The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[Helene Dakesh]

"You do," says Helene, in Dwarven. A pause, and then repeat it again, more surprised. "You do."

Helene shakes their head. "Do as they say. Quiet hands. Still body. Say what they tell you. They'll let you go."

[Varric]

I... could. Pretend to break, lull them in, get released, then destroy this place. But... He goes silent, brooding.

[Helene Dakesh]

"Please," says Helene quietly. "It will only get worse if you fight."

Helene takes a deep breath, then, looking to the door. "This one must depart before this one is caught."

[Varric]

''Hmm? Oh. Right, yeah.'' He shakes his head, refocusing on the Alydrian. ''And Seeker? Thank you. For the lecture and for warnings. I'll... consider it.''

[Helene Dakesh]

There are things even Varric cannot bring himself to do, not even for his freedom. One of them is participate in this week's reward outing: a trip to a swimming pool. They'd tempted him with it, but he'd failed to live up to their expectations by a wee bit, and so, regretfully, he was left behind with the other 'bad' patients while Helene was taken with the 'good' patients on their 'reward' outing.

Helene had been looking forward to it. Getting out, going on a trip, getting some exercise? It sounded great, on paper. But the morning before they went, the Seeker seemed... apprehensive.

And when she returned...

Helene did not move to side by Varric as they had most times they were in the same room. Instead, they followed where they were led, sitting on the sofa without a word, staring at nothing. They rock, once sat, persisting through two slaps, until Levi borrowed Renaud's wand -- the first time Varric's seen them use a wand on Helene his whole stay. Then the rocking stops, replaced by unnatural stillness.

Helene doesn't make so much as a whimper the entire time.

Levi returns the wand to Renaud, the two of them chatting about the local football team. These play sessions were more of a break for the Seekers than anything, a chance to drop the 'kids' off at 'daycare' and talk to other neurotypical adults for a while. They weren't likely to be paying close attention.

Helene doesn't look away from the spot on the wall. Doesn't move. Doesn't make a sound.

[Varric]

Varric slowly sets the small tin of preserves he was using to weight his fist down on the ground, then nudges it under the sofa. Then he takes a slow breath. Two dead then. Taking one more breath, he carefully makes his way over to Helene and takes a seat. 

''Hey Seeker. Guess it's my turn for a lecture, eh? Don't know as much about history as you, I wager, but let me tell you a bit about Orzammar. It's right old, you know, far, far older than any of the city-states, though it's never gotten all that big. Not much room to expand underground. Not without more work than is reasonable anyway. No, our population is just kept fairly stable. No laws or anything, just tradition not to have more kids than the generation above you...'' He continues to ramble, voice low and soothing, regular in cadence. 

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene doesn't respond, doesn't give a sign of hearing him. After a while, it almost seems like he's just talking to hear himself talk -- not that it doesn't feel good, to hear himself talk, to remind himself there's places outside Draslina, places that aren't so pox-cursed insane. 

Then he gets into explaining the four genders, a small tangent he's gone on. Nothing all that important, and he's not sure what sets them off, but Helene begins rocking again, letting out low, whimpering moans that sound suspiciously like "no no no no no"

Seeker Levi rushes over, grabbing the wand back from Seeker Renaud. This time, as he casts on her, Helene lets out a high, girlish scream of agony -- pain and fear far beyond what Varric knows the wand is capable of dishing out. Unless it has a 'high' setting? 

Seeker Levi reaches down toward Helene and Helene flails at him, shoving with a clumsiness that speaks to some damage internally: she seems almost unable to control her limbs, just flailing at random in his direction, rather than a concerted shove. As Levi struggles to get hold of her, Helene sinks her teeth into his hand hard enough to draw blood. 

[Varric]

Varric had gotten so into his 'lecture' that he had missed the initial warnings, the nos. The scream rips him out of his memories and back into the moment. Another few heartbeats pass as he assesses and prepares. By the time Helene has drawn blood, Varric is moving. The wand is taken with barely a breath of effort, the man distracted by pain and struggle. He gets an even bigger distraction when Varric stabs him in the inner thigh with the wand and activates it just as it it.

