The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[Bianca]

She nods, then, satisfied, and closes her eyes, just for a second -- she doesn't want to lose sight of him, not when it's the last time she'll be able to see him. "Bug out bag's on the surface -- there's a paddock of goats, I hid it in the barn. Everything you'll need to finish our prototype, and -- and a wand of tree stride. In case I had to ditch you after all." She gives a hollow laugh. "I wasn't a good person, Varric. But I tried. For you, I tried."

[Varric]

I was serious about having the... (not important) "It was enough," he assures her softly. "You did enough." It's not about sex. It's a kindness, a comfort, (a lie) a goodbye. Swallowing again, focusing his mind on maths and alchemy and playing pretend, he leans in and kisses Bianca. He ignores the blood, the feel of it and just focuses on giving her something bright and good to take with her.

[Bianca]

She pulls back before too long, smiling at him. "First time anyone's meant it in years," she whispers, eyes drifting closed. "I'll see you in the end of things. Alydra, right? I'll--"

She never finishes the thought.

[GamesMaster]

Prologue * Act 1 * Act 2 * Act 3 * Act 4

Act 4

Marian was making bread. 

Bread was something she knew how to make. Something simple, straightforward. Yeast, flour, water, time. A little rough treatment, knocking it back when it got too big for its bowl; letting it rise slow and gentle, not trying to hurry it. Slashing the top with a knife, shaping it just right, sliding it into the clay oven. If you took the same steps every time, it would always turn out right. It never turned into, for example, blood and screaming and pain. It never pretends to be your friend and then hands you over to be raped endlessly in a room full of strangers. It's just bread. It's not a metaphor.

"THE BREAD IS A METAPHOR, YOU KNOW."

"Isn't," says Marian, carefully folding and stretching the dough.

"YOU CAN'T STAY HERE."

"Can."

Marian sticks out her tongue a little, continuing to fold and stretch the dough. Is that four turns or only three?

"THIS IS MY DOMAIN. YOUR LIFE IS NOT REQUESTED, IT IS PROTECTED."

"I'm very good at ignoring deman-- protected?"

"ONLY THE DEAD MAY STAY."

Marian slows, turning to see who it is behind her. She'd thought it was Haliel; who else would be hanging in the doorway of Helene's kitchen? And yet... 

"I... died?"

"YOU SHOULD HAVE. BUT YOU DID NOT." A pause. "YOU ARE LUCKY."

"...because I didn't die? Why? I thought--"

"YOU ARE UNCLAIMED. YOUR DEATH WOULD HAVE BEEN... UNFORTUNATE."

Unclaimed. 

Unclaimed.

Marian stares at the blurred figure in the doorway, face paling. Her mind works frantically, however, something about the conversation nagging at her. Finally, the distraction outweighs the horror. 

"I've... heard this before. You've said that before. I've said this before."

"SEVERAL TIMES."

"Am I... dead?"

"NO."

Marian hesitates. "Am I... alive?"

"NO."

"Then what am I?"

"PARTICULARLY STUBBORN."

Marian gapes at her, then takes a deep breath, letting it out. "I can't go back. I'm sorry. I can't."

"IS THAT YOUR FINAL ANSWER?"

"...No," she says, a moment later, frowning. What would happen if it was?

"I WILL HAVE TO FORCE YOUR HAND SOON."

"I know," she finds herself saying, before she has time to think about it. "But I don't know which to choose."

"IT MAY HELP TO KNOW THAT YOUR DEATH WOULD AID THE CAUSE OF EVIL."

"Then..." 

Marian turns back down to her bread, beginning to stretch and fold the dough once more. I can't go back. And I can't not go back. Maybe I can delay, a little longer. Maybe I can...

"NO."

Marian's head snaps up -- this is new, there's no echo of memory to it. "No?"

"NO. YOUR TIME IS UP, MARIAN HAWKE. IF YOU SEEK DEATH, CREATE IT YOURSELF."

Marian sits up, gasping for breath, as though from a nightmare -- a dream already fading. What was I...?

[Haliel Lightsong]

"Marian!" She doesn't get much more warning than that before Marian finds herself getting a healing hug from a clearly worried paladin. Feels strange though, there's stuff on her back and her skin feels weird.

[Marian Hawke]

"Haliel!" Her voice sounds rough, her throat raspy, but she throws her arms around Lightsong, hugging her close. "I-- what happened?"

[Haliel Lightsong]

Umm. How do I even... Haliel swallows weakly, trying to figure out how to explain, and continues to hug. "Well... we... Bianca... didn't make it. But the baby did! And... no-one else got hurt. Not any worse than a shallow cut I mean. But- ummm. The ritual..."

[Marian Hawke]

Marian slumps a little, closing her eyes in grief. "I'm sorry," she whispers. "I tried my best, I--"

[Haliel Lightsong]

"You saved little Ricky," Haliel says firmly. "From... from far worse than death. Bianca... she died saving her son. Grieve for her, but don't diminish her actions by taking the blame for them. Okay?"

[Marian Hawke]

"I saved little Ricky," she repeats, dutifully, in a whisper. 

[Haliel Lightsong]

"He's adorable," Haliel says warmly. "And it's ten times as adorable watching Varric dote on him. He insists on doing all of the feedings himself, though he has no compunction with delegating changings. Isabela has gone on strike with that though."

[Marian Hawke]

Marian takes a deep breath, lets it out. "Haliel?" she asks quietly, still hugging her loosely. "Why do I have wings?"

[Haliel Lightsong]

"Umm. Yes. That." Haliel clears her throat. "You're not evil. We've checked six different ways. Not evil. But... you... When you disrupted the ritual- and saved Ricky- you... sorta took his place as the focus. It... modified you. Sort of... teifliing-fied you."

[Marian Hawke]

Tiefling. I'm a tiefling. 

She pulls back, studying Haliel's face, taking a deep breath, then another. Keeping her eyes on her, she slowly shifts -- she's not sure how, but she extends one wing, then the other, then pulls them both back to her back. 

"...oh," she says, faintly. 

[Haliel Lightsong]

"Yeah..." Haliel is quiet a moment. "You're cute?" she offers gamely after some thought. "In a... scary kind of way. Fierce rather. Your eyes are the same though, exactly the same. And you still have a soul and everything."