Chapter Text
Sea of Blood.
Viago is eyeing me closely as the first Talon reveals that her grandson is alive. I’ve never met the Dellamortes before, but I don’t know a single Crow who hasn’t heard of the greatness Lucanis has achieved as the infamous “Demon of Vyrantium.” Or that he died a year ago at the hands of Venatori…
“When you said ‘Mage Killer,’” I hiss at Neve, who looks unbothered by any of the revelations happening, “I didn’t think you meant the Lucanis Dellamorte.” Neve just shoots me an amused look and shrugs.
“If you can break him out of the Ossuary,” Caterina is saying, “then you’ll have your mage killer. And I’ll have my grandson.” The last part is said quieter, and I’m almost unsure if anyone else was meant to hear it. Illario grumbles something about how he should have been told and stalks off to show Neve and myself to the docks. We begin to follow, but Viago grabs my arm.
“Aya, don’t do anything stupid,” he says with a pointed look.
“I promise I’ll only break the target out of prison and leave any innocent bystanders locked up,” I yank my arm back with a glare. Beside him, Teia stifles a laugh.
“Come home soon! We miss you,” she says, nudging Viago. Viago says nothing and turns on heel to walk out. I roll my eyes and do the same, hurrying after Illario and Neve.
“... you didn’t know?” Neve is saying as I reach them.
“If I had, I’d have gone after him by now,” Illario stresses. I narrow my eyes at him. I’m not the most skilled with a blade, and to be honest, Neve could take me in a mage battle anyday, but what made me a good Crow was my ability to read people, assess the situation, and act quickly. And if my assessment of Illario’s statement is correct, and it is, he’s hiding something. I run through the reasons he would lie in my head, but most make no sense. He probably doesn’t like the idea of risking his life in the dreaded Ossuary, and I don’t blame him… if it weren’t for literal Ancient Gods, I’m also not sure if I’d risk my neck. I make a mental note to ask the detective next to me if she picked anything strange up in Illario’s cadence later.
Illario bids us goodbye at the docks, and Neve, a Crow mage I’ve never met before, and I set off to the Ossuary. About halfway through the boatride, Neve turns to me and says, “You’ve heard of the Demon of Vyrantium? You called him by his name.”
“Every Crow has heard of the Demon of Vyrantium,” I reply. “Very few have ever interacted with him, and even fewer know him. He’s a legendary fighter, and not to mention, he’s set to take over the job as First Talon after Caterina.”
“Hmm,” Neve hums. “Should we, a Lighthouse full of three mages and one Dwarf who by some miracle also has magic, be afraid of recruiting a mage hunter?” Her eyes twinkle with amusement.
“Well, seeing as you’re the one who suggested we recruit him, I’d assume you thought of a failsafe,” I laugh.
“I did see a ‘press in case of mage killer’ button at the Lighthouse, so I think we’re fine,” Neve chuckles.
“To my knowledge, he sticks mostly to blood mages,” I say in seriousness. “Crows don’t get to pick their contracts,” I add darkly, thinking of my last mission, the one that got me disowned by Viago.
Neve merely nods, and if she picks up on my memories, she doesn’t pry. We fall into a comfortable silence with the only sounds being the ocean waves lapping at the boat. Being on the ocean should fill me with fear. I can’t swim, after all. Viago had just assumed I learned before joining the Crows and, quite honestly, I was too afraid of him to correct him. But the serenity of the vast expanse of the darkness calms any nerves that climb their way through my armor. I make a mental note to learn to swim. Maybe Bellara could teach me… She seems nice enough that even if she does think I’m ridiculous for never learning, she won’t say anything.
Far too soon, the boat slows and the mage opens a whirlpool to the Ossuary. Neve and I take a deep breath and surge forward into that vast expanse I was just admiring, which seems a lot less peaceful when we’re knowingly plummeting towards the only prison in the world that could hold The Demon of Vyrantium.
I take in my surroundings. Dead Venatori guards litter the hallways and fish swim up to the Ossuary’s barriers, eyeing us with curiosity. It reminds me of my window at the Lighthouse, which is far too unsettling to dwell on. Neve and I make our way through the winding halls of the Ossuary, following the trail of bodies. We reach the end of a particularly long corridor and look at Neve. The room at the end has a few guards inside it. I mentally groan and approach the cell with my arms up in mock surrender. Neve follows my lead. The Venatori look at us and prepare to strike.
