A/N: I know, right? Such an incredibly creative title I've come up with. Review...?
)O(
"Without justice, courage is weak."
- Benjamin Franklin
The Blackmarsh was...quite creepy.
Shadows moved through the trees with no apparent cause. The trees themselves seemed to be alive, not in the way that sylvans were of course, but still...
They had come here in search of a Grey Warden by the name of Kristoff who had disappeared somewhere in this area.
It was a common occurrence in the Blackmarsh, as it were.
"It is said that once there was a village here once, ruled by a powerful sorceress." Nathaniel told them. "The villagers rose up against her and everyone just...disappeared one day. No one knows why."
"I think that may have something to do with it," Anders suggested, pointing to something up ahead. It looked like a rip in the very fabric of the world, a window to the Fade. Jenji almost felt...drawn to it somehow, compelled to move forward.
"Setheneran," Velanna said softly. "The Veil is thin here; almost...too thin. It's as if one could simply...slip between the worlds...never to be seen again."
They searched the ruins of the village that had once thrived here, only to find the body of Kristoff. She hadn't expected him to be alive though; these kinds of situations usually didn't end happily.
"You think the darkspawn did this?" Sigrun wondered out loud.
"Perhaps," a voice replied. They all turned to see a hurlock standing before them. "Not that it matters now. It is too late for him, and soon it will be too late for you."
"What do you want from us?"
The creature laughed. "I want nothing, but she does. I cannot disobey The Mother. I am her Chosen, the First, and you are on the wrong side, Wardens."
"The Mother..." Jenji tried to put the pieces together. "But I didn't take any side! This was all forced upon me. And how do you know this Mother of yours is right anyway?"
"The Mother is always right." the darkspawn said firmly. "She thought you could be swayed, but you refused to listen to reason, and she got tired of waiting. You allied yourself with the enemy when you killed the Lost and the Children he was sworn to protect."
"He attacked us first!"
"It matters not: The Mother sees you as her opposition and so you must be dealt with!"
This was ridiculous. Jenji was used to all darkspawn being her enemy, and now she had accidentally allied herself with some other faction that had yet to reveal itself to her.
And suddenly they were being forced from their bodies by powerful magic and falling into the hole in the sky. She hated the Fade because there was nothing solid here, nothing real. Jenji was powerless and completely without any control. Everything could change before her eyes simply by some demon willing it to do so. There was absolutely nothing she could do but wait and pray.
But she was not alone.
In addition to her companions it appeared the First had also ended up trapped as well.
Now that she thought about it, this place did hold a striking resemblance to the Blackmarsh, only the village was not destroyed and it was crawling with life. Angry villagers…
And they were angry at the Baroness, former ruler of the Blackmarsh. They had tried to assassinate her and in one last desperate spell she had sent everyone into the Fade with her, imprisoning them all.
History certainly did repeat itself.
"Cruel woman, I have watched you torture these innocent people for too long!" A spirit who also looked to be a warrior was standing with the villagers.
"What are you going to do, spirit?" She was unimpressed. "They are my people. I am the Baroness and this is my domain. You know you are not strong enough to defeat me on your own, don't you?"
"Perhaps not," the spirit conceded, "but I am not alone. These others...they are as trapped as you or anyone else. Together we can end your reign, wicked tyrant!"
Jenji didn't want to get involved, but it seemed that once again her mind had been made up for her.
"What makes you think they are on your side?" the Baroness asked.
"Mine is the side of justice."
Jenji had no choice. It was the right thing to do...wasn't it?
They battled the sorceress until her only hope of survival was to flee from the dream world using the life essence of the First.
"Everyone still alive…?" Jenji asked wearily.
"Yes.' they all said in unison, except one who was too shocked to answer.
Slowly, Kristoff's body began to pull itself up from the ground. Jenji watched in horror, thinking that she would have to kill it.
"This is...not right." Then she realized who it was. "The Baroness must have sent me from the Fade and...bound my spirit to a dead man. It is either a cruel joke or a horrible mistake."
"What are you going to do?" Daveth asked.
"She still lives, I can feel it. The Baroness is here somewhere. I must find and slay her, but I cannot do it alone, especially since I've yet to...adjust to having a physical form. This world is so..."
"We'll all go," Jenji declared. Everyone save for Velanna thought it was a good idea. "But wait, do you have a name? What are you called?"
"I...do not know. I was not born therefore I do not have a name. I am simply a spirit of justice."
"Justice..." she repeated. "We could call you Justice. Do you mind?"
"Not at all," Justice said. "As long as I am in your world I might as well go by your customs of identification as well."
And so they set off in search of their target.
But instead of a powerful sorceress, they encountered a powerful dragon. Not only a dragon, mind you, because that would be too easy. No, this was a dragon made of lightning. The Baroness could transform into a dragon made of lightning.
She had to remind herself that she'd killed three dragons already.
Jenji wanted to scream due to the sheer insanity of this entire situation she had allowed herself to be dragged into by Justice.
)O(
The dragon was a fearsome opponent. She hardly believed that they had managed to wound the creature as much as they had. One final blow would be enough. And so Jenji leapt into the air and struck the beast where its heart would be. But the electricity was harnessed by her dagger and surged through the Warden's body in a gripping wave of terrifying energy, and she fell to the ground with a thud.
The Baroness was dead at last, and suddenly the cave was pitch black. Others had suffered small fractures and other minor injuries but none as severe as Jenji herself. She wasn't moving, and it was too dark to see if she was even alive.
