faderift | Let No Soul Hunger For Justice: Nothing But The Truth

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Let No Soul Hunger For Justice: Nothing But The Truth

WHO: Adelaide, Alistair, Anders, Bethany, Nathaniel, Varric, Vasran, Velanna
WHAT: The Second Ritual
WHEN: 10th of Bloomingtide (May 10th)
WHERE: half an hour outside of Skyhold
NOTES: Plotting post.

They've kept to the same clearing as the last, because the location's good. Far enough away that no one could stumble upon them by accident, near enough in case something went seriously wrong, it works.

He has scarcely more hope this time than he did the last, but at least there's no singing involved. This can't go as strangely. In theory.

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[Sometimes it's a mercy, he rebuts in his mind. It would serve no good for anyone to launch an argument over Tranquility at this time.

He's bewildered though. He hadn't been trying to be either funny or charming. Just polite and helpful. He's beginning to wonder what truly happened with this ritual because he's never been so openly flattered either. Even his wife had been shy and quiet about her little praises.]

You're welcome. Though I'm not so certain I've ever been called charming in my life. I believe "duller than a rusted letter opener" and "more boring than Mother Hilda's sermons" are what I'm to understand are my main qualities. According to my sister, who is never, ever wrong.

[He shrugs, entirely non-plussed by his own self-degrading. Who is he to argue with his vaunted twin's opinions of his outright uselessness? Rather, he stands and holds out an arm for the taking. He has manners, no matter how dull he is.]

Shall we take a turn outside? The weather's nice and fresh air might be useful for clearing the mind.

[Not how they did it in Kirkwall. Not in a way where the person never feels again.

If he wasn't trying to be funny, or charming, then he had an amazing ability to charm without affectation, and that was even more rare. She looked at him for a long moment, before her mouth pressed together in a faint smile.]

Well, I hate to dispute your sister, but she's wrong. You're kind, and warm, and you feel a great deal under whatever your sister thinks of as dull coverings. I think you lock a lot of yourself away, but I don't know why. I also think your sister is something of a mean brat, for saying such things to you.

[All right, perhaps total honesty wasn't all bad. She looked at her books, then sighed, before she closed the top one and took his arm.]

Might as well. I am getting nowhere here.

[Ah, what's this? A faint twitch of an almost start of a smile? Mmm maybe not. Perhaps just a vaguely amused cheek twitch.]

You are correct in that. Ravonild is a brat, still. She has been all our lives. A woman grown, and a mother, and yet she persists in stamping her feet and demanding her way.

[He dips his head in apology as he leads the way down the stairs.]

I need not trouble you with such nonsense.

If I might, however, what were you studying within?

[Locking himself away? Why yes he is.]

[It still counts, Aleron. She amused you! Even if it was only a cheek twitch.]

Well, she sounds like someone you shouldn't believe about yourself, not for a moment. I don't think she is at all sincere if all she wants is to get her way and put you down.

[She waves her hand.]

Oh, my brother used to nail my braids to the headboard. Families are trying, and twins twice as much.

[Here, she almost twitched, but at least she could be honest without giving too much away.]

I was studying spirit magic.

Or perhaps it is merely the twin brother that is the difficulty in families.

[Maker knows he was considered the trouble in the family, for all that he ever tried to do was please them, until they sent him away.]

Spirit magic. [He's not at all judging. Simply considering the prospects of that line of study. Seeker training has made him suspicious of everything under the sun, but even Aleron recognizes the need for mages to have adequate instruction in how to use their gifts.] Self-study or have you an instructor?

Oh, I don't think so. Gender really doesn't define whether or not someone is a brat - just personality.

[She smiles up at him, arching an eyebrow.]

Frankly I think we got the good twin here. I can't imagine you stomping your foot in a tantrum if you didn't get your way.

[She nodded her head slightly.] I am doing it to help a friend. I already an a Force Mage but ... this won't help him deal with what he's dealing with. [She looked up at him, her smile faint.] Both. I study the theory, then I ask an expert. Adelaide LeBlanc, one of the finest spirit healers in all of Thedas.

Ah good. I do not presume to know all a mage's business, but I do know having adequate instruction is considered ideal.

[Although in these days, he does wonder where and how he would or can contribute on matters of anything pertaining to mages. The Seekers are broken and scattered, the Divine is dead and with her the direction they should be receiving. But those are hard thoughts and not helpful in this moment.

Besides, that's another tiny quirk of a smile.]

But I assure you, I have never stamped my foot a day in my life. Though I am ashamed to confess I have let my temper get the better of me.

[Trust him. Nobody wants to see Aleron lose his temper. He has a long fuse but when it goes, it's explosive. Tantrum is an understatement.]

Honestly? I think the problem with most Circles is that there's never enough education. If mages were properly trained, as I was, in a loving and nurturing environment? There would be fewer abominations and little to no need for Harrowings. The templars could focus on hunting down the real problems - the blood mages and the demons -

[She paused, and then flushed red. To say all these things to a Seeker, of all people! Maker blast this honesty to the Black City and back again.]

I'm sorry, I meant no offense. It's just ... the more I see of Circle mages, the more I realize they are just so ill-equipped to deal with the outside world. I can't imagine that making your job any easier, or the Templars.

[Now that comment? You earned yourself a laugh in turn.]

... Maker, the very image of you stamping your foot - hah! [She smiles at her, before giving him a thoughtful look.]

