The first thing Jessal was aware of was a green light, and her first thoughts immediately went to The Great Gatsby. Then the pain flared up her arm, and it took her a moment, two moments, three moments, to realize the light and the pain were connected. She opened her eyes just as the door swung open and a woman stormed in.
"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now." At the word 'we,' Jessal looked around and finally noticed the other woman, standing off to the side. Her first instinct was to be sarcastic with the 'wife and two kids' quip, but when she recognized the two from the epilogue from Dragon Age II, she stopped. Her silence was taken as a response, and the woman – Cassandra, if she remembered correctly, - continued.
"The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you."
"And you think I did it? That's some pretty iffy proof." She'd started reading a fanfic before all this, and she definitely knew she needed to employ the whole 'act the owl' thing.
"Explain this."
"I can't." She gave the token hesitation before she answered.
"What do you mean you can't?"
"I don't know what this is, or how it got there." Too bad she hadn't gotten very far in said fic. And she hadn't even gotten to start the game! Woe of woes. She snorted.
"I fail to see how this is amusing," Leliana spoke as Cassandra launched at Jessal. "You're lying!" Leliana stepped forward, backing Cassandra away. "We need her, Cassandra."
Time for the empathy card. "I can't believe it. All those people… Dead?"
This time, it was Leliana who spoke. "Do you remember what happened? How this began?"
"I remember sitting with my friends…" She shot up, making it to her knees before almost toppling forward. "Where are they?"
"Where are who?"
"The others? There was me, Alex, Renee, Aaron, and Jacob. Renee's the youngest, she's twelve. Where are they?"
"Safe. For now. Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take her to the rift." Leliana left, and Cassandra knelt, undoing the irons.
"What did happen?"
"It will be easier to show you."
Her next few steps were wobbly, and she nearly fell when she made it to her feet.
She followed Cassandra outside, the bright light - that's wrong, sunlight isn't green - blinding her momentarily.
"We call it the Breach." She continued to walk, not waiting for Jessal as she looked up at the giant green hole in the sky. "It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour." Jessal finally turned to look at Cassandra. "It's not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave."
"I've seen the aftermath of a lot of different explosions, but there's no way an explosion did that."
"This one did. Unless we act, the breach may grow until it swallows the world."
The Breach pulsed, her hand suddenly felt as if it were on fire, and Jessal's already shaky legs went out from underneath her.
Cassandra approached her, kneeling to be near eye level. "Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads… and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this but there isn't much time."
"You've got my friends practically hostage. I don't really have a choice about this."
"None of us has a choice." She pulled Jessal to her feet although Jessal was sorely tempted to reject her help. They began walking through the ... town? village? Jessal wasn't sure. it was smaller than her own hometown. The townspeople scowled and glared, and Jessal suddenly had to clamp down and fight the urge to growl. She settled for glaring back, chin high and shoulders back with a dignity she didn't actually possess.
"They have decided your guilt. They need it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She brought their leaders together. Now, they are dead."
Two soldiers opened the gate and Cassandra continued. "We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves as she did. Until the breach is sealed." She pulled out a dagger and cut the ropes still binding Jessal's hands, and she instinctively flexed them before rubbing her wrists.
"There will be a trial. I can promise no more." Jessal stepped back and looked back to the Breach.
"Come. It is not far."
"Where are you even taking me?"
"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach." And with that, they continued forward, Jessal wondering just what the hell she'd just stepped in this time.