"My, my." Morrigan's voice drifted toward them, and a moment later she stepped into view. "What have we here?" She chuckled. "You have some idea of what I am capable, and you dare call me out. Threaten me, even." She shook her head. "'Tis not something one sees every day."

"Why not just..." Kathan growled. "Why sic your pet Warden on us?"

"Dying does take a few moments to recover from." Morrigan folded her arms. "Even for one such as me. And he is somewhat annoyed at the mess your pet wolf has left for us to clean up."

"Yeah, well, he can join the damn club. I'm gonna get us all matchin tunics." He looked down at the orb still glowing in his hand. "If'n I don't start gettin some damn good answers soon, I'm gonna step inta the Fade, bend it to my will, come back here as a god, and kick all your fucking asses inta next week." He growled. "Then I'm gonna kick em again for bein where they ain't supposed to."

Tisallan rose. "From anyone else that would be an empty threat."

"Want to help?" Kathan raised an eyebrow at him.

"So very much." Tisallan nodded.

"Tell me, Inquisitor..." Morrigan smiled, then nodded to Solas. "What truth has he told you?"

"Well, uh, you died, that pissed him off, he made the Veil to lock the Evanuris away and broke the world, then took a couple thousand-year long nap, woke up, gave Corypheus the orb ta get it unlocked, got that exploded in his face, found me, got a bunch of folks ta sing at me..." Kathan frowned. "No, wait, that was Mother Giselle. I think. Maybe it was him, cause he..." Kathan tilted his head and frowned before turning to Solas. "Ya know, I still owe you a good asskickin for that alone."

"Focus, Kathan." Solas gave a tired sigh.

"Right." He blinked. "Where was I?"

"They were singing at you." Jerath twitched a shoulder.

"Then I called him out, we negotiated, went and kicked Corypheus's ass, then came looking for Mythal ta discuss the shit we'd negotiated earlier. Which brings us to..." He tilted his head again. "Uh, here. I guess. Wait. There was also some time travelin. That didn't answer your question. Mostly he just filled me in on bits of elf history and shit, like what really went down and how the Evanuris was a bunch of assholes. Cept you, but I'm revisin my opinion on that a bit."

"Well, allow me to clarify a few..." Morrigan straightened.

"You know..." Kathan shook his head, and turned to Jerath. "You're pissed about him getting Morrigan to drink from the well, but let's talk you. Bargains and webs and we were facing a big damn dragon and where the hell were you? Hawke at least has some excuse, he had no reason to trust them, but you knew Leliana and Brehan. If you'd been at the damn Conclave instead of hiding off in the shadows, or if you'd even shared a little bit of your information with fucking anybody, none of this would have happened in the first damn..." He pointed. "No, earlier than that. You could have stopped the shit at Kirkwall. Anders was your mess. You knew about Corypheus before any of us did. And if'n you really gave so much shit about your friends how the hell come they all think you're dead? And why the fuck did you let so many of them die? You're not just a Warden. You're The Warden. So don't you dare get into a who has fucked more shit up argument with me, cause Solas ain't the only one here that's broken the fucking world." The orb crackled in his hand as he looked back to Morrigan. "And you want to talk annoyed about cleaning up shit?"

Solas shook his head. "He has a -"

"Oh shut up, Shiny." Kathan shook his head. He glared at Morrigan. "What the fuck were you thinkin, givin the orb to him in the first damn place? You know he's got his head jammed firmly up his ass and couldn't plan a damn tea party without something gettin fucked? Shadows and myths and you left the sentinels sitting there for two thousand years, dying slow and loyal while you played at nudgin history. All those prayers from them and the Dalish buildin you back up and for what? So you could stand by and watch them burn?" He shook his head. "They are people. They fucking matter." He took a deep breath. "They matter."

"I..." Morrigan drew herself up.

"I mean, you started this whole fucking mess in the first place what with messing with Hawke and the Wardens and fuck all before that cause there are like a thousand stories of you playing with history and doing all kinds of fucked up shit and games and hanging peoples entrails from your trees and you clearly had some kind of arrangement with Brehan's keeper with that whole back up dying plan of yours so you knew that whole blight shit was going down with the Architect so why not just do something about it before it got out of hand?"

"Architect?" Tisallan raised an eyebrow.

"Guy what started the last Blight." Kathan nodded to him. Then he looked at Jerath. "And what the fuck were you thinking letting him run off again knowing you was just going to have to hunt him down again later? The whole mysterious disappearance thing in the first place? You should hear the way your friends talk about you and what thinking you were dead did to them and you couldn't even be bothered to let them know you were not only alive you'd formed a whole new team and were still fucking about killin magisters and dealing with whatever the fuck is wrong with the Wardens. And you didn't even do that. You could have stopped Clarel with like three words instead of me having to go to war at Adamant and kill folks whose only sin was tryin to do the right thing in a really stupid way and what the fuck is the Joining anyway? Where you all get together and stick your heads up your collective asses?"

