[Open]

[freedomscall]

What| Anders trying to adjust to a new environment.
Where| Around the capitol.
When| Now?
Warnings/Notes| None at the moment


Everything was too big. He should have felt relief: this city was larger than anything he had seen before. There was so much grandeur, all glittering and beautiful and so easy to focus on. A man like him could have been swept away, swept under the rug, swept up in everything and easily forgotten. He could hide in the crowd. With so many people, no one would notice just another man.

Anders, however, felt nothing but suffocated. Every glance caused him to flinch and bury himself deeper within himself. The knot in his stomach pulled tighter, and tighter with every turn he made and every person he passed.

He had no idea how long he had been walking, or even where he was anymore. A heavy sigh escaped him as he rubbed his forehead.

"Andraste's tits...What is going on?" . For a moment he let his situation consume him, let the whole Capitol consume him.

It was the sound of footsteps coming up behind him that snapped the mage out of his stupor.

Comments

[allyorfoe]

Shit. One of these days, she was going to learn how to speak with an Orlesian accent. It couldn't be that hard to sound like a total ponce. What eez teez Ferelden ewe talk aboot?

But there was no dodging around it--She was a Ferelden Warden, that much was obvious. Still, she wasn't ready to panic the man quite yet. And she had one thing on her side--That she was some kind of alternate Warden that replaced his own was probably not one of the conclusions he would quickly draw to. It'd been hard for her to believe--Even know, it was tricky.

"Yes. I hail from Vigil's Keep." She paused, then raised her hands up. There was little point in trying to pretend anyone from there hadn't heard of him. "But please--Don't be afraid, Warden Anders. This isn't the place to squabble over the petty arguments of our world. I'm not going to read you the riot act, not right now. What's more important is that you know about our situation, if you're willing to hear it from me." She paused. "If not, I guess I can find someone who's not a Warden to explain."

It was hard, to pretend. To pretend that she wasn't mad. That she didn't feel anger at his leaving. No note, no letter, no knowing if he was alive for years. She wanted to grab him and give him a good shake, because even if he wasn't hers, he still did it, didn't he? But what good would that do. Scare him senseless, probably.

And he had enough to be scared of here.

[freedomscall]

Something isn't right here. She's lying. She has to be. He was certain he knew all the Wardens stationed in Vigil's Keep. He was certain the Warden Commander would have had anyone under her drag him back by the ears. He did abandon them. He did abandon her.

I had to. Stop it, Anders. Guilt isn't going to help you out here. This woman doesn't seem to want to put you in shackles. What good would it do, anyways? We're hardly in Thedas anyomore. Maybe she is worth speaking to. Maybe she is an ally. Andraste, this is a mess.

“Vigil's Keep, huh? I spent some time in Amaranthine. I have some friends there, in fact.” Anders forced a smile, still feeling uncomfortable. “If you are willing to over-look my...departure from the Wardens for now, then I am willing to listen.”

The man frowned. You need allies. You can't get through this place on your own. You never would have survived Kirkwall, or Amaranthine on your own. You won't make it here alone.

Anders extended his hand towards the woman, offering it for a hand shake. “You seem to know who I am. What can I call you?”

[allyorfoe]

She has to keep a pleasant smile, though she could tell he was finding it hard to buy her act. Sorry, Anders, but you would find the truth an even harder sell. Once she can be sure that he'll believe her, maybe. Besides--He's not hers. It's hard--Cullen is the only other one she knows that isn't hers. That doesn't know her. The others, they aren't either, but she doesn't know them, not like she knew Anders.

"Amaranthine? A nice enough village. Constable Aiden keeps everything in running order." She said, cautiously name dropping, to try to make sure he knew she spoke the truth. "I heard that you stayed there, from some of those that were there. You knew Nathaniel Howe, right? A good man. Or Oghren...A. Man." She cleared her throat, then shook her head, and gestured off down the street.

