"Hey, Curly."

Cullen looked up as Varric came up.

"How's Stardust doing?"

Cullen looked over at where Alena sat sharpening her sword. It had been a few days since their first night camping. "She won't talk about what happened, but she seems to be OK."

The Iron Bull looked up from where he was sitting. "Has she ever said where is she from?" He had an idea of what may be going on with Alena, but he needed to confirm his suspicions.

"Ironbrook, some village here in the Hinterlands." Varric said.

"Are you sure she said Ironbrook?" Bull asked.

"Yes, she mentioned that was where she was from when we first met." Cullen said.

"Well, shit. That explains a lot." Bull said.

Cullen looked at the Qunari. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not too surprised you don't know, Cullen. It happened seven years ago, so you would have been in Kirkwall." Bull started. He glanced back at Alena, then turned back to the others. "Ironbrook was one of the first places to get hit by Venatori in Ferelden. The entire village was burned to the ground, everyone slaughtered." He looked back at Alena who was moving from her sword to polishing her armour. "It's unbelievable that she could have survived all that..."

Cullen looked over at Alena, beginning to understand what happened a few days prior. "No wonder she's been on edge. The Brecilian Passage runs passed where Ironbrook would have stood."

Alena sat just out of earshot from what was being said, but she felt like she was being watched and looked up to find the others staring at her. "What?"

Dorian beamed at her as he joined the other men. "Just admiring how beautiful you looked taking care of your gear."

Alena blushed a little and smiled, but the look Cullen had on his face made her wary. She stood, setting her gear down. "Cullen, is everything alright?"

Cullen nodded and tried to feign a smile, but after hearing what Bull had said, he wanted nothing more than to hold her.

Alena looked at him and saw something was wrong, then at Dorian. "Did you tell them?"

Dorian looked at her, confused. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Cut the crap, Sparkler. Did you tell them?" Alena asked again, feeling a bit betrayed. "After I asked you not to?"

"I did, Stardust." Bull said, looking to her. "They didn't know what happened to Ironbrook."

"You had no right, Bull..." Alena felt so many emotions running through her and she felt herself losing control.

"Nana, he didn't know not to say anything." Dorian tried to say, but Alena shook her head and glared at Bull.

"You had no right!" She had spent so much time hiding from her past and now they knew; now Cullen knew. "No right..."

"Oh dear..." Dorian crossed his arms and sighed, looking to Bull who had the expression of guilt.

Cullen stood as she started to back away from them. "Alena, wait."

Alena needed to breathe. Her world was spinning around her, like everything was spiralling out of control.

Cullen reached out to steady her when she tripped. "Alena..."

Alena refused to meet his gaze and stepped away from him. "Leave me alone..."

Cullen reached out to stop her from leaving and pulled her into his arms.

No matter how much she struggled, Alena couldn't push him away and she finally just gave in. She broke down into tears, collapsing into his arms.

Cullen held onto her, looking at the others and seeing the same look of helplessness and defeat he felt. He couldn't do anything more than hold her and try to comfort her.

Alena felt so vulnerable, so small. She forced herself to swallow her tears and pushed back from Cullen. "I'm sorry..."

Cullen reached up and wiped away the tears. "Don't be." He smoothed her hair back and looked down at her. "Will you tell us what happened?"

Alena looked down, but rose her gaze to meet Dorian's when he told her it was OK. She sighed. "Alright." Taking a deep breath, she began to tell her tale.

Alena sat playing with her hair as she watched her sister training. She had came back home from Kinloch Hold, the Circle Tower of Ferelden, for a visit before she was sent to Starkhaven to become an enchanter and take on a position teaching in the Starkhaven Circle of Magi.

"Do you have to go back?" Alena asked.

Her sister nodded, pausing for a moment. "It's a good opportunity for me, Allie. Besides, it will be a good chance for me to earn money to send to you here."

"But, Amelia, you don't have to worry about me." Alena insisted. "I can take care of myself."

Amelia smiled and nodded. "That's true, but we need to keep the farm going. And we need money for that."

Alena sighed. "I know... plus it'd help to make sure I can protect the farm too. Bandits have been coming through these parts lately. Can't be too careful."

Amelia nodded. "See? At least I can help keep things running and protected with what I earn."

Alena smiled, but a thought popped into her head. "Amelia, I've been wondering for some time now..." She looked at her sister. "How come I'm not special like you or Mum and Da were? How come I don't have magik?"

Amelia looked at her littler sister. "Allie..." She came to sit next to her. "Having magik is both a blessing and a curse. Mum and Da were both healers and used their magik to help protect Ironbrook, but they were killed by Templars when we were young because they were apostates. I hadn't started showing signs of magik yet and it was years before that happened. In fact, my magik didn't awaken until you were fourteen. The Templars who were stationed here back then saw me use magik and they took me away. You remember that right?"

Alena nodded. "It was the worst day of my life. Mum and Da I was too young to remember well, but having the Templars take you away was awful."

"And yet because they did, I was able to learn what I needed to in the Circle and now I can help people like Mum and Da did." Amelia said. She put her hand on her sister's. "You may have magik, you may not. Be thankful you don't right now. Things have grown tense between mages and Templars." She looked up as a group of local Templars passed by. "I'm surprised they even let me come home first." She looked back to Alena, seeing the concern on her sister's face. "Don't worry, Allie. The Templars going with me have worked with me for years. They know me and I know them. Despite the tensions, they're people I can trust and they trust me."

Alena sighed. "Just promise you'll be careful? One mage with three Templars doesn't make me comfortable."

Amelia chuckled and kissed her sister's head. "I'll be fine, Allie, don't worry. I promise."

