Doom Upon All The World

Chapter 13: Phillipe

They all heard the screams.

It was almost as bad as the day the Inquisitor fell. His heart raged in his chest. He shot up in his bed, breath heaving, eyes alert and scared, feet swift as a cobra ready to move, to strike at any moment. Chandler rose up beside him, gripping her bow close to her naked body. She'd sheath arrows into an enemy's body naked for everyone to see any day if it meant protecting what was hers.

He couldn't focus on her though, in that moment. He knew whose scream that was. He needed to see for himself. Phillipe told her to stay put and quickly donned a pair of trousers as he exited their chambers. Being on the southwest tower of Skyhold, he could just barely make out the faint blue glowing of the widows in the northeastern tower. He knew this to be his brother's place. His place with Mythalus, where they went to be... intimate. It was that fact that sent him running there. But he was not the only one. He could see down below that two other figures were on the move, on their way to the tower, to the screams, Pierre's screams, as well. He hastened himself, aching to come to his brother's side first.

Whatever was ensuing between Mythalus and Pierre in there did not sound like pleasure. It sounded like torture and Pierre was getting the brunt of it. The three of them got to the doors at about the same time. Anthony was bare torso'd as well and Nicolynn was wearing very little, having eschewed the trousers from earlier and opted for the long tank top that hangs around her now.

Phillipe sits in the bed with his brother now, the younger Montilyet mostly covered by the sheets Mythalus threw over him as they got here. He blots a wet cloth over his brother's sweating forehead as the other three discuss what happened. "You were having sex and he just collapsed, just like that?" Nicolynn asks her brother as he stands half dressed, looking scared out of his mind. "Yes." He stutters. "I think. I don't know. I don't remember. It's all a haze." He tells her.

He doesn't look worried for Pierre. No, Nicolynn knows better than to think that he'd sympathize. No, Mythalus is concerned because he doesn't understand why he can't remember what happened. "The lyrium," Nicolynn stops him, her ears growing red with anger. "You're taking lyrium again?" She questions indignantly. Her ears burn with the aggravation in her stomach.

"Spare me your judgement, sister." He growls out at her aggressively. "The lyrium clouded my memory. I can't see anything beyond our relations. One minute he was fine, we were fine, and then he just screamed and passed out." He waves his hand in dismissal, as if this is all just some inconvenience to him. Nicolynn shouldn't be surprised but she still can't understand how her sweet little brother turned into this.

"Well, well, well, I was wondering how this would play out." All the heads in the room turn to follow the voice, finding Morrigan in the doorway. "Well done, Mythalus." She nods respectfully at him. "You wouldn't remember, being high out of Thedas on lyrium at the time, but this was the plan. Maximize your lyrium dosage and see how it affects those around you. To climax so fruitfully at full power," Anthony goes red at her words, suddenly wanting to be somewhere else. "Well, you see the result, it's before you, slumped over and exhausted. He'll recover in a few days. His body just doesn't know how to handle that kind of mana surging through it. It's an incredible technique really. If you could somehow use it on your foes it'd be even better." She shrugs.

"A few days?!" Phillipe raises his concern as the others seem to have other thoughts. "Full power? You mean he found the bottom of his mana well?" Nicolynn questions, looking suddenly very curious. But Anthony finds it in himself to make a joke. "How would he use this against his foes? What's he going to do? Fuck them to death?" He shakes his head as Nicolynn flinches at his angered tone. She can't tell if it's because they were interrupted by Pierre's screams or if he's legitimately annoyed by the situation.

Morrigan makes a disturbed face. "One at a time, I beg of you. I raised one child, I don't need fourteen more screaming in my ear." She grins coyly and widens her eyes in irritation. "Yes, a few days. Your brother is no mage, Phillip. His body can't handle lyrium like ours can. If you want him to fully recover, you'll stand a few days." She forgets the Antivan twist on his name and Phillipe's face tightens. "It's Phillipe." He corrects. "Whatever." She waves him off. "You, Pentaghast, no, fucking them all would take too long." She smiles falsely at him and shakes her head. "If we can figure out how to direct his raw energy into a form that can be expelled without sexual release, it can be used in battle but as you know a mage's abilities are ultimately linked to their emotions. That is why we experimented with this exercise. Ergo, the statue on that field just outside this compound. Ability is emotion." She clicks her tongue with that last bit as Nicolynn's fists tighten in the slightest.

