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Blood Bond	By : Hikari86 Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 4278 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter List
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The Gauntlet: Zelda

The darkness completely surrounded her, and as she looked and felt, she knew that she was alone. But how, she wasn’t sure. Alistair’s hand had been right in hers only moments ago when they walked through the doors. Now there was nothing in her hand, nor anything or anyone beside or near her. Zelda looked around, panicking, trying to find someone, but there was no one around. She couldn’t even feel Arawin.
This was not what she wanted. This was not what she thought would happen. She thought they wouldn’t be going into the Gauntlet alone, but apparently that’s what Andraste wanted.
Zelda began to calm herself down, breathing in slowly and deep to slow her heart. There was no getting around it, she was going to have to face the Gauntlet alone or else be trapped in the black forever. As her panic attack began to ebb away, Zelda looked around to find nothing around her but darkness. There was no light anywhere although she could see herself when she lifted up her hands or looked down at her feet. Her armor was still in tact and Silverbrand and the shield of Highever were still on her back. Where she was though, she couldn’t say. It was not the void, nor was it the Fade. It was some other place all together.
It is the Gauntlet, she heard a voice say. It was a voice she did not recognize, yet she did. A voice with no emotions, but yet she could hear every emotion there was within. The voice was neither male nor female, and it’s age was both young and old. In order to reach the Maker’s side, Andraste had to go through several tests that would bring her to the darkest corners of her mind. As she journeyed to discover her inner self, so shall you.
Zelda nodded, though she still wasn’t sure what she was suppose to do. She then saw something in the corner of her eye and looked to see something standing far beyond. She walked, stepping on nothing as she went over to investigate. As she got closer, it became clear to her that the thing was a person, an elf. He wore leather armor and was bald with long pointed ears. He was also transparent, see-through and wavered like smoke. Zelda noticed he was staring right at her as she approached.
“Thane Shartan,” she whispered. “The leader of the elven slaves that united with Andraste.”
He nodded his approval.
“But... how did I know that?” Zelda said to herself. “I guess I just did. So, what do I do?”
“You listen,” he said, his voice echoing just as the Guardian’s did. “I’m neither a guest nor a trespasser be; in this place I belong, that belongs also to me. Of what do I speak?”
“Riddles? I have to answer riddles?”
“Is that your answer?”
“No! No!” Zelda said stunned. “Give me a moment.” She thought, but it didn’t take her long before she already knew the answer. It became very clear in her mind once she said the riddle to herself a few times. “You speak of home.”
“Yes,” the elf acknowledged. “It was my dream for my people to have a home of their own, where we would have no masters but ourselves. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and thus we followed Andraste, against the Imperium. But She was betrayed, and so were we. And... so were you.” The elf then evaporated in front of her and his smoke drifted off into the distance.
“Wait, what do you mean?” Zelda said running after him. “I don’t understand!”
She stopped as the smoke had entirely disappeared and she felt as if she was running in place, the scene never changing around her. Zelda breathed heavily from her sprint and her mind swirled with the riddle and what it all could mean.
“My dearest child, are you really that worn out?”
Zelda spun from the sudden voice behind her, a voice she really did clearly recognize. “Father?” Her eyes shot open when she saw him behind her and she nearly burst into tears. She could not say anymore, as words caught in her throat and her tongue was tied.
Bryce smiled at her, his body still smoky but not as transparent as Thane Shartan was. “Zelda, it is good to see you.”
“Father... Is that really you?”
“You know that I am gone, and all your prayers and wishes will not bring me back.”
Zelda nodded, tears rolling down from her eyes. “I know, but... I’ve missed you so much.”
“And I you, pup, but no more must you grieve, my girl. Take the pain and the guilt, acknowledge it, and let go. It is time.”
“But Father, I could've-”
“No, pup, you couldn’t have done anything for either me or your mother. If you had stayed, then you would've died. You have such a long road ahead of you, and you must be prepared.” Bryce placed his hands on his daughters face and wiped away her tears. Zelda took in the warmth of his hands, closing her eyes and feeling the gentleness of his skin on hers.
