maybe focus on the sections on magic or what Thedas knew about anatomy and stuff but...

That...

No. That didn't...

She didn't want to find out just how little knowledge of medicine they had here. Not now. She didn't want to think about that.

And besides, Amy's head had been stuffed full of what felt like a million and one little details about this world over the last few days. Every time she talked to someone she got like five new questions for every new piece of information she learned, for every answer she got.

She was done learning for now.

The Chant of Light was still out. She wasn't reading the local bible. If she needed to know something, someone could tell her.

In the things she'd packed, she had included the book Katerina had given her, Tale of the Champion. Mostly out of the fact that it was all she had to pack, really.

Amy didn't really want to read. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She should be healing, but there wasn't anyone who needed it, or at least they weren't saying it.

Back in the Bay, there were always people she could get to that needed her help. There were probably even more people who needed her help here in Thedas, but she couldn't get to them.

Doing nothing would just leave her to her focus on the people she couldn't help, back home, and here. Her usual distractions - mindless scrolling on her phone, watching whatever was on the TV after midnight with Mark, looking through PHO and occasionally yelling at someone who criticized Glory Girl or dissed her - weren't an option.

Reading...

Reading was, wasn't it?

Amy remembered when she'd actually liked to read. She remembered how good it had felt, to get lost in a good story. To experience worlds of wonder and get swept up in an adventure while being safe at home, knowing she wasn't ever actually going to get hurt or have to hurt anyone. To read about people who could have something resembling a normal fucking crush, and like... actually fall in love with someone who would love them back because that was the way the narrative went.

Even if she couldn't experience that anymore... there was nothing else to do, so reading Tale of the Champion had to be better than just sitting and doing nothing?

Swallowing, Amy got up and went over to 'her' tent, finding her bags and searching through them, eventually pulling out the red leather-bound book with the weird geometric design on the cover. She got closer to the fire, cracking open the book...

The paper was definitely rougher and thicker than what she was used to, but it was a book, printed ink on the paper. Amy skipped past a dedication, and opened to the first chapter.

They say the best place to start any story is at the beginning, but they've never tried to tackle a story like that of Kiandra Hawke. Savior, sinner, protector, monster. A woman who stood up for what she thought was right, or the woman who single-handedly brought Kirkwall low. A noble by birth, but not by behavior.

Champion of Kirkwall.

Start at the beginning, they say, but where does that start?

Kiandra Hawke was born to Malcolm and Leandra Hawke in a small village in northern Ferelden, not far from Amaranthine. But it was in Lothering, far to the south, that she grew up, and it was in Lothering that her journey into legend and destiny began.

The Fifth Blight was a crucible that forged many heroes and just as many villains - the Hero of Ferelden, Kalaius Cousland and his companions among them, but it was the Fifth Blight, and the destruction of Lothering, that one might say was the start of the Tale of the Champion.

One might say.

---

I still fucking hate horses. It was the late morning, five days out from Haven, and Amy was finally off the horse for the day, far earlier than before, because they were almost to the Crossroads.

The day before, half the soldiers and scouts had ridden ahead, to make sure it was safe, to see what the lay of the land was, and had set up this camp, here on the top of a small cliff, overlooking the last bit of road they'd need to take to get to the Crossroads and Mother Giselle and the whole damn reason they were here. Only like, two of them were here, that she could see, among the tents.

She'd only really read a little more of the book - it was hard, focusing on the pages, focusing on the book, trying to not think about the million and one things she didn't want to think about. And reading by the light of a campfire was a little less easy than she'd thought, so she really only got in a few pages a night.

Kiandra Hawke, her siblings and her mother had fled Lothering, destroyed by the advancing Darkspawn Horde in the aftermath of Ostagar - that battle Solas had told her about - and then Carver, the brother, died at the hands of an Ogre, and then a dragon attacked the Darkspawn, giving the three survivors, along with a woman and her husband they met while fleeing, chance to escape the darkspawn.

But most of the days were riding the horse - she was somehow managing to get something resembling better at guiding it, though her horse was still mostly tied to Katerina's or Cassandra's as they travelled. During the nights, Amy found herself wheedled into talking a bit more about her home to Varric - he steered the conversations to Capes and cape fights, which...

They're more interesting than other stuff, I guess, so...

But here they were, now, getting ready to go the rest of the way to the Crossroads.

"Seeker Pentaghast, Herald!" A voice called from the edge of the camp, and Amy looked, seeing a soldier standing next to a red-haired dwarf, wearing an outfit similar to the one the other scouts wore.

"Scout Harding?" Cassandra called out, gesturing for the dwarf - a woman - to come closer. Varric looked over at her with interest, taking his crossbow from his horse and slinging it over his back.

