I don't know why I wrote this. It was an idea. Between the constant reading of SI fics and playing through all of the DA games, it was going to happen eventually. Don't worry guys - still working on F:SC, but had to churn this out before I could continue with it. Enjoy.

"Over here! Check this thing out!"

I pointed at the strange looking sculpture sitting there in one of the booths, tilting my head as I tried to find a good angle to really "appreciate" the artistry. My friend was less than enthused with my choice – she had been looking at one the paintings on the far side of the room before I'd dragged her over to see what I'd found more interesting.

Kieko squinted at the information written below describing the exhibit. "It looks like a remnant from the Edo era. A relatively new find, I guess."

"I love the Edo period," I burst out. "Though I think I appreciate the historical aspect more so than the art related one."

"This was just recently excavated," she said with some surprise. "It says this particular item was found after an earthquake occurrence."

"That's fun."

We were currently at a newly opened museum gallery in Shizuoka City proper. I've been living in this area for, oh, maybe a couple of months or so, and this was one of the many get-togethers we have to keep in touch every now and then. Neither of us were particularly averse to hitting up a new place, and besides, there was a nice, little discount for women today. I didn't think I'd ever tire of Japan's quirky specials.

We were actually almost finished touring around – it was a fairly small building, full of both old and new materials. Some exhibits even included pieces taken from the Tohoku earthquake from, wow, over four years ago now. Time sure flies. Anyway, like I said, we were nearly done walking around and the both of us were cankering for a nice lunch somewhere.

"How about Indian food?" I suggested, really hoping for some nice butter chicken curry. That was my favorite dish.

She smiled at me, looking as gorgeous as ever. I couldn't say I wasn't just a bit jealous of her beauty.

"I'm all right with that."

"Cool, you look up the closest place. Someplace relatively cheap, please."

Kieko looked somewhat taken aback by the order. "Why do I have to look it up? You suggested it."

"Because I'm going to check out this one last thing over here," I said with some smugness. "And since I doubt you're interested, you can look up the place while I finish up. I'll meet you back near the entrance."

I spared her one last grin while she just scowled at me, though I did see her take out her phone, regardless. I really did have the best friends possible – ones who could stand my immature selfishness and snarky self each passing day.

In any case, I really was pretty intent on seeing that other exhibit. I waved at Kieko as I walked away, and tightened the strap of my ugly green bag. Making sure it was pretty secure across my chest, and making sure my cell phone was still snug in my pocket – I needed new pants. They were starting to get too baggy – I walked towards the far back of the museum. What I'd wanted to see was tucked in a little niche, though it did seem to have a bit of a crowd. Of course, it was Japan – it was rare to find anyplace that there weren't a ton of people, unless you were in the boonies. Then it was more a race between trying to find more people than cows.

I hung back a bit while waiting for the kids to move on and rubbed my temples a bit at the noise level. I couldn't say how relieved I was to see them run in a different direction – away from me – so I could analyze the giant thing myself. I strode up to the immense thing like I owned the place and just stared up at the crazy height. It actually just barely cleared the ceiling and must have been a good ten to fifteen feet tall. Wait, sorry, metric's the norm right? So, what, two to three meters, then?

There wasn't anything particularly attractive about it. It was a rather dusty, – why didn't the staff clean it up? – filthy looking mirror. I could barely even see my reflection at all. I looked from side to side and behind me really quick, but there wasn't anyone in the immediate vicinity of me. Bah, no one was going to notice, right?

I shifted my bag around, rummaged inside to get some tissues, and secured it on my back again afterwards. Reaching out, I impulsively decided to try to wipe the mirror clean a bit just to see if maybe there was something more interesting about it. Swiping the tissue across, I was admittedly pleased to see that it really was just dust and not some kind of cleansing solution that was supposed to stay on for such and such time. Had it been, I would've been moving as far away from the site as possible. Japanese police don't play around.

Another quick glance back to ensure the coast was clear, and then I cleaned it just enough to be able to see my head and shoulders. If I had really stopped to think about it, I might have been able to realize that I'd done fucked up at that very moment. I was a walking meme right there.