“How is Mother?”
“She is just as proud of you as I am, so remember that.”
“Both of you always were.”
“Yes.” He took his hands from her face and gazed into her eyes. “You are so beautiful, Zelda, and so strong. You have many strengths, one of those is that you always stay calm in tense situations, never losing your cool or your temper.”
Zelda laughed. “Not with Arawin.”
“You’re getting better,” Bryce chuckled. “And so is she, just give it more time. Eventually you two will see eye to eye. But I want you to have something, pup. Here.” He took her hand and placed in it a flat, round, bluish stone with a symbol carved on it’s face.
“What is this, Father?”
“It is what suits you best,” Bryce continued. “For whenever the heat is the worst, you are the block of ice that refuses to melt.” He closed her fingers around the stone. It was cold to the touch, nearly freezing. “Take care, my princess, because this may be the last time we see each other.”
Tears began to well in her eyes once more. “Oh, Father, please don’t say that.”
“I must, pup, but now I need to go. Just know that we love you and know you will do amazing things.” Bryce kissed her on the check and Zelda felt his warmth slowly cool as his image drifted away before her eyes. The stone cold in her hands.
***
She found herself all alone again but she wasn’t as afraid anymore. Her father had told her what she wanted to hear: that nothing could have been done. Zelda stared at the stone in her hand. She wasn’t sure what the symbol carved on it meant or what the stone was for, but she was going to find out and learn how to use it as soon as possible. Her parents had given it to her, and she was never going to let it go.
As Zelda placed the stone in her pouch she then noticed a difference in the area. She found she was now standing on a narrow cobbled street. She followed it with her eyes and saw that it went straight then turned to the right. Along the street were wooden doors and stone archways. Beyond these it was still black, however. She then saw smoke accumulate at the bend on the street. It shifted and formed itself into the shape of another being, one Zelda could see clearly.
She was just like Thane Shartan, see-through and smoky, but human with malice in her eyes and hair bright enough to match the hate in her face. Zelda followed the small street to her and saw she wore magister robes and was more than likely a mage. Her name was Lady Vasilia, wife to Archon Hessarian, the ruler of Tevinter, and the one who had ordered Andraste executed.
“Lady Vasilia,” said Zelda standing before her. “Ask me what you will.”
The spirit raised her eyebrow. “You are so eager?” she said. “Fine, then tell me this: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The debt of blood must be paid in full. Of what do I speak?”
Zelda took the riddle within her mind and thought it through. The answer though puzzled her, and she wondered what it had to do with her. “Vengeance.”
“Yes. My husband, Hessarian, would have chosen a quick death for Andraste. I made him swear that She would die publicly with Her warleaders, that all would know the Imperium’s strength. I am justice. I am vengeance. Blood can only be repaid in blood.” She then disappeared, fading away and drifting off down the street. Zelda stayed where she was as she watched her go, still puzzled by the riddle.
“‘Blood can only be repaid in blood?' Perhaps I am being confused with Arawin. She repaid Vaughan with blood.”
“Are you so sure?”
The new voice was at her side now, and it surprised her, not because of it’s sudden appearance, but from the way it sounded. It was her voice and the body it came from was hers as well. Or at least it looked like her, a younger version at least. Her hair was longer, eyes brighter, she wore the basic leather armor of a squire and had a simple wooden shield and iron sword at her back. She was a mirror version of Zelda, only in the past.
“Are you so sure you don’t want vengeance just as much as Arawin?” she asked. “Against Howe?”
“I...” Zelda stuttered. “I do, but...”
“Don’t kid yourself, Zelda, you want him dead just as bad as Arawin wanted Vaughan dead.”
“That’s not... entirely true,” Zelda tried to argue. “I want him dead for what he did, but... not like that. I'm not like Arawin.”
This made the spirit chuckle. “You and Arawin are more alike than you think.”
“Really? How so? I found that hard to believe.”
“Well,” said the spirit. “Both of you will do anything for a friend or loved one, you’ll defend the weak to the end, you’re great leaders, you both know right from wrong, and even though the two of you might take different paths, eventually both of you will reach the same answer.”
