An Unfamiliar Place
The stage is dark, but faintly lit. A thin fog scatters everywhere. Enter Morrigan, stage right. A large spotlight falls upon her. She walks around for several minutes, evidently confused and unable to see properly.
Morrigan (wonderingly): It appears to be rather dark here. Am I alone?
Revan (from the dark stage left): No, I'm here. You can stop talking to yourself.
Revan walks into the spotlight center stage where Morrigan is standing, bumping into her.
Morrigan (sarcastically, peering at her): Oh, I'm so relieved. And who, pray tell, are you?
Revan: I'm… (searches for words) I…. well… (gives up) Let's just say I'm someone you shouldn't screw around with.
Morrigan: That makes two of us.
Revan: Clever. So who are you?
Morrigan: I… (also struggles, to her obvious surprise) 'Tis the strangest thing, I can't seem to remember.
Revan (laughing): You too, huh?
Morrigan (haughtily): I don't see what's amusing about our situation. Neither you nor I can remember our names, 'tis far too dim to see anything adequately, and we have no idea where we are.
Revan: Wouldn't be the first time for me. I've been in much worse situations, believe me.
Morrigan (muttering): I suppose excessive alcohol consumption does have its occasional drawbacks.
Revan: Really? Sounds like you're an expert.
Morrigan: I have a wide area of expertise. Fortunately for you, dealing with idiots is one of my specialties.
Revan (brushing it off): Now, what can you remember? Let's try to figure this out.
Morrigan: (sighing) All right. Let me see… Flemeth… that little fool Alistair… and my Grey Warden… yes, they all seem fairly real…
Revan: Am I supposed to know who these people are?
Morrigan: Shush! I'm trying to remember… (thinks) Yes, I feel that most of my memories are still there, intact. I just can't remember my name or how I got here, isn't that odd?
Revan: It's the same for me.
Silence follows for a while. The two are lost in thought.
Revan: So, where are you from?
Morrigan: I do not think it is necessary for us to converse at the moment.
Revan (snorting): Why, got a pressing engagement elsewhere? Like sitting by yourself in the fog?
Morrigan (innocently): 'Tis funny you should mention it, I was just thinking that the fog would be an improvement on your company.
Revan: Is it really that difficult for you to form a polite sentence?
Morrigan: I do not know, is it really that difficult for you to make an intelligent observation?
Revan: Do you ever stop?
Morrigan: When mindless banter is this invigorating, I simply cannot help myself.
Revan: Why don't you save that excess breath and answer my first question instead?
Morrigan: If it will cause you to stop asking useless questions, then fine. I come from the Wilds, south of Ferelden.
Revan (completely confused): What are you even talking about?
Morrigan (incredulous): In case you cannot recall, you inquired as to my land of origin. And I graciously responded.
Revan: I asked where you came from. As in, which planet.
Morrigan: Which planet? (laughs) There is only one, to my knowledge.
Revan: There are millions where I come from.
Morrigan (patronizing): Evidently, you and I are from very different places.
Revan: Obviously.
Silence. Revan looks around restlessly, trying to see through the fog stage left. Giving up, she turns back to Morrigan.
Revan: So where do you think we are?
Morrigan: I thought I made it clear that I did not want to be bothered at the moment.
Revan: I'm just trying to figure out what's going on.
Morrigan (shrugs and sighs): As if I would know any more than you. I suppose we could be dead. Tell me, did you live very dangerously?
Revan (smiling): Only a little.
Morrigan: From that silly grin on your face, I take it that you were quite the hero.
Revan: I was a force to be reckoned with. I remember crowds of people cheering my name, whatever it was… and then I remember anguished battles fought and thousands dead because of me…
Morrigan: What a specific description! I know exactly what you mean.
Revan (hands on hips): Do you really want me to describe, in detail, every tactical maneuver I used to win the Mandalorian War and save everyone from invasion? And then how I turned on my own Republic, discovered the power of the Star Forge, and subsequently unleashed its fury on the unsuspecting galaxy?
Morrigan: Let me think…
Revan: That's what I thought.
