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4 solas

The concept of interdimensional travel and teleportation wasn't at all a new one to Szel. Why would it be, after everything that had already happened, after all? It may as well have been just another Saturday at Velvet Lust at this point, right? Ho hum, just another instance of dimensional displacement, same as it ever was every other week, la dee da.

Except no, it wasn't, and no, he isn't going to act like he isn't interested. At least, not when no one was around to call him out on that. The second he was sure he didn't have an audience, he was invested in this situation, slipping away into more empty areas of the club for a little investigating. It was a task easier said than done; Velvet Lust attracted more than just Azrael's and Camael's attention, the place was almost immediately swarming with curious fae and even the odd intelligent undead and ghost. It almost acted like a magnet for them, something he honestly shouldn't have been all that surprised about but he was going to be cranky in regards to it anyway.

In any case, here he was, hunting for anything even remotely different about the club after it's unexpected jaunt. Midge's eyes darted over every single feature as the two of them moved through the empty hall, the sound of one hell of a party thumping loudly in the rooms adjacent to them. At least everyone else would be preoccupied, he'd just have to tolerate all the goddamn noise.

The demon paused suddenly as a difference in the hall caught his attention like a blazing, bright red beacon; a loosened brick. … Alright, not exactly what he was looking for, actually, and his disappointment was practically palpable as Midge glared at the thing, almost accusing. How dare this shitty little brick get his hopes up for something interesting? Fuck this brick in particular, honestly.

… Not hard enough to do anything destructive about it, but fuck this brick, fuck it right back into the wall where it came from actually. He lifted his cane and pressed it down upon the corner of the loosened brick, carefully nudging it back into place. It was still Tannusen's place here, after all, displaced or not. Szel wasn't in any hurry to break Tannusen's things, not anymore anyway, and he may as well do the absolute bare minimum by making sure it all stayed unbroken. With a disappointed huff, he turned his back on the wall, and was immediately greeted by a door on what he damn well knew had been a blank wall just moments prior. He didn't see the door appear, but then again, wasn't that just how Tannusen's magic worked anyway?

Made as much sense as anything else, and Midge only took the briefest moment to look around before Szel reached out and grabbed the door knob, sticking his head through first before slipping in the rest of the way. Dark in here, where's the light swi-

Where's the door. No, actually no where's the door? He let go of the handle for just a second to fumble for a lightswitch before Midge's eyes adjusted, but in an instant no light was necessary, and no door knob was available. Here he stood on a singular floating slab of earth, surrounded on all sides by the discombobulated rubble of a building? Maybe? Or maybe just a previously very well articulated mountainside, those definitely looked like they might have been stairs once. Maybe.

Well. Shit.

He would never ever, not in a million years, not even before the heat death of the universe, say he was scared. Not under pain of torture nor fear of death would he ever say that awful shit out loud, he'd scarcely even allow himself to admit that. He's not scared, he's perturbed. He is inconvenienced. He is really starting to perhaps maybe get somewhat concerned at the growing noises and increasing feelings of not being entirely alone here maybe he should consider drawing a weapon. Or doing the rough approximation of that.

The awful, wretched shrieks and screams of the less pleasant denizens of this weird liminal world would be ringing out soon enough, any demons lured in by the promise of a fat and delicious meal finding the tables ironically turned the instant they came upon the mutilated monster making his stand right here in the Fade. Tattered and broken wings spread wide, just like his eternally torn and bleeding mouth lined with needle-like teeth, the spider-demon sat now within a whipping frenzy of rusty and blood slicked living steel cables. What better way to soothe rage and fear than with a bit of a binge, after all? Sure nothing here tasted good, but he couldn't think of a more permanent solution to his current problem.

Down the fucking hatch, he'd address everything else once he'd earned a little peace and quiet.

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Yeah, the worship thing was a major part of Solas' problem with it, too. Although the zeal of a crowd was a useful tool for the greater good when used just right, it too easily led to everything he'd ever fought against.

The distant horse and rider paused, and then charged forward to close the gap sooner. Once in earshot, that familiarly-ruined voice shouted from beneath a lowered helmet, "Solas!"

