(Maven)

Haven. The Hinterlands. Storm Coast. Fallow Mire. Forbidden Oasis, even though we had yet to travel there. Crestwood after making it here to Skyhold. Then the Western Approach and the Exalted Plains. We were making great progress following location and memorized location levels. Next was the Emerald Graves.

Now, what about these war table missions? Had they managed to save Odessa's clan? Just because she never felt like she really belonged didn't mean she wanted them dead. They will be discussing who the next Divine should be very soon. It ended as Leliana due to the choices I made in-game. Even if I do not remember them all, I know it will be her again. For whatever reason, it is a mutual preference between Drusilla and me, if only because her existence within the game is the oddest.

Even if you kill her during the quest to retrieve the ashes of Andraste...she comes back in the last two games. This means there is a chance that she was resurrected by the Maker or another god. Maybe it was Flemeth...after Mythal entrusted her...bad tangent. I rubbed my temples, trying to massage away the impending mental rant. It was unnecessary to try and answer those questions, right now.

The most important one was what were we going to do next?

Should we finally visit the Forbidden Oasis and take over that or should we continue to divest Corypheus of the hold he has been attempting to root in the remaining locations? If it were Bull or even Cullen, they might suggest that we send the Chargers with a small team of Cullen's soldiers to route them at the Oasis and claim the camps, but not go into Solasan temple except to turn on the artifact there. Those newbies in the tavern would probably love to join that brigade. They would be honored, plus they do well in every armor type. Medium or heavy armor would probably suit them best if they were to go to the Oasis. The only issue is the giant.

"Maven, what are you doing here?"

"I would ask you the same thing if I didn't already know you were probably running away from a certain Qunari." I turned to look at her.

"Are you drunk?"

"I was mostly sober until the going got tough and talk got heavy. Then I drank more to make the thinking stop and figured you'd be here for...okay, not sure why."

"What happened?"

"We talked about sex. Like the song. Stuff like that."

"What made you run?"

"I don't know how to handle those situations." She peered down at the map."We're mostly cleared through everywhere else, right? Per usual. Here is where the noble who doesn't want it leaked he's a noble is. Should we use him or not?"

"Hm, no. If we do that then he may not trust us later. He does more good as an unknown noble dude." I looked at her. "Why are you really here? Something bothering you? Is...is it the song again?" She had once confided that there were times where the magic kept her awake or the night terrors of demons woke her. Drusilla shook her head.

"I realized how OP I was the other day…it's going to freak a lot of people out."

"What?"

"Given enough time, I can activate and accelerate or decelerate the production of certain endocrine processes."

"What?" I repeated even though it was dawning on me. Drusilla began to sort of pace, although lopsidedly. The alcohol in her system makes her steps waver.

"If I work on it, just like the shutting down of a person's nervous system. I can shut down any organ system I want with just a touch as long as I go through the mental process. I could flood someone's brain with DMT or any other naturally produced chemical; dopamine, serotonin, etc. I could make someone a diabetic or age them forward decades by speeding up the growth and death of their cells. Maven, I could give someone metastatic cancer." Then she snapped her fingers and stood up straight.

"I just speed metabolized all the alcohol in my bloodstream. Just like that, no more drunk Dru, no hangover, nothing." The look in her eyes was half excited for good reasons while the other half was terrified.

"You're more overpowered than Vivienne with a full Knight Enchanter build…" I whispered.

"I know! See why I just had to come and tell you?!"

"Then the nightmares have been demons trying to tempt you?"

"The fucking demons should know to fear me." I sighed at her statement.

"When do you plan to test it out?"

Drusilla grinned.

"Just put a Venatori in front of me." Our current situation easily bypassed the issue that would have presented itself in our world; issues of ethicalness, that is.

"The only setback to this is that you're limited to humans."

"Yeah...but I don't really think it'll be long until Helisma and/or Leliana say it's okay for me to dissect our less human enemies too."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Just you and Dorian...and Solas."

"What made you realize this?"

"Well, I was walking around drunk and thinking about stuff from our previous world that I kind of missed and I remembered this one anime we used to watch about a game and this girl's first time playing any video game ever. Of course, from there, it went to how quickly she became overpowered as fuck."

"Right. Defense and poison." I remembered.

"Exactly."

"What did Dorian and Solas have to say?" She wouldn't confide in Vivienne about this.

"Well, both were fascinated. You and them...well, you're the safest to tell." She shrugged as she walked back towards the table and looked down.

"Just imagine the damage I could do to a dragon if I learned it's inner workings-like that Frederic guy's research on them. I know they aren't actually dragons because wings aren't right, but still. Imagine one of them high off their ass...or-" Her eyes grew wide as she seemed to have gotten an idea. The new grin on her face was worrisome and I could only stare for so long before my head dropped into my palm.

"You want to see if you can have a pet dragon now, don't you?"

"Oh, Maven, you know me so well. It's almost like we're twins." She was distracting herself, even if it was something she was interested in.

"How are you coping?" The question seemed out of nowhere and I glanced over her shoulder at the door.

"My nights aren't as bad anymore, but I still get nightmares too. I was able to confide in Cullen about them the other day. His are just like we saw before." Drusilla's face softened.

"Poor Curly. If it helps, I have been working with Adan and Elan to make modern-day elixirs for us. That and things like our anxiety and other mental illnesses."

"Morrigan would probably be a big help." Drusilla nodded, not fully here but I know she heard me."

"How have you been holding? I hear you at night sometimes. Yours remind me of Cullen's now."

"Yeah, well. The demons shit up everything." She grins but it's only half humor."Does your training help you?"

"I'm given more time to think during missions than when Seeker Pentaghast and I spar." Like she even has to ask but I know she is having a harder time in her dance with the Iron Bull. Mainly because he is a spy. From what I can tell, she trusts him in certain things, but only with future shit after the choice has been made.

"I sure hope you know you can talk to me about anything. Out of everyone here."

"I know, but I have these moments, like during the viral plague. Where I have to remind myself it's real and maybe it always has been."

This was what I had been referring to. I got those same moments in the morning, but they were easier for me because I was building something with Cullen in this. Her thoughts were as open to me as they would have been to Jean Grey. That Leliana is really lost, right now, and more like Marjolaine than she ever would have wanted herself to be. At least, back in Origins. That, as helpful as they are, Solas can't be trusted because of his existence as Fen'harel. Sera still avoids us because we "aren't right" every now and then. Hell, even Cassandra has moments where the reminder that we aren't of this world hits, but I think she has been soothing herself with "The Maker works in mysterious ways" chants. Blackwall gets tense but he is laxer about us compared to his past, Vivienne probably thinks one or both of us is an abomination just waiting to strike, and The Iron Bull.

Back to him, he's a spy. Who knows what he is sending back in his reports? Who knows what he actually thinks of us or believes of us?

It made me wonder if she had talked to him about these things yet. He probably realized that I was much more confident and sure of how things would go.

"Don't get sick like that again. Please. We're lucky it's not like the other one." She muttered but she wasn't here anymore. Her mindset and focus went to something else and she wandered out of the war room.