Morrigan: Well, it would be just my luck to end up with the conquering hero who betrayed and slaughtered millions of her own people.
Revan: I didn't mean to at first. But I found something that corrupted me, made me believe that the only way to save the Republic was to turn on it. I burned worlds and committed great crimes. And then I was betrayed and killed by my own apprentice, as I deserved.
Morrigan (exasperatedly): Ah, so we are dead. Brilliant.
Revan (cheekily): Maybe, but it would have to be the second time for me.
Morrigan: And what is that supposed to mean?
Revan: I was brought back to life by my old allies, and all my memories were erased.
Morrigan: 'Tis censorship at its finest.
Revan: The Jedi are cautious. I had been a war criminal, a betrayer. They couldn't just bring me back as I had been. And so, completely unaware of my past, I worked to save the galaxy from the havoc that my old apprentice was causing.
Morrigan: Atoning for unknown sins, more or less.
Revan: Yes. (musing) Although I eventually discovered my true identity.
Morrigan: And then you continued your murderous rampage, yes?
Revan (lightly): No. I saved the whole damn galaxy.
Morrigan: How inspiring.
Revan: They said I had been redeemed. But I don't know if that's entirely true. I merely reverted back to my original self, the better one. (shrugs) And I found myself when I fell in love.
Morrigan: Love. The kiss of death.
Revan: You sound bitter.
Morrigan (sighing): I'm not bitter, I just…
Revan: You just had to leave someone you loved behind for the sake of a greater cause. Yeah, I know.
Morrigan (taken by surprise): How did you know?
Revan: Intuition.
Morrigan (somewhat serious now): I loved him… well, as much as it was possible for me to love. I certainly didn't love my mother.
Revan: Mommy issues?
Morrigan (snorting): To say the least. In all honesty, it has not affected my outlook much. But Flemeth did indeed leave her mark.
Revan: And how do you feel about that?
Morrigan (snappishly): I am not asking to be analyzed.
Revan: Well, since we're not really going anywhere…
Morrigan: If you think that I am going to spill my secrets to a complete stranger totally unlike myself then you're…
Revan (interrupting): Crazy? I get that a lot, unfortunately. Never stopped me before.
Morrigan (rolling her eyes): This is unbelievable. Of all the empty, dark patches of space in the universe, I get stuck on this one. With… whatever your name is.
Revan: Basically.
Silence for several minutes. Morrigan looks around for a while before sitting down on the edge of the stage, legs dangling over the side. Revan joins her, sprawling out casually to the left.
Morrigan (relenting): My whole life was dominated by my mother. She was a witch.
Revan: Ouch.
Morrigan (indignantly): I was being perfectly serious. Flemeth was the spell-casting, destructive, all-knowing Witch of the Wilds. Although it is far more accurate to use the term "mage".
Revan: Oh. Oops.
Morrigan: She told me secrets that no one else knew… I never could tell, actually, but I assumed that I was the only one… priming me for the day that she would suck the life out of my body and possess it. She would be immortal dozens of times over, living through yet another of her "daughters".
Revan: What a charming woman.
Morrigan: You have no idea. And from the earliest days of my life, I remember her speaking of an ancient god, one that I would someday be called upon to save from an ignominious death.
Revan: And how the hell could you do that?
Morrigan: Suffice it to say that it is complicated. An old god had been trapped in the corrupted body of a demon for thousands of years. By conceiving a child with a Grey Warden, I could act as a vessel, so that when the demon was finally slain by a Warden, my child would be imbued with the escaping essence of the old god.
Revan: What planet did you say you were from again?
Morrigan (sighing): In any case, I felt nothing for the woman I called "mother". She only ever wanted to use me in her twisted rituals. I didn't even really know what love was, until…
Revan: Until what?
Morrigan: Until I met the Grey Warden. (sees Revan's confused look) The Grey Wardens are protectors against our greatest enemy, the darkspawn. They alone have the power to defeat them.
Revan: Like the Jedi. Got it.
Morrigan: You keep using that word, "Jedi". I suppose that is your equivalent?
Revan: In a sense.
Morrigan: He was so aware of my various issues and frustrations. He seemed to like me in spite of them.
