Nothing Remains In The Past - Chapter 6

“You do not know?” Morrigan asked, coming up behind her. Cassandra and Varric stood with the two women, the others scouting for Soora and Solas since Andruil and Falon'Din's sudden departure.

“No.” Flemeth tilted her head, stepping back at the paintings started walking around the room again. “They move as well...this magic hasn't been around since Arlathan.”

“Why is Soora on here?” Cassandra huffed, crossing her arms, “Did she do something in Arlathan that we are unaware of?”

“I do not know what you have been made aware of, child. Mythal took her into Arlathan few times, only once did she scurry away to help some slaves.” Flemeth took the veilfire torch from Morrigan and moved to the other side of the room, watching Elgar'nan's painting walk.

“A slave must have drawn this then...One she helped?” Morrigan thought aloud, moving around the room.

“It is a possibility.” Flemeth pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at the paintings.

Varric nudged Cassandra's hip and raised an eyebrow. Cassandra nodded to him, knowing very well what he was thinking.

“We can't find 'em.” Sera walked into the room, the others soon following after them.

“The temple has an opening in the back, probably from the fight. We found a broken staff, guessing it's Solas'.” Bull walked in, holding the staff broken in three.

“Great.” Cassandra rolled her head, rubbing the back of her neck. “Could Andruil have taken them?”

“She had to.” Dorian sighed and leaned his shoulder against the door frame, “There's no way they would leave us here on purpose.”

“We still have no idea where we are, no idea how far away from civilization...I say we use the amulet to get back.” Soora leaned her head back against the wall and crossed her arms. Solas pinched the bridge of his nose, mumbling under his breath. Soora knew he was disappointed that she used the amulet, he made that obvious clear every time she suggested they use it to get back. She didn't care, he could be pissy all he wanted, they needed to get back and they both knew it. If using the amulet would get them back, why was he so against it? He wasn't against using it centuries ago.

“We don't know where we are, Solas. I'm not even sure we're in the same time that we left. I wasn't thinking about the destination when I jumped through, I just needed to get us to saf—”

“I know, Lavellan.” Solas hissed, “Just...let me think.”

“You don't need to think, Fen'Harel!” Soora growled, pushing herself off the wall and walking in front of Solas. “The answer is yes. I'm using the amulet.”

“No, you aren't.” Solas glared down at her, his arms crossed. “It could—”

“Yes! I know what it could do, Solas. Do you not remember the whole year we spent trying to get rid of the could's?” Soora pulled out the amulet and moved it between their faces. “I am using the amulet to get us back.”

Solas quickly snatched the amulet from Soora, his glare hardening, “No.”

“Solas—”

“What do you mean you lost them?” Someone yelled in elven from within the fog. Solas froze, Soora raised an eyebrow and looked around. Solas grabbed Soora's arm and pulled her back into the tower, hiding behind one of the many bookcases on this floor.

“Solas—”

“Shush.” Solas covered her mouth and narrowed his eyes as the five two figures walk into the tower. Solas peeked through a small crack in the bookcases.

“I don't know! They were there and than, poof. Gone. I don't know what happened.” Falon'Din spoke back in elven. Soora furrowed her brows, the Well slowly translating the words for her.

“You had one job—” Andruil was cut off by three other's entering the room from the upper level. Solas looked down at Soora and whispered that Andruil's siblings were here as well.

“I thought I told you not to go after them.” June lightly slapped the back of Andruil's head, glaring down at his sister. Soora moved to a crack, Solas' hand never leaving her mouth as she strained with one eye to watch the siblings. June's eyes glittered a dark grey, his robes disheveled, torn and burnt. It didn't look like what Falon'Din wore, or even came close to comparison of Andruil's fancy scout armor. His hair looked much like Sera's, though white like her own, cut uneven to keep out of his face while the back of his hair mirrored her own perfectly. Long, wavy and well kept. She could hear armor under his robes, small clinks could be heard. Daggers, perhaps? June is the God of crafts.

“I needed to talk to Fen'Harel.” Andruil moved out of the way before June could slap her again.

