Let No Soul Hunger For Justice: Once Upon A Dream

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders, Adelaide, Nathaniel, Bethany, Shale, Samouel, Terra, Twisted Fate
WHAT: A merry little jaunt through the Fade.
WHEN: Bloomingwhatsit 15
WHERE: Half an hour outside of Skyhold
NOTES: Plotting post here

Maybe if this one fails too he can pin it on the location. Not that any of them will buy that, but hey, it's the same spot as the others. Maybe the veil's weird here. It was weird in Kirkwall.

And maybe he's just looking for excuses that aren't Justice when he already knows what the likely flaw is.

Comments

Setup/arrival/discussion

[justice_is_blond]

There are cushions this time, places to sit that are surprisingly comfy despite being the weatherproof sort. There's also a tent. They'll be in the Fade, so long exposure to the elements isn't something they want to risk. There are enough risks as it is already.

[justice_is_blond]

1

There are kittens in the corner. Just a couple, but they're there. If truth is to be told, they simply happened to be in the wagon they'd moved the tent over here in, and no one had noticed. Anders isn't going with that story.

"I tried to convince Adelaide that we needed fifteen cats each in case things went wrong again, because the Fade's simply that awful. These are all she let me bring."

2

"Careful." He's helping portion the lyrium out into vials, and it's tricky stuff. "We don't want this spilling. Are you... Well. I'd ask if you're ready, but there's no actual being ready for the Fade, is there?"

1 - Of course

[el_tybs]

He can agree that the Fade can be pretty awful, but hearing 'in case things went wrong again' isn't very comforting. Obviously the other rituals didn't work, but going wrong? Sam's lips thin a bit as he looks at the man they're going to help, but honestly it's hard to concentrate on that because there are kittens in the corner.

The soft mews and slightly awkward butt wiggling as they walk is certainly distracting. "Wouldn't that be... a lot of cats?" Was that over a hundred if it was fifteen each? "They're cute," he says continuing, squatting down to get a better look at them.

[justice_is_blond]

"Eight times fifteen is... Yes. A lot." He could figure it out. He just doesn't want to. Besides, it's entirely not true and he expects Adelaide to be slapping him upside the back of the head for telling people it is any time now. "But they fix a great many things."

Optimism is not Anders' strong point. "Like having to sing for a day. Much better with cats."

2

[iknowlove]

Everyone here is so... strong, so practiced and confident in their art that Terra has to wonder what she's doing among them. Well, no, she knows, but she doesn't feel good enough, not nearly up to par. But she's going to try her hardest.

She sits straight-backed, absently toying with her fingers, and the sudden voice makes her jump a little. She really hadn't been paying attention, had she? Her eyes lift and nerves strike her again as she looks at him, his image occasionally flickering in her vision. "No. No, I suppose there isn't, is there? I'm--" Terra pauses and tilts her head thoughtfully. "Usually they come to me. I've never had to the opportunity to go to them."

[justice_is_blond]

"That's why you're invaluable to this." She's nervous, and the fact that he's a little tense can't be helping. Anders makes an effort to breathe and be comforting; it's important. "That they come to you, that you're familiar. If we're to find the... Hah. If you all are to find the divide between me and him, you'll need that familiarity while I sit there and don't actually help with anything at all."

That's another thing that has him tense. He likes helping. He doesn't know what to do when he isn't. Sitting around waiting for others to help him is nearly unbearable.

1

[dwarfing]

Cats. Really. There are kittens climbing on them and Shale was tempted to flick them off like tiny, furry bugs. If it wouldn't upset everyone, that is.

Shale was starting to miss Jonas and his dumb shit, okay? This was foolish, and they're not sure why they even volunteered for this. It wasn't as if they enjoyed the Fade at all.

"Is it ready yet?"

[justice_is_blond]

"It's ready." He knows Shale means him now. It's still weird to be seen as an it... but then again, they're a golem. Everything would be it, wouldn't it? The title isn't because he's a mage or abomination. Anders can deal with that.

"It's not exactly eager to go back in. I've been in there a couple of times. As have you, at least once, possibly more, if stories are anything to go by. Here's hoping you don't have a rocky time." Here's hoping he doesn't get punched for that.

2.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

"No, there never is. My father always liked to call it the 'great dive into your unknown mind'." Bethany stated simply, a quiet smile on her lips. "But I always try to remember - it's my own mind. I can control it."

[justice_is_blond]

"Also remember not to trust what you see. Always ask questions." The only good thing about Circle training had been that lesson. And maybe learning how to heal, but that doesn't matter here. "He went into detail with the Fade?"

He's glad, though, that she's been spared the Harrowing. That did nothing for mages.

2.

[wickedchase]

"No, not really. But then, I knew what I'd agreed to."

Twisted Fate shrugs and works on helping to pour the lyrium. "It'll work or it won't. Either way, I'm willing to give it a go if it makes your head a little less crowded."

[fleurdesel]

1

Adelaide double, triple checks the usual circle for the ritual- and spends the rest of her time carefully brewing the potion all of them shall be drinking to step into the Fade. This is the first that holds true risk and as such? She is tense. Quiet. Intent on every drop of Lyrium under her hands.

2

Circle drawn, lyrium settling in it's vials- they need to wait to achieve maximum potency- Adelaide settles off to the side with one of the stow away kittens in her lap, stroking it's fur.