Having to lean back against Szelhamos by this point, the dizziness had grown so bad, the mage lifted the hand not clamped to his side.

Alleyana pulled up alongside Midge, leaning over in her saddle to get a look at Solas. His company was a mystery, but they weren't hostile and she had priorities. "What happened?" she asked of whoever might like to answer first, fumbling in her sash for a vial that she shoved into Solas' free hand. "Drink."

Edited 2024-11-17 02:42 (UTC)

At least he'd be a sturdy back rest. Unless there was some motion to move the mage from Midge to the horse proper, he wouldn't be moving an inch nor shifting Solas anywhere.

Oh he didn't even hesitate when she asked, speaking quite plainly and easily:

"Fought a Dread demon." What, he wasn't told he had to lie. She asked and frankly she deserved the truth about that. No he's not throwing Solas under the bus because maybe he deserves to be chastised for running off like that, why would you ask?

Edited 2024-11-17 02:53 (UTC)

"That big one that had all the local spirits spooked?" Alley asked, while keeping an eye on Solas to ensure that he did, indeed, drink the damn elfroot potion.

He did, and handed the empty vial back after. There was no instant, miraculous healing here, only the deepest and worst of the injuries starting to knit themselves together. Solas kept pressure on his hip, and didn't move.

"Ir abelas, vhenan," he murmured, "I meant to lead it away and then lose it, but it managed to ambush us along the way."

The Inquisitor frowned. Most of her face was hidden by her helmet, but that expression was clear enough. Why hadn't the 'us' included her, Solas?

"Oh so everyone else really did know about it. I don't know why I assumed it would have been a secret." So Solas literally did just sneak off while everyone else was wholly aware of this giant dread demon problem well now expecting her to find him made even more sense.

"So I wasn't wrong about the Dipshit Sixth Sense." He was starting to ease back into that familiar position again, comfortably climbing more and more back into the role of an asshole.

"Dipshit Sixth Sense?" Alley repeated, amused. She found another vial in her sash, and shoved it into Solas' hand before turning Jethro around to head back the way she came. "Let's get everyone back to camp."

Solas toyed with the vial, not immediately drinking it like he was probably supposed to. "I suppose this could have gone far worse," he mumbled, "I will have to recover some before I can send you two back through the veil. And we will need to decipher how to send you back to your own reality, and not merely to Thedas."

"He was very confident that you'd find him in this mess, I can only assume that's some sort of special ability of yours." Why yes he will talk about Solas like he isn't even here for the sake of some (gentle) bullying. This didn't have to happen like this either, Solas. Communication is important.

And speaking of bullying-

"Is he drinking it? I can't see from this angle, I don't hear any drinking." DAD'S NOT TAKING HIS MEDS, HEY, HEY, HEY IS HE DRINKING THEM IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE IT.

Edited 2024-11-17 03:42 (UTC)

"I hunted him all over Thedas for a decade," Alleyana said, letting Jethro pick the path back toward camp. She was joining in on talking about Solas like he wasn't here, apparently. "Sort of hoped I was done having to do that, but here we are."

In response to the bit about Solas not drinking, Alley turned in her saddle to squint back at him. Solas sighed, and drank the potion.

"Sounds like the Dipshit Six Sense is an inexact science." Sorry not sorry, Solas.

"Oh there it is, I hear it now. Was that so hard? After everything we've just been through, I'm going to be extremely upset if you bleed out at this point, I don't care if it tastes bad."

"The taste is fine, we simply do not have an unlimited supply of elfroot," Solas said, starting to sound as exhausted as he was. Healing could do that, as the very worst of the damage knit itself up and the crisis became less dire, the rest of the situation could make itself known.

Like being worn the fuck out. That form took a lot out of him on a good day, and fighting in it while still wounded from the battle against Elgar'nan and his archdemon made it automatically not a good day.