"Seeker Pentaghast," she nodded, "Herald." Then she put a hand to her chest in what Amy still figured was the local salute. Don't fucking salute me? She might have saluting Cassandra though.

"Don't call me that," Amy muttered, the words tired and rote. "My name is Amy. How many times do I have to say that?!"

"...I'm sorry, I've been in or on my way to the Hinterlands since you stopped the Breach from opening," Harding explained. Then she started over:

"Inquisition Scout Harding, at your service. Leliana sent me and a few other scouts right after the fight in the ruins of the Temple to find more rifts, and see if we could make contact with the mages in Redcliffe. We've only been here a few days more than you, and the situation is a mess."

"You've made no progress then?" Amy didn't bother hoping they could bypass the whole talking to Mother Giselle thing and just go straight to the mages and get their help. Life couldn't be that easy.

"Not with the mages, no." Harding answered Cassandra. "They've sealed Redcliffe up tight, only merchants with food or other essentials to sell are allowed in."

"Unfortunate, but unsurprising. Though I can't imagine the King will be able to tolerate them holding Redcliffe like that for much longer, or at least, be allowed to tolerate them." Cassandra frowned. "What is the situation in the Hinterlands?"

"Not good. The templars and mages that refused to stand down for the Conclave have been fighting since before the Breach opened up, but ever since it did, they've been even worse. Before it was just not caring if regular people got caught up in their fighting. Now both sides are attacking anyone that isn't them. The other scouts and I have already had to tangle with them a few times since we got here. The Crossroads is full of refugees from all over this part of the Hinterlands. It's been raided by both sides, and it's only a matter of time before mages or Templars attack again in force. Corporal Vale and the others you sent ahead have taken up position in the village, but -" she shook her head.

"He's only got eight men, and that's not going to be enough."

"Then we cannot delay. The refugees there must be protected, and we cannot allow Mother Giselle to come to harm," Cassandra began to bark orders, telling a handful of the soldiers to stay behind at the camp, and telling the rest to make ready to advance to the Crossroads. She turned to Amy. "Are you ready?"

"I haven't been ready for any of this, but that's not going to stop you now." Amy pulled her hood down over her face even more - or tried to, anyway - and inhaled slowly. Please let there be no attacks. The fighting with demons was bad enough, but... she inhaled again.

Beyond the attack, there was another thing Amy needed to prepare for, she reminded herself, as they all made ready to set out - on foot now, it was a mile to the Crossroads, and apparently none of the soldiers or scouts were experienced fighting on horseback, and only Cassandra had what could be called a 'warhorse - and that was that even if there wasn't an attack, she'd have her hands full with healing.

Amy knew enough about all the refugee crises that kept hitting Earth-Bet after Endbringer attacks, or after some cape fight got out of hand, or cities got condemned or whatever that refugees meant lots of sick people. Overstuffed areas with poor sanitation, poor nutrition due to lack of available food (or just no good, healthy food, if they were lucky)... it was a recipe for illness. And here, no damn germ theory.

And if she healed people - and she had to, she had to - then they'd start giving her reverent looks and try to be thankful and grateful and if she was really unlucky - and of course she would be - they'd try to ask for her blessing or something.

If she could just... focus on people who needed help, like she had after healing that boy...

What does it say about me that I want more people to be sick, and hurt? Amy knew, of course.

She always knew.

She closed her eyes and took another breath as final preparations for setting out for a 'quick march' were made. Amy couldn't help it - she let out a small whimper as she realized that she'd have to try to match pace with this 'quick march'.

"You managed when you had to to get to the temple, and it's only a mile." Katerina said, trying to reassure her. "...though it's not exactly an easy mile, all downhill, and pretty steep at that." She added, frowning.

"You're really bad at being reassuring," Amy told Katerina, not for the first time.

"And I'm still pretty sure you'd rather I be honest than cover shit in honey," Katerina countered. It took Amy a moment to grasp what she meant, but it had to mean something like 'sugarcoat', right? She put a hand on Amy's shoulder. "If there is an attack-"

"It's not an attack I'm worried about," Amy lied... a bit. She was worried about an attack, but it wasn't what was causing this yawning pit of dread to open up in her stomach as they finally started moving.

---

Breathing heavily, legs feeling like they were burning, Amy heard the sound of shouting up ahead and the clash of metal on metal, the smell of smoke.

"We're too late. The Crossroads are already under attack. Forward, for the Inquisition!" Cassandra drew her swore, and the soldiers and scouts with her charged ahead, along the narrow path between two small cliffs they'd been going through downhill, around the bend -

Solas, Varric and Katerina stayed with her, and Amy pulled up short for a moment, needing to catch her breath.

