☼ Arrival; ☼

[ladysunshines]

Who: Bethany Hawke and [open]
Where: Outside the caves!
When: Now...ish?
Rating: PG-13 for now!
Summary: Yass queen

The Story: Her head was swimming. The battle with Orsino had taken nearly all her magical power, but it was more than that -- seeing him use blood magic to take the corpses of all the mages that she’d known living and working in the circle to turn himself into an abomination -- it was too much. Too much on top of the templars and countless innocent people who had no doubt been killed when the Chantry had been obliterated. Her heart ached as if her mother and brother had died all over again. So much senseless violence because of Meredith, because of the extremist templars -- she squeezed her eyes shut and when they opened again, she was surrounded by a cave of brick icicles. What fresh hell was this?

“Garrett!” Her voice echoed hollowly in the cave and she spun, panicked. “Garrett!” What if this is some sort of last-ditch effort that Orsino learned from that horrible beast, Quentin? Was she going to be trapped in some sort of labyrinth for the rest of her (probably very short, very painful) life? She scanned the room and let out a sob of relief at the sight of the entrance to the cave, scrambling up the incline with little care for whether she was letting the barbs of once-molten stone bite into her skirts. She rushed toward the point of light, awkwardly using her staff to half-vault her toward the ever-growing gleam.

Blissfully, the Circle-mandated wear was spelled to be durable and once she made it to the sunlight, she skidded to a stop and took in her surroundings, staff at the ready.
“Show yourself!” There had to be someone here, there had to be some meaning of this that could be explained. The pain in her heart was too fresh for this to be heaven, and she had been to the Fade -- this was not it. Impatient at the lack of an answer, she slammed her staff down on the ground. A bolt of flame shoots from the spot it hits, landing nearby in an explosion of sparks.

“I don’t have time for this!” She needed to find her brother, because nothing about this place made any sense.

Comments

[ladysunshines]

Fortunately for Cullen, Bethany is far too wrapped up in her arrival to notice that he might be a bit pinker than he was when he first came to assist her. It seems there is no shortage of places that she will be able to take solitary refuge, though she knows that if she heads to the library now she will not be resting. The idea of devouring the knowledge available here is a tempting one, but one for when she is better-rested.

She manages a faint smile, nodding along with his words.

"Perhaps I will take in the gardens and work my way up to the building itself." Intriguing as the concept of the place is, the fact that it's terrifying looms over it like a dread cloud. She glances back to Cullen.

"After all, I'm sure you have better things to do than escort me all afternoon."

[morework]

"Unfortunately I don't."

A beat.

(It was a perfectly reasonable sentiment, until he said it out loud.)

A beat.

Sweet Andraste, preserve him.

"I, ahh. Ah, Maker. Only meant to say that. We have, unfortunately, few to no leads to pursue. About Wonderland's nature. So far, and. None of them pressing."

He clears his throat.

"Because I would be happy to--"

He clears his throat again. It does nothing to cleanse the embarrassment. But he straightens his back, and mercifully recovers his train of thought.

"I will leave you to settle in, in peace. My room is the third on the first floor, if you have further need of me."

His heel digs into the earth, half a turn away from hurriedly departing on a composed note, but Cullen stops himself. The golden images are a moment's distraction, but in truth their entire encounter is... is something that will take time to settle in. Not a spirit, nor some abominable deception. Simply a woman whose path has been more fortunate than the one his world knows. He swallows, smiling weakly.

"The circumstances aren't mutual, but... it has been good to meet you, Bethany."

[ladysunshines]

If they had been in less confusing and overwhelming circumstances, the way he was fumbling might make her laugh. As it is, she can understand why it is that he would be saddened that he did not have leads to follow, threads to unravel this place's mysteries. In fact, it's something of a relief to know that he reacted in much the same way she'd have expected the Cullen of her world to react. Not so different after all, perhaps.

She nods, then, dipping her head in a brief bow.

"And you, Ser Knight. I will be sure to check in with you and let you know how I am adjusting to -- this place."

[morework]

He halts briefly, in the moment where there is entirely too much left to say, and no thread to lead the words neatly. There will be time, later. If they are unfortunate, then their prison will leave ample time, later.

"See that you do." A hope, rather than an instruction. Cullen nods back. "Maker be with you."

Then he turns, and leaves for the mansion.