"Well I guess it's a good thing you need it then." The tone sounded final, he did in fact hear the exhaustion in his voice as plain as day and further conversation was probably not entirely necessary, was it? Talking used up energy as well after all. In fact;

"It wouldn't hurt to conserve energy for a while. Unless where ever we're headed is close, you can probably get away with taking a nap now." He won't let you fall off, Solas, he promises.

Solas' whole vocal response was a vaguely-affirmative sound, before he just sort of... slowly went limp.

Jethro dropped back to walk alongside the others, Alley eyeing them through her helmet.

"He's a somniari, a dream-walker mage," she said, in case the new guy was alarmed, "he can fall asleep pretty much at the drop of a hat. Useful damn skill, sometimes I'm almost jealous."

No insomnia for him.

"So," she continued, quite conversationally, "who exactly are you? Don't see many in the Fade who aren't spirits or dreamers, and I'm guessing you're neither of those."

Well that was impressive. Szel adjusted himself accordingly, allowing the other man to just go limp against him. Still an excellent back rest, and with the multitude of legs on Midge, the ride would be a pleasantly smooth one. No rocking or massive shifts of weight between only four legs here, no sir.

"I know a few people who might want a lesson or two on that skill." Though maybe the bags under Cassian's eyes were just there permanently now and he has been getting real sleep lately. He doesn't know, he doesn't share the guy's bed.

His brows furrowed, the question 'you don't know me' coming to the forefront of his mind. Well no he's not going to ask that, if she knew him she wouldn't be asking him that question, now would she? But-

"No, I'm not. Not exactly, anyway. It's funny that you'd ask though." He knew enough about her sense of humor to be aware this wasn't exactly in line with it. "I know you well enough." Not best friends, but not at all enemies either.

"Inquisitor Alleyana, a warrior specializing in shield and sword combat, a combination of being the luckiest and unluckiest woman ever alive.

I'm..." Not really in a state to be seen, but struggling to fix that. There was a vague note of discomfort as he continued, "Szelhamos. Don't bother trying to pronounce all of it, Szel works just fine."

Alley silently mulled on that for a few moments. There were a few possible conclusions, and she didn't jump immediately to alternative worlds by any stretch.

Most people on Thedas knew who she was, or at least knew the symbols on her armor and that the Inquisitor was a warrior with a big shield. Her name was less common knowledge, but only because most people didn't think of her as a person so much as a symbol. Even some of her own inner circle struggled with that, sometimes.

"Are you one of Solas' agents, then?"

That seemed like the best first guess. Solas' agents knew her better than most; many had spied on her at times, and all had been tasked with keeping track of her. It was a large part of why it had been Varric and his agents who had been in the north when Solas began his ritual to tear down the veil, and not Alley herself.

If she'd been in the north, Solas would have either delayed his ritual until she'd left, or gone to the south. It was easy for him, with his network of eluvians letting him cross all of Thedas in a dozen steps.

Edited 2024-11-17 19:52 (UTC)

The silence sat there for a moment, and he'd be a liar if he were to say that didn't make him a little uncomfortable. Was that too forward? Too much information? Not enough? Did she simply not believe him at all?

The following question gave more answers than he'd have thought, and he replied without any sort of consideration for the words.

"I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that I don't hate him." Hey, it was an great answer, conveyed the information requested perfectly.

That got a sharp bark of a laugh out of Alley.

And then, "That doesn't actually mean you're not one of his agents, though."

Solas in the Inquisition had been on his very best behavior and he still hadn't made the best impression on everyone. She doubted all of his agents had even met him.

"Well the answer's no. He found me in here not long ago, this is a partnership by convenience." Because it's really convenient to have a second when you're being pursued by a dread demon, is what he has learned today.

"I'm getting the feeling he can be a little hard to get along with." Judging by the laugh and following comment.

"For some people, sure," Alley said, "and he had a bad habit of betrayal for a while there."

'A while' was doing a lot of heavy lifting. From before recorded history until a few weeks ago, so far. Hopefully he was done with that now that his goals had changed so radically.

"So, most of what you said is pretty common knowledge across Thedas, but most people don't remember that I've got an actual name. You hear that bit from Solas?"

