In Which the Fade Facilitates Various Revelations

As she fell through the glow coming from the mark, Olivia's surroundings changed from Adamant fortress to a rocky landscape filled with boulders of varying sizes floating in a greenish sky. The Fade. She abruptly stopped falling, suspended in the air above what looked like the ground before floating slowly down to hang just above it, staring directly at the rocky surface just below? above? her head. Cautiously, Olivia reached up? Down? and poked at the rock with a finger. Instantly, whatever was keeping her floating stopped and she found herself crashing painfully down on the rocks.

Feeling disoriented, she staggered to her feet, groaning. "Where are we?" she turned behind herself to look at the speaker. Stroud was standing on one of the boulders, perpendicular to Olivia's own position in an odd, confusing fashion.

"We were falling," said Hawke vaguely, standing- nearly upside down, from Olivia's perspective- on a slightly larger floating rock. "Are we dead. Because if we are the afterlife is not nearly as fun as Isabella always said she thought it would be."

Olivia let out a short laugh. "No. My mark was acting up when we were falling and we fell through the rift it created. I'm pretty sure this is the Fade."

Hawke looked around. "It's not nearly as hazy as I always remember it being. Everything seems so- solid and defined. Not like normal."

"Well, we aren't dreaming; we're actually here. I guess the Fade looks different when you've got a body while visiting."

"Huh." Hawke turned to look at Olivia. "According to rumor you walked out of the Fade after the explosion at the Conclave. Do you remember it being like this?"

"I don't remember it being like anything," admitted Olivia. "I still don't have any memories of what happened there."

"I think our biggest problem right now would be finding out how to get back out of the Fade."

"How though?"

"Back in our world the rift that the demons were coming through wasn't that far away," pointed out Stroud. "In the main hall. Could we escape through there?"

Olivia looked up at the glowing green scar looming nearby in what amounted to the Fade's sky. "If the demons could get through then I don't see why we wouldn't be able to do the same. Let's go." She began heading toward the rift, the others following behind her.

Being in the Fade was much different in physical form than it was in dreams. Everything around her felt more real. The sky was darker and the rocks more solid. The muddy water splashing around her feet left her boots wet.

They moved across the cliff surrounded low area that they had arrived in and began walking up a set of stairs carved into the rocks. At the top, they turned a corner to find a woman in chantry robes standing in their path. Olivia stopped walking, looking at her in surprise. A demon she would have expected, but this looked far too human to be a spirit. "By the Maker!" exclaimed Stroud. "Divine Justinia?" It certainly looked like her. The old woman smiled, greeting Olivia and Hawke by their titles.

Olivia looked at her suspiciously. "Aren't you dead?"

"She is," said Stroud. "This must be a spirit of some sort. Maybe even a demon."

The thing that looked like Divine Justinia smiled again. "Is my survival really that impossible? After all, you're here alive in the Fade yourselves. But we don't have time to spend arguing over who are what I am."

"You have to realize why we're worried, though," said Hawke. "It wouldn't hurt to tell us what you are, would it?"

"I am here to help you," said the woman. She turned to Olivia. "You do not remember what happened at the Conclave."

"And I suppose you know why?" asked Olivia skeptically.

"Your memories of what happened there were taken from you by a demon that serves Corypheus. A nightmare that feeds off of memories of fear and darkness. The false calling that frightened the Wardens into making such terrible mistakes was its doing and this part of the Fade is its lair."

"Wonderful," Olivia muttered. "How does Corypheus have so many demons working for him anyway?" she asked rhetorically.

"I don't know," admitted the thing that may or may not be Divine Justinia. "Perhaps his power comes from the Blight. The fear demon, at least, chooses to serve him. As one of the Magisters who unleased the first Blight, Corypheus has created much fear for it to feed off of."

"Great. The real question though, is how we get out of here. If you're really here to help I'd appreciate help with that."

"That is why I'm here. While you were in the Fade at Haven, the demon took some of your memories before you leave you must get them back."

"Do you mean that as in we can't leave until then or that we shouldn't?"

"Does it matter? They're your memories. I would think that you'd like them back."

That was true. "So where are they then?" Olivia asked.

"Before you, on the path to the rift." The woman gestured at a glowing green light a few yards away from them. "Like that."

Without thinking, Olivia moved toward the light.

She crossed the space between the staircase and the outcropping where the memory was resting and reached out her hand into the center of it. A jolt of energy ran up her arm and a flash of memory burst into her mind, the image of Justinia's face and her voice telling Olivia to run and warn everyone. Gasping, Olivia staggered backward.

"Are you all right?" Olivia looked up at the sound of Hawkes voice. She and the others looked worried.

"I'm fine." Olivia said shortly. "We need to keep moving." She looked around and hurried up to the next glowing memory, sticking her hand into the center of it much more boldly. A flash of Corypheus' face and his voice ordering someone to bring a sacrifice forward. With a sense of urgency Olivia hurried over to the next memory to hear her own voice bursting in angrily asking what was happening. She needed to know what had happened. She ran to the final memory and grabbed at it.

The full memory filled her head. Walking into the Temple of Sacred Ashes to find several Grey Warden mages held Divine Justinia floating in the air in a swirl of magic, Corypheus standing in front of her and holding out a glowing green orb, a burst of magic flowing out of it and lighting up Justinia's body. "What's going on here?" Olivia heard her own voice asking angrily. Corypheus' face turned to her and the Divine swung her hand forward, knocking the orb out of Corypheus' hand, where it went flying and bounced across the floor to land in front of Olivia. She picked it up and the memory ended in agonizing pain.

Olivia staggered backward, gasping and clutching her head.

"So your mark came from the orb, not Andraste," said Stroud. Olivia belatedly realized that all the others must have been seeing the memories too.

"Corypheus planned to use the Anchor to open the Veil, enter the Fade, and throw open the gates of the Black City. For his own sake, this time, rather than for the Old Gods." Explained the Justinia apparition. "When you interrupted the ritual, the orb gave the Anchor to you instead of him."

"Well," said Olivia, laughing weakly. "It's not like I really expected Andraste to just show up and give me a crazy power herself."

"You still feel disappointed, though."

Olivia gave a strained smile. "We should work on getting out of here."

The spirit nodded. "The demon knows you are here now. You must hurry. I will go prepare the way ahead of you." She vanished into thin air.

Olivia blinked and turned around to face the others. Hawke had a worried, slightly angry expression on her face. "Something wrong, Hawke?" asked Stroud.

"Those were Grey Wardens helping Corypheus. They caused her death."

"I assumed that Corypheus had them under mind control, like we already knew he's done before."

"Still…"

"We can talk about this later," said Stroud. "After we're out of the Fade."

"Oh, I certainly intend to," muttered Hawke darkly.