"Wow, talk about friends in high places," Holli muttered as she watched the exchange down below. Being a former companion to the Divine...
A Revered Mother wanted to whisk Cassandra and Leliana away, where one of them may even become Divine. The moment they had stepped into Skyhold, they had practically been accosted by the woman. The others had been sent off while Hawke, Leliana, and Cassandra spoke to her.
Holli hadn't gone far, wanting to know what it was about.
"Doubt either one of them would be too useful if they managed to make it to the position. Power corrupts and all that," Sera said from beside her.
"And absolute power corrupts absolutely."
From what Holli knew of the Divine, the woman was one of the most powerful people around, an army of Templars, sort of Seekers, and the faithful.
"Can you imagine one of them being the next Divine?" Sera laughed. "Who do you think would make a better one?"
Holli thought about it, letting out a thoughtful hum. "I think Cassandra," she replied.
Cassandra at least tried to do the right thing. She probably wouldn't want the job, though. Leliana would probably get things done, but she would probably be kinda ruthless about it and may not always try to take the path of least destruction and casualties.
But losing either one from the Inquisition seemed... unreal. They were founding members of it, the driving force behind it. Could they be both part of the Inquisition and the Divine? Both were big jobs.
For some reason, the news planted a seed of dread in her stomach. She didn't know why.
Arms wrapped around her from behind, Cole's chin resting on her shoulder, his hat sheltering her from the sunlight. She grinned and leaned into him.
"Ugh, getting sick of seeing you two being all blech," she muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Just do it already, and maybe you won't be all handsy."
"Just do what?" Cole asked.
"Fuck."
Holli cast an annoyed look her way. "Sounds like you need to get laid."
"I do. Slim pickings round here. Not all of us just go for whoever's closest to our age."
"Prefer them older?"
"No, I just have standards."
Cole's brows furrowed as he side-eyed Sera.
"Don't listen to her, Cole," Holli told him. "I think you're neat. So salty, Sera."
Sera poked her tongue in their direction, and Holli casually flipped her off.
"Are we ever going to get back to you trying to open rifts?" Sera changed the subject.
"We could do it today," Holli said. "I'm keen."
"Yeah, I'll go tell Krem. Meet you at the gates soon?"
Holli nodded, and Sera headed off.
Sometimes it just seemed like there was never enough time in the day to get done everything she wanted. And she didn't want to give up the more peaceful times where she just hung out with Cole and Sera, or Solas, Varric, or any of the others really. She treasured those moments.
"I'm just gonna go grab my stuff real quick," Holli told Cole.
He nodded. "I need to get my daggers."
"Meet you at the gates then."
He let her go, and she headed off as well, planning to cut through Cullen's office. She didn't bother knocking; Cullen usually didn't care since she slunk through quietly anyway. However, when she opened the door today, her jaw dropped. Cullen had Josephine pressed up against his desk while they made out.
They stared at her wide-eyed and caught out.
"Josephine!" Holli gasped. "You never mentioned this at pretty ladies club."
Cullen's brows furrowed. "What?"
"That's not what it's called," Josephine told him.
"How long have you two been hooking up?"
Holy shit, was this why Cullen had seemed a little less stressed lately?
"That's none of your business," Cullen told her, indignant.
"Fine, whatever," she sighed out, making her way to the door on the opposite wall. "Just passing through." Before she ducked out the door, though, she shot them a grin and a double thumbs up. "Happy for you! You should probably lock your doors."
"Get out." Cullen cast her a withering look.
Holli laughed and ran off. She thought it was nice they were together. They made a pretty couple. Probably make pretty babies too if they got that far.
Holli got to her room and pushed off her shoes, switching to her snow boots, and pulled on her beanie and mittens. It still got too cold up here. The castle walls protected them from the worst of the wind, but outside of it still wasn't great.
Bundled up against the cold, she made her way out to the gates. The others were already there, and Krem had decided to bring Skinner. Holli hadn't interacted with the Chargers much, but she had heard about what went down on the Storm Coast a while ago with the Qunari. Bull had chosen his Chargers and truly been labelled Tal Vashoth. He'd been drunk for days after that. He'd said he didn't regret his choice but hated having to make it.
Holli was glad he'd chosen the Chargers.
"So you're attempting this again," Krem said when he saw her.
"Seems counterproductive for the rift closer to be opening them," Skinner said.
"No one's forcing you to come," Sera told her.
Skinner cast Sera quite the disdainful look; it was kind of impressive. Holli started walking, the others falling into step with her.
"It's not an attempt anymore; I was successful last time. Remember?"
"If you consider Sera getting her face torn up a success," Krem said.
"I fixed it," she replied defensively.
They found their secluded little area to attempt opening the rift. Skinner still looked irritated, but from what little Holli knew of her, that could just be her default setting. But both she and Krem were sort of looking at the rest of them like they were wrangling children. Children who made especially stupid decisions. So Holli dug her heels in, and she tore the veil apart.
It wasn't a baby rift like last time, still a bit smaller than the usual ones they came across. And almost immediately, demons started coming through.
The others drew their weapons and waited for creatures to come. Holli had something she wanted to try. Solas had spoken to her about rifts, the Fade, and the Veil at length in their lessons. He said they could be manipulated, used for more than just closing rifts. She could already use a rift to stun enemies; it made sense she should be able to use it for more.
As soon as their enemies popped through, the others engaged them while Holli tried to work with the rift. She staggered them for a few moments and then sort of pulled. Not like when she pulled a rift closed; it was more like pulling on the tethers that kept the demons connected to the rift. They flew back, crashing into each other at the point they met the rift.
Holli let out a small chuckle as they landed in a heap at the foot of the rift.
"I didn't know you could do that," Krem said, frowning at her.
"Just figured it out," she told him. "It was only a theory before."
The demons were back up, the three melee members of their group charging in while Holli and Sera used their range. She knew Skinner was an archer as well but could seamlessly switch between range and melee.
Holli's eyes followed Cole; the boy moved like liquid shadow, and he had rarely been hurt in battle, but she liked to keep extra watch over him and make sure he came out unharmed.
When the demons were dead, Holli closed the rift, smiling to herself in satisfaction.
"That went well," she announced.
Her mind was racing with other possibilities. The magic of her mark was separate from her other magic; it was a bit like having an entirely second weapon with a completely different set of capabilities. She really should devote more time to expanding on this. But she also had the work she was doing in the infirmary and the research she was doing with Dagna. Maybe she needed to write up a schedule for herself.
"Do we want to go again?" She asked them.
"One more time," Krem agreed.
While he understood practice was important, this was also dangerous, and he was aware he was out here with Sera, Cole, and Holli. While they weren't exactly unreliable, he wouldn't like to really put his life in their hands. It was difficult to see them as more than kids playing with something they shouldn't most of the time.
Well intentioned, but irresponsible. He did wonder what that said about him, given he came along for this instead of putting a stop to it.
"All right, ready?" Holli asked, rubbing her hands together with an eager grin on her face.
He would appreciate it if she could be a little more serious about it.