Making Fen'Harel

Chapter 10

Some NSFW.

Solas took her exploring a few days later. They went a little bit of everywhere. He took her to a place of learning, like a library. He let her watch as a group of people debate what to build and where. He took her to the city core of Arlathan so that she might see its grandeur. That evening he even took her to a theatre for a grand show of magic ability.

She was astonished at every turn. The place of learning was utterly amazing. The buildings literally floated in the sky. Some parts were upside down and people walked on them as if they were not. The Librarians greeted them promptly and asked if they needed assistance. These creatures were like nothing she had ever seen, they were bigger than life spirits that literally just existed to help others find knowledge.

Next he pulled her along, they came upon some people arguing as they passed through what seemed like a thousand Eluvians. One man wanted to build a mansion over there, and the other didn't care about the placement so much as the scenery. They bickered on, oblivious that they were on the same side. She shook her head in disbelief. It was madness. Fen'Harel only laughed at her disbelief and at the petty argument.

She found that these people reminded her of those in Orlais. They were nobles, they hid behind masks and spoke out with nice words aimed to disrespect. She was disappointed a moment, she remembered her time with Solas in Val Royeaux. They had been exiled to a small room for traveling merchants, and not fit for living. There had been no fireplace and it had gotten cold that night so they had huddled together for warmth. The thought that caught her though, was the way he had reacted, like it was no issue. He had agreed that being treated like a servant because of the shape of their ears was wrong, but had said nothing else of it.

Again at the Winter Palace he had said that the nobles were petty. Yet here he was, a God for all intents and purposes. He had always been this man, perhaps he had only put on a show. The thought was brushed away by the press of his lips against hers. It was the same man, but perhaps the legends had gotten it wrong. Perhaps Fen'Harel had not been so wicked after all.

In the magnificent core of Arlathan, she couldn't stop staring. He stopped with her and let her stare a moment at the city, before tugging her onwards. He pulled her towards a ribbon of blue fog that twirled up into the sky where the city floated without reason. She marveled as the stepped onto the clouds, they felt as solid as the ground under her feet as they walked up.

In the heart of the twirling crystalline buildings, she found that there were colors so magnificent they made it hard to see. Colors she couldn't even describe, that didnt exist in her own time. There were trees rooted into place among the fronts of buildings that had twirling branches with bright purple leaves on them. A café floated off to the right, chairs haphazardly strewn around atop a thin fog that somehow held them up.

Orbs of light floated alongside the walkways so that one might see when it's dark. Other elves walked about as well, mostly nobles, a few serving girls worked in small businesses like the café, bars, bakeries, and so on. When she looked down, all she could see through the haze of blue was the tops of bright green trees. Larger trees surrounded the city as well, encasing it in a dense forest.

Her mind couldn't quite grasp everything she seen. How had they managed to lose something so large and bright? She reminded herself of the veil, it broke the magical connection to the waking world, pulling all of this down to the Earth.

"Would you like some cakes, vhenan?" She realized now that he was pulling her into a building, a bakery. The intoxicating smell of delightfully sweet junk food filled her nose and she nodded happily

"Yes! I love frilly cakes, the purple ones are my favorite." She was overjoyed and undeniably hungry. Unfortunately, the purple cakes turned out to be a lot different from the ones of her own time. She didn't like them, it was sour and had some sort of jelly in the middle that was far too tart. Solas requested a box of mixed cakes after she spat the purple jam out and looked at him disgusted.