Revan: He must have been a saint.
Morrigan: For once, you are correct. "Saint" would be the best characterization I could give you. Constantly saving incompetent fools and caring for the weak… he was completely kind. Never a harsh word escaped his lips, and he never once complained.
Revan: So not your type at all?
Morrigan: That is what I believed at first. I thought him to be silly and soft. (faintly reminiscing) But as it turned out, I was… rather wrong. There was a sort of strength in his compassion.
Revan: Shocking, I know.
Morrigan: Must you be so difficult?
Revan: Yup. Must you be such a bitch?
Morrigan: I have no response to give thee.
Revan: Good.
Silence for a few moments. Morrigan swings her feet over the edge irritably, arms crossed.
Morrigan: You might as well tell me about your lover; it seems we have no end of time in this place.
Revan: You're actually interested? Wow.
Morrigan (casually): More like excruciatingly bored. Although I suppose I am also curious to know what your man was like.
Revan (dreamily): Smolderingly sexy, but excessively irritating. Not to mention neurotic.
Morrigan: Ah. Still worth the trouble, I take it?
Revan: Of course. We had the best arguments…
Morrigan (interrupting): Why does that not surprise me in the least?
Revan (chuckling): …he also had a trust complex a mile wide when I met him. Questioning and demanding at every turn in our travels; he was paranoid that I would turn on him. It took him forever to open up to me, and even then he was skeptical.
Morrigan: Any particular reason?
Revan (more seriously): He had lost his wife and only son in an attack during the Jedi Civil War, all because his mentor sold out their planet. Needless to say, trust wasn't exactly his forte. (exhales forcefully) And the best part? The attack was ordered by my previous apprentice. You could make the claim that it was my fault.
Morrigan: I highly doubt that went over well with… what was his name?
Revan: Carth. Carth Onasi. And no, he didn't take it well. But when he first told me about his family, he had no idea who I was.
Morrigan (engaged): And so when you re-discovered your identity, he reacted…
Revan: Badly. He shut me off for a while. It was understandable. He had opened his heart to me only to find that I was responsible for his deepest losses.
Morrigan (frowning): 'Tis rather sad.
Revan: It all ended well, though. When he saw that I wasn't about to become a mass serial killer again, he warmed up to the idea of a relationship.
Morrigan: Oh, naturally.
Revan (wistfully): I loved him. For a whole, perfect year, I could love him the way I wanted to.
Morrigan: I thought you said that it ended "well".
Revan: It did, it was perfect…it was just… (stares into space, then says softly) I haven't talked about this to anyone.
Morrigan: I'm so touched. Truly.
Revan: Really? Wow, I'm blushing.
Morrigan: I do believe that I am beginning to like you, despite my original intentions. (sigh) An unusual occurrence for me.
Revan: The feeling's mutual, strangely enough.
Morrigan: I am pleased to hear it.
Morrigan (after a pause): Well, continue. What was the issue between you and Carth?
Revan (evasively): Do you believe in destiny?
Morrigan: Oh, please…
Revan: And no, I don't mean with love or sentimental bullshit like that. I meant with fate. Do you believe that we are given our roles for a reason?
Morrigan (musing): Fate. I never would have believed in it before, when I was with my mother in the Wilds. I watched humanity from a distance, and it seemed that they were all doomed to a slovenly, ignorant existence. Why should my fate be much better?
Revan: That's depressing.
Morrigan: Yes. I did not know any differently. I felt that I was free, and that was all that mattered to me. Destiny seemed too vague, too far off. Then, as I grew older, my mother began to prepare me for the day that I would leave her. She said that I would have to conceive the god-child with the Grey Warden, and then raise it in a land far away. I began to feel the weight of that task weighing upon me.
Revan: Just a question, how did your mother know that the whole demon…ritual… thing was actually going to happen? How did she know that you would be in the right place at the right time?
Morrigan: How does anyone? (smirking faintly) I told you, Flemeth was a powerful witch, with centuries of knowledge under her belt. I have no idea. It is enough for me that she predicted it all.
Revan: Damn.