"Fuckity fuck fuck fuck," Amy muttered. 'Quick march' was a lot faster than the trudging through the snow they'd made to get to the Temple. It wasn't a jog, but it was a pace of walking that she hadn't really been able to match... she'd lagged behind the whole group, Katerina matching pace with her and now there was already an attack.

"I thought you said you weren't worried about an attack?" Katerina asked, crouching a little as Amy bent over, hand on the cliff face, sucking in air.

"I lied. I do that," Amy muttered. "But I'm going to have to heal even more people after this."

"Come on, Panpan, think-" Varric said, trying to cajole her, and Amy turned on him quickly, feeling heat in her cheeks.

"What did you call me?!" She had to have heard him wrong, right?

"Panpan. You said you don't want me to call you Panacea, but I give everyone nicknames." Varric explained. "Still working on one for Solas here, but Katerina is 'Red'."

Solas didn't seem to react to the prospect of a nickname, but she couldn't imagine he was looking forward to it.

"Red?" Katerina sounded offended. "Couldn't you come up with something a little more creative than just my hair color? I'm hardly the only redhead in Haven. What about Sister Leliana?"

"Ah, but she's Nightingale. But if you want something other than Red, I'm willing to entertain suggestions." The sound of shouting, metal on metal seemed to be getting louder, and she could hear Cassandra shouting something up ahead. He looked towards it, and then slung his crossbow off his back. "But we should probably save that for later. Bianca gets antsy when there's fighting nearby and she's not getting involved."

Amy blinked, "You named your crossbow Bianca?!" She didn't even realized she'd raised her voice until she was done. I know there's like, guys that are super into their cars and give them names but this is ridiculous!

"She's quite the impressive lady, and so she deserves a good name," Varric replied, grinning. He started towards the sound of the fighting. Amy swallowed, and followed after him, Katerina right next to her, Solas taking up the rear.

As they went around the bend Cassandra and the others had gone around, it was onto a scene Amy had only ever seen in movies - soldiers, fighting with swords, bows, axes, weapons clashing against shields. There were bodies, the dead and the wounded, scattered around a village - the village was built into the hills, most of the houses on a higher part, and they seemed to be fine, but the lower area, with a few structures, including one large one with a smouldering sound out front that had a crudely carved tankard on it, were on fire. Screams were now filling the air, and Amy closed her eyes, taking another breath, hands clenched.

She'd heard those screams before, healing in the aftermath of big cape fights, or major car accidents - usually she was at the hospital, but once in a while, she'd healed at the scene.

The Inquisition's soldiers and scouts were occupying the center of the lower area, clashing with two different groups.

One, a lot of people in robes, carrying staffs, and a handful of people in armor, with swords, holding the line against a smaller group of soldiers and scouts. Bolts of fire and ice and lightning struck out, hitting the ground, or soldiers, scouts - one hit the prone body of a woman already wounded, arm outstretched as she tried to crawl away, and her whole body was covered in frost - she wasn't encased in ice or anything, but a thin layer of frost, like that character from that Stephen King movie about the hotel.

On the other side, Amy could see a bunch of people in armor - some in what looked like platemail, or something, with helmets that had spiky, almost... winglike bits on the sides. There were two that had massive shields, as tall as they were, and they were in front - Cassandra was clashing with one, trying to get past the guy's guard or something -

Amy staggered back, feeling breathing come quickly, eyes darting around. Katerina drew her sword and moved into position in front of her, while Solas shouted something at the mages attacking, something about not being Templars - Varric returned that they didn't seem to be listening and shot a crossbow bolt at one of the mages - it bounded off some sort of previously invisible barrier - a forcefield? - that flashed visibly for a moment as the bolt connected with it -

Solas fired off a blast of ice at one of the sword-wielders defending the attacking mages and he staggered back, arm covered in frost again for a moment. She watched another one of those same guys stab, sword getting an Inquisition soldier in the armpit - Amy winced, looking away, knowing how bad that might be, how much -

People are dying. They're killing.

The so-called 'unwritten rules' around killing were never followed as much as PHO sometimes liked to say, but even villains were careful about when they chose to try to kill, usually. But this -

Amy stood, frozen, for a moment, and then -

"Get down!" Katerina's voice shouted, and then she was tackled down as something flew overhead - a small explosion off to the side, and Amy was flat on the ground, Katerina above her, one hand on her shoulder, the other on the ground next to her face.

Katerina's face was inches from hers, for just a moment, and the taller woman was rolling off her, jumping to her feet, grabbing her sword and swinging it up to block an overhand swing by a Templar.

"I knew the Templar Order had fallen low when they rebelled against the Divine, but this is too damn far, even for you!" Katerina snarled at the man. "The people in this village aren't fucking mages!"