“We don’t want any trouble,” I say, pitching my voice into the singsong pitch I use to appear more innocent and unassuming. “We’re just here for Lucanis Dellamorte. Hand him over, and you fine folk can go about your merry ways!”
The Venatori shouts something or another and I roll my eyes and look at Neve. “Okay, death it is. The world could use fewer Venatori, anyway.”
Neve and I begin to step forward to meet the Venatori, but before we get far, a man with glowing purple wings does an impressive flip and begins using the Venatori to kill each other. Neve sheathes her staff and crosses her arms as she watches. I grip my own dagger, but I send off my orb as it seems unnecessary right now. The man’s wings fold in on themselves and disappear, and he turns to look at us.
“Who are you?” He eyes us warily. If every Crow didn’t already know what the Demon of Vyrantium looks like, the thick, Antivan accent would have tipped me off immediately that this is Lucanis Dellamorte.
“I’m Neve Gallus,” Neve steps forward.
“And I’m Rook,” I say, using the nickname Varric gave me a year ago. It’s the only name Neve and the rest of the team knows me as, and I see no reason to confuse anyone now. “Rook de Riva.” Lucanis’s eyes flash with recognition when he hears the house name. “We’re here to bring you home.”
“You’re a Crow,” he says plainly.
“Yes,” Neve rolls her eyes, “and I’m a Shadow Dragon, and Bellara is a Veil Jumper… Introductions later, please? This overrated aquarium is giving me a headache.” Lucanis raises his eyebrow at her, but I’ve been with her long enough to know she’s messing with us.
“Look, you weren’t expecting a rescue… I definitely wasn’t expecting a demon possession, life’s full of surprises. Caterina promised us a mage killer if we got you out of here.” I say, keeping my tone lighthearted. Neve shifts uneasily from foot to foot, and I can almost hear her telling me a demon possession is not something we need right now.
“It’s complicated,” Lucanis shrugs. “But I can still work.” He looks at us expectantly, and I can tell he’s waiting for us to decide that this is too risky and turn and leave him.
“Good,” I say after a beat. I turn to Neve. “Because more Venatori are probably on their way, and we need to get out of here.” She nods in agreement. If Lucanis is surprised at our nonchalance towards his possession, he doesn’t show it.
“They have a vial of my blood,” she huffs. “They can use it to control me. I cannot leave it in their hands. And…” he sighs and looks at me knowingly. “I had a contract when I was captured. One of my targets is here. Calivan. You know what that means. Crows don’t break contracts.”
I nod. The number one rule of being a Crow, and subsequently, the rule I hate the most. I remember when Viago taught me the rule, I had asked, “but what if the target isn’t actually bad?” He made me run extra laps for that one and never did answer the question.
“Should have known this wasn’t going to be as simple as ‘break the famous Demon of Vyrantium’ out of the underwater prison and escape unscathed,” I muse.
“I’ll owe you,” he says with a quirk of his lips.
“I think we’ll owe each other after all is said and done,” is my reply. I turn to Neve. “Shall we?”
“Welcome to the team, Lucanis,” she says, motioning for me to start leading. I know Varric left me as the de facto leader, but Maker do I hate leading. Oh, sure, but the person who hates making average, everyday decisions in charge of making the life altering ones. What could possibly go wrong?
I keep my internal monologue to myself and take off down the hallway. I hear Neve’s footsteps close behind, but Lucanis, in true Crow fashion, is silent as he follows. As we enter the next chamber, Venatori mages appear. I hear Lucanis mutter, “mages, my specialty,” as he launches into action. I make a mental note to let him know he’s about to join a group of three mages and another person with magic before following him into the fray.
The Venatori are easily dispatched and we continue on our way.
“You don’t like knives,” Lucanis raises an eyebrow at me. “What kind of Crow doesn’t like knives?”
“I… what?” I blink, cursing how dumb I sound. He’s the Demon of Vyrantium , I could at least try to sound cool.
“In the fight, you barely used the knife, despite having it drawn,” Lucanis explains. “You used your orb… thing more.”
“Oh, uh,” I feel the back of my neck get hot. “Yeah, Viago always said I wasn’t confident enough with knives,” I mutter. “I’m way better at channeling magic.”
“So why use the knife at all?” Neve chimes in. “You have a staff, too.”
