peopleofthedas | DA2 Fic

Title: Corrupted
Words: 2400 (maker, that's a novel for me!)
Characters: Anders, Saoirse, Carver, Varric
Rating: T+ Saoirse really is a potty mouth.
Summary: Red Lyrium is NASTY STUFF.

"If you keep doing that we'll end up with nothing to show for on this sodding expedition, sister," Carver was whining again. Seriously, the boy only had one tone of voice. She'd been poking around a few shattered chests, trying to get Varric to teach her how to pick a lock properly, but Varric wouldn't let her touch his lockpicks. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Anders had offered a complete set to her to practice with, but then Varric had eyed them and the two had waxed lyrical about who made the best (dwarves, according to Varric, some Merchant in Amaranthine, according to Anders) and she'd ended up just fireballing the damned chests.

"Now whatever was in them will be useless…"

She shrugged. "They're ancient. Anything that would have been destroyed by my tiny, controlled fireball would have been useless to us anyway."

"Um… we should probably get moving," Anders looked uneasy and she glanced at him curiously from where she was sorting through the smoking remains of what had been in the chest.

"Darkspawn?" she said.

He shook his head, glancing up at the roof of the cavern. "No, but I don't like look of the roof. Makes me think of…."

The skittering sound that followed after his sentence trailed away was precisely modulated to make her flesh creep.

She caught Carver's eye. He was reaching back to his sword, looking alert and wary. "… spiders," she finished for him.

"Sweet holy mother of Andraste," Varric breathed as he looked up. "That thing's as big as a Chantry."

She cast around for somewhere to run before the enormous spider dropped down on them. More chittering noises started up and she suddenly had an inkling of exactly what Fenris had felt that one time on Sundermount…. but there wasn't time… "Quickly, up here!" She shouted, and grabbed Anders arm to start pulling them towards the small doorway she'd spotted. It was locked. "Vaaarric!" the dwarf shoved her aside and started to work. Carver and Anders flanked her as the monstrous thing lowered itself to the ground, slowly, gracefully. It settled, it's grotesque body almost resting on the floor of the cabin, its hairy legs poking up higher than the roof of their house in Lothering. She knew there were others, but her eyes refused to be drawn away from the faceted eyes and fangs of the monster in front of her.

"Right. Well. I'm never sleeping again," she said. "Please tell me you've opened that door, Varric?"

"I can talk or work, Hawke," Varric's voice was dry and calm and Saoirse itched to hit him, but that would slow down the lockpicking and involve taking her eyes off the spider. For some reason she felt that if she did that they'd all be dead.

"Ice the ground," Anders said. "Under its legs. They have lots, it's hard for them to keep their balance on ice."

She nodded and hefted her father's staff, aiming it for the ground under the enormous spiders' legs. Anders had been right. Without purchase the spider was slowed considerably, although it didn't slide the way she'd hoped. She cast a gravitic ring to slow it even further and Anders hit the nearest cluster of smaller spiders with lightning.

They were too quick though. One of the smaller ones reared up and got a face full of Carver's sword. There was a sickening crunch and a spurt of ichor as her brother wrenched the blade free, and the spider reared back. Saoirse realised suddenly that they couldn't scream - the eerie silence of the creature as it pulled back, obviously in pain, made her want to retch suddenly.

"There we go!" Varric shouted, and the door tumbled open. Anders and Varric fell in first, scrambling backwards, and Carver followed.

"Saoirse hurry up!" Anders shouted. She ignored him and focused on casting a firestorm, blocking the doorway with her body. Just as the spell was released the closest spider managed to sink a fang into her arm, but Carver yanked her bodily through the narrow doorway and Varric slammed it shut.

"Ow," she said, looking at the puncture wound in her arm. "Ow, ow, ow."

"Blondie, you should have a look at her," Varric said. Saoirse felt faint and slid down the wall, wondering, suddenly, why everyone was red. They could hear the cracking, popping and whooshing of her firestorm burning on the other side of the door, but she was lightheaded.

