Dragon Age Origins and II belong to Electronic Arts and Bioware.

The Maker's Sense of Humor

After the potion had went down, Anders snapped his eyes shut, expecting some sort of agony or unpleasant experience. While his life with Hawke provided him his share of injuries and hardships, he was known for his tolerance to pain. Maybe it was because he was well-versed in healing magic, so if he ever found himself hurt, he could easily rid himself of the ailment with a wave of his hands. When nothing came, though, he was a bit alarmed. Cautiously, he peeked one eye open, observing the curious looks on his friends' faces as they anticipated some form of reaction. That was just it, though. There wasn't that, or anything. The mage was still alive, though he felt no different than before. In fact, he could feel as Justice though with a lack of enthusiasm that this was incredibly foolish and he was wasting their time.

"Nothing." Groaned the man, fully opening both eyes as he surveyed the situation. At first, he felt upset; Anders was really hoping that it would work and he could finally have a shred of something normal in his life. As he thought about it, however, this result may have very well been a blessing. He couldn't imagine how Hawke would take it if he had died. But, the realization hit instantly after that now he would be dragged back to the Wardens, probably never to see the people he had come to care about over these six years, again. Well, he could go without seeing Fenris, and Aveline irked him on the best of days, but he'd pretty much miss the rest of them, including Merrill. "I suppose you'll be taking me back to Ferelden now."

With a heavy heart, Lyna approached him, her lithe hand reaching out and patting his pauldroned shoulder once. "I'm not completely heartless." Humored the Dalish woman with the slightest of smiles. "It's clear that your girlfriend has a lot on her hands with what you did, so I think we should, at the very least, fight alongside her for now. After that, you can say your goodbyes and then you'll be coming with me." She didn't dare suggest conscripting Hawke, though she had thought of it several times; Varel had already warned her about taking on new Wardens for the sake of her (or her Wardens') enjoyment, and she really wasn't looking forward to being bitched at when she arrived at the Keep.

During this time, Nathaniel, who had remained quiet because this issue didn't concern him, walked up to Anders. A fire raged on in his dark eyes as he reared his right arm back and punched the mage square in the jaw. Anders' face went flying back with the punch, and when he looked up pitifully at his old friend, the archer showed him no remorse. "That's for abandoning your duties and leaving me to explain everything." He growled. Really, he had wanted to do that a few weeks previous, when Bethany's sister had saved them, but he felt that he owed his old companion at that moment.

Though Anders was clutching his pained jaw, he wore a cheeky smirk that spoke of the arrogant man he was in the past. "I see that you finally learned how to punch properly." Quipped the man, almost begging for a second. It seemed to be their dynamic, though; almost all of the other Wardens had either wanted to hit him, or have hit him in the past.

"Glad to see that Justice hasn't turned you into a complete wet blanket." Nathaniel afforded a smirk as he spoke, genuinely enjoying having a back and forth with his friend once again. It was hard for him to believe that it had been six years since the three of them (Lyna included) had fought at each other's side, and in a way, it was nice to have that back. Stroud and his men were no good for humor; Bethany was the only one he truly liked, but maybe it was because she was intelligent, skilled, and easy on the eyes. "I think we'll be sticking around for this, Stroud." The Howe suggested. He didn't need to ask the mage-Warden if she wanted to stay; no doubt she would fight tooth and nail to help her sister out. "We'll just go back to Ferelden with Anders and Lyna."

"Are you just going to let him live after what he did?" Bellowed Sebastian towards Hawke. He couldn't believe that they were just going to let him walk away after blowing up the Chantry.

Hawke opened her mouth to speak, but just as she was about to argue her reasoning as to why Anders was being kept alive, Lyna stepped forth. "Listen." She started, unamused. "Your god decided that he should be allowed to live, so he did. But, your god also felt as though I was right in having him come back to the Wardens with me." The elven woman had no emotion towards losing a human place of worship; honestly, she felt as though humans abused religion as a means to abuse and demean people they feared. If Anders had done this as a means to liberate people who were unjustly locked up, she felt completely at ease with ripping him away with what this man felt was fair.