"Yeah I've heard." From her, specifically, whether she was talking directly to him or not. Sorry not sorry, Alley.

"No." He was kind of hoping to avoid having to dig into anything deeper but... Well if he had to prove a point he would. "Heard it from you, just like I heard about Varric and Dorian and Iron Bull. Just like I heard about the Anchor. Just like I heard about Solas, or Fen'Harel if you'd prefer." He's sure she didn't.

"He'd argue about being called a god, and he can do it for a very long time, it's actually funny now. I'm begging you to keep the joke going." He could have mentioned Tannusen, perhaps he should have, if he were that intent on proving he knew her. But considering what he knew about her version of her brother, perhaps that was better left on the backburner. Might be a little uncomfortable having what was clearly a complete stranger admit to knowing about some of the most private and traumatic moments of your life.

Edited 2024-11-17 21:31 (UTC)

"Are you from an alternative timeline?" Alley wondered aloud, and then shrugged. Ultimately, it didn't matter too terribly much. Solas was apparently fine enough with this guy to nap on him, but it was a mystery. "I guess I'll ask Solas for his theories when he's awake."

It wasn't like the two elves weren't going to discuss this mystery.

"Seems to be the case." If she wasn't worked up about it, then there was no need to explain any further.

There was a decidedly protective way the demon sat with the slumbering spirit, the broken wings somewhat half curled around the pair. Almost limp and lax enough to be construed as simple happenstance. Almost. Apparently Solas wasn't the only one 'fine enough' with his traveling companion, but then Szel did say he was still trying to come to grips with the idea of not hating him.

"How long will that be?" And further more, "How much better will he be when he does?"

Alleyana considers that, exhaling a slow breath in that universal 'doing the math' manner people sometimes did.

"Well, we'll have to wake him up to take care of whatever the potions didn't heal up. How bad was it? He hasn't even gotten to heal up from the fight against Elgar'nan."

She'd already noted ripped stitches on the other elf's face, but at least the whole thing hadn't come undone there.

"I swear I'm going to put some kind of tracker on him, if I ever figure out a way. I can't turn into a house-sized wolf, but I've been stomped on and tail-slapped and bitten by more high dragons his size than I can count, and I'm still here."

Getting hit and not going down was kind of her whole job in a fight.

"Last I saw he had a whole patch of skin that's just not attached anymore. Well, not entirely. It's still there, technically speaking." Just not as there as he'd personally like it to be.

"He claims to have had worse." Despite the massive body, Midge's voice was just as soft and demure as ever, the big golden eyes rolling backwards to briefly look at them all.

"Right yeah, he did didn't he? Not that it did literally anything to make anyone feel better but he definitely said that." Fucker. He hates admitting he's concerned, honestly this is bullying.

"Can I interest you in a tracking spell?" Hey, the man's asleep, he can say whatever he wants, it's not like he can hear him. "I've an excellent repository of incantations and spells, the best you'll find."

"Is it something I could actually use?" Alley asked, immediately really considering it, especially in light of hearing about missing skin. Her only hand was gripping the saddlehorn in front of her tightly enough to make the leather creak. "I'm not a mage."

Midge talking got a considering glance from the elf, but for the moment she was quite distracted by worry for her... whatever they were to each other, now.

"Anyone can use it, it doesn't require any kind of personal magical proficiency. Just the correct materials. I might have to alter it a little to account for the differences between my home and yours, but if you give me a little time I could customize it just for here." And he'll do it for free too, not because he's concerned or anything.

Because he isn't. That concerned. He's concerned but not that concerned! Shut up!

"No payment necessary, consider it a public service."

Alley was a little amused by that, and it colored her rough, ruined voice. "Alright, is it something always on him, or something I can aim at him? And if it's the latter, how does it find him?"

Because if it was the former, she wouldn't do it in secret, and Solas would end up dispelling it when he felt like sneaking off, rendering it less useful.

And if it was the latter and required his blood or something, that was also an issue for her. Consent was important, and also made things difficult when dealing with such a powerful mage. Solas could counter most things if he knew about them.

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