Kelly entered the observation deck with due deference to the Justicar within. However, the asari within acknowledged her entry, despite the silence Kelly used to enter.
"How is Shepard?" Samara asked in her usual stoic voice.
"She is getting better, but it's a slow process," Kelly said evenly.
"That is good to hear."
"Now, what was it you said about this event that's happened before with Nora?"
The soft blue light dimmed from around the Justicar as she stood up and walked to the window.
"Not long before this event occurred, I requested Shepard to assist me in hunting a criminal from asari space. A hedonistic murderer that feels nothing for the suffering she caused. Do you know what an Ardat-Yakshi is?" the asari said as she turned to Kelly.
Kelly tilted her head and said, "Only in rumor. But is it like the succubus from the legends from our homeworld?"
Samara nodded. "I have heard of such human legends and it is an appropriate simile. It hunts particular types of people and uses her charm to lull them into her trap and kills them. I requested Shepard to assist me in hunting one such individual. However, it was amid our conversation did I realize that Shepard had taken a vested interest in this hunt of mine."
Kelly blinked, "How so?"
"Old wounds are opened when familiar territory is tread. I almost missed it, but I could see an anger, a rage she has always kept hidden when I mentioned how my target hunted. However, I was confident in Shepard to retain the professionalism that would help draw her out."
"Did you succeed?"
Samara nodded. "From the shadows, I watched her work through the crowds and show the disciplined strength that the Ardat-Yakshi was drawn to. From the club I followed them to her apartment and would hopefully rescue Shepard in time and destroy my target."
"But it didn't happen that way, did it?"
The justicar shook her head. "No. It did not."
On Morinth's lap, Nora traced her fingers beneath the fronds of the asari's head. Shepard's mouth latched on Morinth's, the lingered taste of the sweet drinks on her tongue. In her lust clouded mind, Shepard knew the danger she courted. She hoped Samara would show up soon, since she knew when the worst was going to happen. With Morinth's head cradled in her hands, she pulled back from Morinth's kiss and whispered, "Feels good, doesn't it?"
"Always," Morinth hissed, her arms wrapped around Nora's torso. "Would you do anything for me?"
"Anything," Shepard said as she claimed Morinth's mouth again. This time, the survival instinct cleared away the passion and the adrenaline began to flow, ready to spring the trap.
Morinth, then switched their positions so that the asari now leaned over Shepard. The ardat-yakshi, between breaths, moaned, "Tell me you'd die for me..."
Shepard noticed that Morinth's mouth had not moved. The asari's eyes had also become the unsettling dark that she had seen in Liara and Shiala. However, when she felt Morinth's attempting to gain access to all that Shepard was, she closed herself off.
"No."
Immediately, the meld was broken and the asari quickly put the pieces together and realized she had been played for a fool.
The door burst open and in walked Samara.
Unkind words were exchanged between parent and child.
Their power came to a stalemate.
Both appealed to Shepard and she had made her choice.
The images of Diana, her face streaked with tears at the loss of her only source of joy, caused a scowl of unbridled anger and hate in Shepard's face as she knocked the Ardat-Yakshi off balance.
As the justicar closed in, Morinth had proved her resourcefulness once more. A canister of Minagen-X3 was right beneath the couch. She had hurled it towards her assailants and with what little biotic strength she had left, crushed it, causing the container to explode.
Minagen-X3, a far more potent and simultaneously lethal version of Red Sand, spread through the room and into Shepard's lungs. After the first cough, Samara could feel the eezo nodes in Shepard's body expand with untapped and unstable power.
Like a star that went nova, the biotics around Shepard threw everything into disarray. Hunched over, Shepard roared as near uncontrollable energy coursed through her body. Her eyes blared an unearthly green as Morinth attempted to escape in the chaos, however, Shepard would have none of it.
The ardat-yakshi struggled as a far more powerful biotic field picked her up and left her suspended as Shepard, in a burst of light, vanished from her position, to reappear right behind Morinth, grab her leg and threw her with incredible force against the opposing wall. The breath knocked out of her, the younger asari could do nothing as Shepard once more appeared right in front of her from a burst of biotic light.
"YOUR LIFE IS MINE!" Shepard bellowed as her hands, alight with the same glow as her eyes, latched onto Morinth's neck and in a maelstrom of element zero powered light, Samara could see Morinth begin to whither.
"Reave..." Samara uttered beneath her breath as she stood up, despite the chaos around her and the cries of agony from both Shepard and Morinth. Reave; a highly dangerous and unpredictable biotic ability which could steal the life force from a target to the caster. Few biotics knew of it, fewer were able to use it, and still even fewer could ever master it as it could kill the caster as easily as it could extend one's life.
When it seemed the ardat-yakshi was about to turn into dust, another biotic explosion sent Shepard through the air and against the window, where it left a second noticeable crack in the glass.
Samara stood up and walked to her daughter. Morinth, devoid of strength and almost completely devoid of life, looked to her parent and whispered as tears began to stream from her eyes, "...mother... it hurts."
With surprising tenderness, Samara sat behind her daughter and held her torso gently. "...it hurts," the younger asari whimpered, unable to withstand the pain her body was in.
The justicar took a momentary glace to the inert Shepard and back to her offspring and whispered as she stroked her cheek, "It's all right, child. It's all right."
Morinth began to sob as she knew what was to happen next, but knew it was a better alternative than to suffer as she was now, "I love you, Mother."
"I love you too, my dear. I always loved you," she whispered with all sincerity as she slowly wrapped her arms around Morinth's head and neck.
"Find rest in the embrace of the Goddess."
The snap of Morinth's neck was quiet and almost inaudible. There was no pain.
She picked up the lifeless body of her greatest daughter and carried it with reverence to the bed, where she wrapped the body in the clean, white sheets. She would send the local acolytes of Athame to recover and cremate the remains. After a moment of silence, Samara then moved to Shepard's body and noticed Nora's twitch.
"Shepard. Shepard! Are you well?" she asked as she nudged the human to stir.
Nora's breath came in quickly and in gasps as she wearily turned to the asari and asked, "Wha... what happened?"
Samara asked calmly, "You do not remember?"
Shepard looked to the lights overhead and whispered hoarsely, "All I remember... was the Red Sand... and then I blacked out."
The justicar nodded, "I see." She then threw Shepard's arm over her shoulders and picked her up.
"Morinth?"
The older asari turned to the exit and said, "Dead. It is done. We have no further reason to remain here."
There was a pause before their departure before Shepard asked, "Are you... going to be alright?"
Samara allowed herself a small smile and replied, "Let us return you to a sound state of mind and body before you come to worry about me."
Shepard nodded wearily as the effects of the Minagen prevented her from standing upright.
"Shepard came to me not long after, wracked with uncertainty," Samara said, her hands clasped at the small of her back. "She wondered if her actions, and her past actions after she recruited me would result in me having to execute justice according to the Code."
The Justicar turned to her and said, "In spite of her bloody past, she has found ways to administer justice in ways that the Code would not be violated. I have no reason to believe Shepard should fear any retribution from me, in case you were wondering, Ms. Chambers."
Kelly blinked at the asari's statement, but slowly a smile spread across her face which mirrored Samara's own.
"Thank you, Samara," the yeoman said as the justicar took her usual spot to continue her meditations.
"You are most welcome, Ms. Chambers," she said as light began to appear between an apex of her hands. "Please, if there is anything else I can do to assist Shepard's recovery, let me know. While she may not be our only hope against the oncoming darkness, she is still our first hope."
Kelly nodded and softly padded out of the room.