"If they don't support us in bringing the mages to heel, then they're just as bad as mages!" The Templar snarled. "And anyone who would defend them is the same!" He pulled his sword back, stepping back, raising his shield up -

Amy turned away, scrambling for somewhere to hide - somehow she didn't think this stupid armor she was wearing would do much against a sword up close and the templar was wearing full armor there was nowhere to touch him.

Ideas raced through her mind - ideas she could never, ever do, things she could make that could eat through his armor, leave him unharmed - specialized, adaptive molds, or -

No, no, no, no! Amy managed to find an abandoned crate, broken open, the contents - a bunch of salt with meat packed into it - spilled out across the ground. She crouched behind it. She could see someone, a villager - dressed in clothes similar to the villagers in Haven - crawling away from the fighting, inadvertently towards her, an arrow in his back, leg bleeding.

More dragging himself, than crawling, really.

Amy swallowed, staring, eyes darting back to the fighting - she couldn't really tell, but it seemed like the mages and the swordsmen with them were being pushed back, a one dead, but the rest more making to run? The Templars seemed to be fighting on, and there were at least two dead Templars that hadn't been there minutes before -

Cassandra was still pushing ahead, fighting -

Katerina was still fighting her opponent, but he seemed to be lagging, moving slower to block her attacks with his sword, his shield arm hanging by his side, not moving much.

Broken, or at least fractured, probably. She had no idea how hard Katerina's sword could hit, but the woman was strong - Amy had felt the muscles when she'd healed her on the way to the Temple - and that was a really big sword and blocking with a shield or not, that much force on his arm could definitely cause issues -

Just like how bulletproof armor isn't, and this armor I'm wearing is only so useful apparently. Not everyone's armor could be like Vicky's forcefield, or the shields her cousins and Aunt could make - total blocking until broken.

The man crawling away from the fighting was getting closer to her and - Katerina dodged a bit to the side, away from a swing by the templar, and then brought her sword down onto his sword arm, connecting with the bit on his forearm and he dropped his sword - Katerina's leg kicked into his chest, sending him staggering back and then she brought her sword down against him, aiming for his neck-

Amy looked away. She didn't need to see -

But if he was dealt with, then there was no fighting near her - she looked back to the man and bit her lip. She couldn't just - she had to help him! She got up from behind the crate, heart in her throat, reaching him quickly. She'd never treated an arrow wound, but she'd removed plenty of foreign objects from people's bodies with her power.

"Stay still, I can heal you." Amy said, reaching her hand out for his neck.

The man's movements stilled, and he looked at her with a combination of hope and fear in his eyes - probably thought she was a mage, robes were mage thing and she'd just said she'd heal him so -

"I'm not a mage," Amy added, touching his neck. Healing the cut on his leg was simple - it was a deep cut, into the muscle tissue, but she knit the flesh back together, muscle first and then every layer up until his skin sealed shut. She ignored the man's stunned gasps. The arrow in his back would be a little harder, but only just. She took control of the man's muscles, relaxing them, and then making them push the arrow out - the head wasn't even entirely in, but it was enough, and it had torn up the skin and muscle tissue where it had hit, scraping against the bones - a few inches to the left and it might have hit his spine.

The man started to move.

"I said stay still, I can't do this if you're moving!" Amy snapped, and then she finished pushing the arrow out of him - it came out of his skin, flopping off to the side, rolling off his back to the ground, and she started knitting that injury back together.

He had a few smaller scrapes and bruises, but she didn't bother with those - he'd live, and there had to be more people to heal and if there were refugees here, food shortages would be a problem.

"I've healed most of your injuries, you're going to need to eat a bit more than usual if you can," Amy stood, looking around - the mages and their swordsmen had retreated, leaving a few dead behind, and she looked, off to to the edge of the crossroads, where the Templars seemed to be pushed back, probably getting ready to -

One of the Templars shouted something, raising his sword and pointing behind him and they started to move back, still looking at their enemies - a few arrows flew out from the scouts at them, but Cassandra held up her own hand.

"Hold!" Amy heard her order halfway across the village. She gestured to the soldiers, and they started to spread out, some stamping out small fires, a couple others running to the river, grabbing buckets, probably for the bigger fires.

Amy's eyes looked over the scene of carnage. She couldn't - she couldn't say how many were injured, or how badly, not from here. How many were dead? She could hear moaning and groaning and the man she'd healed was pulling himself up onto his feet.

"I - thank you, I-" he started, but Amy held up her hand, cutting him off.

"Don't thank me, just go. There's more people to heal." His eyes caught onto the faintly glowing green mark on her hand and then he looked up to the Breach - it was distant, but visible even here.

She started to walk away before he could say anything, looking for Katerina. She found her, crouched low, at the body of the woman covered in frost. She wasn't moving, there was no sign she was alive at all.