"The middle of the street is no place for me to explain what has been done to you, and I both. As for your departure from the Wardens...Even if I took issue with it, there is little I can do about it here, for as it stands, we are both quite departed. I can take you to a tea shop, if you wish. There, I'll tell you what I know about the Games."

Maybe once she had explained what was at stake. She didn't want it to be like it was for her--Though he had the luxury of not being in an arena.

She paused, and gave him a bright smile, slipping her hand into his. "It's hard to not know of you, Warden Anders. I apologize for pretending not to--I didn't want to make you think I was trying to hunt you down. But my name is Warden Revas Tabris. It's a pleasure." She couldn't help but wonder if the name would ring any bells. Did she exist at all within this world? Was she still a Warden? Was she born, or had her path simply diverged from being recruited? She couldn't help but feel a chill at that--If Duncan had not recruited her, surely she would have died.

[freedomscall]

“Nathaniel?” Anders found himself smiling in spite of himself. “You knew Nathaniel? I've not seen the man in years. Ran into him a few years back. He's...doing the Warden's proud.” Anders glanced down the street as well, then back at the woman before him.

Maybe she was a Warden, and maybe he wasn't entirely convinced he trusted her, but she had a point. What good was the oath of a Warden in a world where their order seemed...pointless? The middle of the street surely wasn't a good place to have a deep seeded discussion about the matter, any matter.

He gripped her hand and smiled wearily. “I hope you don't take too much stock in the stories, Revas. You're right, though. This business with the Wardens- it seems pointless in this place. If you're willing to discuss these Games, I'd appreciate being filled in.”

[allyorfoe]

"I do know Nathaniel--He's a good man." She affirmed, nodding. And that was the truth--A man who'd stood with her through a lot of hard times, he was a close friend. If this went sideways for her and Alistair...Well, hopefully he'd be able to get the Wardens through all that mess with Corypheus and Clarel.

She gave him a firm smile, and a firmer handshake, and promptly leads him off to a little coffee shop. Anders might notice a few people eyeing them, leaning forward and whispering to each other. Tributes. Tabris doesn't seem bothered, though, taking a table outside, and sliding him a menu. "I can't tell you what any of this shit is. Just order something and if you don't like it, they'll keep trying until you do. They're pretty accommodating for us."

She waited for a moment, to give him time to look over the menu, and tried to figure out how to piece together everything. "The first thing you need to understand, is that we aren't in Thedas. So you needn't worry about me dragging you off--There's nowhere I could even drag you off to. There are...a dozen or so people from Thedas here, as well. But there are many more who aren't. They're from...Maker's breath, I don't know how many, but a lot of different worlds. Things you can't even begin to imagine. I have a friend who comes from a place where they get on ships that go into the sky and like...to the moon." She paused for another moment, letting him take that in.

"It's crazy, and you won't know what a lot of people are talking about. And they won't know what you're talking about. Although...there's enough of us around, that I think most people kind of have an idea of the basics. So. I know it's crazy, but that's just a thing you're going to have to come to terms with." She paused, then tapped her fingers thoughtfully on the table.

"Shit, there's a lot else. I haven't even gotten to the arenas. But you understand that much, right? That this place is like...A port. Where people from different places go. But we're dragged here, and the places are a lot different than just Tevinter or Nevarra."

It was crazy. She knew that. She knew exactly how it sounded, because that's how she felt when Cullen had told her. But...He had to know that first, because he was here, in the Capitol first, and he was going to meet a lot of people. Better to save him from his confusion before it got too bad. She keeps an eye on him, to gauge his reaction. Make sure he doesn't...freak out. Or something.

[freedomscall]

Anders glanced around nervously as they entered the shop. The whispers and stares made him nervous. He was relieved when she picked the table, glad he wasn't indoors where their eyes would glance over him.

The menu was anything but familiar. He read through the descriptions, his face furrowing as each one became more and more strange to him. The man had no idea what a 'panini' was but it sounded as good as anything else.