Anthony can see the tension in her, feel the anger boiling under her skin. She's red hot with rage and he knows that if not quelled, her magic, however little, will get the best of her. Morrigan seems to note this mentally but Phillipe just watches it all unfold. "As far as your brother's mana well is concerned, there is no bottom. Gods don't have a reserve, Nicolynn. They draw on the energy around them as well as that within them. Accessing it is the problem." Nicolynn shakes her head at this. "That's impossible. Mythalus isn't a God, Morrigan. There isn't any such thing as Gods. Only mages that pretend to hold power that they can't possibly control." She throws a glance towards Mythalus as she speaks. He only watches.

Phillipe grows tired of their charades though. How will he explain this to Claude? She'll be furious. Morrigan chuckles though, breaking Phillipe from his reverie. "That's where you're wrong. Where your father was wrong. Everything Solas told your mother was a lie. You think just any mage can turn himself to stone? You think just any mage could kill the longest living witch of the wilds? You believe that what your brother has done can be accomplished by just any mage?" She grins wickedly, making Nicolynn want to vomit.

Phillipe watches as something rises in Nicolynn, something he'd never noticed before. Anthony sees it too. He puts a hand on her back, steadying her. It doesn't do any good and Phillipe can see the concern in the warrior's eyes. Mythalus watches curiously, like he's expecting something big. "Your father may have told you and your mother that the Gods were false, but my dear, I was raised by one. I know what true power looks like. What Solas told you was a tale to ensure that he didn't look puny compared to the Gods he claimed to have colluded with." It's then that Phillipe realizes what Morrigan is doing. Anthony does too but before they can say anything, Morrigan breaks her.

"Solas was nothing but a puny, prideful elfling." She utters close to Nicolynn's face. The elf's had enough though. They watch in horror as Nicolynn succumbs to the magic for the first time. Her eyes glow beyond the blue they'd ever been in the past. Like pure liquid lyrium beneath the iris. Her skin shines with it too, like it's in her blood, giving her life. Before Morrigan can even react, Nicolynn grabs her by the throat with one hand, lifts her off the ground, an outraged battle cry leaving her lips as tears stream her face. Morrigan is startled, gasping for breath in terror as she scratches at the elf's hands, kicking her legs out, trying to get free. Nicolynn's grip is steel though. Her nails dig in, drawing blood from the witches neck as she punctures the skin.

Her scream gets louder, sundering the air in the room, making the rest of them clap their hands over their ears as Nicolynn releases her rage sending Morrigan into the wall on the other side of the room. The crunch of bone as she hits the wall is audible and cringe-worthy. Morrigan releases a broken groan as her head lulls to the side. Mythalus can only stare at his sister, who now lies crying, sobbing, wailing on the floor of the room. He had no idea that she was capable of this. The magic, he had always suspected laid dormant somewhere beneath the surface. But this. This he had not expected. Phillipe watches with wide, awed eyes as Mythalus debates whether to see to his sister or his teacher.

But it's Anthony that moves to Nicolynn first, taking her freezing hands in his, then wrapping her chilled body in his embrace, sacrificing his body heat for her even in this weather. He watches him pick her up off the ground, a teary, shivering mess, and carry her away. The attachment is obvious but what this means for them, Phillipe hasn't the slightest idea. Mythalus goes to Morrigan then. He attempts to heal her but she shirks him off, transforming with some difficulty into a crow, and flying off. The elf leaves and Phillipe is left with his quivering brother and his thoughts. Whether Nicolynn is a mage or not he doesn't know. What he does know is that she and her brother are just as dangerous, if not more than their father was.