Ghost Story

[Varric]

"Of course," he replies, swallowing past the tightness in his throat with some difficulty. "Just-- Just a little distracted is all. Tea's a bit bitter, isn't it?"

[GamesMaster]

"Varric, be careful. You have to be careful. You're in grave danger. Are you listening? You're in danger. Please, take your leave. Stay away from ̴̷̧̟̯̲̜͕̪͖͙̒̋͐͊ͅɐ̸̴̸̧̖͖̜̯͇͖̭̻̺̀͋̎̀̎̾́͌̿̀͜͠ɯ̷̴̸̨̧̛͈͍̗͕̝̺̫̳̬̳̜̐͋̒̈́̈́͗̿͐̋̎͗͌̏͑ɯ̷̴̶̤̝͓̹̲̬̐́̄̔͘͜ǝ̴̨̨̳͍̙͚̤̩̳̝̊. Can you hear me? Stay away from--"

With a jolt, things snap back to normal; Bethie has tan skin, pupils, and a relaxed smile instead of a tense, worried expression. There's no more corruption in her words, no garbling, just a high-pitched, easy voice: "What was I saying? Right. Darjeeling is good, but it's not Lady Grey."

[Varric]

Varric stares at Bethie for a long, long moment. "I hate tea," he says quietly, setting the mug down on the table. 

Dream or not, he'd never admit to the tears on his cheeks.

[Marian Hawke]

Emma hands him a stack of papers in the morning, drying tears on her cheeks. She says nothing, only ducks her head and vanishes, heading for her library and the comfort of her books. 

Most of the pages are blank. The first page begins:

 My name is Emma. I was born
I grew up in
I live in Golden Shores in a big empty house all by myself. I have always lived here. I don't leave the house. I am afraid to leave the house. Someone might hurt me. I don't want to be hurt. I don't want to be burned. I don't want to be punished anymore. I don't want to cause fights or hurt anyone else. I just want to be left alone with my books and my big empty house.

I remember reading books. I remember one time a mouse got into the library and I tried to feed it but it ran away. I remember fighting with Varric and running out into the yard and being too scared to leave the yard even though I wanted to go to the woods. I remember someone important is dead. I don't remember who. but she's dead and she's never conming back and her name was

her name is

my name is Emma

My name is Emma My name is Emma My name is Emma My name is Emma 

[Varric]

"Bastion's mercy," Varric says softly, eyes closing. This is far, far worse than I feared. Does she remember nothing more than this (her name, books, a death and a mouse) about herself? Fuck, is even this (little) much accurate? If she's this muddled, then she could very well be wrong about what little she does think she knows. She seems to remember procedural things well enough. Still, this is really bad.

Rising to his feet, he starts for the library, then hesitates. Twenty minutes later, he knocks on the door to the library-- the new door-- and clears his throat. "Emma? I made lunch."

[Marian Hawke]

There's a sniffling sound followed by a sulky, "Not hungry."

[Varric]

Bullshit. I know by now that a lot of (uncultured) people can't see the value of dwarven cooking but you manage to put out nearly as much as me each meal. "Emma." The name is said with fondness yes but also mild rebuke. 

[Marian Hawke]

"That's me," she says, her chipper tone carrying a bitter undertaste. "Emma, the one and only."

[Varric]

Hopefully anyway. Has not escaped me that you might be wrong about your name too. "Glad to confirm that," he says in bland tone. "You need to eat. And company."

[Marian Hawke]

"I definitely don't need company."

[Varric]

"Because you're happy and content at the moment?"

[Marian Hawke]

"Because you don't make anything better, you just run right over my objections," she snaps. "Since I can't stop you, you might as well come in."

[Varric]

"Guilty on the running over part," he allows as he enters the library. "Dispute the not helping though. Regular meals and saving your life alone negates that claim."

[Marian Hawke]

"And you think that makes it better?" Her bunk still being in his room, she's curled up in a pile of spare blankets that form a sort of nest atop the bookshelf.

[Varric]

"Yessss?" he replies, his tone sounding honestly take aback by the idea it doesn't. "I push, sure. Can't and won't deny that. But only when I'm trying to help. Well. Also during academic discussions but that's different."