Not dead until they're warm and dead. That was the saying, but Amy's powers could bypass that, more or less.

"Can you help her?" Katerina asked, looking up to her, and Amy opened her mouth, closed it, then.

"I don't know." She crouched by the woman's body and touched her, rubbing a bit to get past the layer of frost on her neck, her hand wet as it melted under her touch.

Nothing. No reaction. There no doubt was living stuff inside her body, and Amy could pick up a handful of surviving bacteria on her skin, but the skin itself... she couldn't sense it.

"She's dead." Amy pulled her hand away, standing back up, looking to the side -

She saw the body of the Templar Katerina had killed - she hadn't actually beheaded him like she'd imagined, but her sword had hacked into his neck and snapped his collarbone, cutting deeper downward a bit into his chest.

It was a gruesome sight, but Amy had seen worse after bad car accidents.

Varric and Solas were coming closer, Varric slinging his crossbow back over his back.

"Find everyone who's wounded." Amy said to them both. "You too," she added to Katerina. "If they can walk, then - they can wait a bit first. But everyone who can't, find me, bring me to them. We'll have to triage this."

"Triage?" Katerina blinked. "And I'm not going anywhere that you're not-"

"The people attacking are gone, and you've got injured soldiers and dying civilians all over this village!" Amy snapped. She cringed a little internally as she started to shout, drawing attention to herself, but this was exactly the sort of situation she had to do this. "So yes, you're going to go out and help find people who need to be healed. Anyone serious, I'll do as fast as I can. Anything smaller I'll do after, or maybe Solas or one of the other mages that came with us can do."

She looked over at the elf.

"My reserves are a little low after the fight, but I will do what I can," he nodded.

"Good." No one moved, and Amy gestured "Move!"

---

Pretty much every soldier and scout of the Inquisition had been wounded, though only a few truly seriously. The guy who had been stabbed in the armpit had been pretty close to death, bleeding out from the injury. Had the blade gone a little deeper, or angled a little differently, he wouldn't have lived long enough for her to heal him, but none of them were dead.

Amy checked every single one, handing a few off to Solas, and telling the rest to just drink a potion or rest or whatever. She couldn't afford to waste time healing minor injuries.

Mixed in with the wounded soldiers were the wounded residents of the village, and the refugees. Again, some serious, some not, but the serious were more - they didn't have armor to blunt the wounds, or training or anything. Just people trying to survive, desperate to live their lives.

Heal one, onto the next, trying to triage the worst of it - but here, there were a dozen that were too dead by the time she got to them, another that had been given a serious blow to the head, cracking the skull, rattling the brain around in there. She could heal his skull, but she didn't touch the brain.

"I can't do anything for his brain," she'd told what she thought was the old man's wife. "He should be fine, but - head injuries are..." she shook her head, trying to block out the woman''s sobbing and desperate pleading, moving onto the next one.

And then the next one.

There were way, way too many.

Amy crouched down next to another one, unconscious, touching a limp hand, and sucked in air in a sharp inhale.

The bones in her right arm, just below the elbow, were shattered. Shards digging into flesh and causing major internal bleeding.

Something hit her arm with a lot of force. She'd healed something like this once - someone had fallen off a horse (at the same stable Sarah had tried dragging everyone to) and the horse, panicking about something, had stomped on his leg. She hadn't seen any horses in the village yet - maybe they'd run off - but a soldier in heavy armor could probably do the same thing if they -

"Get away from her!" A hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled at her, sending Amy sprawling back, nearly hitting her head against a signpost. She looked up to see a young man, frantic, eyes wide, a knife in his hand. "She doesn't need a mage like you with your Maker-cursed touch! Your kind are the reason this is happening!"

Amy sat up, glaring at the man. "I'm not a fucking mage, and even if I was, I think she'd rather have a working arm, don't you!"

"My wife is a good woman, loyal servant of the Maker and she needs no magic!" He protested. "Magic is-"

"No more evil than a blade, when turned to noble purpose," a voice with a vaguely French accent, a lot like Leliana's, but not exactly, said from behind Amy. She turned her head, and saw a dark-skinned woman wearing those red and white robes Amy had by now determined were Chantry robes with a weird, sorta... inverted triangle shaped hat? It reminded her of the thing Nuns had on their head, but only in the vaguest of senses. After a moment, Amy remembered she'd seen the same hat on Divine Justinia in that 'echo' of what had happened right before the explosion at the Conclave.

Mother Giselle, I presume?

"But-" He started, and the woman - Giselle - held up a hand.

"Hush, dear boy, and let this one heal your wife."

He opened his mouth to protest, then closed it, shoulder's slumping in defeat and he stepped aside. Amy pushed herself up onto her feet, and then crouched by the unconscious woman again. The pain had probably been enough to knock her out, or something. She touched her, and nodded after a moment, getting a look at her biology.