“That might be true,” said Zelda. “But how do you know all that? Who are you?”
“I’m you,” the spirit smiled.
“You’re me?” Zelda said stunned. “I know you look like me, from the past, but I didn’t really think you were me.”
“But I am,” said the spirit. “I’m you from the past, you now, and you possibly in the future. I look like this because this is how you want me to look. You want to go back to a more simpler time when everything made sense and where the hardest decision you had to make was who you were going to marry. There were no big worries back then, such as trying to figure out how to deal with a Blight all by yourself.”
Zelda sighed. These were all things that had been going through her mind at one time or another. “So you are me, but what does that mean? What am I suppose to do in order to get to the next step?”
“That is simple. All you need to do is fight me.”
“Fight you? You mean, with my sword?”
“You know more than one way of fighting, Zelda. Or battling would be a better way of putting it. You’ve already used it several times during your journey as well as many times before. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already?”
Zelda looked into her own blue eyes and understood. “Coercion. So I’m suppose to... argue with myself?”
“You do it everyday, what makes this any different?”
“I-I don’t know. It’s just... weird. Maybe it’s because you’re actually speaking back?”
“It’s not crazy to have a conversation with yourself when you’re trying to determine something important.”
Zelda stared at herself. “And what are we trying to determine exactly?”
“Why you keep denying yourself.”
“And what am I denying myself?”
“Lots of things,” the spirit said looking around. “For example, you still haven’t figured out where you are. Don’t you recognize it? It’s familiar, yet it isn’t.”
Zelda began looking around, seeing that things were starting to look familiar; the street, the doors, even the archways, all seeming like distant memories. A nice breeze blew across her face and when she looked up, she saw blue sky. It was a sunny day. Puffy white clouds floated by at a lazy pace while in the distance she could faintly hear the sound of birds chirping in trees. Another breeze caressed her check and Zelda soon realized she was home.
“You’re denying it because you don’t want to accept the truth,” said the spirit. “But you can’t keep denying it forever.”
“Why not?” Zelda said softly looking at the ground. “It hurts too much to be here. This is where everything went wrong.”
“But it’s also where you grew up, where you have some of your most fondest memories, and where you had your first kiss.”
Zelda cringed at it, not wanting to remember. She could feel it now, coming back like it had when she was on the tower balcony with Alistair. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stop it if it happened again.
“It’s all right, Zelda. Crying helps to heal us.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I’m you, but I only know what you let me. The fact that I’m here telling you to go forward, to go into the darkness is because you want to go. You’re fighting me because you’re scared, but it’s okay to be scared.”
“But I don’t know what’s going to happen when I see his face.” Zelda clenched her fists as she stared at the walkway, trying desperately to hold back the tears that threatened to escape her eyes. She had already cried enough, why should she cry more?
“You don’t know what will happen and neither do I, but you won’t find out until you open that door.” The spirit pointed to the door next to her and Zelda knew immediately which door it was. She was standing in the walkway just outside of the main hall, the very place where her heart had been torn to shards.
Zelda stared at the door before placing her hand on the knob then looked to her spirit self. The spirit nodded then drifted away with the breeze.
***
She now stood in the walkway of Castle Cousland. There was no longer any black, just blue sky and gray stone. Zelda stood with her eyes fixed on the wooden door in front of her. She was home, the place she had dreamed of coming back to for so long. It was a warm spring day with birds chirping and the air feeling just right. She knew that if she wanted to she could walk away from the door and turn the bend in the walkway, then turn left only a few feet and find herself going towards the bedchambers. There she would find Oren running around as Oriana tried to get him properly dressed for the day. Fergus would be standing in the doorframe, laughing. She could almost even hear them.
Or if she didn’t wish to turn left she could keep going straight down the walkway and soon find herself in the kitchens where Nan would be cooking and getting dinner ready. The smells of meats and pastries would fill the kitchen, and on a good day, Nan would make bread. The sweet smell would fill the entire castle, making mouths water and stomachs growl. Zelda could smell it too, the fresh baked bread. Nan would be getting a lot of visitors today, wanting a fresh slice of warm bread straight from the stove.
