Under Darkness [AU]

[Marian Hawke]

Tethras takes aim, but she hesitates, loading the weapon but not pulling the trigger. This won't work. Papa's serious: he believes this to be wrong, and he'll fight me for it. I can't win in a straight fight, he has allies while I'm alone. But if I can blackmail him, if I can offer something he needs or threaten to take away something he loves...

oh. That's... cruel, but she did say any means necessary.

Unable to throw off the Dominate, Tethras instead turns Bianca toward herself...

[Tethras Clan]

And instantly takes a pair of strikes to her right arm, Zevran doing everything he can to destroy the functionality of the limb. "Sorry, ma faulcon faux, but I cannot let you do that," the merikos drow grunts.

Which is a very good thing, as Varric had frozen, utterly and completely incapable of acting as-

"I love you all." Then she turns Bianca in her hands, presses her against her heart, and pulls the trigger.

-he stares at what's in front of him.

[Marian Hawke]

Tethras drops her weapon, the bolt flying off into the distance as the mechanism fires. She howls in pain, drawing back as much as she can, her ruined arm hanging at her side. "What the fuck what the fuck?!" she screeches. 

[Tethras Clan]

Still moving fluidly, Zevran moves with her to try and stay slightly behind the merikos dwarf- and a scant eight inches from her. "I do really regret this, but I cannot allow him to be hurt again," Zevran whisper almost gently as he shifts his focus to her other arm. From what I've seen of both Hawke and Varric, neither would be much of a threat without the use of their hands. Well, provided you don't listen to their clever words.

Varric had jolted at the sound of the bolt flying, at the sound of bone breaking. His eyes widen, glaze, then sharpen. "Tethras! You want my help, right? Then stop fighting! Negotiate!, start small and build momenteum!"


Zevran gives Varric an incredulous look. Stop giving her advice! Oh. Wait. You had better have a plan, old man.

[Marian Hawke]

Negotiate. My arm is broken! Tethras pants, struggling to push through the pain even as she keeps backing away from Zevran. "It's hard to-- ugh-- think through the pain. I could use something to take the edge off," she begins. That ought to be a reasonable request, right? "Maybe a sit." 

[Tethras Clan]

"Good, good," Varric says, eyes flicking to Zevran. 'Go help Aveline and Champion,' he mouths to Zevran, layering some body language to make it clear. Between his devotion, innate inability to be controlled (scamp), and Aveline's proximity, he should be protected from being whammied. And having him slip in and out between the two heavies (fucking dragon how) should help a lot.

Zevran hesitates a moment, but when Tethras starts to sit, he goes along with the plan, though not without another hard look. "Alright. Pretty clear you can't beat me, not with only half a working arm. So, use your head. Negotiate. What do you know about me, what I want right now?" Stall, girl, stall. Just need to delay anything... hostile (I love you all), until thing wrap up over there, so work with me. Slip around the order if you can't fight it. You were told to get my help, force won't work so try something else.

[Marian Hawke]

I know what you want, Papa. It's the same thing I want, only your stubbornness is getting in the way. "I don't know what you want, why you're here. I thought it was to see me, but I was mistaken I suppose. You have an agenda and I don't have the intel to know what it is."

[Tethras Clan]

Varric winces a little at the cut. "I have to admit, if we can figure out a way to... Delve without the cost and risk- maybe some kind of shared dreamscape that's not rooted in either mind?- then I'd love to have a massive aspect party. Be interesting to see the various sides of me. But you're right, this was a lot more than just a visit. Hawke's been hurt. Bad. And her Clan is trying to help. Remember how we discovered that there's been significant over-pruning of memories? That's just a symptom, Tethras."

[Marian Hawke]

"And assuming that's all true, we need to get in that greenhouse to get to the bottom of it. We can't move forward without more intel, and there's none to be gained out here. I've seen every flower in the garden, there's nothing about overpruning or being hurt." Tethras speaks with passion, and not a little urgency. 

[Tethras Clan]

"Very possible, though I would suggest that there is still a few other avenues open that you either haven't considered or can't utilize- remember, we can go to the, uh, Flower World, which gives us some options you don't. But even if I do ignore all that, there's still the factor of Abomination," Varric points out, still covering her with Biana. The real one. The better one.

"She's clearly hostitle to us, rejects our bonds and has attacked allies of ours. Having her there when we get inside is a massive negative. But... that's not really required, is it? She said to get my help so you can get inside. Didn't say she has to be there. Or even still be around at all," Varric muses aloud. "Just have to get my help- by any means necessary."

[Marian Hawke]

Tethras' gaze darkens. "I'm not going to kill my sister. No matter how much I hate her. If subduing her is the only way to get inside, we'll do that, but there's no way I'm letting you shoot her."

[Tethras Clan]

"Really? She feel that same way? Where did she even come from? Doesn't exactly fit the... theme, I suppose," Varric asks, changing his approach smoothly. "Was she like... Hurt? Someone else before?"

[Marian Hawke]

"Pet. Her name is Pet," corrects Tethras. "And no, Abomination is one of the oldest sisters. Older than me. When I was born, she was a full caster, though she's changed some in the years since."

[Tethras Clan]

"...was she always called that? Did she always look like that?" Varric asks. That doesn't make sense. Hawke wouldn't have had a clue as to what drow even look like beyond 'elves with dark grey skin and white/silver hair.' There are a lot more physical markers than that, ones that aren't really mentioned in horror stories. Full caster... has Hawke cast a single spell since we rescued her?

[Marian Hawke]

"Called, yes. Looked like, no, the Drow look is new. She used to be more Wizardly: black robes, full elf, staff wielder. Later, she was a tiefling. The staff went away, became a book for a while, then a sword, then the whip it is now."