Morrigan: An appropriate usage of profanity, I think. But yes, her training gave me a taste for the grand destiny she claimed was mine. I was…more than a little frightened, when I pondered the future. I did not even know what the Warden would be like, much less the god itself. I embraced the idea of my future task nonetheless.
Revan (impishly): What did your Grey Warden look like?
Morrigan: He was quite tall.
Revan: Wow, what a vivid mental picture!
Morrigan: I simply lack the skills to describe his appearance. He was well formed, with a kind smile and golden hair. I don't see how it is relevant.
Revan: It helps to add detail when telling a story.
Morrigan: Oh, thank you so much for the tip! Now I may continue.
Revan: Please do.
Morrigan: My mother, however, had not anticipated that I would care for the Warden. It was vital that I leave Ferelden with no attachments. But as I journeyed with Rowan… that was his name…I saw him both fight with power and speak with softness. He stood up for the downtrodden, even when it was not necessary. I was taken aback. In my past experience, power was always coupled with cruelty and cynicism. I had Flemeth as the shining example, you see.
Revan: Makes sense.
Morrigan: Yes. At first I despised him, not understanding. Day by day, I fell more in love with him. (very softly) I tried to avoid it.
Revan (murmuring): It's like running uphill, though.
Morrigan: An accurate analogy. I ran uphill until I was out of breath.
Revan (playfully): …thereby collapsing into his strong, manly arms…
Morrigan: I wish you would not put it into such revoltingly juvenile terms. (confiding) But between you and me, he did kiss well.
Revan: Mmm.
Morrigan: Indeed. He was marvelous. (frowning) And then, the worst part. I convinced him to help me with the conception ritual.
Revan (wryly): Oh come on. How much convincing would the guy need, really?
Morrigan: 'Tis no laughing matter. Obviously he was more than willing to commit the act itself. It was simply…difficult to explain my task. (sadly) I told him that I could never see him again after I left… and I made him swear never to follow me. The resigned look on his face… it almost caused me to lose my nerve. I did not, however. (thoughtfully) The ritual saved his life, after all.
Revan: How so?
Morrigan: I neglected to mention that the Warden who slays the demon dies with it, and I am fairly certain that Rowan would have been that Warden. The ritual, though, protects the slayer.
Revan (shaking her head): How do you remember all these twists and turns in the plot? It's like those horrible space soaps that Bastila used to watch.
Morrigan (indignant): I cannot begin to fathom your meaning.
Revan: It just seems a tad overcomplicated.
Morrigan: To each her own. Your own story doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, with all the political betrayals and identity confusions.
Revan: Touché.
Morrigan: To return to the original question; yes, I now believe in the power of destiny where once I was not so sure. The ritual is finished, the demon has been vanquished, Rowan is alive, and the old god now grows as a child within me. These are the things that I am sure of. They are the facts of fate that I cling to.
Revan: You're pregnant now?
Morrigan (annoyed): That is generally what is meant by the word "conceive"…
Revan: Oh I'm sorry; I don't usually associate pregnancy with bare midriffs and tight strips of fabric.
Morrigan (looking down at her ensemble): I have not begun to show yet. Furthermore, these allow for the free motion of magic. They are especially useful for me as a shapeshifter.
Revan: I won't even ask this time.
Morrigan: That is probably best. (slight pause) Speaking of which, you never answered my question. About the obstacle between you and your Carth?
Revan: I'm getting to that.
Morrigan: Please explain.
Revan: Well… it's complicated.
Morrigan: Between you and me, I believe I can keep up.
Revan: You remember how I said that there are millions of planets where I come from?
Morrigan: Yes…
Revan: Well there are billions and billions beyond the borders of our galaxy that are uncharted. All that space is called the Unknown Regions. There are stretches of space there that go on forever.
Morrigan (a bit sourly): How do you know that it continues infinitely if you have never been there?
Revan: Obviously we don't know for sure. But we do know that people who enter the Unknown Regions rarely return.
Morrigan: What about it?
Revan: (sigh) Well, I've been there before, several years ago. And while I was there, I saw something horrible. (Long pause)
Morrigan: …Well?