I peered into the mirror, squinting to see if there was anything of note. There wasn't. It was just a mirror. Damn it.

I turned away, unimpressed. Plus, I shouldn't have touched it, so it was probably a good idea to vacate the premises anyway. I reached into my pocket when to dig out my cell phone when it vibrated. A quick swipe and Kieko and I were connected.

"I'm waiting at the entrance," came her voice across the phone.

"Great. This mirror thing wasn't worth the effort, so –"

I saw a flash of something in my peripheral and broke off midsentence to turn my focus back to the mirror. For a brief second, I saw a really pale, ghoulish looking person staring straight back at me. I won't lie – I definitely let out a small yelp of surprise. I jumped back from the exhibit as if it were on fire, though another quick glance at the mirror showed me nothing but my reflection. I turned around, heart thumping as I took in deep breaths to calm myself. There were a few people who had looked in my direction, baring looks of curiosity or annoyance. I bowed my head, saying a few words of an apology before remembering I was still in connected in a call.

The phone was back up to my ear in a heartbeat. "Sorry, sorry."

"What was that?" She sounded a bit panicked to my ears.

"Uh, nothing," I muttered, giving the mirror a dirty look. "I thought I saw something..."

"Well, did you?"

"No," I answered, still slightly spooked. "I don't think so."

"Come to the entrance then. Let's get going."

As soon as I said I was on my way, she hung up and I stared at the phone for a few seconds. Turning back to the mirror and placing the phone back in my pocket, I walked back up to the mirror, and gave it another glare.

"Fucking thing, you scared the shit out of me," I told it angrily. This was probably the moment I should've started questioning my sanity.

Placing a hand on its surface, I leaned in really close to make sure that I really had been imagining things before pulling back and turned away. Whatever. I was done. Plus, I had a date with some butter chicken curry. I was just starting to walk away when I felt something pull on the collar of my shirt. My heart jumped in my throat as I thought that security might have seen me touching one of the exhibits, and I slowly turned my gaze to look behind me.

I didn't see anyone, but there was definitely a firm grasp on my collar.

I waved my hands around behind me to try to catch the person behind this, but wasn't feeling anything. There was still definitely something attached to me, and it was pulling me towards that goddamned mirror. I looked back again and gritting my teeth, put my foot down. I wasn't going anywhere, and must have been hallucinating.

My t-shirt started to choke me at the neck, but I wasn't relenting. The t-shirt would've torn before I was going anywhere near that thing. Next plan the upcoming Monday? Go get an MRI and make sure I wasn't nuts.

I should've yelled for help, but who would help some crazy person who thought she was getting pulled behind my an invisible hand? I would've laughed myself out of the room.

The pull at my collar went slack and I was about to make a quick getaway when two hands clasped around my upper arms. The skin of the hands was pale, wrinkly, and obviously old, but all that jumped out at me at that moment was simply the memory of that ghoulish face I'd seen earlier.

No. No. No! No way in hell!

I was not some wallflower. I was not backing down without a fight. And fuck sounding like a madman, I was screaming for help.

"Help me, someone! Please!" I yelled out as I unfortunately slid back closer and closer to the mirror.

No one seemed to hear me. It was as if I was surrounded by a barrier of silence. Had someone cast a Silencio charm on me? Damn it, I'd been reading too many Harry Potter fictions.

It was the chill that told me I was losing the tug-of-war as my skin touched the surface of mirror. The heels of my shoes hit against the edge of the mirror, and I could feel my abdominal muscles screaming as I continued to resist. It wasn't until they tried to cramp that I lost my grip on the mirror base and went flying backwards, bouncing across the ground. I looked up as I saw the ripples in the mirror continue flowing, and tried pushing myself up to see if I could get back to where I needed to be.

I stopped in my tracks, falling back a few steps when a bolt of lightning struck down right in front of me, sealing my escape. My breath shuddered as I turned back, my fists clenched. The sight I saw made me freeze for a slight moment before I scowled with disgust.