His brown eyes fixed on her as she spoke, quietly taking it all in and trying to wrap his head around it all. He had seen magic strain what people considered their reality. He had seen spirits and demons pull from the fade. Hell, he had seen the Fade.

“It...sounds crazy. Even the Fade seems to make more sense than this...place.”

Anders rubbed his temple, frowning and glancing down at the table. How? How was any of this possible? Was it magic? If it was it was not something he or Justice could comprehend. The things they had put in his skin, those implants-

“A port?” he repeated her words, his voice hollow. “How...long have you been here?”

[allyorfoe]

She hailed a waiter, and placed their order. As he walked away, she crossed her legs, and nodded to him. It did sound crazy. It sounded fucking mental. She couldn't make up this bullshit if she tried, couldn't even envision this kind of bullshit. She let him mull it over, and didn't speak until he asked. She pressed her lips together, glancing off and counting on her fingers.

"Not that long, honestly. Only...a few months. I came in about halfway through the last arena. Which brings me neatly to my next point--The arenas." Here she leaned forward again, eyes intent. "Now, this is the part that you are really going to hate. At some point in the near future, they are going to take all of us, and stick us into an arena. They change up the themes--If you have the time, watch the videos of the old arenas. But one thing stays the same. Only one person walks out of the arena alive. There will be people trying very hard to be that person, and they will kill anyone standing in their way." She paused for a moment, as their orders arrived. Anders got a real panini, and Tabris got some frothy sugary frappucino.

She leaned back, sipping her drink for a moment. "But when we die, we just end up here. Good as new. Most of the time. Some people don't come back, so--I don't know. But most of the time, we pop right back up, like daisies. I know that sounds even crazier, but it happened to me. Some shem asshole killed me, and I don't even have the scars from it." She took another sip, staring off at the street. "And then you get to rest here. And do it all over again. If you win, you get out. Otherwise, you're stuck in this revolving loop, constantly killing and being killed." She looked down, a smile tugging at her lips, because it was so awful, it was ridiculous. Absolutely fucking ridiculous.

"And, this might be a good point to mention--We're constantly monitored, and if you get 'seditious behavior' going, they might beat you, imprison you. If they think you're enough of a traitor, they turn you what is basically Tranquil, but they cut your tongue out for good measure. So, for Andraste's sake, Anders, please be careful. This isn't Meredith, this isn't Elthina. And if they kill you here, you don't come back." She stared at him intently at this, eyes focused. Because this was important. He wasn't hers, but he was Anders, and he was a Warden, and she was going to protect him.

[freedomscall]

Anders' mouth twitched ever so slightly as he listened to the woman talk, biting into his food. The flavors danced in his mouth but as fantastic as the sandwiched tasted it did nothing to distract him from what Tabris was saying.

What kind of world was this? How had he ended up in this place? Was this some sick joke? Maybe he was dreaming, maybe all the stress was getting to him.

The mage closed his eye and rubbed his face with his hands. After Kirkwall, hadn't he done enough killing? Now there wasn't even a reason for it, it just was. They were just thrown into a ring for amusement, killing each other for the amusement of someone else.

Now he was learning that everywhere he went people were watching him. That wasn't a surprise, he was used to being followed. At least in Thedas he knew his enemy, and he knew how to avoid them. In this place he knew nothing. He was ignorant to everything around him.

How the hell was he going to survive, let alone get home?

Anders lifted his head to look at the elven woman, her last words confusing him. “...What aren't you telling me?” he asked quietly. “You pretended not to know me when we met, and now you are stating facts of my life. What are you not telling me?”

[allyorfoe]

She watched him carefully. She could all but see the wheels grinding in his head, as he had to deal with this latest packet of information. It was a hefty one, and she could see the burden slowly growing on his shoulders. And she remembered, when Maxwell and Cullen told her. She remembered that horror burrowing into her stomach. Sympathy rose up for him, and she reached up, clasping his shoulder consolingly.

