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Language:
English
Series:
Part 5 of Forbidden Magic
Stats:
Published:
2015-04-05
Completed:
2016-01-19
Words:
200,235
Chapters:
48/48
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247
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455
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O Seeker Still Seeking

Summary:

The Breach threatens the world, and the only person who can do a thing about it doesn't even know how she got here.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

O Seeker Still Seeking

Through the black of the night and tear in the sky

The tongue of the righteous asks questions of why.

The Veil has been rent and the Maker undone.

Bright servant comes seeking the light of the sun.

O Seeker still seeking, your heartache resplendent,

Foregoing your heartbeat in struggle transcendent.

O Seeker still seeking for safe harbor home

One the Maker has marked you have marked for your own.

" O Seeker Still Seeking" by Raven Sinead

Prologue

The world explodes in glorious green light. She finds herself on the ground; has no memory of why. The world around her is strange, all glimmering stone devoid of color. Everything is green. The air is green. Her breath is green. It comes in hot, humid gasps. Her heart pounds faster than she thinks it has ever beat before.

A pain, hot like coals, slithers from her hand up her arm. She cries out, holding up her arm and gawking. It is made of green light. Her muscles feel weak, like when she's had a fever. How is her arm made of green light?

A sound like a blade sliding on stone; she drops her arm, turning to find some creature bearing down on her. It has many eyes, many legs. It is the stuff of her nightmares. She runs.

Her heart miraculously beats faster, her arms and legs pumping furiously. Never has she run like this. One does not run like this in the forest. It would frighten all the animals, all the game, and besides that, there are too many obstacles. But never before has she been chased by giant spiders the color of the slick, black tar she once saw in a pit, full of animals' bones. She runs so they do not get her. Better for her heart to give out than for those creatures to capture her.

Ahead there is a light. It is different from all else around her. It is gold. It is pure. She knows it is safety. She veers for the cliff between herself and the light, taking a running leap. She has climbed her fair share of cliff faces, sometimes needing to do so in order to get the lay of the land, or to see if it is worth it to find a way to move the entire clan to the cliff top. This cliff is somehow easier and more difficult. She cannot delay, cannot take her time, cannot find the steady rhythm she is accustomed to. She must move as quickly as possible, and trust that she finds the hand- and foot-holds that she needs as she needs them.

The light clarifies. It is… a woman? A hand reaches for her as she runs out of hand-holds, and she launches herself, hand stretched out, reaching, reaching…

The world explodes in green, and pain bites into her face. The last thing she sees before the blackness takes her is the green light of her hand, pulsing, silhouetted against the black stone of a castle.

The air and everything it touches is still inexplicably made of green light. The woman made of pure gold light is gone.

Notes:

Feel free to skip this if you aren't fond of long author's notes. I seem to be fond of them. Sorry about that.

Alright folks. I waited as long as I could. I've played DA:I through three times now, I've cemented how I want a few key things to go down, and I've decided how I want to structure this beast of a game so that it's manageable to read. Hell, I've even written an AU based on this universe before having written the damn fic!

Here is the first installment of my telling of Inquisiition. It will not span the whole game. The game will be split probably at least into three fics, and I'll likely take a break between each. I apologize for those of you who are fans of my ME fic That Which Matters Most - for now I lack inspiration on that one. My focus is on this story, and on an original project I'm working on. I'd rather TWMM be good than to try to grit my teeth and make it happen, all while really wanting to start this one, instead. I'll revisit it later, when this first installment of DA:I is done. Hopefully my muse will start talking to me about Ash and Sam by then.

For those who want a recap, or for those who don't feel like reading Forbidden Magic first (or who want to know why they ought to read FM first), what follows is a synopsis of my retelling of Origins, Forbidden Magic. It is by no means encompassing of the giant, 300+K word monster that is FM. I definitely leave some things, and characters, out of this recap.

Solona Amell survives her Harrowing, but does not leave the Circle unmarked. They shaved her head and tattooed her face to permanently mark her as an apostate. She befriends Alistair, who becomes as a brother to her, and becomes utterly devoted lovers with Leliana. Wynne and Zevran become intimate and fall in love, and even Alistair and Morrigan find something that looks like affection, even if only for a single night. Morrigan can't give of herself like that, however, and ultimately breaks Alistair's heart.

Solona discovers over the course of the fic that she has a special connection to the Fade. She is an arcane warrior, and is shown in the Gauntlet that Andraste had a mighty Order of Arcane Warriors as the backbone of her army against Tevinter. Indeed, it was these warriors's strange power that was the impetus behind Tevinter bringing blood magic into the world. Over time, Solona begins to control her magic, learning in Orzammar's Shaperate that she will have truly mastered it when she can spiritually straddle the Veil.

When they reach Denerim for the Landsmeet, they take Fergus into Howe's estate and find that Howe has been keeping Fergus's sister, Elissa, captive, and was tortured when she would not agree to marry him. Elissa is saved, and she and Alistair marry and then fall in love, and become Ferelden's next queen and king. But Morrigan offers Alistair a way to save the sister of his soul, and to save himself for his wife who has lost so much, and to restore his fertility so that Ferelden does not find itself without an heir yet again. Alistair agrees to the dark ritual, unbeknownst to Solona.

Atop Fort Drakon, Solona learns that to straddle the Veil is to see the world from all angles in a moment without time. She defeats the archdemon, attempting to bring its soul into the Fade with her. Leliana is fatally wounded, burned beyond recognition by the explosion of the archdemon's body, and is only saved by Wynne, who calls forth her spirit and heals all atop the fort, to her own death. Leliana awakens with her horrid scarring having been burned away, but no longer able to hear a single thing.

Morrigan saves Elissa from an ogre and then leaves, never to be seen again. Alistair must tell Solona, amongst learning of Leliana's deafness and Wynne's death, that he went behind her back and created the tainted child with Morrigan. That is why Solona did not find the archdemon's soul in the Fade. They keep it to themselves, a secret even from Leliana.

The story ends with Leliana and Solona making love for the first time since Leliana lost her hearing. It is a reaffirmation of their love and devotion, and a promise for good things to come.

DISCLAIMER: All characters and world belongs to Bioware. Except those that are of my creation. Yes, I know that's vague. It'll be fine, I promise.

Shout-out to my awesome friend and beta, Raven Sinead, who wrote the opening poem for me on a whim and allowed me to use it here, and who continues to allow me to bounce ideas off of her.