"Poison," she said distinctly. "Venom? Stuff spiders do. Hurts."

"Anders, my sister…"

"Don't worry Carver, I've got it…" she called forth healing but a hand slapped hers away.

"Don't be stupid," Anders' voice was tight with… something, and his face, bathed in that odd red light, was twisted in what looked like pain.

"Hey, just a spider. No need to worry…" she trailed off as the first wave of his healing magic hit her and she gasped in mingled pleasure and pain.

"I have to… drain the… venom…" his voice was stilted, but she felt her head clearing as the magic continued to work. Anders was gritting his teeth and she was shocked to suddenly see blue cracks appearing on his hands.

"Anders?"

"Blondie… what's going on?"

She heard Carver draw his sword. "Carver, for fuck's sake, he's healing me," she managed to gasp out.

"Oh yeah, why's his guest coming out then?"

"Just… a minute… " Anders' breath was coming in laboured gasps as he worked, sweat running down his face. Blue cracks kept appearing and disappearing.

"What's wrong Blondie?" Varric said. She wanted to pull her arm away, but his grip was iron and the magic didn't falter until the puncture wound was closed. As soon as it was, however, he dropped it like it burned him and skittered to the middle of the room, clutching at his head and groaning.

She had a moment, then to look around the close cave they were in and blinked. They'd become accustomed in the week or so they'd been underground to the occasional lyrium veins in the walls. Anders had shifted away from them whenever they'd turned up, wincing sometimes as the song in his head screeched at him. She also observed the slight hesitation every time they had to pass through a particularly close tunnel.

This was different though. She glanced at the walls and was suddenly aware of where the red light was coming from. "Varric… what's… what's that in the walls?

The dwarf glanced at the red veins dissecting the rock. "Looks like lyrium, but it's the wrong colour," Varric said. He moved to one wall and put out a hand. "Definitely lyrium."

"It's lyrium," Anders voice was anguished, the blue cracks pulsing now, as though Justice wanted to crawl out of his skin. "Corrupted. Tainted… something's happened to it. I don't know what but… gah…"

"Anders…"

"We should knock him out," Carver said. Saoirse glared at him. "What? He's dangerous - look at him. Last time he did that he killed six Templars with one spell!"

"Anders isn't going to attack us, you turd," she snapped at him.

Anders shook his head and brought his knees up to his chest. "No. No he's right. Justice can't stand the sound. You need to… "

Her brother grinned and hefted his sword so the pommel faced the back of Anders' head. "See? I'll be happy to…"

"Carver back the fuck up, all right?" She shoved him out of the way and knelt beside Anders, touching his arm gently. "Can you not control it? I can put you to sleep but will that even work on Justice?"

His eyes caught hers, and they were bright, but still brown. "Worth a try," he managed to grind out. She nodded and murmured the spell, and Anders sighed in relief as he sank backwards onto the ground.

"Seriously, sister, the mage causes more trouble than he's worth."

"Shut up, Carver," she hissed. "You'd be dead three times over if he hadn't come with us."

"Hawke's right, Junior," Varric said from where he was examining one of the red veins, and she could hear the grin in his voice. "Just because you're threatened by his big, pretty, eyes…"

"Maker, Varric, I get the point."

"Just remember what will happen to you if you hurt him, brother," she said, running a hand absently through the blond strands at Anders' forehead.

"Just because you want to get into his pants doesn't mean the rest of us should be put in danger!"

Varric clocked Carver on the back of the head with the stock of Bianca, but it was absent minded, and, Saoirse thought bitterly, wouldn't have even made the blockhead flinch. "Hawke, come and look at this."

She got up, reluctantly, and went to where Varric was examining the wall. "It's lyrium all right. But it feels different. My stone sense is shit - not enough time down here. If Bartrand was about we could ask him. But you're a mage. What do you make of it?"

She put out a hand, feeling the familiar thrum of power that came with lyrium in its raw form, then gasped as it seemed to snake into her mind and flush her with power. "Ooh. Pretty," she said, her head spinning a little.

