[Open to you and you and you]

[uncalled_for]

Who| Fiona and Y o u ~
What| Of the mind she can walk it off.
Where| District 2 suites and around the capitol!
When| Nnnow?
Warnings/Notes| Nothing for now, things may be added in subject headers if need be.



[D2 Suites]

When no one was in the living area Fiona paced. She couldn't go into her designated room. She had peeked inside and it was nice there, as it was in the living area, with everything seeming to be high quality. Fluffed beds and pillows, a large window, they gave her food, and nice clothes.

It made her sick to her stomach. Rather than be at any ease her eyes darted around her and she could feel an old paranoia gripping for her. The pacing helped her slip around the thoughts, metaphorically speaking. But she couldn't pace around one room all day.

Her fingers twitched at her side occasionally and with disappointment etched on her face she'd wring them together. It was repetitive with hope ebbing away each time, a clenched jaw slowly holding in its place. They took it. They took her clothes, they took her staff, they took her magic. It was horrifying and the more she tried, the more she wanted to scream. How any of this could be, she couldn't fathom nor did she want to. She forced the terror down, trying to let an older rage build in its place. But fear has a nasty way of gripping tightly.


[Around the streets and such]

Even cities have limits, and though this city appeared huge and foreign and fake, Fiona knew it would have a familiar, solid border. It's a prettied up cage and it was driving her mad. She put one foot in front of the other, with her eyes staying down to the ground. She knew better than to stare in awe at passersby. It was compelling when things around her were so different, but only by appearance. She knew this game and its tune. Never again, she had told herself. Never again would she put up with this. Different faces, different clothes, different... wherever this was. But it was always the same when the facade was stripped down.

She kept to one street for as long as it could go, only turning at dead ends. She wanted to find its limits and the longer she walked, the more she dreaded it. She would likely have to turn around soon, she knew that. But for now she just walked, looking for somewhere quiet if the walls never came. Her mind was absorbed elsewhere, when her vision refused to pay much attention to reality. It eventually brought her to a halt after nearly running into someone in front of her.

"Sorry, I-"

No, hold on a moment. Why should she be apologizing?

"Can't you look where you're going?"



[OOC: Ooor add your own! Prose/Action is fine with me? Just do your thing and I'll follow.]

Comments

[uncalled_for]

"Nine-forty..." Her voice trailed with evident disbelief. He could've given her any number, honestly. But realistically she didn't have very many other options of what to believe.

It took her a moment but she eventually nodded. "I shouldn't believe you. Everything here is absurd to consider even for a moment." As though reasserting how crazy it was made her less so for buying into it. "But, fine. You said there were others from Thedas? That they were scattered. Where?"

[revocation]

"Trust me, you don't know what absurd is until you've had someone you care about die in your arms only to meet them again weeks later back in the city," Cullen says darkly. And he doesn't mean absurd as in funny. His voice is quiet, resigned to the awfulness of the situation.

"They've been assigned to other districts - " He points to the other end of the common area, where the elevator banks and stairs are. "Each floor is like this, but a different district. Most of the others are from around the same time I am, I'll warn you now."

[uncalled_for]

It certainly puts some things in perspective and her tone softens. She isn't certain what to say or if she should really be saying anything. She has questions, but he may just be the wrong person to ask. "I'm sorry." She says a little quieter. "About your- the person you care about; what happened to them." Dying, temporary or not, she knows isn't pleasant. Witnessing that is hardly any better.

[revocation]

It's strange to think who he's talking to - easy to see her as just another angry elf - and yet that name rings in his ears and he sighs, and shrugs. "She's alive - we all are, those of us here. That's the important thing. I must also warn you that while you're free to wander about the city as you please, we are all being watched, all the time. Even if you think you're alone, chances are, a little machine is watching you from a wall somewhere. And the people in the city - they may fawn over you, or follow you about, asking for your autograph."

[uncalled_for]

She huffs a breath with some mild bitterness, mumbling her words. "Sounds familiar."

"I suppose I should be thanking you for the warning."

[revocation]

His lips tighten a little at that, but he doesn't respond to it.

"You don't have to," he says, holding up a hand. How to even explain it? "This - I'm sure it means as little to you as it does to most of the people here, but in my time, we've - re-formed the Inquisition. Many of us here are involved in it, in what we were trying to do back on Thedas. Unite people. End the chaos our world has fallen into. Obviously it's not the same here, but it's still - my duty, I suppose. To help. If you need it. Just - watch your back, that's all I ask."

He hesitates a moment, and then continues: "Also, tomorrow, I've asked everyone to meet, down in the training room. Just to talk about a few things. You can come if you like. As I said, safety in numbers, and all that."

[uncalled_for]

Thirty years difference is a very long time for things to happen or to change, but a need to unite Thedas? Naturally, the cause she considers first would be a Blight. It's a haunting though and enough to deter her from considering any of it further.

"Perhaps I will attend, then." She says after a long moment of watching him. It's clear she's looking for something, but whatever it is she doesn't find it.

[revocation]

"You'll be welcome," he says with a nod. "You're far from the only mage here, too - you're not alone."

Even if she is thirty years younger than anyone here would remember her being. It doesn't matter to Cullen - they'll make it work.

[uncalled_for]

She huffs out air in a sigh, physically trying to deflate any of the anger and nerves left from her pacing. "I'm not certain that's quite as comforting as you may think."

Apparently all of that hot air wasn't puffed out just yet, so she tries again: "but, thank you."

[revocation]

"I'm afraid there's very little comfort to be had here, aside from the material," Cullen says bluntly. "It's simply a fact of things. Which is why we need to rely on each other."

[uncalled_for]

Her point is missed, yet she won't bother to correct him. Her concerns and his likely aren't entirely the same, after all.

Regardless, she nods along to the rest of his words. "Yes, so you've said. I need no convincing of that. But does this alliance your boasting only pertain to those of Thedas?"

[revocation]

"No, certainly not. We wouldn't be able to manage very well on our own here," Cullen says with a shrug. "We've been reaching out to some of the other Tributes. Frankly the more people we know we can trust in these arenas, the better. We simply have to be cautious, because while we've all been kidnapped here, not everyone may be as against the idea of killing for sport."

[uncalled_for]

"But all those from Thedas would certainly be opposed, you think?" She asks while raising her eyebrows. It's curious what this man- Cullen might think of his own people. But it appears highly optimistic. As much as she wouldn't like to believe it, Fiona knows Thedosians to hardly be better than their captors here. Different prettied coverings, same cages with different locks. Why would they act better in these arenas than those of other places?

[revocation]

"All who've arrived so far, are. If nothing else, we all certainly agree that being made to do this against our will is wrong."

Mostly, he thinks of himself as a realist - there are certainly truly evil people in the world, but most are just people. Some good, some bad, all mixed up together. Demonizing people - literally or figuratively - only leads to more problems. As he knows from painful experience.