Revan: The greatest threat to life since the dawn of the first civilization. I learned there that I was one of the few who could have a chance of stopping it. (thoughtfully) That's when I became convinced that conquering the Republic would somehow prepare them for the coming darkness. However, after I regained my sanity and memory, I realized that I had been acting as a servant of those dark forces in the Unknown Regions. And I knew that I would have to go, alone, to rectify what I had made wrong.
Morrigan: I see. Could you not take Carth with you?
Revan (sadly): You can't take anyone or anything that you love into that hellhole. You'd have to be a monster. I just…
Morrigan (softly): You just wanted to be with him.
Revan: Exactly! (pause) Would it really be so hard for the universe to give us a break every once in a while? She shrugs, half-chuckling. My whole life, I knew that I was unnaturally capable and gifted. I knew that there were great things ahead of me. Hell, everyone knew it. It was always "Revan is remarkable, Revan learned this so quickly, Revan will save us all." When I led my friends to battle against the Mandalorians, I thought I was conquering injustice and saving lives. When I turned against the Republic, I believed I was refining them, making them all stronger for the coming conflict with those in the Unknown Regions… but until I met him, I didn't realize the true capacity of my own soul. Until I met him, it seemed that life was only a series of duties and performances, choices and obstacles. I didn't truly realize that sacrifice and love refine our spirits more than any battle, more than any action we take.
Revan stands up, begins to pace wildly.
Revan: I mean, look at us! You and I, we both gave up the two people we loved the most. People who had changed our perspectives and opened our minds to endless possibilities. And why did we do this? For the greater good. Always the greater good. (snorts derisively) I'm beginning to believe there is no greater good. Good and evil come and go; it's always the same old story of fall and redemption. But love has an unmatched power to elevate and heal us. We shouldn't give that up so lightly.
Morrigan: I understand what you mean, but…
Revan (increasingly emotional): Why should we be forced to confront the darkness alone? Is there no one else capable of understanding, of acting? Is it our fault, really, that other people are screwed up morons? No! She sits down again to the left of Morrigan, somewhat defeated. No. It's not our fault.
Morrigan: No one said that it was our fault. But it is our responsibility to correct their errors nonetheless.
Revan (slightly snappish): Why? Why leave part of ourselves behind and fight through the mess that others make? You know, I sometimes think life would be a whole lot simpler if people like you and me didn't exist.
Morrigan: Do you? What an interesting theory.
Revan: You and I are fortune's fools. (laughs harshly) Wouldn't it be easier, to not have consciousness? To forget that there are burdens to be borne and sacrifices to be made? Nonexistence. It would serve the universe right for toying with us.
Morrigan: It would, 'tis true.
Revan (slyly): I'm guessing you want to play devil's advocate and explain why we must exist, right?
Morrigan: Naturally.
Revan (gesturing to Morrigan): Be my guest. Explain away.
Morrigan: Well… as I said before, I spent much of my early life alone and free. Few things bothered me, because I had no purpose and no true companionship. But once I learned that I was to restore the life and honor of a god, I felt a fire grow within me. I knew who I was, I knew what I wanted, and I knew that I would be saving a great soul. And although I didn't understand what that meant at the time, I came to learn in my time with Rowan.
Revan: And what did you learn?
Morrigan (pensively): I suppose I learned that our greatest calling is to heal others, even at the expense of our own healing and happiness. I loved Rowan, but it was time for me to move on and save another. Now I must have the god child and care for it exactly as I was instructed. Whether or not I wish to exist is irrelevant. I am who I am, and it is my responsibility to fulfill that noble calling.
Revan: I used to believe that, too. But how can you be sure when you know you've forever wounded the very person who showed you the meaning of living? (quiet and sad) I warned him. I told him it wouldn't be worth it, to love me. And then, after our perfect year, I thought it would be so easy, so harmless to steal away in the dead of night and fulfill my duty. But it wasn't. (sigh) That stubborn fool of a pilot. Waiting there for me to return from the edges of space and time. And now, thinking of him, I can't help the feeling that my destiny is an awful one. If only I were born in some other time…in some far off galaxy…
Morrigan: Well, you weren't. Neither of us were. Furthermore, methinks he'd love you less were you not every inch the woman that you are.