But none of it was real; the smells, the sounds, even the sights, none of it was real. Zelda wondered if the place she stood was the only place that was there. Maybe if she turned the bend, or walked through the archway on the other side, she wouldn’t see more of the castle, but only the black. She wondered if opening the door to the main hall would reveal more black as well.
“You’re stalling.” She was too distraught to be surprised by the new voice. It was low and raspy and standing right next to her. When she looked to the side to see who it was, she saw an older man with a long graying beard. He stared at her with kind but sad eyes. This new spirit was General Maferath, Andraste’s mortal husband and the one who betrayed her to the Imperium.
“I know,” Zelda said softly. “So go ahead, spirit, ask me what you will.”
“As you wish. A poison of the soul, passion’s cruel counterpart. From love she grows, till love lies slain. Of what do I speak?”
It was a slightly tougher riddle, one that Zelda had to think on harder than the others. When the answer finally came to her, she was more puzzled than by the last one. “Do you speak of jealously?”
The spirit nodded. “Yes, jealousy drove me to betrayal. I was the greatest general of the Alamarri, but beside Her I was nothing. Hundreds fell before Her on bended knee. They loved Her, as did the Maker. I loved Her too, but what man can compare to a god?” He disappeared just as the others did, leaving her alone and confused.
Vengeance made more sense than jealousy. There was nothing Zelda could think of that she was jealous about. When it came to vengeance, Zelda realized her spirit self was right. She did want Howe dead, and it was something she knew she would accomplish, but it wasn’t until now did she realize how she wanted it done. It wasn’t something she hadn’t thought of yet, how Howe would die. She had first thought to send him to trial, have him convicted then either sent to the gallows or have him hanged or even burned on the stake, but Zelda knew she wanted to be apart of that death. But how? Would she light the fire? Throw down the axe? Release the hatch? No, none of those ways would satisfy her, and she knew this. It was something that had been brewing in her mind ever since that night. She wanted to kill Howe, but she wanted to kill him with her own sword, plunge it into his gut and rip out his insides. Make him suffer before slicing off his head. It was something she thought had come from Arawin, her acidic personality leaking through, but Zelda soon understood that those feelings had come even before she had met Arawin. Before the bond.
Her spirit self was right in more than one way; they were more a like than she first thought.
But what did jealousy have to do with anything?
Zelda shook her head, her hand still on the doorknob. “Alright, Zelda,” she said to herself. “You need to stop stalling. Just... open the door.” It was a task easier said than done as she knew what awaited her on the other side, which was why she was stalling. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to face it yet.
Slowly she turned the knob and pushed the door open. It creaked and revealed to her the main hall, just as it had been before Howe burned it. A fire crackled in the pit and warm sunlight shined down from the high windows. The room was empty except for a single body standing next to the fire.
“I thought you’d never come,” he said. He then turned to her and Zelda gasped. “It’s nice to see you again, Zelda.”
“Rory,” Zelda whispered through her hands. This was what she expected but the shock still came as she gazed upon his handsome features. He was not in his armor, but instead in the blue tunic he had worn for dinner the night of the attack. His red hair clean and straightened, and his face smooth and shaved with no stubble. Zelda found she was happy to see him. She briskly walked over to him but a foreboding kept her from hugging him close to her.
“You think it is me, but you don’t know for sure,” Rory said.
“I know,” said Zelda. “But, it’s just so great to see you. I... I’m so confused right now.”
“You should be.”
Something then came to her, and Zelda soon understood Maferath’s riddle. “Rory... that riddle... it doesn’t describe you, does it?”
Rory took her hand in his and gently rubbed it with his thumb. “Yes and no,” he said. “It is not an easy thing watching the person you love the most being chased after by men who only want her because she is the daughter of a teyrn. They do not see the real her, only what they want to see. They do not care what she likes, what are her dreams, or even what her needs are. They only care about themselves and do not wish to get to know her the way I do. It’s even harder still to watch her endure all of it, seeing she craves more, seeing she wants not just a good husband, but also a good friend. So yes, you could say I was jealous at times.”
