“Did I ever tell you two how Cullen got that scar?” I ask Bull and Krem as we sit in one of the stone window seats in Skyhold. “Nope, you never told us. How do you know him anyways?” I place my bag on the table and withdraw a pile of papers “I'm glad you asked.” I spread them out, early pictures from my days in The Circle, a few written letters and reports, and a book on the rising tensions between Mages and Templars. “So what happened?” Bull leans in and looks at one of the pictures of me, Jowan, and Cullen. “Alright, so after Ostagar we went to The Circle to recruit some of the mages, but the circle was ransacked by demons. On the third floor we found Cullen in this kind of...bubble, it kept him trapped. He blinked rapidly, and said some- things….” The two look at each other and back at me “what kind of things?” I hesitate “ummm, do I have to say?” I ask, Bull nods “we gotta know kid, else nothing we can do.” I swallow and take a breath “He- he confessed to having...thoughts about me, I believe his words were ‘no, no it can't be you. How far into my thoughts did they go to find you?! I thought I'd forgotten about it, it would never work!’ And he knew I thought of him as just a friend and he knew I'm Ace. Pretty messed up isn't it.” Bull finishes the letter and looks at me “There's more isn't it.” I nod, “does it get worse?” Krem asks, I nod again. He puts his face in his hands and mumbles “I get that he was 18 at the time and your 17 but still if he knew that why'd he do that?” I shrug “Don't know, but here's what happened after. He blinked and asked why I was still there and I told him I was real and he got really mad. Said I never should have left the circle, gone outside, he- he called me terrible things,” Krem interrupts “Like what?” I bite my lip “He called me a ummm, what you call a women who uhhhh does a lot of ‘it’ starts with an S, and ends with a T.” Krem covers his mouth “he called you- That.” He whispers. “And then he started saying stuff about my parents, called my father a drunk, and- and my mother, he called my mother a stupid whore. Then he started making threats…” I fidget with my hands, wringing them against my legs. Bull writes some things down “what kind of threats? To hurt you?” I lean my elbow on the table “oh you know usual Templar stuff, to hurt me, rape me, and kill me. Needless to say I hid behind Morrigan. And then he said that the mages should be killed, the right of annulment it's called. And he said that the tevene magisters were right, they should have killed all the poor mages kids, had them murdered, it's like the first age all over again. ” Bull frowns “I am gonna beat blondies ass when we're done with this.” I tap him on the arm “Don't worry my large friend, I took care of that already when he was in Kirkwall.” Bull laughs “That how he got his scar?” I nod “He provoked me, said he'd tell Meredith, the Templar captain in Kirkwall. Tell her I was an escaped apostate, highly dangerous and could kill anybody. It's not entirely wrong, but I'm not an apostate. He brought up the thing from the circle, and then, Isabela was like ‘rek that douchebag’ and so I punched him, and again, and again, and he fought back, full on fight. I kick him to the ground, a five foot Mage taking on a six foot two Templar in heavy armor and armed with a sword. I have a staff and light Mage robes, my fists and martial arts. He fell to the ground and the other Templars came. I cast a wind range spell to knock some of them down, they attack me and I do some dropkicks on a few, a couple others with magic, and then the rest with my staff. That's it, that's the story. Templars are pretty bad huh?” Krem nods “Got any other examples?” I think for a second “Well when I was little, like maybe 10 or 12 I was on the second floor after lessons with first enchanter Irving. I was wandering around and I came down the hallway where the Templar quarters are. I heard noises and followed them. It was from behind a door. I stood in the shadows and I cracked open the door, and what I saw was terrifying. It was a group of Templar soldiers and a young human woman, a Mage, maybe mid twenties. They raped her Bull. I didn't know it at the time, I was too young. It was horrifying. What makes someone do something like that?!” I dissolve into tears. Bull gets a cloth and hands it to me, I wipe off my face and put it on the table. “Now I get why Anders blew up the chantry. And why I quit the army” Krem muses. I nod “Templars and mages have never liked each other, but most people don't know the behind the scenes. It's a shame.” I take the papers and put them back in the file, Bull picks up his notes “It okay if I relay these to Olivia? The one in Skyrim?” I look up at him “Why?” What'd she want with these? “Livvy's a lawyer of sorts, And also has a degree in psychology. She may be able to facilitate a conversation between you and Cullen. See what makes him harbor the hate for mage's, and figure out why you two don't like each other anymore.” He shrugs “Just an option Ali.” I look through his notes quickly “Yeah, you can do that.” He smiles “I'll get right on it kiddo.” He goes to mail the notes, leaving Krem and I in the tavern. Sera walks in and stops in her tracks, staring at us “Why'd you two look so sad? C’mon let's go pull pranks!” She walks over to us and whispers “Heard Vivienne's in the middle of a meeting or something with a bunch of snobby orlesians. Say we join the party?” We grin and follow her out. This at least will be fun.
Told ya it'd be dark.
Until next time,
Max
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