"It's going to take a minute. Putting the pieces of her bones together won't be easy. But I can do it. Stay quiet, and stay back," she growled that last part.

She focused all her attention on the woman, slowly pulling the bones closer together, closing the internal injuries, redirecting the blood back into her arteries and veins, then she had to rearrange the shards of bone, getting them into the right orientation... in theory she could have just cannibalized all the material and remade and connected the bone manually, but it was less taxing to the body if she could just sort of... fit all the pieces of bone back together, like a puzzle.

She bit her lower lip, hearing raised voices next to her, but mostly able to block them out as she fit the bits of bone together, and used a bit of excess tissue to make the rest of the stuff needed to fuse the bone together.

Like the boy, and the people she'd healed at Haven, this woman, and the others in this village she'd healed so far, just didn't have a ton of spare mass to work with. Hell, this woman had probably not been eating as much as she should, though she wasn't seriously malnourished, yet.

Need to get Fugly Bob here to introduce Thedas to greasy calorie bombs. It was a rare person back home that was this short on spare biomass - sure, she'd had people who just didn't have enough for the sheer scope of the injuries, but even someone like her sister, who had amazing metabolism, exercised and ate healthy, had spare fat in a way that a lot of people in Thedas just didn't seem to have to.

For once, the average American diet actually works out for the best. Fast Food and other junk can save lives, who knew?

Finally, though, she was done, and she stood up.

"Her arm is fixed, the internal bleeding is stopped. She's going to need more food when she wakes up." She looked over to the woman's husband, and saw Katerina had pinned his arms behind him.

"This, Amy, is why you don't tell your bodyguard to go away! People attack you!" His knife was on the ground, probably forced out of his hand by Katerina.

"He was merely afraid for his wife, and let that fear rule him," Giselle said calmly, reaching out slowly towards Katerina. "You have performed your duty, she is safe and unharmed, so please, let this one go and allow him to see to his wife."

Katerina met Amy's gaze, and raised an eyebrow.

"You're asking me if you should let him go!? Amy demanded. "What the hell? Why are you asking me?!"

"He attacked you. It's ask you, or ask Lady Pentaghast. No one else here can really give me orders."

I can't give you orders either! Amy ignored the fact that Katerina had obeyed her when she'd ordered her to go help find the injured. That wasn't the same thing at all. That was medical emergency related stuff. Something she actually knew something about.

"I don't - I can't -" Amy started, shaking her head, then closed her mouth and - "Let him go, fine, whatever, just - I'm not a mage, you stupid idiot." She directed that at the husband. Katerina let go of his hands and gave him a very light shove towards his wife. Amy turned away from him, looking at Mother Giselle. "You're Mother Giselle?"

"I am," she nodded. "And you are the one they call the Herald of Andraste."

"They can call me that all they want, I'm still not," Amy countered. "You wanted to talk to me, but I have people to heal, so we can talk while I'm doing that, unless I need to focus, or you can wait."

"Amy!" Katerina looked aghast. "You can't just - she's a Reverend Mother!"

"And I'm a healer. I've been a healer for two years, I've only had this stupid mark for like, a week." Amy blinked, then, "Eleven days. So - week and a half?" She shook her head. "The point is, I'm not going to not heal people who need my help."

"Admirable. I will go with you as you heal. There may be others who resist allowing a mage to heal them."

"Not a mage," Amy repeated, sighing. "I'm going to be saying that over and over and over again. My power isn't magic - you can ask Cassandra or Solas, they say they know magic when they feel it, and neither of them think my power is magic."

Giselle stared at her wordlessly for a moment, and Amy turned, moving to look for another injured person, and then found one, sitting propped up against a tree, a bloody gash on his face, breathing slowly and shallowly. She crouched by him.

"Do I have your permission to heal you?" She held out her hand. He said yes, and Amy set to work.

"A Seeker and a Mage would presumably know if magic is present," Giselle eventually said, conceding Amy's words. "But you seem to grasp that convincing others of this will be hard."

"Doesn't mean it's not true." She closed the cut on his face, fused the fractured ribs and the other injuries worth addressing right now, and stood. "I'm not from Thedas," she said firmly, "And before I woke up here, I didn't know magic was actually a real thing, it was just in stories." Where I'd like it to stay, damnit!

"Then Thedas must seem a very strange land to you indeed."

Try fucking insane.