The religious male's eyes narrowed at the elf's claims. He never liked that the Wardens could claim the Right of Conscription and spare someone of the fate that they deserved. There was nothing he could do about it, he knew. At least, there was nothing within his legal rights that he could do. That didn't mean that he was going to help this man achieve his goals, though. So, in his frustration, Sebastian left the area. He would return to Starkhaven, seeing as his home in Kirkwall was destroyed, and he would see just how much it would cost to get the revenge he felt Elthina deserved.

Lyna waited for Anders to say his goodbyes to these people patiently. She had spent some time catching up with Merrill, and being generally appalled that she had turned to blood magic in her absence. Marethari's death would have been shocking as well, but her wayward brother had written her about it when it had first happened. It was harder, for her mage, though, to pry himself away. She could see the forlorn look in his eyes as he attempted to find the right words to say to that Hawke woman, and she expected that it was possibly the hardest thing he had to face. It was sort of ironic; when he was still at the Keep, she had made it her mission to find a pretty girl for him, and when he finally found one for himself, she had to take her away.

When he made his way back to her, Lyna motioned for him to follow without so much of a word. Bethany had requested to stay a couple days longer, to make sure that everything was okay with what little family she had left, and to become acquainted with the estranged cousin that her older sister had apparently just discovered. "I'm sending you on a retrieval mission when we get back to the Keep." The woman claimed. "Sigrun apparently got bored and ran off to the Deep Roads, and you're going to go get her. And, before you start your complaining about how you hate them, I'm sending you because you're being punished for running off. And, since I can't trust you and Justice to be left to your own devices, I'll be sending Nathaniel as well to make sure that you don't do something stupid."

Anders groaned heavily, knowing that there was no way out. He was more upset about leaving the woman he loved to return to the Wardens. They had promised one another that they would stay together until they died, and while Justice was quite happy of being rid of the woman, it was tearing Anders apart. But, his fate had been left in Hawke's hands, and this was what she decided. It was best to leave now, though, before he got too comfortable in the victory and felt as though they really did stand a chance together.

Soon, everyone left, save Bethany and Hawke. The older of the sisters stood there, staring at Meredith's remains with a keen interest. Her eyes seemed to glass over with a faraway look that the Warden had never seen her have. Even the way she was standing was not typical. "Are you alright?" Asked the younger, her hand finding her sibling's shoulder in a sort of consolation. It was then that she noticed a gash in her sister's abdomen with a shard of the Knight-Commander's sword poking out. The bleeding seemed minimum, and she had skill enough to heal it. The lyrium itself was what bothered her. Hawke was no mage, and there was no guarantee that she could survive the adverse effects that it could have on her body.

"It hurts." Mustered the other woman, her hand drifting down to where she had the shard protruding out of her skin. Tears flecked her eyelashes, but it was obvious that they had nothing to do with the pain. "Could you get this out?"

One Month Later

Nathaniel and Anders had returned to the Keep after fetching Sigrun, much to everyone's dismay. The mage hated the place even more after his time in Kirkwall, mainly because it reminded him of Hawke, oddly enough. Bethany had yet to return, as far as any of them knew, but he figured that there must have been quite a bit to deal with, considering the fact that her sister was probably dealing with slaying Meredith, along with the fame, or infamy, that followed. His heart was heavy just thinking about it, and busying himself with slaying Darkspawn and dragging his Dwarven friend back to her post was not helping. It definitely didn't help that she was eager to hear all about the time he spent in the Free Marches and the people he occupied his time with for the duration of the two-week trek back to Amaranthine. He couldn't even look forward to Ser Pounce-A-Lot, seeing as Varel had ever so cruelly forced him to give up the cat all together.

When they arrived at the gates, the three were stopped by one of the guards. They were newer, judging by the fact that the mage had known every guard prior to running off and this one was not at all familiar. "The Warden-Commander has requested your presence in the Reception Hall upon your return." He stated formally, standing tall. "She said that she is performing a Joining ritual tonight, and since Master Nathaniel had sent word that you would be arriving tonight, she wanted everyone there to welcome the new Warden."