“By talk you mean ogle, yes?” Sylaise cackled, an arrow twirling through her fingers. Soora noticed how the skin that showed between her amor was full of scars. Small cuts and large gashes, all healed, were covering her. Her face was mostly untouched, save for a few scars – one nasty scar cut through left her eye, rendering her blind. Her eyes were a mix of gold and yellow, almost like Morrigan's but shown brightly in the darkness like Falon'Din's. Her hair was sandy blonde, dreaded and tangled in knots, she pinned them to the top of her hair, some dreads falling out of the pins and cascading around her neck.

Dirthamen stood silently a ways away from his siblings. Soora felt goosebumps form on her body, shivering. Dirthamen didn't look like his siblings. His hair was pitch black, falling flat down to his waist. The sclera around his pupils were black, matching the rest of his eyes. His skin was ghostly white, untouched by scars or blemishes. He wore black robes, silver veins embroidered the sleeves and a silver Raven sewed onto the back of his cloak. He watched, everything. Soora couldn't tell where his eyes were watching but she was afraid to move for fear that he might see her, even if she was behind a bookcase. Solas noticed Soora tense, moving his head to look at her. He took his hand off of her mouth and cupped her cheek, moving her head to look at him. He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, “Relax, vhenan.”

“Is Mythal really with them? Did you see her?” Sylaise asked, leaning her knees on a chair.

“We didn't see her, only Fen'Harel and the slut.” Falon'Din sighed, sitting on a chair adjacent to Sylaise.

“One of those Qunari things as well...We need to watch him – he will be trouble.” Andruil crossed her arms, glaring down at the table in front of them.

“You know you ruined our entire plan, correct?” June growled, “She was going to bring us who we needed.”

“She still will.” Falon'Din stood up, smirking. “She probably is on her way here as we speak. I gave her something that wolf was unable to.” Solas moved his head away from Soora, his face questioning her. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

Not here. Not now.

“Are you daft?” Sylaise quickly stood up, her chair falling against the ground. “Now you've given her reason not to trust you!”

“Yes because I oozed trust to begin with.” Falon'Din scoffed, rolling his eyes, “She would never trust me – Fen'Harel and Mythal have corrupted her mind to make her believe we're the bad guys.”

“We are the bad guys.” Dirthamen finally spoke, his eye twitching. Soora's breath hitched in her throat, his voice sending chills down her spine. She thought the tranquil spoke with no emotion but Dirthamen spoke with no soul. His voice was a mix of different pitches. His regular monotone voice could be heard clearly, echoes of other voices speaking as he spoke.

“Enough.” Andruil growled, glaring at her bickering siblings. “We need to watch them more. Dirthamen, can you watch them tonight?”

He nodded, his eye continued to twitch.

“While Dirthamen continues to watch them, June and I will come up with a new plan. We need to get Fen'Harel and Mythal here.” Andruil rubbed the back of her neck.

“I'll cook dinner!” Sylaise chirped, smiling.

“No way, you can't cook to save your life.” Falon'Din laughed, earning him a punch in the shoulder from Sylaise.

“Oops.” She smiled.

“Do whatever you want.” June growled, walking out of the room with Andruil and Dirthamen. Sylaise and Falon'Din soon followed after, bickering about dinner.

Soora opened her mouth to speak once the siblings left the room, Solas quickly covering her mouth. He knew they were cautions, most likely still lingering around the outside of this room. Solas waited until he heard foot steps above them to speak.

“Amazing how you thought safety and you threw us into danger.” Solas hissed down at Soora.

Soora pushed Solas' hand off her mouth and hissed back, “It was safe at the time.”

“Come.” Solas peeked his head around the bookcase for anyone else, “We need to get back. If they are here, we can't be far from the temple.”

“Why didn't we see them while we were scouting the temple?” Soora asked once they were outside, opening her palm to form fire for light. “There isn't another way into the tower we could find.”

“More of a reason to leave,” Solas pulled on Soora's arm, moving towards where they heard Andruil's voice, “They could have been watching us.”

“Studying us?” Soora shuddered.

“Another possibility.” Solas started to run.

“We need to tell the others we found them.” Soora said, running behind Solas.

“Agreed.”