He hopes it's still set on high, if that exists. 

[GamesMaster]

They don't win, of course. Renaud is only a few moments behind Levi, coming to save his coworker; there are two others, security guards, there within another minute, coming from the next room over. The wand is taken away, the pair of them subdued. Varric is bolted into cuffs, which takes the two newcomers a bit longer than just dragging him away would.

Giving him time to see Renaud look dead at him and kick Helene in the ribs, hard. 

Then he's dragged away to the isolation room, still in cuffs. 

[Haliel Lightsong]

Still unsure of how, exactly, one goes about creating a life for someone wherein they smile more often than not- all the time is likely unhealthy, but the vast majority would be nice- Lightsong nevertheless commits to her self-given task with great dedication. Humming to herself, she carefully adjusts her tabard before picking up the basket next to her and leaving her room. Forty minutes, four polite and awkward conversations, three prayers and five people seeking blessings later, she makes it off the temple grounds. That was much easier than I feared it would be, she muses happily as she hurries to Nebula Cognis, the most common name locals use for the Alydrian district. None of them have official names- save Sirena's, which is called 'First of Mine' but most people call 'Her Own's Land.'

It takes her another ten minutes to find the right house, as many of the smaller 'studio plus' housing look much the same. Still, she keeps faith and eventually spots the small yellow berry bush and herb trays that she recalled seeing outside Miss Marian's kitchen area. Well, Seeker Helene's kitchen area, I suppose. Taking a breath and a moment more to gather her resolve- and figure out what she wants to say- she shifts her basket to her other hand and knocks briskly. And then waits, shifting impatiently to see her new... Is she a friend? Oh Bastion, please. Please let her become a friend.

[Marian Hawke]

Marian sits on the bed, reading and re-reading the slim letter that had arrived. A letter not for Seeker Helene, but for her. Marian la'Amell. The Bastard.

She knew the news would be bad. Nothing from Nyra was ever good news. Nobody bothered to send happy letters, about Beth's spelling test or Carol's menarche party. No, they only wrote to The Bastard when they had to.

But this was beyond what she'd expected.

The knock at the door startles her. She pops up to Helene's mirror, intending to tidy her hair before she goes out, but what she sees in the reflection stops her. She's always been a scrawny kid, but now she looks twig-like, still flat-chested despite being sixteen. Her cheeks bear the traces of tears; her large, dark eyes are pools of despair that hurt to look at, so she flinches away from eye contact with herself. I'm not fit to go out like this, she tells herself. I'll send whoever it is away--

She peeps out the peephole, seeing Lightsong on the step. Fire and rot. I am not ready for her. Taking a deep breath, she moves to the door, cracks it open just a touch. Careful not to peer out, she says in a low, gruff tone, "Oh, uh, sorry, I'm ill actually, I shouldn't go out."

[Haliel Lightsong]

Having just started to back up and check the windowsill to make sure this is the right place after all, the aasimar smiles in relief when the door cracks open and she hears Marian's voice. Wait, ill? Oh! ''That's fine, I've some healer training.'' Please don't be bleeding. ''And I can heal magically. I can tend you.''

[Marian Hawke]

Rot. Of course she has. "Uh, I mean..."

But she can't think of a good excuse. I might be contagious? No, ten to one she's immune to disease. Pox. She pulls open the door, eyes averted, still clutching the letter. "I, I'm sure it's just..."

[Haliel Lightsong]

On the other side of the door, the remaining embers of joy and delight at visiting a maybe-could-be friend dwindle even more. The concern and determination that had grown in their place also fade, replacing with a sense of resigned regret as she detects the falsity of Marian's words. Oh. Of course. She was just... humoring me yesterday. She doesn't actually... ''I... I understand. I'm very sorry for bothering you. It won't happen again, I promise,'' she says softly, bowing slightly. ''I... I have... I got things to make stew and bread that I cannot use for myself... do you want it? Or should I just donate it?''

[Marian Hawke]

"No, I--" Dammit, you made her sad. "Tomorrow?" she squeaks. "I just--" 

And, unable to help herself, she bursts into tears. "I j-j-just c-can't right n-now."