Well--Until that last bit. She visibly flinched. Smooth, Tabris. This is why you were never a rogue. Or why Leliana never tapped you for being a cool super spy. As subtle as a brick to the head.

She let go, and sat back in her chair, situating herself. She gave a deep sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose. This was going to be even harder to explain. "I didn't want to tell you, until you'd had a chance to settle in more. There's already so much going on. This one isn't really...that relevant to you. But I guess with Adella and Maxwell..." Sigh sigh sigh. What a headache. She reached for her drink, and took another long sip.

"Alright, not only are there multiple worlds, but our world? Comes with a bunch of different versions. I haven't even bothered counting, to be honest. Almost everyone has a unique one. The main differences seem to be certain...leaders, being switched. Decisions made." She straightened up, and put down her drink. If she was going to announce her identity, she might as well try to look the part.

"I don't know who you knew instead--I've heard of several others. But I am Warden-Commander Revas Tabris, Commander of the Grey, Hero of Ferelden." She let that sink in for a few moments.

"I recruited you when Vigil's Keep was attacked by darkspawn, and killed the templars who were with you, escorting you to the circle after your most recent escape attempt. When confronted by templars afterward, I conscripted you to keep you from getting dragged away. You were made a Warden, and then helped me in dealing with the Architect, and the Brood Mother." She didn't mention how, exactly. This other Warden may not have sided with the Architect, and she was not letting anyone know that little secret. "I helped you seek out your phylactery to keep the templars from finding you, though it was just a trap. Some time later, you were possessed by another person I recruited, a spirit of Justice, who had been until then possessing the corpse of the Grey Warden Kristoff, unable to return to the Fade because of a demon. You killed multiple Wardens in your escape--That was a fine fucking mess for you to leave me, by the way--And fled."

She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. "And never spoke to me again. Am I missing anything?"

[freedomscall]

All the mage could do was stare at her. The words hit him like a wave, filling him with a cold, hollow feeling that left him numb. All he could hear was her voice, and every thing she said seemed to drive more cold, more emptiness into his body.

Other words he could believe. He found it hard to believe, and seeing this place he still felt like he was dreaming. Anders had been to the Fade, however. He had seen the workings of other worlds. The man had even stumbled on some old texts describing magical theories about the possible existence of such things. He'd never discredited the possibilities but they were far off, unreal. They were theories.

This was unreal, and right before him.

His vision swam. He needed to clear his head but he couldn't stop looking at the Warden, even as his eyes unfocused.

Revas Tabris. Commander of the Grey of Fereldan. His head kept repeating those words over and over as he tried to connect the dots, tried to sort out all the information she had given him. Solona Amell- his old friend, a woman who had seen the same horrors as he had, the woman who had saved his life, who had taught him to not simply sit by- didn't become a Warden in Revas' world. She may not even have been alive.

Yet his story seemed to go the same way in the end. He hadn't killed Wardens, though. He'd...run. He'd been there with Solona in the end. He'd gone to the Circle to tell the mages about the Architect and he had ran. Justice had still joined him. Whatever version of him the woman knew had done the same thing in Kirkwall.

He tried to tell himself she was just making it up. It was just a lucky guess, the situation with his life and leaving the Wardens but there was no way she would know the Architect if she were just another Warden. They were sworn to keep it secret.

Anders didn't want it to add up. He tried and tried to poke holes in it, and it all came back to the reality: she wasn't lying.

The mage drew a ragged breath. “I wish I didn't believe you” he said quietly. “No one else would know about the Architect and the Brood Mother, how how I was recruited. The Architect was a secret.”

[allyorfoe]

She watches with an expression that tries very hard to be neutral. For Ander's sake. She didn't feel particularly neutral, she wanted to get up and shout, why wasn't she good enough? Why did so many people have so many different Wardens, why did they exist in a world where it seemed that her life had no impact? That her shoes could be filled by someone entirely different, with little to no consequence?

