She was home - making a new life for herself, with a new name, a new identity, a fresh start with the horrors of this place behind her. Having it cruelly ripped away, being brought back - it's hard to wake up in her apartment every day, knowing that she was free and now she's not.
It's hard, but Nick is surviving. That's what she tells herself every morning - she is still breathing, so she is still surviving, and she will continue to do so until her last breath, which will be a long goddamn time from now, if Nick has any say in the matter.
She's fallen back into her old routine, working at Delight's bar, pouring drinks and lending a patient ear for the bar's patrons. The semi-regular horror show of bullshit the gods in this place like to put people through is part of that routine, but this time, something is different. Nick has survived an entire year's worth of events, mostly by hunkering down and waiting it out.
But this time, something inside of her snaps.
It has been a long, long time since she's actively gone out picking fights - something she did more as a teenager, angry, with something to prove, ready to fight the entire small world of the town that birthed and raised and shaped her. She's been in fights since, too, but they were targeted affairs, usually proving a point or simply refusing to be pushed around.
She has had enough of this bullshit. And for once, she remembers that there is something she can do about it.
She can fight.
Nick has only ever fought in Morphus when provoked - defending herself against something that has tried to harm her and her friends, or when Rage sent her into a blind, murderous fury. Nick has never actively responded to a threat when it hasn't been directly aimed at her - until now.
Because she is angry - about being here again, about being fucked with again - and she's not going to run anymore. She isn't going to hide. She's going to fight back.
So when she crosses paths with Leliana, it's as her monstrous doll self, wearing impractical black ribbons and ruffles and lace, a fissure cracked across her porcelain forehead, hands raised to aim and shoot black energy bolts at the demon she's currently facing. Her voice has a hollow, distorted quality to it, not entirely human-sounding, but still recognizable as Nick for anyone who may have heard her speak before.]
demons.
She was home - making a new life for herself, with a new name, a new identity, a fresh start with the horrors of this place behind her. Having it cruelly ripped away, being brought back - it's hard to wake up in her apartment every day, knowing that she was free and now she's not.
It's hard, but Nick is surviving. That's what she tells herself every morning - she is still breathing, so she is still surviving, and she will continue to do so until her last breath, which will be a long goddamn time from now, if Nick has any say in the matter.
She's fallen back into her old routine, working at Delight's bar, pouring drinks and lending a patient ear for the bar's patrons. The semi-regular horror show of bullshit the gods in this place like to put people through is part of that routine, but this time, something is different. Nick has survived an entire year's worth of events, mostly by hunkering down and waiting it out.
But this time, something inside of her snaps.
It has been a long, long time since she's actively gone out picking fights - something she did more as a teenager, angry, with something to prove, ready to fight the entire small world of the town that birthed and raised and shaped her. She's been in fights since, too, but they were targeted affairs, usually proving a point or simply refusing to be pushed around.
She has had enough of this bullshit. And for once, she remembers that there is something she can do about it.
She can fight.
Nick has only ever fought in Morphus when provoked - defending herself against something that has tried to harm her and her friends, or when Rage sent her into a blind, murderous fury. Nick has never actively responded to a threat when it hasn't been directly aimed at her - until now.
Because she is angry - about being here again, about being fucked with again - and she's not going to run anymore. She isn't going to hide. She's going to fight back.
So when she crosses paths with Leliana, it's as her monstrous doll self, wearing impractical black ribbons and ruffles and lace, a fissure cracked across her porcelain forehead, hands raised to aim and shoot black energy bolts at the demon she's currently facing. Her voice has a hollow, distorted quality to it, not entirely human-sounding, but still recognizable as Nick for anyone who may have heard her speak before.]
Take that, you motherfucker!