Solas
My heart plummeted to my stomach as she looked up at me from over the ledge. The veins in her face were starting to turn black. Exhaustion was already showing on her face.
"You still think you're the smartest one here? Silly wolf."
And then she was gone. One metal hand still grasped the edge with my hand still holding onto it. The bindings at the end clinked as her friends and I screamed for her. We were answered with silence.
"Good riddance," Falon'Din muttered.
Rage flooded into my heart. Before I could stop myself, I had turned them all to stone. A familiar weight was on me, and I looked over the Leaquila.
"It wasn't supposed to end like this," I whispered.
"I warned you, Solas," she replied. She looked over to one of the elves in the group. "What do you think, Ves?"
The woman pursed her lips. "I think we should get back and have some food ready."
The others eased up at this. Leaquila nodded and opened a portal. They all went through. She looked at me knowingly. "The city isn't going anywhere." I nodded and moved to go through the portal.
"Solas," she stopped me. "In my experience, it's better if you try to fix what you have rather than starting from scratch."
I nodded. "I'll take that into consideration." I moved through the portal where a familiar elf was waiting for me.
"Da'nas, right?"
He nodded. "Come on, I'll take you to a room. It'll probably take a while."
I was too tired to ask what he had meant.
___________________________________________
Eventually, I woke up and meandered back down to the kitchen.
"Actually, just prepare a whole buffet. Revas won't know what she wants. No doubt she'll just give the rest to Isseya. That bird is already sweet on her," the elvhen woman, Ves, told the chef. Her eyes slid over to me. "Ah, good you're awake. Here's a map Feynriel and Eloise made. They modified it to work in the real world too. See that dot? That's your location. I need you to go to this outbuilding over here. Just give it a couple of minutes. She likes to take her sweet time."
I was shocked. Shouldn't she be grieving for her dead friend? Everyone here was acting so normal, but I felt like I could barely even function. I opened my mouth to say something, but she was already pushing me out the door. It seemed I had not choice at the moment but to follow her orders.
I wandered back through the path we took to get to the castle. As I reached the rift, I saw someone stepping out. I dropped the map when I saw it was Lavellan. She turned her back to me and reached over to pet- was that a griffon? She's petting a fully grown griffon? I felt like I shouldn't be surprised by anything she did anymore, but I was floored. I wanted to run over and hug her, but shame stopped me. I should never have been so foolish. Eventually, the shame was overpowered by my desire to say something and my interest in her bond with the griffon.
"Interesting, she seems to have bonded with you."
___________________________________________
Lavellan
I woke up on a beach shore alone, but it was in a place different than the Fade. I pushed myself up and brushed off some sand. There seemed to be no one around, but it was hard to miss the massive stone walkway directly in front of me. Iron gates prevented entry however. I walked over there and stared at the inscription on the metal plate placed on one of the pillars. There was a veilfire torch above it that I lit to see better.
"The reward of attempting life's labors is ultimate wisdom. What does that even mean?" I paused. "Well, shit. I think I might actually be dead."
"Yes and no," a male voice answered.
I nearly jumped out of my skin. Could it be one of the Cursed ones? I turned to find an elvhen man in a feathered cloak. He looked like an elf anyways, but he felt... off. It was like he didn't fit in himself anymore.
"Who are you?" My tone was guarded.
"Strix, and who are you?"
"Revas Lavellan."
"An elvhen name, but elvhen you are not."
I narrowed my eyes. "You're one to talk."
"Ah, but I was elvhen. Once. A long time ago. Then, I found someone precious I wanted to protect, and I chose to become stronger." He smiled bitterly. "A load of good it did. I lost track of her during the war and thought them dead. I came to this place to find her."
"You're the one who lost his lover. The one who... rose as she put it."
"She?"
"My grandmother. My several greats grandmother. You're partially wrong; I am mostly elvhen. A long time ago, a little something extra got mixed in so I technically have shan lin."
"God's blood. A child of one of the true gods? Who is your ancestor?" His face flashed barely contained excitement and nervousness.
"Leaquila." Joy spread across his features like melted butter.
"Truly? She's alive? How is she? How did she survive the onslaught? What became of our child? No no, nevermind. I see that they likely lived a full life if you're here. Unless she found another partner. Considering she loathed people, I highly doubt that."