"Very," Amy agreed, crouching next to someone else - the injuries she was dealing with now were still worth healing, but nothing as bad as some of the earlier ones, thank god. "I went from being a healer in a city where everything made sense, and then waking up in a cell with this stupid thing on my left hand," she held up the offending appendage for a moment, drawing attention to the green lines on it, "and a bunch of people accusing me of blowing up a Conclave and killing people I'd never heard of. And then, after I risk my life trying to close that thing," she gestured up at the distant Breach, "I wake up and find out people are calling me the Herald of a prophet I've never heard of on behalf of a god I don't believe in. It's been a fun week and a half."

Amy sighed. "If you asked me here because you wanted to ask me if I was actually sent by your Maker, the answer is no, I wasn't. Whatever people think of me. And I'm going to keep reminding people I'm not a Herald of anything."

"We seldom have much role in choosing our fate," Giselle said, noncommittally, following alongside her. Amy could hear Katerina walking just behind the two of them.

Great. Another 'God works in mysterious ways' type person. Fun.

"So that means you agree with everyone?"

"I would not presume to know the intentions of the Maker, for any of us," Giselle said, not really answering the question again. "What I do know is that you are the one who was able to stop the Breach from growing, or at least, that is what the Inquisition is saying."

"I also close rifts, but yes." Amy nodded.

"Then whatever else, you are our best hope for resolving this crisis," Giselle pointed out. "Does the Inquisition have a plan for finishing what you started, and closing the Breach?"

"In theory, yes, but the mages and the Templars - the ones that aren't just crazy and attacking everyone - aren't responding to our messages asking for their help." Amy half-muttered that part, but from the quizzical look on Giselle's face, she had heard Amy.

"You require their assistance?"

"The assistance of one of them, yeah. Apparently, this... mark doesn't have enough power to close the Breach entirely all by itself. We need either like, a lot of mages for their power, or a lot of Templars to... weaken the Breach or... something. But no one is taking our calls. Leliana is hoping you might be able to help with that."

"I do not believe I can do much to directly convince either the rebel mages in Redcliffe, or the Templars under Lord Seeker Lucius to aid you," Giselle admitted, sounding genuinely remorseful. "But I have no doubt that the denouncements of you, and the Inquisition that are slowly spreading across Ferelden and Orlais are part of the reason why they will not listen to the Inquisition's entreaties."

"And you can help with that?"

"I believe so. I am familiar with some of those who seem to be leading these efforts, and more who will likely join in." Giselle explained. "Divine Justinia called many of her allies to the Conclave, and too many perished with her. Many of the Grand Clerics and influential Reverend Mothers who remain are those too closed-minded or self-interested to be of use in trying to broker peace between the Mages and Templars. Many indeed are grandstanding, in hopes of influencing the coming election for a new Divine."

"More politics. Jesus Christ, I'm already sick and tired of politics getting in the way of closing the Breach." The sooner the Breach was closed, the sooner she could try to find a way home.

"Some are simply terrified. So many were taken from us, senselessly," Giselle said softly, chiding Amy a bit. "They are using the only tool available to them to lash out at the unfamiliar, the strange, anything they can use as a target to blame."

"And in the process, they're probably making things worse," Katerina spoke for the first time since the discussion with Mother Giselle had really begun. "The Breach needs to be closed. Nothing else should matter."

"The directness of a soldier," Giselle said with a small chuckle. "You are correct, but too many simply do not know what to believe. Are you truly sent by Andraste, the Maker, to save us? Are you a false prophet, who destroyed the Conclave merely to create an opening for your own ends?"

"I'm seventeen! What possible evil schemes could I be running?"

"I had heard you were young, but I did not realize you were quite so young as that," Giselle said after a moment. "But I do not say that they are correct. You could be what you claim to be, not sent by the Maker, but still capable of saving us all and closing the Breach. Whatever else, I believe your intentions are good. But the ones denouncing you do not know you. They do not know what you or the Inquisition truly represent."

Still stupid idiots making things worse. Amy agreed with Katerina there. She let out a wordless sigh, healing another villager, and then a soldier. As Amy worked, Mother Giselle kept speaking:

"Their greatest strength will be their unified voice, if they are allowed to gather and speak as one. Already I know some are moving towards Val Royeaux. Others likely are as well. But if you preempt that unified voice, if you go to them, prove you are not a demon to be feared..." she trailed off for a moment, then, "You need to give them something to believe. Something to have hope in."

Amy blinked, hating that this woman was making sense. Hope was important, she got that. She knew how important it was especially because she never fucking had any of it, back home, most days.

Amy finished with the soldier she was patching up, and then stooped, turning to Mother Giselle. "I don't believe in your religion, I barely even understand it, and I -" she managed to bite her tongue before she said it was all stupid bullshit. "And I think it's all pretty -" she cut herself off again, and then, "Locking mages up in prisons just because they're born with an ability that makes them maybe dangerous is fucked up, okay? And I can't just pretend it isn't. So what makes you think I can convince any of them to listen to me? I might just make it worse."

