here lies the abyss; open;

[revocation]

Who| Cullen and YOU
What| After a truly horrific death in the arena, Cullen wakes up back in the Capitol. Time to regain his bearings and find his allies again!
Where| Around~ (Let me know if you want a specific prompt and I'll write one up!)
When| After his death, probably Wednesday or Thursday
Warnings/Notes| Descriptions of nasty psychological torture probably.

[District 2 suite]

He wakes with a start, ready for battle. That had been the last thing he remembers doing, after all. A monster, or demon, some sort of creature that had taken Adella's likeness and twisted it into something corrupted and horrific had appeared. His rage and grief had overcome him at the sight of the terrible thing, like his worst fear made diseased flesh, and he'd attacked, as unprepared for it as he was.

The thing had ripped into him viciously, and he remembers nothing more until - this.

The room is white and pristine and too, too bright, and he's groping for a sword that isn't there for a few moments until he recalls where he must be. The Capitol. One dies in the arena, and wakes up in the Capitol. Or so he's been told.

That brings him to his senses. He needs to find the others, if they're here as promised. He needs to find Adella. Maker, if she's here, if she's alive, he'll build a shrine to Andraste with his own two hands.

With a determined set to his mouth, his jaw, strides through the district suite, towards the elevator. He does remember how these work, thanks to Ser Sam Wilson's guidance, all those weeks ago.

[Tribute Tower common area]

He very quickly realizes that he has no real idea where to find many of his companions and allies. Many of them arrived in the arena itself, and so he doesn't know which district they are assigned to, and even if he did, the chances of finding them in their respective suites he thinks are low. Eventually, he makes his way to the main common area on the ground floor. It sees a lot of traffic, it's a natural place to congregate and wait for one's companions. He hopes.

And he tries to avoid looking at the brightly flashing screens everywhere. Maker, does he try.

[The roof]

As evening settles over the city, Cullen finds his way to the quiet and (relative) darkness of the rooftop garden. Even this place is utterly alien to him in a lot of ways, but it's slightly easier to stomach than most of the rest of the building or the city beyond. There is so much light from the city that it's almost impossible to get a good look at the stars, something which Cullen finds baffling, but he attempts it anyway, taking deep, calming breaths as he turns his face up.

Comments

[revocation]

"I hope, for both your sakes, that you are," Cullen said immediately, and meant it. Even now, knowing Adella was alive, he was both desperate to return to her and keep her by his side and dreading the next arena. Dreading having to see her die again, or she him.

But as fast as that, Tabris was off again on another subject entirely, and Cullen had to think a moment to follow her trail of thought. Wynne. Ferelden.

"Oh. Yes, of course. She was very well-respected, by everyone," he said, recalling her face. "She gave a few stern lectures even to Templars. I'm sad to hear she passed." Another casualty of the rebellion, no doubt. Wynne would never have stood for such a radical break, such violence.

"Lambert? Lord Seeker Lambert?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "He's dead. Murdered in his bed during the rebellion, so I'm told."

[allyorfoe]

"That's the kind of woman Wynne was." Tabris muttered, looking down quietly, chocolate momentarily forgotten. "Even when she said things I didn't want to hear...the way she said it. You knew she was doing it because she honestly thought that was best. It's not something I get a lot. I'm glad she never had to see...the state of the world now." She mused, shaking her head. Mages and templars killing each other, big ol' hole in the sky, fucking darkspawn trying to play god. What the fuck.

"Ah, really?" She blinked, looking at Cullen. "Good. Fuck that guy." With that proclaimed, she grabbed more chocolate from the bag, popping it in her mouth. "Can they bring people who are already dead? From, like, the past? Because if he shows up, I'm kicking him in the teeth." A few more chocolates pelt the barrier, leaving melted streaks, until they burn away entirely. "He killed Wynne. Bloody blighter."

[revocation]

"Ah - indeed," Cullen said, quietly. He couldn't imagine Wynne being murdered in cold blood. But he couldn't imagine a lot of the terrible things that had happened. Even things that he'd seen with his own eyes.

"I was in Kirkwall," he admitted, and he didn't think he had to tell her when he was in Kirkwall. "It was - horrific."

[allyorfoe]

Her mouth twists at that. Even if Anders was the written villain, even if Hawke would go down in history as the one who aided him, Tabris would live with the guilt of being the silent enabler. It has started with her, she had let Justice come with them, puppeting that dead man. She had let that Templar join their ranks, if just to get the organization to back off. It had been harmless, she thought, for she trusted Anders with her life, and knew no templar would find fault with him. Should have seen it coming, as soon as the Orlesians came. They didn't understand what it was like, being one half of the warden population of Ferelden. They didn't understand desperation and taking unorthodox measures. Recruiting a spirit? Recruiting an apostate? Hand over the chalice, she hasn't got all day.

But history would never really know to what extent she had affected the future so. Perhaps it was better, no one needed to know what the Hero of Ferelden had done when the spotlight had been removed.

"Kirkwall had enough friction between templars and mages to set the whole town on fire before you or Hawke ever stepped foot there," She mumbled quietly. "They had the highest population of blood mages and abominations in southern Thedas and Greagoir just shuffled you off there." She shook her head, relieved that her husband had been spared the man's stupidity. "That place was a powder keg waiting for a spark. Not even counting the qunari. I was more surprised about them than I should have been. Sten was always a good man, but...He had his limits." Killing a family over the loss of his sword...a contingent killing a city didn't seem that much of a reach.