“I… uh, well… I’m a Crow?” I say, but it comes out as more of a question. The heat spreads to my face, and I don’t dare look at Lucanis. He must think I’m the worst Crow alive.
“Are you sure?” he chuckles, and though the words themselves are pretty hurtful, his tone suggests he’s teasing. I say nothing, but press forward. I make a mental note to never bring these two on missions together ever again. I make a second mental note to buy a notepad because being a leader is causing me to take way too many mental notes. I pickpocket a key off one of the dead Venatori.
“The blood vial,” Neve questions. “Where do we go to find it?”
“Calivan keeps it under guard. Blood is the only thing that can bind a demon. If they lose it…” Lucanis trails off.
“Then it’s chaos,” I mutter.
We make our way to the next door, and I unlock it to reveal a very terrifying laboratory. “What was going on here?” I ask in horror, looking around at the tools. They look more like torture devices than science gadgets.
“Living prisoners for blood magic. Blood magic to summon spirits,” Neve looks around.
“Any spirit can become a demon. Zara didn’t give them a choice.” Lucanis’s eyes darken as he says this.
“Zara?” I prompt.
“Zara Renata,” Lucanis explains. “There might be a higher-ranking Venatori somewhere, but I don’t know of one. This place is all her.”
We move forward, and I try to keep my eyes from lingering on any one tool too long, lest I find myself picturing a helpless slave on the other end. Up the stairs, some corpses reanimate and charge us.
“Possessed corpses!” Neve exclaims. “Must be common in a place like this.”
“Zara Renata’s work,” Lucanis emphasizes. “This place exists for her to make new and worse types of demons.” His purple wings unfold themselves from the ether, and he lunges into action.
“Think he can do this fight on his own?” Neve smirks, “I’m tired.”
I open my mouth to tell her that even if he technically could , we’re a team and we should help him, but before I get the chance, he’s landing back beside us, wiping his blade clean of demon blood. She gives me a knowing chuckle.
We press forward, killing Venatori and demons alike as we make our way through the Ossuary. At some point, Neve quips about how she’s never heard of an abomination who wasn’t a mage, which surprises me. I know I’ve never had formal magic training. Crows tend to focus on offensive magic versus theories and things like that, but it never occurred to me that possessions should only be able to happen to mages. Lucanis shrugs her off saying that he’s seen demons possess corpses, ashes, and even hair.
Neve smiles and says, “at least this one’s got good taste.” I pause from scouting the area to look at her. She has a wide smirk on her face and Lucanis is staring at her, dumbfounded. I hold back laughter at Lucanis’ distress at being flirted with, and make a mental note to reassure him that Neve does that to everyone. I think it’s a way to unsettle newcomers and make it known that she is in control of the situation, but I could be reaching. Whatever her reason is, I find the stoic Demon of Vyrantium’s internal struggle highly amusing and say, “the sooner we get out of here, the sooner you two can get a room. Come on!”
Neve laughs and jogs over to me. We share an amused smile as Lucanis joins us, still very much contemplating how to respond. Neve, on the other hand, looks relaxed as she follows me, and not for the first time since meeting her, Harding, and Bellara, I find myself selfishly thinking that we could be friends. Maybe in another life where we aren’t saving the world. I think back to my Crow training. Lesson #1 was about never breaking a contract, and lesson #2 was about keeping people at arm’s length, lest the distract you or be used against you. I never liked lesson #2 either, but I do follow it closely. I silently wonder if Lucanis does the same.
We move forward in silence until we get to a collapsed bridge.
“Okay, now what?” Neve looks at me expectantly.
I begin to look for anything, magic or otherwise that could help make a bridge when Lucanis huffs and says, “What are you– fine. He says he can get us across.”
Neve and I stare at him dumbly. Lucanis just stares back.
“Who is ‘he?’” I sigh.
“The demon,” Lucanis says. “He says there’s something here. Something he can grab hold of in the fade. It’s close.” He moves forward and raises his hands towards the missing bridge. In a flash of purple light, parts of the bridge appear in a ghostly shimmer.
“The demon pulled all that out of the Fade?” I wonder aloud.
“I’m as surprised as you,” Lucanis murmurs, looking at his hands.
“Is it safe?” Neve questions, eying the ghostly purple bridge with distrust.