Since Lyna had requested it, the three Wardens headed to the requested location. They were all dirty, and exhausted, but their hearty Wardens' appetites dictated that there would be feasting after inducting a new Warden, and feasting meant delicious food and full bellies. The Keep was oddly quiet as they walked in, but without question, they headed into the Reception Hall, only to find that the Ritual had begun without them.

A smile found Nathaniel's face when he saw that Bethany was standing next to Lyna, who was cupping the Chalice for the ritual firmly. He had missed her in their time away, and was finding himself less and less ashamed to admit that he was attracted to a younger woman. He received quite the teasing from his companions when they both had noticed, but he was getting much too old to care that Sigrun giggled and thought it was cute that Anders and Nathaniel had fallen in love with a pair of sisters, and how that practically made them brothers.

"From this day forth, Hawke, you are one of the Gray Wardens." Hummed Lyna in a practiced fashion that made it evident that this wasn't her first time performing the ritual. She handed the chalice to the woman in front of her, who Anders and Nathaniel now recognized as Hawke.

When what he had seen finally registered, the mage charged the scene with the full intention of knocking the ceremonial goblet to the ground and preventing Hawke from taking her sip. At his Joining, Mhairi died, so he couldn't even imagine having to watch as the slow, painful death took the woman who had been in his thoughts every waking moment since he abandoned her in Kirkwall.

But, he was too late. Hawke's lips pressed into the brim of the object and she took her drink with a grimace. Bethany seemed to help with stabilizing the goblet, because for some reason, her older sister was having some difficulty holding it steady. Once she was finished, it fell to the floor, spilling the blackened Darkspawn blood all over the stone flooring. And, when her eyes rolled back into her head, Anders rushed in to catch her before she fell to the ground.

A scornful glance was cast at both Bethany and Lyna as he eased the unconscious woman to the ground. "How could either of you let her do this?" He hissed coldly. Still, a part of him, a small part that remained untouched by both the taint and Justice was happy to see her, and happy to see that she had lived through the ritual.

"We had no choice, Anders." Bethany's explanation was not without its harshness as she gave him a defensive look. "A piece of Meredith's sword got lodged into her, and when I tried to remove it, it broke off. A small bit still remains inside of her; she's suffering from Lyrium poisoning, and the Joining was the only way to spare her from dying from it." As she spoke, the girl's voice cracked, as though she would begin crying at the memory. "I was taking care of her in Kirkwall for nearly two weeks when she started begging me to take her to the Keep and have her go through the Joining in her delirium. I couldn't refuse her."

Hawke began to stir on the floor until she finally opened her eyes. She looked around, alarmed, her palms pressed firmly into the floor beneath her. When her gaze settled on Anders, she looked more surprised than before. "Anders is here again." She breathed out quickly, her voice quivered erratically. "I hope he's not going to tell me to smear the blood all over myself like last time; it was horrible to wash it out of my hair." The words she said were clearly brought on by the Lyrium poisoning she was afflicted with.

"You stupid woman." Ander crooned softly, though his tone lacked the malice that his words held. There was no way that he could be mad at her like when he first saw her sipping from the goblet; she clearly had no way to gauge the consequences of her choices in her current state. He knelt down by her side and ran a hand along her cheek tenderly. She was alive. Crazy, but alive. Anders was okay with being crazy and with her for the remaining years he had left.

King Alistair was the first to have the Calling tugging at him. But, instead of braving his final battle alone, he managed to hold on until Lyna and the Wardens of Amaranthine begun having their dreams again. Though both Hawke and Bethany still had time to go yet, they both agreed to head to the Deep Roads one last time. Leliana accompanied them as well, claiming that she couldn't live in a world without Lyna. Once they got down to the Dead Trenches, Oghren joked that the last one alive had to buy drinks for everyone else at the tavern after, and that he eagerly awaited the stupid things that Alistair and Anders would do when they were drunk. For generations, the Dwarves of Orzammar remembered the group of Wardens who all went on their Calling at the same time in order to die together.