"Velanna, I need some light here!" Anders ordered. The Dalish elf rolled her eyes, not caring if he actually saw her, and summoned a ball of light in her hands.
It was clear just how serious this was. Jenji lay sprawled out on the ground; her eyes had rolled back into her head...
And she wasn't breathing.
Anders worked tirelessly to get her heart started again, pressing on her chest, surrounding her with the familiar blue glow of healing magic. The seconds felt eternal and what little hope remained was quickly draining the longer the Warden stayed...dead.
"I should have been the one to slay the Baroness," Justice lamented. "Then I would have simply returned to the Fade. It wasn't her time yet. It is an injustice that someone so young...should die like this."
)O(
Jenji knew this wasn't normal.
She was looking down on her own body, watching as Anders tried to revive her...Daveth could do nothing but stand there helplessly as she slipped farther and farther away from him with each missed breath. Justice felt guilty, and the others weren't much better.
A Veil of Light appeared before her eyes, separating her from the physical world. Something was beckoning her from the darkness, so she hid in what thin slivers of shadow remained, fearing the peace that death had to offer.
Jenji wanted to stay. Without knowing why she clung to that thought like a life raft. Somehow it was keeping her from slipping. She could not allow herself to fall, that much she remembered. The specifics were not important right now. She could not let go.
Jenji was beginning to forget things. The details seemed hazy, escaping her grasp, but she knew they were there. She knew that somehow she would claw her way back...she always did. And yet, that same wicked little voice deep down inside of her was saying that it was okay to drown...
No...it wasn't speaking...it was...
Singing...? Oh Maker...No!
Something snapped as she realized for the first time what the voice was. Jenji felt angry...
After all it had taken from her, now...this...
No...
You will not have power over me…Never again. I shall not bend to your will. I shall not fall for your tricks. I will not play your games, creature!
Pity...
)O(
"I've got a pulse," Anders said almost as if he didn't completely believe it. "She's alive!"
At first her breathing was shallow and she slipped in and out of consciousness. They hurried back to Vigil's Keep where it would be easier to care for her.
"What happened...?" Jenji asked once she was finally lucid enough to form complete sentences.
"You got electrocuted by a dragon and were technically dead for...longer than anyone should be." Anders explained.
"Oh..."
A few hours later she was feeling much more like herself.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Commander." Sigrun smiled brightly. "You seem to be having more brushes with death than, well, you know..."
She did.
"Aye, if I hadn't seen ya take down the archdemon I might actually have been worried." Oghren chimed in.
"We're all very glad that you're all right, Jenny." Daveth added, kissing her lightly on the forehead.
But she had only one thought on her mind at that moment: the archdemon.
)O(
"You saved my life."
Anders looked up from petting Ser Pounce-a-lot. The Commander was standing there, her expression unreadable, eyes unblinking.
"Well that dragon-"
"-I'm not talking about that." she cut him off. "Don't get me wrong, I'll never be able to repay you for what you did today, but that's not what I meant. You didn't give up on me. For five days you stayed by my side and did everything you could. You saved my life...and I just wanted to thank you."
"Happy to help," he smirked.
"Daveth told me what happened the day he arrived," she continued. And then she had to say the three words he'd feared most since that day, spoken with exactly the right mix of confusion and anger he had anticipated: "You kissed me."
An awkward silence passed between them.
"...Are you mad?"
To his horror, she began to laugh.
"Not really. It's not like I ever told you I was married." She paused, frowning. "That wasn't fair to you, Anders, and I'm sorry. You've done so much for me. I know I don't deserve your friendship or your trust but-"
"Commander," the mage held up a hand. "Shut up, please."
"Sorry..." Jenji sighed, frustrated with herself.
"Listen, you can repay me," he said. "Just don't let your husband murder me in my sleep and then bury my remains in ashallow grave somewhere or ship me off to Par Vollen wearing nothing but my smallclothes."
"I promise," she said, smiling. "But I warn you: he is very persuasive. Once he convinced Alistair to put on a dress and, well, it was quite a sight really."
"Wait, King Alistair?"
She nodded, "The very same."
They both laughed uncontrollably. It was good to be alive.
)O(
Far away and deep underground a mother was mourning the loss of her child.
"They killed the First!" the broodmother wailed. "Killed him…"
"I am very sorry, Mother."
"No! This cannot go unpunished!" The Mother insisted. "They must pay for his death just as The Father will. Summon the Herald and tell him to prepare our forces. We shall burn the city and crush the castle to dust. Leave them with nothing! The Wardens shall be merely ashes when all is done!" She cackled, madness practically dripping from her lips, and then she began to sing. "Ashes, ashes, they all fall down!"
The messenger left her then, fading back into the shadows.
Father, forgive me...
)O(
She could still feel the slight tingling in her veins, making it virtually impossible to sleep.
"I don't know where I'd be without you, Daveth," she was saying. "I don't like to think about it."
"Then why do you?"
"I don't know." Jenny half smiled. "I guess I'm just crazy."
He held her closer. "You're not crazy," he said. "Crazy people never question their sanity. So that would make you...less crazy than most actually."
"I never thought of it that way..."
As she fell asleep, Daveth reached over to make sure her heart was still beating. It never hurt to be careful.
He didn't like to think about where he'd be without her either, but he had come awfully close to finding out today. Too close...
Maybe they were both a little crazy.