Alena smiled, but it soon faded when they heard the sound of a commotion coming from the village square. "What's going on?"

Amelia stood. "I don't know. We should be careful."

"Let's go see what going on." Alena stood and followed Amelia to the village square.

In the square, there were dozens of people from Ironbrook gathered around the square and there was a group of strangely garbed people at the center.

"Koda, what's going on?" Amelia asked one of the young men nearby.

Koda had been a good friend of theirs since childhood, often looking after Alena for Amelia. "They call themselves 'Venatori'. They're looking for someone, a young girl they think has a special power."

Alena looked through the throng of people and felt her blood turn to ice when she saw a woman with blonde hair turn her gaze towards her, eyes narrowed. She backed away, then turned to Amelia. "I don't like it here, Amelia. Let's go home."

Amelia nodded and as they were about to leave, the woman Alena had seen made her way towards them.

"Halt."

Amelia and Alena turned to face the woman.

The woman stepped forward, reaching up to grasp Alena's chin. "You are quite the young little beauty, my dear. What is your name?"

Alena shuddered under the touch and gaze of this strange woman. "A-Alena."

"Alena..." The woman looked her up and down. "How old are you, my dear?"

"Nineteen."

The woman smirked and looked to the Venatori with her. "This is the one. We'll take her with us."

"What?" Alena's heart dropped.

"Serah, you cannot be serious. My sister is not going anywhere."

The woman looked at Amelia as she stood in front of Alena protectively. "You are of no use to us. You have Circle training, you are not worthy of our master." She looked at Alena. "This one, however, has no training and her power is raw, untapped."

"I am not a mage." Alena said, her voice shaky.

"You don't know?" The woman laughed. "You poor dear. You have no idea the power you hold! I am surprised your sister could not sense it in you."

Alena looked at Amelia, then at Koda as he stepped in front of them. "Koda?"

Koda looked over his shoulder at Amelia. "Take her and get out of here. We'll hold them off."

"Koda, I can't leave you." Amelia said, but the look Koda gave her made her stop.

"Mia, go. We can handle these bafoons. Get Allie out of here."

Amelia nodded and took Alena's hand, turning to run.

"Venatori, make quick work of these fools and bring me that girl." The woman ordered, stepping back as all hell broke loose.

Fires began to rage everywhere and screams echoed in the night as the two sisters ran. Demons had been summoned by the Venatori mages and they were chasing after people fleeing the carnage, the Venatori themselves slaughtering everyone in their path as they searched for Alena.

Alena stood helpless, frozen by fear as the horror scene played out before her. Her sister stood guard where they had been cornered, casting her spells and trying to protect her little sister. Venatori and demons alike came after Alena and her sister, each time getting annihilated. After what seemed like hours, the screaming had stopped and the two sisters thought they were safe when they saw no Venatori or demons in sight. They found took shelter in a barn on the far side of the village, near the outskirts.

"Amelia, are they gone?"

Amelia looked down at her younger sister and smiled. "I think so."

Alena smiled in relief, then her face went ashen with fear and shock as Amelia's face contorted in pain. "A-Amelia..?"

Blood trickled down the corner of her lips and Amelia tried to smile. "It's going to be OK, Allie. I love you..."

Alena watched as her sister slumped forward, drawing her last breath as she spoke those final words, a Venatori lurker standing behind Amelia with a bloodied dagger in hand. Alena was frozen with fear, but something deep within her screamed for her to run as the Venatori inched closer and closer to take her life as well. She backed away, out of the barn, and turned to run as far and fast as she could, leaving everything and everyone behind- all destroyed and dead. Without looking back, she kept on running and running until her legs wouldn't carry her any further.

She had managed to run to the next village, over half a day's ride away, and collapsed on the porch of the Chantry. The door opened at the sound of a thud and a Chantry mother peered outside, her gaze falling to where Alena lay in an exhausted heap.

"Maker, child, what happened?" She asked, falling to her knees beside her. When Alena didn't respond, she called to the local Templars and asked them to bring her inside.

"The last thing I remember was passing out after being carried inside. When I woke up, I heard the news about Ironbrook from the locals of the village and I knew it wasn't a dream."

Cullen and the others stared at Alena as she finished sharing her tale.

"The woman sounds like Calpernia." Dorian said, stroking his chin. "Curious that they would come searching for someone with power in a place like this."

"But you don't wield magik, Stardust. What power could that woman have seen in you?" Bull asked.

Alena shrugged, hugging herself. "I don't know. Mum, Da, and Amelia all had magik, but my whole life I've been normal. There's nothing special about me. Except for my hair."

Dorian looked at her, deep in thought.

"What's on your mind, Sparkler?" Varric asked.

"There's an old legend my father would often speak of when I was a boy." Dorian said. "In the Magisterium, they would speak of a child with starlit hair blessed by the heavens with a rare magik. No one knew what kind of magik, but it was always said that this child held the power to unlock an infinite number of possibilities and there was no telling what they were capable of." He pointed to Alena's hair. "I've never met anyone with hair like yours. It's possible that Calpernia thought you to be this child of legend, and if she sensed power within you it would validate her thinking."

Alena's heart began to race. "What are you saying?"

"Now, sweetie, don't take this to heart as it is possible you just have very unique hair. However, if Calpernia sensed power within you it is possible that you may be the child of legend."

Cullen looked from Alena to Dorian. "Are you saying Alena may be a mage?"

"It is possible. Though not certain."

Alena felt weak and sank to her knees. "This can't be..."

Cullen knelt beside her and rubbed her back. "Are you alright?"

Alena couldn't find the words to speak, not with so much running through her head. 'Could I really be a mage...?'