Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Carver Amell]

He struggles against the bonds. "How many things are you fucking lying about?!" he snarls. "Did we ever even matter to you?!"

[Varric]

"I died and lived for you," Varric says in a grave-cold voice. "Hate me if you have to, but don't you dare say you never mattered."

[Carver Amell]

"That's what they said about Marian," he snaps, eyes flooding with tears even as he struggles.

[Varric]

Said about- "That's what she meant," Varric says tiredly. "Shite. Random chance sends everything to the hells. Because of course it can't happen the easy way, why would it? Just a few weeks to work on her, convince her to tell the two of you but not, of course not."

[Carver Amell]

"How long have you known?!" he demands. "How long have you been -- no, it doesn't fucking matter! I'm leaving. I'm done with families."

[Varric]

"Three- four days now," Varric says bluntly. "She's Eli, the one that brought Cindy here for help. Near as I can figure, Zevran and Isabela found her, possessed by a demon more than two seasons ago. Freed her, but she was... broken badly enough they took her to a place like SummerHill in Glaley. But it was shitty in comparison, of course, being in Glaley, so she eventually broke out with Cindy a month or so again, nearly as messed up as she went in. Maybe more, maybe just differently."

[Carver Amell]

Carver stares at him, panting, unable to formulate words. He has to be lying, he tells himself, but he can't believe it, not quite. Varric is his dad. And yet-- and yet--

[Varric]

"She's ashamed. The demon that... used her body..." Varric takes a deep breath. "It's bad. She's... she thinks she's unclean. Damaged. She's terrified. Of our reactions, of the sky- she was locked in a room every night while the demon rested, then her soul shoved into a gem, aware but unable to move, see, hear, anything, every day. She's terrified of people, of remembering who she was. She hides behind fake personalities, desperate to be anyone but Marian, because Marian was hurt so badly. I had to beg, bribe and promise to not tell the two of you just to get her stay around for a few days."

[Carver Amell]

Carver stares at him a moment longer, then slumps, closing his eyes. After a long moment in which he is utterly, worryingly still, he says softly, "My head hurts."

All the fire's gone out of him in those three words; his tone is flat, small, resigned.

[Varric]

"Yeah. Yeah, it's going to hurt worse soon enough. Not as bad as you'll feel emotionally, but..." Varric takes a deep breath. "You... Yesterday. How much of it do you remember?"

[Carver Amell]

He shudders a little. "I saw her in the marketplace. I didn't-- I called out her name and she turned and-- she was screaming, she said, he promised not to tell, and I knew-- you said you never found her body and-- and--"

[Varric]

"Yeah, I... I can't blame you for... that's just about the worst way that could have gone. I don't blame you for being pissed at me. Nor for getting hammered, exactly." Especially given what Helene (fiance? that did happen, right?) had to stop me from doing. "But.. do you remember talking to Merrill? Or your sister?"

[Carver Amell]

He's quiet for a long moment. "I screamed at them both," he says quietly. "I need to-- I need to go away for a while. I told them I was going, but I... I was just so angry..."

[Varric]

"Yeah. They're... they're both still alive," Varric begins, a mix of kind and cruel.

[Carver Amell]

He opens his eyes. "...what?"