Revan: How do you know?
Morrigan (with a faint smile): Intuition.
Revan: Ha. Clever.
Morrigan: Although I would not have believed it at first, you and I are… quite similar. And so I believe that Carth loved you for the same reason that Rowan loved me. We two are meant to perform the tasks that no one else can. We wear the mantle of sacrifice so that others do not suffer. There is nobility in that task, and they saw that within us. They saw the strength of our souls, in spite of our assorted faults.
Revan: While that's a comforting analysis, it doesn't take away the fact that we've forever eliminated the hope of finding true happiness.
Morrigan: It is not given for us to be happy; only to be great, as we must.
Revan (reluctantly): I know. I just wish it were different.
Morrigan: Be glad that it was, once; even if only for a moment. You can still remember him.
There is silence in the misty clearing. The two women regard each other. Revan puts an arm around Morrigan, and they sit like that for several moments.
Revan (suddenly looks up, moves her arm): I think we're in the Unknown Regions somewhere. I just feel it! I'm starting to remember…
Morrigan (sarcastically): Ah! And how would I have gotten here?
Revan: Does it look like I know? (laughs) Maybe your god-baby-thing teleported you here.
Morrigan: How kind of it, to introduce me to a new friend.
Revan: I guess it has your best interests at heart.
Morrigan (strained, trying to think): Well, it might be possible. I seem to suddenly remember that I was… climbing to the top of the mountain, as it said in the ritual…
Revan (excitedly): Go on! It looks like something's happening!
Morrigan: And… yes, it seems that I… well I broke down into tears on the mountain face… for some silly reason, a rock or something like that…so revoltingly hormonal now, being pregnant…
Revan: I was sitting in the Ebon Hawk, we had just crossed the barrier between known space and the Regions…
Morrigan: I couldn't go on… because I didn't want it, I wanted to go back…
Revan: It was dark… I began to cry in that rickety old cargo hold…
Suddenly there is a large cracking noise from either side of the stage, and a large quantity of mist surrounds them. When it clears, Carth and Rowan stand facing them, Carth at far stage left and Rowan at far stage right. They are unreal and ghost-like; visions.
Vision of Carth (to Revan, sadly): Why did you leave me? I mean, everything was perfect the way it was, the war was over! I just… I don't understand.
Revan (uncomfortable): Carth, there wasn't any other way…
Vision of Carth (angry): You know what this will mean, I don't know if I can take another betrayal. You left me, like all the rest.
Revan: Please, you need to understand…
Vision of Rowan (to Morrigan): Why did you leave? There was no reason, no reason at all.
Morrigan (quiet, almost whispering): I couldn't tell you… but there was a reason…
Vision of Rowan: It was my child. Isn't that a reason to stay?
Morrigan: You couldn't know… the rituals I'd have to perform…it would…
Vision of Carth: Come back, Revan.
Vision of Rowan: Come back, Morrigan.
The two women are both surprised by the re-discovery of their names and transfixed by the visions of their lovers. Torn, each moves respectively towards their vision for a moment, as if to join them. The visions' arms are outstretched now. But both women pause at different times, refusing to join the visions. After a time, more fog clouds the stage, and the visions have disappeared, leaving Revan and Morrigan alone, facing left and right respectively.
Revan (slowly): They're gone now.
Morrigan (turning around to face her): Yes, 'tis for the best.
A long pause. A calm content seems to settle over each woman. Then the two women face each other, and walk to the center again. They embrace.
Revan: It's time for me to go. I know what to do now.
Morrigan (with a faint grin): It was lovely to meet you…Revan. Perchance I will meet you someday, in some other unfamiliar place.
Revan (smiling now): I hope so, Morrigan. I really hope so. But if not…
Morrigan: Then I will simply remember you, friend.
Revan: As I, you. Goodbye.
Morrigan: 'Till we meet again.
A bright light shines from both ends of the stage. Revan walks towards the light stage left, while Morrigan moves towards the light stage right. Exit Revan and Morrigan. The stage is empty, and the fog finally clears. The curtain closes slowly.
THE END