He was speaking so quickly that it was hard to keep up. "Yes, she's alive sort of? I guess she's doing okay? I don't know. You guys had a kid? You're her lover? Wait, what?"
He laughed. "Yes, though that was a long time ago. I've been waiting here ever since."
"Speaking of here," I paused to look around the beach. A fog prevented me from seeing out into the ocean and gave the area an eerie feel. "Where is here?"
"This is a place between places. It's where the dead pass through to move on to the next life."
"The next life? That sounds nothing like the Maker's bosom."
He gave me an odd look before continuing. "When a being dies, they walk this path and continue anew in another realm, another universe, wherever they are needed."
"The universes need people?"
"Every world has its own needs, its own will to live. Doesn't matter how little or large the role, everyone is necessary to keep that realm going. When they've fulfilled that purpose, they move on to the next realm. When something tries to disrupt the balance, the universe finds a way to fix it. Regardless, everyone matters, and everything serves a purpose. Beings go on even after they die to us. That is the ultimate wisdom that every soul knows but cannot remember upon rebirth to keep the balance." Upon being told this, it was as if something in my mind clicked. Somehow, I knew what he was saying was true.
"And what of Leaquila's people and the Cursed ones?"
"They created and shaped the races, and most of what is there today was built on their creations. Even still, their actions affect you in the shape of magic and corruption. A balance still. The Cursed ones you brought with you to this side didn't stay here, as you may have noticed. Their souls shattered when you died and became spirits in the Fade."
"So they're gone?"
"Yes."
"And my purpose is finished?"
"It is if you want it to be. Or you could return and help finish cleaning up the mayhem your actions caused."
"Mayhem?"
"You just eliminated corruption and the Blight. I've talked to enough Grey Wardens passing through to know that it will royally mess up their organization."
I thought about it. After all the work and the pain and the end of the Inquisition, a fresh start would be nice, but I had now had two families that would miss me, the remnants of the Inquisition and the other shan lin. I also had Solas. The look on his face as I fell was one of horror, shock, pain, and heartbreak. My conscience wouldn't let me leave it like that.
"I think I need to go back."
"You'll be like me then. An evolved being. You won't know the ravages of time or disease. Others around you will fade and wither, but you will remain until you choose to walk through these gates. That is the gift that knowing Death's true face allows. Your soul remembering the journey allows you to maintain that state."
"Shouldn't Falon'Din have known the way here then?"
Strix laughed again. "That idiot couldn't find his own foot if it kicked him in the ass. No, he stumbled on the portal that leads to this island. He couldn't pass through it however as he was still alive."
"Is that how we'll leave?"
"Ah yes," he said as he started to glow. He morphed into a small screech owl.
"Oh Creators you are so adorable," I murmured to myself. I just wanted to give him all the pets. He stared back at me with annoyance in his gaze. "Oh, alright, alright."
I rolled my shoulders before picturing myself shifting into my griffon form. The process was complete when my palms, er talon-ed feet, hit the ground. But something felt a little different. I looked at my wings that I held aloft and saw that their rich, tawny color had turned into black with a teal shine. My hindquarters were also black with a tail that was more like a panther's than a lion's. Apparently, the ultimate truth also affected my griffon form.
Strix took off towards the mists, and I followed suit. I glanced down at my reflection in the waves and saw I still had an eagle as my front half; it was just black. As we soared through the mists, I saw something that looked like a fade rift up ahead. Rather than a rip in fabric, however, it looked as though a hole had been punched through. It let out to a little island with a boat waiting for passengers. The boatman looked up and waved at us with his skeletonized hand as we passed. I decided to just let that one go.
We passed through the 'portal' and into the Fade, where we landed and shifted back. He looked around.
"She's nearby," I told him.
"Leaquila?"
I nodded. "Her spirit stayed here, watching over us I think."
He nodded.
"If her spirit shatters when she died, why did you think she would be there?"
"I was more there to search for our child. The little ones sometimes need help. I thought if I could just see them before they passed on then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much, but I never met them. You, I could sense after you used magic because your blood has been awakened. When I saw you were sporting her gear and my staff, I figured you were already our descendant. She must've passed on before the child was old enough."
I heard someone clear their throat and saw Leaquila. "Yes, I died a year after. We made our final stand outside Arlathan and locked them away. The battle took too great a toll, and we were just so tired of it all. We needed to move on," she told him.