“One way to find out,” I say and jump to the platform. Though I nearly miss the edge, I manage to pull myself up and sure enough, the bright is solid and real. “Its’ fine!” I call back. I jump for emphasis, and Neve snorts at my theatrics. Lucanis chuckles as well, and something in me stirs. I clear my throat and jump to the next platform, squashing whatever that was deep down. The world is at stake. I do not have time to be doing whatever that is.
We continue to fight all matters of horrors as we look for the vial of blood. Eventually, we do find it, and my eyes widen as Lucanis points out which one it is. It’s massive . I don’t even want to think about how long it took to collect that much blood. I’m not squeamish, but my stomach turns at the sight. Lucanis slashes through it, and blood spills to the floor. “It’s finally gone,” he breathes.
“Now what?” I ask, shaking the horror out of my head.
“Now we find Calivan,” Lucanis says in a low voice.
We take an elevator that Lucanis points out and reach the Warden’s Lookout. Calivan stands there, ready, with an exasperated look on his face.
“Ugh,” he groans, ‘this was entirely unnecessary. “Zara and her little jests. ‘He’s already the Demon of Vyrantium, won’t this be ironic?’ Hilarious. And now look at the mess you’ve made of my facility. She always leaves me to clean up.”
I look at Lucanis, and to my surprise find him already smirking at me, as if he can hear my thoughts. “This is… Calivan?” I say, adding emphasis to his name. “He looks dumb.”
“He is,” Lucanis chuckles. “The contract I was sent for a year ago. A Crow never abandons a contract.”
I open my mouth to remind him that I, too, am a contract and was subjected to their rules, but before I can, Calivan groans and says, “I hope the reward was worth losing your life.”
He launches into action, and to his credit, Calivan isn’t the absolute easiest target I’ve ever had. I mean, I’ve definitely had worse, but he has a strong shield and chipping away at that is annoying. Neve stays back to cover us as Lucanis and I surge into melee.
Fighting with Lucanis feels natural. It’s almost fun , not that I’ve ever considered being in mortal peril fun. But if I did, this would count. Whatever demon possesses him seems to enjoy helping him attack and he’s able to move quicker than a human normally should, not to mention fly and drop down on targets from above. I notice he enjoys doing this, so I keep Calivan’s focus on myself. I use my orb and repeatedly bash Calivan from all angles, while I use my knife, for once, and lunge from the front. As I do, Lucanis drops in from above and deals a few lethal blows before allowing me to regain Calivan’s attention. I’m pretty sure Neve stops attacking at some point and turns to healing us, but with the adrenaline coursing through my body as I parry and dodge, I can’t tell.
The battle ends as Lucanis makes one last rush attack and says, “The Crows send their regards.”
Neve walks up to us, laughing. “You sure you never met him before?” she looks at me. “You seem pretty synced when fighting for two strangers.”
“We got your target,” I say, sheathing my knife and pointedly ignoring Neve.
“Yes. The job’s done,” Lucanis says, looking at the empty space beside me. He frowns at the air.
“Lucanis?” I glance beside me, but nothing is there. “Are you alright? What are you looking at?”
“You cannot see him,” Lucanis states. “I wondered…”
“We clearly have things to discuss. Somewhere else,” I glance at Neve who is staring at Lucanis with wariness.
“Agreed,” Lucanis nods, looking beside me again. “I think it’s time I got some air.”
It’s night by the time we make it back to Treviso. The markets are all closed, and I can’t help but groan internally. I haven’t been to the market in a while and I would kill for some fresh food. The Lighthouse dinners have been getting… stale.
As we enter the Canatori Diamond, my stomach plummets. Teia, Viago, and Illario are there looking distraught, and Teia’s meeting room, which is usually kept in immaculate condition, has signs of struggle everywhere. Caterina is nowhere to be found. Viago and Teia turn to us.
“Maker,” Teia says in amazement as she sets her sights on Lucanis. Viago eyes me carefully before turning his attention to Lucanis.
“Lucanis…” he breathes, and I detect relief and grief mixing in his voice.
“What happened here?” Lucanis’ voice breaks ever so slightly.
“A message,” Illario slams his fist on the table causing me to jump. He turns to his cousin. “From Zara Renata.”
Lucanis and I glance at each other.