My very reason for being disconnected from my reality was standing right in front of me – some kind of freak with obsessively long ears, a large hooked nose, and the creepiest red eyes I'd ever witnessed. I backed up away from the man, or thing, slightly, unsure of how to deal with him. He smiled slowly, his toothless gums red and bleeding and very difficult to ignore. I was American. We had this stickler for having perfect teeth and mouths.

I backed up a few more paces. "What the hell is all this?"

If anything, he seemed to grin more. Okay, I think my quota for creepiness has already been met by this point.

"The key... The key, you have it..."

I was back at the mirror by this point. My hand touched against its surface and, as I'd thought, it was as hard as it normally was. Fuck.

"What key?" I asked, not altogether caring, but needing to find a window of opportunity to get out of there.

"The key to my salvation," the ghoulish thing replied, looking a bit too enthusiastic.

I frowned at him, and then at my surroundings. There were a bunch of mirrors exactly like the one at the museum everywhere. I couldn't begin to count how many – they were everywhere. A few seemed broken or shattered, but mostly, they were all intact. I looked up at the "sky" and found it a rather dull grey. This place was creepy as fuck, and I could swear that I'd somehow seen it before.

Fingers wrapped around my forearm and I tore my attention away from the sky to look at the thing that had come up right next to me. I wrenched my arm out if its grip and jumped back, looking around to see if I had any kind of escape path available to me.

I didn't seem to. Goddamn it all.

"Using you, I could take over the entire world, no, universe. No, the entire realm..." Another creepy grin.

Right. So, I must have dreamt the entire day up. Any moment now, I would wake up, get ready to hang out with Kieko, and visit the museum. No, you know what? Fuck the museum. Let's go somewhere else instead.

Again, within mere moments, the ghoul was right in front of me, and as soon as I tried to move back again, I felt a burning sensation ripple through my body, and my mouth opened in a silent scream. Honestly, I think I was too bewildered to actually let out any sound, because the next thing I knew, I was falling to the ground, my hands trembling as I stared up at the sky.

What. What. What?

The ghoul appeared in my field of view, still creepily grinning down at me. I opened up my mouth to tell it to go to fucking hell when his hand suddenly delved down straight into my body. I kid you not, it went straight through my skin and into my body. I'm not sure if I was more flabbergasted at the fact that some random person had thought to invade my body in such a manner, freaked out that it didn't hurt, or pissed off that the event was even taking place at all. I went with the last option.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, you fucking nut?" I yelled out. I couldn't move – there was still electricity surging through my body. I think it messed with my nervous system just a tad.

The smile on his face grew even more as I guess he'd found what he'd been looking for. I don't know what he'd been looking for, but whatever he'd touched made my body glow a touch. Well Didn't that beat all.

He made as if to pull the whatever out, but frowned when he found himself incapable of doing so. Well, good. I don't know what he wanted, but if it was in my body, then it was mine.

"I don't understand," he muttered, still trying to pull. "It won't come out. Has it melded with the body? What is this nonsense?"

I tested my fingers. I could move them. Right then.

My hands clenched into a fist, and remembering some of my training, I pushed all of my weight into one of the most slipshod straights that I'd ever thrown. My fist slammed into his face and he went spiraling back, full of disbelief.

Now, I was slow, but it didn't take much for me to get my fat ass off the ground and making a break for it. I wouldn't win any long distance races, but I could definitely sprint fairly well. I think I'd made it a few hundred feet away before I was hit by a blast of fire – seriously? Fire? Seriously? – and pitched forward to slam against the ground.

"If I cannot have it, then I will just have to find a way to access it," the long-eared cretin muttered angrily.

I groaned from my position on the ground. My shoulder hurt a bit – I think I'd rolled on it wrongly. What a pain.

"I cannot kill you, for the key will disappear," he continued, as if he'd never blasted me with a freakin' fireball. "So I must force you into a situation where the key will not be as molded to you."

When the next shot of light surged from his fingers, I tried to shield myself, but really, what was a normal human supposed to do against magic? The light hit and engulfed me. Again, I'm not going to lie that I cowered like a little field mouse. The lack of pain and explosions though made me look up hesitantly. The ghoul was back. I was not in pain.