"Hawke?"

"Mmmm," it was difficult to get words to come out of her mouth, the tang of lyrium and power filled her senses and she had the sudden urge to cast every spell she'd ever learned.

"Sister," Carver's hand was on her arm and she was wrenched back from the wall. She turned her head drunkenly and focused on her brother, his eyes dark with worry. "Your pet mage said it was corrupted. I don't think you should be using it to get high."

She blinked a few times, then shook her head to clear it, and wiggled her fingers, stepping back from the wall. "I think we should get out of here," she said. What ever is making that lyrium red… isn't… it's…"

"Glow-boy here isn't going to wake up for a while," Carver said, nudging Anders' still form with his booted foot, a little heavily for Saoirse's tastes.

"Well you and Varric will have to carry him. I don't think I want him waking up here any way. Not with how Justice reacted."

"Do I get to drag him?"

"Carver, is it possible for you to open your mouth without being a complete tit?"

The firestorm had done it's work. Only two of the spiders were still twitching when they finally opened the door and Carver made sure to stab them in their brain casings as they passed. She ended up carrying Anders' legs - the mage was painfully light, and the height disparity between Carver and Varric would have made things too difficult otherwise.

"Ha! Do you think Blondie eats at all Hawke? He's lighter than Daisy."

She blushed, feeling suddenly responsible for the unconscious healer's condition. "He doesn't get much time, you know."

"Or money," Varric said. "Hopefully this trip will set him up. He can open a fancy clinic in hightown for the nobles."

"I don't think that's why he does it, Varric," she said, remembering the first time they'd met. If I wanted money I've been going about it all wrong…

The dwarf sighed. "I know. I know. I'd just…"

"If we make enough out of this expedition, I'll pay off the coterie, Varric. You don't have to look after all of us the way you do. Much as it's appreciated."

Varric snorted. "Didn't think you knew about that."

"By 'pay off' she means 'slaughter'," Carver said. "You know that, right Varric?"

Varric sighed. "Just… don't tell me about it Junior. I have enough trouble with the coterie as it is."

"Not after I firestorm them all, you won't, Varric," Saoirse said cheerfully, trying to forget the insidious feeling of power she'd felt in the red lyrium room. It was what she'd always imagined the touch of a demon would feel like.

"How far away do we need to get do you think?" Varric said.

"He didn't seem affected by it out here," Saoirse said. "But I don't really want to set up a camp in the middle of roasted spiders."

"True."

They carried Anders to the cavern before and laid him out gently. She found herself with his head in her lap, not through any conscious decision. It was very hard not to run her fingers through his hair, which had come loose from its tie. It felt soft and slightly greasy under her fingers.

Varric and Carver were pointedly facing away from her, so didn't see when Anders stirred and blinked.

"Morning!" she said brightly, but not loudly enough to attract their attention. He smiled. A soft smile that made her chest hurt.

"What did I do to deserve this wake up?" he asked.

She smiled, hoping the light was too dim for him to see her blush. "Healed my arm and went mad," she said, wiggling her fingers at him. "We carried you away from the room. The lyrium in it…"

He frowned and sat up, running a hand through the hair she'd been so tempted to caress earlier. He seemed irritated and started fishing in his pockets, pulling out a leather tie and gathering up his hair again. She gave a little sigh of disappointment.

He didn't notice, though. "It was singing again, but… Justice didn't like it. Not at all. Corrupted I think."

She nodded. "I felt it. It… seemed more powerful somehow… than normal lyrium. Not that I've had huge amounts of experience with normal lyrium, just… "

He grabbed her hand suddenly. "Don't touch it. Justice thinks it's dangerous."

She nodded, biting her lip. "If you say so." He seemed to realise he was holding her hand then, and dropped it, hastily.

"Blondie's awake," she heard Varric saying to Carver. "Best get going."

His eyes slid from hers, a blush heating his cheeks and she heaved a sigh and got to her feet.

"Right."

DA2 Fic - Corrupted

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