[revocation]

Cullen waved it off. Once again, he didn't understand much of what she was saying. Sten he was pretty sure was a qunari title of some sort but she apparently used it as a name for someone.

As for Greagoir and Kirkwall, well, he might've pointed out that talking about things and people she knew nothing about was unwise, but somehow he doubted she would listen. She seemed keen enough to make snap judgments about a lot of things. Besides, it hardly mattered.

"What's done is done," he said after a moment. "Adella has been doing a fine job of putting things back to rights, despite having the weight of the world dropped on her shoulders. And here, well. I see nothing about our overall strategy that should change."

Meaning: stick together, and keep everyone alive as best they could, both in and out of the arenas, until they could find a way back to their own world(s).

[allyorfoe]

Everyone judged everyone else. That is a thing that people do, take what information they have and form a judgement of them. And Greagoir had never left a sterling impression (something about saying maybe the qunari had a good idea going with how they treated mages). Tabris judged on that impression, just as Cullen judged on the impression that he had been left with--something slightly more flattering. Or at least, that's what Tabris would say.

She might also say something about how an elf could have done a better job, but she's pretty sure that's pushing it. And she doesn't actually know how much better Lavellan was doing. But she's sure that Lavellan was doing just as good of a job, and managing to smash racial barriers.

"I admit I saw little of the chaos, but that it managed to reach my ears where I was traveling shows just how bad it was. I'll be glad to return to a Ferelden that isn't once again torn apart by war." She approached the edge, staring down. No jumping from here. Not now, anyway. "It's different, though. I wish this were a simpler place. A simpler time. I wish that there was just a big, ugly darkspawn that someone could point me to and say, 'If you kill this, everything will be better.'" Her voice was soft, she never thought she'd yearn for the days of the blight, when everything seemed so horribly complicated, and yet, intrinsically simple. The mission had always been perfectly clear, one she'd never faltered from. It was just the doing that had been hard. "At least the darkspawn are simple. They just want to kill everything." She sighed, backing up.

"But wanting never made something happen. And me and Alistair are alone here." She glanced over, and straightened, offering her hand. She shifted, slightly, looking more serious. More like a Warden. Similar to when she'd been planning in the arena, though more of an awareness about her. "I know I'm not the one that you wanted--Hell, I doubt I'm the one anyone wanted in my own world. And I know I'm kind of an asshole. And I swear too much. None of that is gonna change, but I'm here, and I want to help. The Wardens will stand with the Inquisition, if you'll have us."

[revocation]

"Things are always easier when what you're fighting is simply a monster," Cullen said, almost sadly. Corypheus was one thing, but he knew one of the contributing factors of the mage rebellion was people on both sides who came to view the other as not human. As evil. Monsters. Even he'd gone far down that road for a time. It didn't do anyone any good - in fact, it made things worse. For everyone.

"What I want doesn't factor into things. What I want is for none of us to have been here in the first place. The fact of the matter is, we are here, and who you are matters less to me than the fact that you are from Thedas. You and Alistair are not alone, because we are going to stick together. The Capitol can do what they like - it won't matter in the slightest."

And that was the Maker's absolute truth. He wasn't going to abandon anyone. His lingering skepticism of her personally had nothing to do with how to survive this place and figure out a way back home.

[allyorfoe]

"Darkspawn are so easy to fight. I mean--They're horrible, twisted, disgusting mockeries of life that taint everything in their path, but they're not complicated. You kill them. You keep killing them until they stop existing." Or you make alliances with ancient creatures that were not so different from Corypheus, learning how to unlock darkspawn intelligence so they no longer sought archdemons. But that tidbit was a nugget of information that she kept close to her heart. Not even Alistair knew what deals she had wrought.

She wants to point out to Cullen that his alliances should probably be a little more choosy than from the same world--Not even from the same world, but a similar one, with different people in different places. But was there really a point in that particular negativity? Not really. And maybe he's not misplaced in his optimism.

He does leave her hanging, but she puts her hand down, wiping it on the side of her pants. It was kinda covered in chocolate anyway.

"I want to believe that, Cullen." She replied, staring up into the sky. "It sounds like a nice thing." The truth, the ugly, bitter truth, was that it did matter what the Capitol did. Now that Alistair was in the picture, it absolutely mattered, because she would kill every one of them, personally, if it kept Alistair alive. If it kept him from the Capitol's tortures. She would drown the arena, the Tower, and the Capitol itself in a sea of blood if it saved him.

"So I will believe." She flashed a smile at Cullen, popping some more chocolate in her mouth. "I can do some of the things that I want. We're in this together."

He has Adella. He understands. She thought, offering him the bag again.

[revocation]

He probably would be a little more choosy in his alliances, if he wasn't convinced the Capitol brought them here in this state for the sole purpose of trying to divide them and create rifts between them. And he has every intention of foiling that plan, at the very least.

Whatever their personal feelings for each other, if this place is as much about outward appearance as it seems, then he intends for them to project an outward appearance of unbreakable unity. Period.

That's all he means. That's all he ever means.

He waves off the candy vaguely - chocolate is alright, but he's never had much of a sweet tooth for anything except his mother's shortbread and lemon cakes.

"We're all in this together, that's the important thing to remember," he agrees.