I stood up quickly before falling back down, having tripped over something. I raised my arms up and saw how the short sleeves now came down past my elbows and the length of the shirt went down past my knees. Okay, let's just go along with suspension of belief here.

I looked up at the ghoul, now very tall and hovering over me. He reached out for me and I screamed – God, my voice was so high-pitched, oh God – before scrambling away. I tightened my bag's strap as I ran away, my small, chubby fingers having trouble really maneuvering around the buckle.

A bolt of lightning struck down in front of me again, and I fell flat on my butt and tried to slide back. The ghoul grinned.

"Children do not take to the key as well," he cackled. He reached out once again.

I yelled out, panicking, with my little, tiny arms pushed out in front of me to keep him away.

"No, stay away!" I continued shouting, really feeling as if my life was in danger. "Get back!"

The hand inched closer, and I feel like I had no escape. That damn mirror, this damn troll, getting turned into a damned child... If it wasn't one thing, it was fucking something else entirely.

I snapped.

"I said get the FUCK away!" I screamed out, a surge of energy escaping me and pushing the ghoul back.

He stared at me, aghast at what I'd done. I didn't care. By this point, I was pissed.

Not that it mattered. Whatever I'd done couldn't be repeated, and I was running on fumes. That, and the ghoul looked downright furious. His hands waved in the air before a loud crack rang through the air and a large, ferocious looking thing came into existence and snarled down at me.

It was gigantic. It was ugly. It was a mountain of muscle.

It was a goddamned demon.

A demon.

Where the fuck did this guy manage to get a demon?

I think that had I been capable of it, I would've shit myself. True story.

I slumped to the ground. "Please, if a god does exist, please, get me out of this. I swear I'll be kinder, better, gentler, more patient... Hell, I'll be whatever the hell I have to be. I'll do whatever the hell I have to. Just...please..."

"Is that a promise?" whispered a mysterious voice.

My head wasn't the only one to pop up and start looking around frantically. The ghoul looked panicked and the demon just screamed out its irritation. I shrunk back before a touch of warmth fell on my shoulder.

"Do not fret, child," a transparent figure said from its spot next to me. "I am here to assist."

Oh, good. A spirit.

Why was there a freakin' spirit here? Why? Why? Why?

The demon glared at the spirit and belted a roar, something the spirit simply ignored. It – she? – reached for its weapon and took a low stance. As soon as the demon charged, the spirit grasped at the sword's grip and pulled it in an upward arc, slicing straight through the demon and sending it exploding into ashes. The ghoul simply stared at the spirit as it turned its attention on him.

Yeah, this wasn't happening.

I got up from my spot, ran back to pick up my shorts, and coincidentally, my cell phone, and was ready to get the hell of town. I heard the sound of various explosions as I was running away, and chanced a quick glance back at the fighting. The ghoul was winning, and the spirit was losing.

I wasn't grasping this concept. The spirit took out a demon with one strike and yet, was having trouble against this thing? Really? That old, decrepit ghoul was winning?

"Have you forgotten your oath already, child?" the spirit struggled to say as it leaned forward on its sword.

The spirit couldn't honestly be referring to my lackluster promise of... Oh, goddamn it, it was.

And...yep, there's the guilt. Damn it.

I pushed my shorts into my bag and turned back around fully.

"I'm not going anywhere," I vowed. Damn it.

"I am pleased to hear that, child," the spirit said, almost seeming to gain strength as it stood up, its shoulders straight. "Then, allow me to vanquish your foe."

"Vanquish me?" the ghoul hissed. "I have lived even longer than you, you damnable spirit! No one will keep me from my prize – not even the likes of you!"

"Age is but merely an earthly concept, and is inapplicable to me," the spirit countered, steadying its sword. "Even if I cannot defeat you, I will make sure you cannot go after this child again for a long, long while."

Oh, good. Please do that.

The spirit raced forward and sliced down its blade, but the ghoul blocked it with barrier of magic and shuffled back to make more space between the two of them. The ghoul seemed to grow more and more frustrated.