She folds her hands together, and stares off, patiently waiting for him to put it all together. There's a pit in her stomach, and she wants to shake him, shove him back where he came from, and demand her own, demand people who knew her. Who didn't see her as a cheap replacement.

She had to remind herself--It was the Gamemakers. They wanted this chaos.

She doesn't respond immediately. I wish I didn't believe you. Yeah, well. Join the club.

"He is a secret. I am sure you kept it for your Warden-Commander. Please keep it here. I really don't need a room full of people who have no idea what they're talking about to judge me." They didn't know. They didn't understand. The darkspawn weren't going away. The only way to solve the Blight was make them go back to the Deep Roads. There had to be a long term solution. "Especially with Corypheus showing up. Have you heard about him? Andraste's flaming tits, Anders, it's all a mess." She ran a hand through her hair, looking up at the sky.

"Anyway. There's the long and short of it. You're stuck here with a bunch of people from different versions of the same world, a bunch of other worlds, and forced to kill each other. The fun never ends." She added a little jazz hands for emphasis. "And I know I'm not whoever your Warden-Commander was, but...I'm the only one that's here, so I'm going to have to do."

[freedomscall]

Anders looked down at his hands, at a loss. There were other Wardens. There were other worlds. Did that mean that there were other Hawkes too? In some wold, did he stay with the Wardens? Did the Tranquil Solution never exist? In some world did he make a different choice in Kirkwall?

It didn't matter. In how world, in his memories, Kirkwall had happened. All of it had happened.

He wanted to ask about Corypheus but he wasn't sure he could handle more chaos right now. The last thing he would want to hear would be the consequences of that fight. Hell, for all he knew the damned thing had survived some how. That it would join up with the Architect that his Warden Commander had let live. It gave him chills, and Anders was not ready to face any possibilities just yet.

After a long silence the man left out a soft chuckle, looking up at the elven woman before him. "I'm sorry," he said, a sideways smile coming onto his face in spite of himself, in spite of the whole damned situation unfolding, "some of your story seems familiar, and it's madness that it is". His mind jumped from moment to moment. Did Revas' Anders swim Lake Calenhad to escape the Circle? Did he ever mock Ogrehn on their travels, or meet Isabella in the Pearl? Maybe he had never met Carver- maybe Bethany had lived in a different world.

It was maddening. The possibilities, the people who could have became. He shook his head to clear it.

"...Did you keep my cat?"

[allyorfoe]

She can't help but laugh. How could she not? The tension had been building up, and suddenly they were talking about cats. It was good to know that some things never changed. That Anders could be counted on for dumb jokes at possibly inappropriate times.

"The cat. Andraste's tits, yes, I went and got the cat. Pissed me off, them taking that cat. I gave you the cat, clearly I thought you were capable of managing it. Maker. Fucking Orlesians. I should have known Clarel would pull some weird ass blood magic and end up killing everyone, because the Maker is clearly trying to send me a sign that I need to stop trusting these damn Orlesians with my damn Wardens." She gestured around angrily as she spoke, puffing up like an angry bird.

"But yes. Ser Pounce has been reinstated. He's in Vigil's Keep, with my old Mabari, who is enjoying a nice, long retirement." She leaned back, crossing her legs. "His kid was with me...I hope he's okay. I wish they'd taken him with me. Not into the arena, obviously. Just...let him stay here." She gave a long, drawn out sigh.

"Anyway. That's the situation. I can answer any other questions, or if you want, you can take some time to let it sink in. Anyway, until the arena, it's actually pretty great. There's all this food, all the food you could ever want--And you look like you could use it. What do they feed you in Kirkwall?" She reached over to poke him right in the ribs. He looked like she could snap him right over her knee, geez.

"There's pretty much unlimited alcohol, too. Trust me on that, because I've tried. This place is crazy, but it's also the center of every overindulgence that you could imagine. So...it's not so bad. Just don't...get overly argumentative, okay?"