"Inqu..." Jerath started to say.

"And which fucking one are you anyway? Cause she sent herself and can I just say that's so fucking weird that she was her mom and now she's her and we're going to need to develop a whole new set of pronouns for everything wrong with you people. Cause he and she and them and they and..." He blinked, then looked at Tisallan. "Where was I?"

"Asking him which fucking one he was." Tisallan nodded.

"Right." He looked back at Jerath. "Cause you sure as fuck ain't Urthemiel cause Morrigan wouldn't have absconded if'n you were without takin you with but I did the math on the kid which means you stole an old god soul and put it inside your own fucking kid which is all kinds of fucked -"

"The little boy is Urthemiel?" Tisallan blinked.

"Yeah." Kathan frowned.

"How did you..." Tisallan stared at him.

"Well who else could he be?" Kathan shrugged.

"I..." Tisallan shook his head. "Nevermind. As you were."

"Where was I?"

"Absconding."

"All kinds of fucked up cause you had no idea what the hell was going to go down with that shit and I don't even want to think about how you pulled it off in the first place but at least he ain't tainted cause Brehan woulda noticed by now. Which means you're either the missing one or you're fucking Razikale cause the tunnel ta Lusacan was still pulsing and what the fuck were the Wardens thinking trying to dig up an old god in the first fucking place? Heads, totally up your collective asses. If'n the Chantry had to go for some reason you could have at least given the folks inside a fucking five-minute warning instead of starting a goddamn war that's gotten how many innocent people killed and is still getting them killed and what the fuck would you have done if I had decided to just cut and run and not stick around to clean up your damn mess after it nearly killed me a bunch of times in the first place? And I traveled to the future and took a good long look at it and it sucked and where the hell were you when Corypheus succeeded in his plan so I know whatever the fuck any of you would have done about him didn't fucking work. How the fuck did you let her talk you into any of this shit in the first damn place?"

"She..."

"It was a rhetorical question."

"I've missed something again." Tisallan tilted his head. He glanced at Jerath before looking back at Kathan. "Razikale?"

"Oh, yeah, he's an archdemon." Kathan nodded to Tisallan.

"And you figured that out..." Tisallan blinked. "How?"

"Tiny elf Warden takes on you, me, and the Dread fucking Wolf?" Kathan shook his head. "Archdemon is the most fucked up possibility so that's the one it's got to be."

"Ah." Tisallan nodded. "And the traveling to the future?"

"Oh, yeah, have Dorian explain that cause I'm still confused by that shit."

"Kathan..." Solas frowned.

"And you fucking lied to me, again. Not even by omission or any such shit. You looked me in the eye and you fucking lied to me. And to your own brother and I should let him punch you a bunch more times because you deserve it. I know they are fucking there, they've been moving in for the past couple minutes." Kathan pointed. "At least the Warden's smart enough to realize how dangerous he is and has a backup plan that isn't 'hey let's destroy the world because that worked out so fucking well the first time'. Ever stop to think that maybe the Dalish aren't as fucking wrong about you as you want to think? Cause you sure as fucking seem determined to set yourself up as the trickster big fucking bad. Gotta wonder who the fuck you're building this new world for considering how few people you do actually give a shit about."

"Inqui -"

"Shut up, Shiny." Kathan glared. "I don't want to hear your reasons cause none of them are anywhere near as reasonable as you think. You know the best thing you did for this world is make sure that things can fucking end. You have no idea what a gift mortality is, that no matter how bad things get they will one day end and something new can come. Pain and sorrow and all the burdens of life can one day be laid down and peace will come. Mage, king, slave, it don't matter because in the end, we're all just dirt and the only real immortality we have is legacy. And that's a fucking gift, Solas. That we sow, and this world grows. Your kind, the firsts, all went mad and did you ever stop and ask yourself why? If nothing ends, how can anything new begin?" He glared down at his hand. "I mean, you have no fucking idea how relieved I am to know that in about two years, I won't have to deal with any more of your shit."

"Inquis -"

"Mythal. The mother. The protector. Justice. Justice without mercy is just completely fucked up. Eye for an eye and pretty soon nobody can see shit." He turned back to face her. "Children are dying all over the place, so I gotta ask. What the fuck is the point of you?" He glared. "What the fuck are you even gathering power for? What does it matter if it's them or you what destroys the world? If'n you're not going to help, then I suggest you get the fuck out of our way and stop making shit worse. Great dragons and swamp witches and bargains and secrets that get people killed. You knew the Blight was coming and yet you made sure Ferelden was going to have a weak-ass king ruling it when the time actually came. On some gamble that Alistair would survive the whole being a Warden and wardening things? You know how many things could have gone horribly fucking wrong with that plan? What if'n your pet lunatic there had gotten himself eaten by a dragon or Alistair had decided to fuck this shit and go get drunk or some random mook with a crossbow had gotten really lucky one day because half the damn country was trying to kill them when they weren't actively trying to kill themselves!"