“Oh Rory,” Zelda said squeezing his hands. “I should not have put you through all that. I...” she sighed and hung her head. “I only wish I did not realize what my heart wanted until it was too late. I would've chosen you in the beginning and then we could've been together.”
“No Zelda,” Rory said shaking his head. “Even though it makes me happy to hear you say that, I know you would have never chosen me. Your father wouldn’t have allowed it.”
“No, he would have! He told me I could marry whoever I chose.”
“He might've said that, but you know he would not have approved of you marrying a knight, even if I was the son of a captain.”
“My father wouldn’t have cared if I decided to marry a stable boy, least of all you! He loved you like a son, and would've been happy for us.”
Rory still shook his head and took her chin in his hand to gaze in her eyes. “It wouldn't've mattered, you still would have done the right thing. If Teagan or another worthy man asked for your hand, then I know you would've taken it, because it would've been your duty, and you never fault from your duty. That’s why I love you, Zelda. We were never meant to be.”
“Rory...” Zelda said now with tears streaming down her face. He took her into his arms and hugged her close. “Please... don’t...”
“But it’s true,” he said softly. “We were never meant to be, and that’s something you’re going to have to understand. No matter how things had turned out, we were never going to be together.”
The tears streamed down her face. It was something she did not want to think about. She had always thought she could have had a chance to be with him. She loved him more than anything and hearing she never had a chance with him was heart breaking.
“Zelda, I want you to let me go,” he said after a brief moment.
Zelda looked into his face and saw he was crying as well, but only a few tears rolled down. “What do you mean?”
“I want you to let me go, and give Alistair a chance. Stop pushing him away because you’re only hurting him. He loves you more than anything and I know you love him too. So stop saving your heart for me, because you know I can never have it.”
“But...”
“Shh,” he whispered placing a finger on her lips. “I love you enough to want to see you happy. Alistair is a great man and I know he will treat you as you need. He sees the real you, just as I did, and he loves you for it. Give him a chance. You two can have a wonderful future. Just let him in your heart, and let me go.”
“No, I won’t!” Zelda blurted grabbing him tighter. “I can love Alistair, but I’m not letting you go. I love you too much!”
“Zelda... This is for the best. I’m gone and I’m never coming back. Don’t hold out for something that can never come true.” He took her arms and held her out in front of him. Zelda tried to fight at first, but her sobs strengthened and she soon felt the urge to be in Alistair’s arms instead of Rory’s. She felt guilty again and cried even more.
“And stop feeling guilty,” Rory said rubbing her arms. “I love seeing you happy, and hate seeing you sad. I hate it even more seeing you like this and knowing I am the one causing it, but I also know it’s what needs to be done. I love you Zelda Cousland, and because of that, I’m going to let you go so you can have a life. If not with Alistair, then with a man I know you deserve.”
“I deserve you,” Zelda sobbed.
“But I don’t deserve you,” he said wiping away her tears. “Please let me go.”
She didn’t want to, but she knew she had no choice. Rory was dead and he was never coming back. She needed to let him go and she needed to move on. She nodded, tears still running down her checks. “I will let you go, but I will never stop loving you.”
Rory smiled. “That’s all I could ask for.” He kissed her forehead then placed his to hers just as he had done that awful night so long ago. There they stood for what seemed like an eternity before he released her and stepped away.
“Good-bye, Zelda,” he said. Zelda stared at him with bright eyes. “Just know that I will always be in your heart, but you and I will never see each other again.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He reached out his hand and Zelda took it. He then began to fade and soon drifted away like all the others. Zelda’s outstretched hand stayed out as fresh tears began to fill her eyes. She fell to her knees as the scene around her began to waver and dissolve into blackness again. The black didn’t last however, changing around her as she cried, and soon Zelda found she was no longer alone.

Paraphrasing from Dragon Age: Origins
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Blood Bond