“I can’t believe it,” Illario’s voice softens as he truly looks at Lucanis. “You’re home.” He places a hand on Lucanis’ shoulder. His eyes betray something unspoken, however. There’s an unreadable emotion that crosses them when he says “home.” Lucanis doesn’t seem to notice, and Neve’s face doesn’t reveal if she sees it, either. I reprimand myself a little, remembering that Illario is seeing his believe-to-be-dead cousin for the first time in a year. He’s probably feeling a lot . Just because I don’t trust the Crows doesn’t mean I’m correct in that belief.
“Zara…” Lucanis says in shock. “Her people got this close?”
“The woman who runs the prison?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“The Venatori witch who captured me,” Lucanis confirms.
“Revenge for the breakout, maybe?” I suggest. Viago sighs, and I whip my head to glare at him. Teia punches him lightly.
If Lucanis notices this exchange, he doesn’t acknowledge it. “Where’s Caterina?” He asks instead.
“She’s…” Teia stars, but her voice breaks off.
“The Venatori got her in the confusion.” Viago places his hands on Teia's shoulders in comfort. I so badly want to make fun of him for letting his soft side for Teia show, but the dread already in my stomach explodes.
“I get one of you back, only to lose the other,” Illario’s eyes dance around the room wildly.
“Lucanis, I’m so sorry,” I say, and though I’ve directly addressed him, I look at Teia too. “If you don’t want…” My voice breaks as I see a tear roll down usually put together Teia’s face. “If you don’t want to stay in this contract,” I regain my composure and motion to Neve and myself, “I understand.”
“I need to work,” Lucanis replies, his words holding a heavy weight to them.
“Are you sure?” Teia steps out of Viago’s embrace. “You should take some time.”
“I don’t need time,” Lucanis looks at me. “I need a target.”
“You just got here,” Illario narrows his eyes. “And already you want to leave again?”
“Caterina gave me a contract,” Lucanis looks from me to his cousin and back to me again. “I’m not breaking the last deal she ever made. And I owe Rook. Once that’s done… I’ll come home.”
“You both will,” Teia gives me a look, and to my surprise, Viago nods in agreement.
“Cousin,” Illario says. “When you find Zara, I want– I need– to be there.” There’s a bitter desperation in his voice, but I can’t quite tell what– or who– it’s for.
“We’re under attack,” Viago spits. “Antaam on one side and now Venatori on the other? Forget revenge, we need you–”
“No, Viago,” Caterina cuts him off and straightens her posture in the familiar stance of the Talon she is. “Zara came for us here. In my house. She took Caterina from my house. You find her and cut her heart out Lucanis. Vi and I will hold down the fort.”
Viago looks like he wants to respond but thinks better of it.
“I’ll give her your regards, Teia,” Lucanis promises.
“For Caterina,” Teia says, more to herself. She then turns to me. “Rook, was it?” She smiles lightly, using the nickname for the first time. I’m about to tell her she obviously doesn’t have to call me Rook, and that Aya is fine, but she turns back to Lucanis. “At the end of this, they come home with you,” Teia points at me. “Viago complains far less when they’re around.”
Viago begins to protest, and I roll my eyes. “I’ll be fine,” I groan and hear Neve stifle a laugh. Lucanis, however, looks at me curiously and nods solemnly at Teia.
“We both will be home at the end of this,” he says. “Besides, it’s one contract… How hard can it be?”
And that is the moment Neve and I turn to each other and horror and realize we never actually told Lucanis the target… targets . Viago sighs and looks at me tiredly.
“Aya, please tell Lucanis what you have gotten yourself into before he goes around making promises,” his voice betrays no emotion, but a familiar humorous spark reignites in his eyes as he looks at me. A spark I haven’t seen since he banished me. Teia sees it, too, and smirks. Lucanis turns to Neve and I with a questioning expression.
“Uh… we’re, well, we’re fighting… um… gods?” I stammer. Viago groans and mutters something in rapid Old Antivan, and not for the first time I curse him for never teaching me the language when I got to Treviso and joined the Crows. He said it was because it’s too hard of a language to learn and my accent would give away my position to targets so it was better to just speak in common tongue, but I think it’s because he likes to talk about me without me knowing what he’s saying. Teia punches him again with a warning look.
“If you need anything, the Crows are by your side,” she says to me, and I sneak a look at Lucanis who has a mixture of amusement and utter confusion on his face.
“Let’s go,” I sigh, and trudge off towards the Eluvian to get back to the Lighthouse. As we leave, I notice Illario had mysteriously gone missing during the final minutes of our exchange.