What makes you angry? You seem so ... calm. Like a lake on a clear spring day.

What makes me angry... lying, betrayal, injustice, harming innocents, selfishness...

[Ravonild, he amends mentally. But he shrugs as the list contains things he considers normal ire raisers.]

I thank you for the compliment though. If I appear calm, it is from years of careful training. A Seeker cannot afford to give in to their emotions. We must be free to take whatever action is necessary, unhindered by feelings. We have a duty to see clearly the truth behind a situation and not permit emotion to slant our view.

It became easier to maintain my composure after I completed my Vigil.

Though do not feel you should apologize for speaking honestly with me. I prefer honesty above carefully chosen words with hidden meanings and intent.

[She nods her head slowly.] I agree with much of that list - although on the first two I won't call myself guilt free. [A heavy sigh goes with a heavy heart.] I would to a lot, to protect a friend. Do you think you can make up for lies, if they were lies made to protect people? Or are they all simply bad?

[She nods her head slowly at that, before she stated quietly.]

We have to do the same with being a Warden -- yes, we deal with a great deal of secrecy, but that is to maintain safety. I personally would not want anyone in Tevinter to get ahold of any of our research. Look what happened when Corypheus was exposed.

[One corner of her mouth lifted.] I cannot help my honesty now -- but I'll know in the future that the truth is what I should always share.

Perhaps, though in my experience, I've found even lies with good intentions end poorly for most involved. Matters of safety and security, to avoid riots or mobs naturally make good sense, though even then I've seen it end badly.

[He's not sorry for his view. If anything Kirkwall proved that even well-intended concealment for the greater good could turn brutally wrong.]

If we are being honest, I confess that I struggle to remember you're a Warden. Most I've known were ruffians or thugs. You seem too kind to be the sort. What made you choose to join them?

[She nodded her head slowly.]

Yes, I can agree that both of these has happened. [Another sigh.] From now on, I'm going to go with my gut instincts there. Lying has never solved any problems. Just ... kept them from exploding sooner.

[Kirkwall was all the more reason for Bethany to remember this. On so many damned levels.]

I didn't choose. [She said frankly.] I had become tainted with darkspawn blood, when my sister and I traveled down to the Deep Roads, to make our family's fortune. Anders told us the only way to save me was for me to become a Warden, so my sister half-dragged, half-carried me across several miles of tunnels while Anders found them - even though he knew they might try to take him back.

[Well, this story was going to keep going, wasn't it?]

We found Stroud ... and my sister and Anders begged him to at least try the Joining with me. I was too weak to really protest - and I didn't want to die. [She sighs quietly.] But for a very long time I resented my sister for taking the choice away from me. I've forgiven her since then, accepted my duties and my responsibilities as a Warden -

[And here comes a heavy truth.]

But if I had the choice today, I would give it up in a heartbeat.

[Immediately, Aleron feels like a right ass asking a personal question when Bethany has no choice but to tell the truth. That feeling is compounded as he weighs the full depth of her answer. There's a reason the women in the family consider him a hopeless mess. This is one of those reasons why.]

Forgive me. I should not have asked such a personal question. It was unkind of me.

[Knowing that he's very much in the wrong for prying prevents him from asking if leaving the Wardens is even an option for her. He has done enough damage. Though he's remarkably surprised that they have a past sense of resentment in common. Not something he openly discusses, but in the spirit of fairness...]

I resented my sister for years. [No, Al, you still do, buddy.] It was not my choice to be sent to the Templars, nor then given to the Seekers. I was in the way, a complication, to her inheritance so I was sent off as a boy. It made life far more tidy for her.

For what it is worth, I am grateful your life was spared, though I should never wish a loss of agency on anyone.

[Bethany shook her head slightly, her smile and tone wry as she squeezed his arm.]

It's not any less than what I have told others, Aleron. Well, except the parts about my sister, and wanting to leave. I ask that you keep that between us, though. The other Wardens don't need to know I've thought about that.

[Now she's the one who looks surprised, because he doesn't seem the type to hold grudges.] ... I'm sorry. I can't believe your family did that to you. That's horrible. [They had never thought to send Carver away, not for a moment, and for all his complaining he never wanted to really leave. That was what family was supposed to do - stay together.]

[She squeezed his arm again, smiling up at him.] Thank you -- and I'm glad, as odd as it sounds, that you joined the Seekers. Otherwise we never would have met.

[Aleron's so uncertain what to do with Bethany being so kind and gracious in light of his prying. He dips his head once, acknowledgement of her request and further unspoken apology.]

I give you my word, I shall never speak of it.

[Her smile is disarming, however, and he knows even less how to react to it. It takes him a moment of blatant gawking and then at twitch at the corner of his mouth before he remembers how to words.]

Thank you. I... I am most grateful for circumstances allowing us to meet. You are a bright light in dark times.

[She looks up at him then, brown eyes searching his face. A lot of people would say that with a wink and a smile so you weren't sure if they meant it. She had a feeling that Aleron meant it to the bottom of his soul.]

Thank you, again.

[Now that was a curious thing right there - curious and intriguing, as she watched him gape at her like a school boy, then that corner of his mouth lifting up into - yes, a smile.

Which honestly just causes her smile to deepen, and herself to flush.]

I - well - I'm glad you think so.

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Let No Soul Hunger For Justice: Nothing But The Truth

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