"We -" Jerath narrowed his eyes.

"And Hawke. What you did to that guy was just fucked up. You coulda just helped him out and you know, not fucking be there when the Warden came back looking for you and maybe not raised yourself to be a fucking psychopath. If'n he'd told the world to fuck it and run off instead of killin the Arishok ain't nobody could have blamed him for it. He tried and look what it fucking cost him. Now we've got a new Arishok who used to pal around with your pet lunatic and you just know that's going to come back to bite us in the fucking ass somehow just like every other fucking thing you've ever done. You move people like they are pieces on a board but they are fucking people. A few cryptic remarks and you destroy their lives. At least if the Maker exists he doesn't actively go around making things fucking worse! You all fucking suck as gods." He took a couple deep breaths, then glanced at Tisallan. "Did I miss anything?"

"We are currently surrounded." Tisallan glanced at where others had approached.

"And I'm pretty sure that guy there is fucking dead..." Kathan pointed at Loghain. "On account of I left him in the Fade to kill a giant nightmare thing and so what the fuck is he even doing here? Ya got Hawke's brother and plenty of others so you obviously are okay with some folks knowing you are alive so the only reason you ran in the first place was because something else was at play. So you're Razikale and it's the missin one causin shit problems at the moment except you can't find her so you're running around chasing your own shadow while things get fucking worse because apparently you people are all fucking allergic to sharing information and comparing notes and we're all going to die because ain't one of you will admit maybe you ain't the only one in the world that can fucking fix things. It wouldn't actually kill any of you to ask for help but it sure as hell is killing people what you won't!" He glanced at Tisallan. "Better?"

"I think you covered all the salient points, certainly." Tisallan nodded.

Jerath turned to look at Solas. "Where the hell did you find him?"

"He fell out of the Fade." Solas ran a hand down his face. "And landed on his head."

#

For long moments, there was only silence. It was finally broken by Carver Hawke. "Uh..." He looked around. "What happens now?"

"What do you think?" Kathan shrugged. "We all pull our pants back up and go save the fucking world from the primordial bag of dicks."

"I like him." Carver shrugged.

"You would." Loghain shot him a look.

"I'm good with that plan." Jerath nodded. "My love?" He raised an eyebrow at Morrigan.

"Tis an intriguing notion." She smiled. "I will follow your lead on this." She nodded. "Solas?"

"I'm in." He clasped his hands behind his back.

#

Kathan looked up to see Solas watching him. "What?"

"I thought I was lying to you, but there was a possibility I had not considered." Solas glanced over his shoulder at where Jerath was talking to Nathaniel. He looked back at Kathan. "Thus it seems I have the opportunity to turn a lie into truth."

"Explain?" Kathan folded his arms.

"I promised you I would stabilize the mark, and that we would face the Evanuris together. I know that..." Solas took a deep breath. "I have betrayed your trust. I ask now that you give it to me once more." He held out his hand.

"I..." Kathan took a deep breath. "Well, shit." He shook his head. "I guess I really am that stupid." He took Solas's hand in the marked hand.

A strange bluish light suddenly appeared around Solas, and Kathan felt the sensation that something had flowed inside him. The tiny, biting pain around the mark vanished. Solas let go of his hand. "It is done. The mark is stable."

"What did you do?" Kathan looked down at his hand.

"The Warden..." Solas clasped his hands behind his back. "Trusts his followers in a way I have never trusted anyone. Until now, it seems. He gave them each a small portion of his mantle, the part of his soul that makes him what he is. They are his Champions." Solas met Kathan's eyes. "As you are now mine."

"You gave me..." Kathan stared.

Solas nodded. "It is now within your power to restore me from the Void." He took a deep breath. "Or, should it become necessary, to destroy me utterly. I must leave both options to your judgment, and yet..." A small smile came to Solas's face. "I do not find that prospect as frightening as I should."

"Wow." Kathan shook his head. "That's, uh..." He frowned. "I have no idea what to say."

"Now that is a miracle." Solas chuckled. "The future is going to be interesting."

"Well, Shiny, let's go make sure there is one." Kathan smiled.

#

The people gathered in the war room looked up when Kathan entered. Some eyes started to boggle as various people recognized those who followed him in. "Alright, time for me ta fill everyone in." He took a deep breath. "There are a bunch of psycho god-like beings gonna break out of a magic prison and do their best ta destroy our world an enslave its inhabitants, and they're all a mite more powerful than Corypheus. The Veil is gonna come apart when that happens, and this world's gonna have a lot of raw chaos on its hands. Fortunately, we're not entirely on our own." He gestured to the people who had followed him into the room. "This here is Razikale, Mythal, Urthemiel, and Fen'Harel." He shrugged. "Any questions?"

The faces of his inner circle all stared back at him as though he'd gone completely insane. "Alright then." Kathan nodded. "We've got a world ta save. Let's get to work."