Hah, guess you should've finished me off when you'd had the chance, bastard. Karma's a bitch, huh?

I grinned smugly, but lost my smile when the spirit called out to me.

"Child, I will not be able to stall this foul beast for long. Run to that mirror there and leap through it!"

I turned to look at where it had indicated I go, and saw one mirror in particular in which the surface seemed almost malleable. That was my ticket out of here. My bare feet – there was no way I'd be able to wear my shoes with how small I was now – slapped across the ground as I ran away, before another bolt of lightning struck down in front of me.

The ghoul had escaped the spirit and was coming at me, full speed.

Shit.

I stopped to face him, maybe throw a sock or two at him before the spirit immediately appeared in front of the ghoul once again. It leveled its sword at the ghoul, seeming somewhat irritated that its prey had escaped it.

"Now, child! You must leave! Do not falter!"

I edged back as the ghoul screamed, "No! She is my prey! Mine! Mine!"

Seeing me hesitate somewhat, the spirit let out a breath of frustration before solidly kicking me in my chest and sending me rocketing through the mirror. I sped through the air and slammed and rolled across the ground, bouncing over twigs and sliding through leaves aplenty.

I was having quite the adventure – blasted across places three times or so within the past hour. That was more fun than I'd ever had, anywhere.

When I heard a small explosion, I looked up to see the spirit had gone through the mirror as well, and had used magic (?) to send it bursting into itty, bitty pieces. It fell to a knee as if exhausted, though I couldn't say that I blamed it.

I trudged through the grass and leaves straight up to the spirit. Against my better judgment, I asked,

"Are you all right?"

The spirit almost seemed to smile at me. "I will be fine, given time."

It stood up, towering over me. "But you, little one, you have quite the shoes to fill. Were you earnest in your desire to do right by all?"

I flinched back a bit. "You mean the part where I said that I'll do all I have to?"

"Yes, precisely that."

"If I don't, I'm pretty much on my own, aren't I?" This was a horrible realization.

The spirit at least looked contrite. "As the Spirit of Duty, I act out a very specific purpose. If you are reneging on your part of the oath, then I am afraid there is little more I can do for you."

Spirit of Duty. Demons. Magic mirrors. Oh no.

I took in a deep breath. "Uh, what was that mirror we just jumped through? I promise I'll answer you after that."

"It was an Eluvian, or one of the many. It is a remnant of the –"

"No, stop there," I interrupted, feeling sick.

I'd known. I'd known, but this couldn't be real. I had to be dreaming. Why was I...?

The Spirit of Duty seemed upset for me, but did nothing else. "My child, do you intend to...?"

Fucking Dragon Age. Fucking mirror. Fucking... Oh God, where was I? When was I? Was the Blight gone yet? Could I just lay low and pretend I didn't exist?

No. I'd made that damned oath. I had to act. I kept my promises, if nothing else. Fuck me.

"I won't break my oath," I muttered, irritated.

The Spirit of Duty smiled. "That is wonderful to hear."

"First things first, do you have a name?"

The spirit reared back, surprised. "I am called the Spirit of Duty, so I would suppose that is my name."

"No, that's not a name," I shot back miserably. "I'm going to call you Saber, because you remind me of someone else."

Hell, if this place existed, why couldn't she?

Saber tilted her head, frowning. "I do not understand, but if it makes you feel better, you may call me what you wish."

She turned away from me, eyes narrowed. "These wilds are full of danger, but I sense another person in the area who will mean you no harm. While I rest and regenerate my power, I ask that you go with this person. They will protect you whilst I am away."

Saber disappeared from sight while I absorbed what she said. Wait, what?

Wilds. Someone who can help. Wilds. Wilds. Oh no.

"Well, well, what have we here? A little girl out on her own, far, far away from her mommy."

I stilled, my eyes closing as I recognized that voice. Turning slowly, I looked up at my new savior, and cursed my luck when an older woman with a toddler in her arms peered down at me with a gentle smile.

Damn it, it was Flemeth.

And there you go. Like it, love, despite, hate it. Whichever.