I noticed a rift was open, perhaps the one they used to leave, and took the opportunity to leave. "I'll let you two catch up."
They barely paid me any mind as I left. I stepped out into the forest just outside the building that housed the griffons. The rift sealed up behind me, likely Leaquila's work. Isseya was waiting for me there.
"Hello, dear. Did you know I was coming, clever girl?"
She chirped in reply and came over for some affection.
"Interesting, she seems to have bonded with you," Solas said from somewhere behind me.
"And I'm rewarding her with the affection she deserves. She's clever enough to not ignore advice from an ancient goddess of wisdom for one."
"Still sharp as ever."
I stopped petting her and turned to face him with my hand on my hip. "Yes, and it has served me well. You don't see me turning the ancient forces of evil loose on the undeserving world."
"I didn't know about it. Leaquila never told me. All she said was not to open the door."
"Yeah, withholding important information is common with her. In her defense, they were locked in a box. I guess the activity of Corypheus weakened the seal considerably. What matters is they're gone now and not likely to return."
"Just not likely?" He raised a brow.
"Well, they're in pieces and strewn throughout the Fade so make of that what you will."
"I see, and how are you alive? Managed to create a rift? Shapeshift?"
I laughed hard. "No. I died. Dead as a doornail, plant me in the ground dead."
Wonder lit his face. "Then how are you alive?" Then understanding dawned. "Strix. He brought you back."
"No, I brought me back. He just helped. I guess I'm like him now." You'll never know the ravages of time or disease. "Evolved. Risen. Whatever." My gaze moved to the ground.
"Why do you look so sad?"
Others around you will fade and wither... "No reason. Just feels weird to be on solid ground." Just that I'm going to outlive all of my friends or leave you behind, which is a choice I never thought I'd have to make.
He moved forward and wrapped me in a hug. "It's going to be okay, vhenan."
"Except I still have to deal with your idiot family. Mentally enslaving them all probably isn't the healthiest coping mechanism." He stiffened. I sighed before asking, "What did you do?"
"I," he huffed. "I petrified them all. I'd forgotten how irritating they were, and I thought- I thought you were dead! And he just had to make the idiotic comment so I snapped."
"As awful as this probably is, I don't really care. They were such shitheads."
His laugh vibrated though my whole body. "They were shitheads, weren't they?" He sighed. "I have such a mess to clean up. You threw my plans into chaos as always."
"It wasn't me, lover. I was doing what the prophecy told me to. It's thanks to me the Cursed Ones didn't possess you and slaughter your followers. You're welcome. Also, your plans were stupid anyways."
He paused in thought. "Leaquila told me something to that affect. I won't be so foolish as to ignore her again."
He released me before kissing me hard. He gave my lip a nip before pulling away.
"I was wondering when you were going to do that," I remarked.
"I was wondering when you were going to do that," he quipped.
"I was possessed by seven demons and died today. I don't have to do anything. Except eat food. I'm starving." He gave me a quizzical look. "What?"
"That woman, Ves, asked the cooks to prepare a buffet for you because you wouldn't know what you wanted to eat."
"Well, she can see the future so that adds up."
Shock flicked across his features. "You're joking? I thought she was just perceptive."
"Nope. That's part of her shan lin magic. Leaquila said it was a passive ability so her blood didn't need to be activated to access it or something. Now, let's go before I starve to death."
A/N: Hi all! As you can probably tell, the story is starting to wrap up in this chapter. The next chapter will likely be the last. I'll try to get that finished in the next couple of days. This was always meant to be a shorter, more concentrated story than other works I've done. (Especially because I was hoping the new game would finally be released soon, but they had to go and drop the Anthem bomb instead. As long as they don't mess the new DA up too badly, I probably won't be disappointed.) I was originally planning for this to be a little longer, but I unfortunately don't have the time or energy for it. I changed my goal to complete the story while I was able while keeping the pacing as natural as possible. Since I left a 'big' cliffhanger last time, I elected to lengthen this chapter a bit to prevent that and to not draw out the story unnecessarily. If there's anything you wanted to see that you haven't so far, just leave a comment or PM me some time in the next couple days, and I'll add it as a bonus chapter/paragraph/essay/etc.