"If no one in the Chantry had ever had concerns about the Circles, then Justinia would not have tried to reign the Templars in, nor tried to call for peace," Giselle answered, quickly, smoothly, always having an answer for everything. Then she looked down at the ground, then back to her, voice lower. "I must admit, I do not know if you can convince them. But I do not see how you could make the situation worse."

"I could make them call a holy war against me?" Amy suggested. "It can always get worse."

"Without a Divine, no Exalted March can be declared," Giselle answered, completely missing Amy's point. "But in truth, you do not need to convince them all. Merely some. And even more, you must convince them to doubt, to think twice. As I said, their greatest strength will be their unified voice. Prevent them from using it, or take it away from them, and it may give you the time you need to convince mages or Templars to aid in closing the Breach. The Inquisition's and your actions here in the Hinterlands may also aid with that."

"Yeah, I heard there were rifts in the area. I'll have to close them while I'm here." Amy sighed. "So you asked me to come down to the Hinterlands to suggest I go all the way to this... Val Royeaux to confront the Chantry leadership? This couldn't have been a letter?" This meeting could have been an email. She'd heard Carol say something like that about stuff at work, before.

"I wanted to take a measure of you first, and I hoped that the Inquisition would send aid for the refugees here when you came." Giselle admitted. Amy let out a small breath. She supposed that made sense too. "But I come bearing more than a simple suggestion. I can provide names, and information on those who will gather in Val Royeaux, and perhaps those your Sister Leliana can persuade to go there, to create a more favorable audience."

Amy took a deep breath, and then let it out. "Yeah, that...that could probably help." She sighed. Travelling down here to the Hinterlands had been annoying enough, she didn't even know how far Val Royeaux was but she doubted she'd enjoy the trip and -

And then she'd have to... what, do public speaking in front of a bunch of priestesses who probably thought she was the Antichrist, or... the local equivalent? Anti-Andraste?

She swallowed, that pit of dread in her stomach returning with a vengeance.

With any luck, Josephine has had success in getting help already or Leliana has a better idea by now or...

Amy couldn't count on luck. She looked over at Giselle, and then, "Thank you." She added.

Giselle nodded. "I do not know, truly, if you have been touched the Maker, sent to aid us. But I would like to believe that for all that he has turned from us after our sins, he would not abandon us so utterly in the face of the troubles that stand before us."

Oh for the love of -

"Regardless, the Inquisition seems to be the only ones focusing on the Breach," Giselle added. "And you the only one who seems possibly capable of closing it. And the only one who can give us hope, right now." She bowed her head a little, then, "Will you continue your healing of the refugees here? Many are sick. Can you heal their illnesses?"

"I can, as long as nothing's spread to the brain," Amy nodded. "The plan was for Cassandra and the others to like... clear paths to rifts and then come back and get me and I can be on hand to close them." Probably after more demons get spat out, judging from experience, but. "So I guess I'll be here between those times."

"And I won't be letting you stray very far from me," Katerina said firmly. "If most of the soldiers, and Lady Pentaghast are out scouting for rifts or scouring the area for more renegade Templars and mages, then the risks if someone does attack the village again..." she shook her head. "No more sending me away, Amy. That stupid idiot with the knife won't be the only one to think you're a mage and get violent about it."

Amy sighed. "I only sent you to find people that needed my help. It's not like I'm constantly trying to ditch you." Her sister would. Vicky would be offended at having a bodyguard - not that she'd need one, but she imagined Cassandra and the others might still think their 'Herald' needed one.

"If you intend to continue to help these people, and if the Inquisition can improve their situation and protect this village, then I shall go to Haven, and tell all that I know to Sister Leliana. I know from her reputation she will be better able to know what she needs to know than I will."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it." Amy nodded. She took a breath, then swayed a little, suddenly feeling a gnawing in her stomach - a different gnawing than that pit of dread she was still dealing with.

Fuck, I don't think I've eaten since breakfast. She reached into the pocket of her robes and pulled out a piece of jerky. It would be something at least.

"Let me eat this, and have some water and then... we can get back to it." Amy took a breath, then looked at Katerina, tilting her head up to meet her eyes. "Just like in Haven, keep people from crowding me, please, and - just - don't let them thank me or beg for my blessing or whatever else they try to do. I'm here to heal, and that's it."

---

You're getting this chapter early because I am ahead of my buffer. But the general schedule of 'sundays, every two weeks' still stands, so you can expect the next chapter, unless I get ahead of my buffer again, to be posted two weeks from tomorrow (that is, Sunday). At current pace it is likely I will beat my buffer again, but it is far, far from guaranteed.

I will also remind readers of the Tv Tropes Page, and I would love it if people would add more to it, but either way, I'm just really happy that it exists.