2

[justice_is_blond]

"I really didn't see them when we departed from Skyhold." It's not defensive or an apology. It's just something to say as he sits down near her, quietly. "Though I'm telling everyone that you're the reason we don't have more."

The Ritual Itself

[justice_is_blond]

It's time to take a sip of lyrium and step into a lovely land where everything is gloom and confusion. What could go wrong?

[fleurdesel]

"You know how this goes now, Anders. In the circle. Everyone else? Have a seat." The cushions are dispersed evenly around the barrier placed- and once everyone is comfortable? Adelaide walks around to hand them each their vial of lyrium potion. She's done what she can to make it taste of honey or- well- not lyrium, but there is only so much one can do.

[el_tybs]

Looks like they were finally ready to get going. Sam doesn't say much as he pulls himself away from playing with the cats and moves himself to one of the cushions set out for them. His lips thin a bit when he's finally handed a lyrium potion, being mindful not to swirl it too much. "This should... fun, right?"

Aftermath

[justice_is_blond]

Never ask what could go wrong. Too late now...

Nathaniel

[pinprick]

By virtue of being one of the few who weren't knocked out from this ritual, Nathaniel spends the better part of two days nursing the unconscious. If he pays special attention to Bethany and especially Anders, only those who are also awake will be able to blame him. Gently easing drops of water through parched lips, extra blankets, quiet worrying, everything he knows to do. As he's entirely untrained, he doesn't know to check for sores or anything else.

When he has run out of things to do, he is sitting by Anders with his elbows on his knees, staring into space.

[justice_is_blond]

When he wakes up, it's slow, a shift of movement, a growing awareness. At first, all he knows is that his back hurts, that his nose is chilly, that his mouth is dry, and his mind goes back to when he was on the run and camping in the wilds alone. But that's not right. Training to question everything when sleep's involved starts kicking in. Skyhold. Wardens. Justice. Nate. The rituals. It all rushes back and he sits up abruptly and instantly feels a wave of disorientation from getting up too fast. But he's not alone, and his eyes fall on the figure next to him.

"Nate?" His voice is a croak. How had it gone wrong this time, because he can feel Justice still there, still present.

Adelaide

[fleurdesel]

It's a garden, which isn't all that unusual. A garden, a fountain, several arches and trellises of ivy or climbing roses blooming. There's the usual glimmer of the Black City in the distance but for the most part? It is cool, it is calm, and Adelaide flickers between the self they saw in the clearing and one that is younger, dressed in the robes given mages from the Circle, but no less harried, no less tired. For the most part she remains by the fountain, listening idly to a fugue of cool blue that hovers close.

Shale

[dwarfing]

It was Honnleath, because of course it was fucking Honnleath.

It was Shale that was different. Smaller. Weaker. Still stone, because Shale couldn't remember how flesh felt and not even the Fade could remember that for them.

Small, and a dwarf. A female dwarf, a ghost of what Shayle might once have been. A face that was alien to the golem - maybe her soul's memory. Maybe not.

This time they were not stuck in a place forever, which was a blessing. It would have been far too easy to be in the same predicament again. Everything else was still and frozen instead.

Lost in time.

Anders

[justice_is_blond]

It's a barn. He recognizes it once he sees it, even though he hasn't seen it for decades. Even though it got burned down. The lovely mixed aroma of hay and cow is in the air, sunlight comes from a few high windows and the open door, and there's hay scattered across the floor. No cows are in sight and everything seems... big. Or maybe it's simply that the person who remembers it was small the last time they were here.

It changes, becomes unfamiliar, foreign, even though the visual details of stay the same aside from a change in the lighting - a blue glow brightening a few corners. Then it's back again, warm and familiar.

The boy who stands in the middle is unaware of the chaos when he looks normal, but whenever his skin rips open to show blue there is confusion and frustration written all over his face. Trapped, the spirit thinks, and he cannot find a way out.

Bethany

[sunshinethroughgrey]

And there she is in the Fade - she knows it's the Fade, she knows it is wrapped around her mind like a memory. Should she truly be surprised that before her is the town of Lothering, misty in the distance, and when she turns, she knows what she is going to see.

She does so, and there it is. The Hawke family estate, small as it was, simple as it was. Her eyes watered, briefly, but she gripped her hand tight. A memory, nothing more.

Terra

[iknowlove]

Here there are no sweeping villas or open plains or anything in the slightest bit grand. The lighting is dim, dismal, as though someone kept it low on purpose. It is a single room with a candle on the far wall and a large, heavy, locked door. There are no windows, no way to see out except by the barred opening in the door itself.

Terra sits, huddled in the corner, arms wrapped around her legs. The spirits are heavier here, too, whispering incessantly. Terra stares into the dark for a moment before she lowers her face to her knees, burying it there.

A nightmare. It's only a nightmare. She'll wake up, she has to wake up...

Samouel

[el_tybs]

He cannot feel it, but memory serves to remind him that the sand would be cold, the water colder where he stands, bare feet sinking into the wet sand. The waters are calm at this time of day, and while he cannot actually see the sun, the light is coming from the direction it would be setting. There are boats out on the water, and for a time Sam just watches as the shadowed figures haul in fish.

Behind him would be the village he grew up in, but Sam doesn't turn to look. It could be because he was worried that the sight would draw him in, or that there would be something else there to greet him.