My ear twitched to the sound of pen to parchment. In the past few nights I've become quiet accustomed to this sound but it didn't make it any less annoying when you were trying to sleep. Some cats can sleep through such noises because well they can sleep through anything, but not me.

I tried rolling over and was faced with sudden light that made me scrunch my face and give up. With a sigh I peaked one of my eyes open. I was facing a candle that was almost gone but bright despite it. I suspected it was enhanced by magic but I was too tired to care.

I made a pathetic mew sound and was promptly ignored so I huffed and sat up to yawned. Daddy was still working on that book, like every night lately. Fenris and me even started falling asleep on his lap at night waiting for him to finish. But it doesn't look like he ever even went to bed tonight; he must have just moved us. Good to know we are just in the way then.

"Daddy…" I meowed tiredly but he still kept writing.

I flicked my tail and glared. He should know better then most people; it's not smart to ignore a cat. To prove my point I jumped onto the desk and conveniently knocked the candle over, on accident of course. The flame went out instantly and it was then I noticed the thin shining lines stretching over his skin.

He turned and sneered with those threatening blue eyes. "Cat!"

I recoiled. He had never called me that before.

He looked like he instantly regretted it afterwards and reached out for me. He was still glowing though and I couldn't help backing away from his grasp. I jumped down and hid under the desk. It wasn't that I was afraid of him it's just… He never got mad at me like that before, and I decided I didn't like it at all.

"Pounce..." He knelt down and looked me in the eyes. They were back to there brown color and filled with regret. "Please come out… I didn't mean to." His voice was low and apologetic, "please."

I slowly made my way to him, but kept my head and tail down. He offered his hands in surrender not wanted to scare me away by grabbing me and picking me up, but I could tell that's what he wanted to do. I nuzzled one hand and he pet the top of my head with the other.

"I'm so sorry. I would never hurt you Pounce. You know that." The voice in the back of my mind wondered if Justice would agree with that. I shook the thought and leaned into his touch.

He gently picked me up and hugged me to his chest. He used one hand to support me and the other running down my back in a comforting way. He rested his forehead to my head so he could look me in the eyes.

We stayed like that in silence, just watching each other. We used to do this in the Keep when he was feeling guilty over something. Back then when he got in a bad mood he never talked about it, so he would silently confide in me just like this. Now, emotions like guilt seemed to be overruled by Justice. The spirit was self-righteous like that.

I started to twitch my nose so my whispers would tickle his face. He scrunched his nose and pulled away smirking at me. After kissing the top of my head as a last apology, he set me down on the desk near his paper.

"I'm almost there Pounce. I know the ingredients; I just have to finish translating how to mix them right." He pointed to a jumble of words written on one of his notes. I don't know what he means by that but it makes me nervous. He only reinforced my unease after darkly whispering the next words to himself, "Drakestone and Sela Petrae…."

"This is how we start the revolution and stop Chantry oppression."


The next morning Daddy doesn't turn on the lamp like every other morning, he was nervously pacing back and forth through the clinic. I'm not sure if this had something to do with what we were talking about last night but it worries me so I decide to go into the room and wake Fenris. After having weeks of practice trying to get him up, it wasn't as hard as it used to be.

"Daddy is pacing."

He made an annoyed noise that I translated to 'so what'.

"He hasn't opened the clinic." That seemed to get his attention, because he finally looked up at me with a questioning expression. "He's never skipped opening his clinic unless he was out on a mission with Hawke."

"Then why now?" I must have been right when I suspected he slept through last night's episode. I didn't want to tell him about it though; I didn't want to be the one to break that fragile trust that's formed between them.

"I don't know."

It didn't take long for Hawke make his morning appearance with breakfast in hand. But Daddy declined the offer of food in favor of proposing an idea to the other mage.

"I'm going to be trying something, and I thought you might want to be a apart of it." He starts, "We've both been wrong. What I did with Justice was unnatural, it should never have happened."

"Is there some way to undo it?"

"That book we found after fighting the dragon. It was written by an old Tevinter magister."

"What?" Fenris snarled beside me.

"They're the only ones who have ever sought to reverse spirit possession, not just behead the victims." He never said anything about this last night. Was he… lying? "I believe I have found a formula for a potion that can separate Justice and me. Without killing either."

Hawke looked hopeful, completely oblivious to either my and Fenris' reactions. "Is it dangerous?"

"There are always dangers with magic. But I believe this will be worth the cost."

"If you think it's worth the risk, count me in."

"I knew you'd stand behind me in this. Even if…" Daddy pauses for a second. I just wanted to look away and pretend none of this was happening. Last night he talked about getting Justice, not eliminating him. I never knew Daddy was capable of this kind of deception. Fenris was seething next to me. I can't imagine how he must feel finding out that book Daddy has been obsessing over was written by a magister.

"What?"

"Nevermind. I've gathered most of what I need, but there are some… outlandish ingredients. I was hoping you'd help me collect. A powder the Tevinters call 'sela petrae,' and a small amount of drakestone."

"Is it just a potion? Is there anything more to this ritual?"

"No, no ritual. Just mix the ingredients up and… boom. Justice and I are free. And we can take our rightful place among free mages."

Daddy continued to answer Hawke's questions about each component of this 'potion' and where to find them, completely believing every word that comes out of Daddy's mouth. There was no reason to doubt him though, the other mage trusted Daddy completely. They decided it couldn't be put this off and want to leave immediately after gathering Varric and Isabela at the Hanged Man.

"I assure you, we'll find them." Hawke says enthusiastically

"I could not have begun to do this without your support."

They leave without so much of glance back to us. I suspected Daddy purposely avoided my gaze out of shame; I was the only one who knew he was outright lying. Fenris has been oddly quiet since his earlier outburst.

"Fenris?"

"I should not be surprised that book was from Tevinter. He is a mage, and I let myself forget that. A mistake I will not be making again."

My eyes widen, "You can't mean that. After everything—"

He cuts me off in anger, "After what? After he has deceived us? He has always been an abomination. You are just too blindly attached to him to realize how corrupted he really is."

"No!" I scream at him, because I don't know what else to do. "You're wrong."

"But I am not." There was hurt in his voice as well, I could tell. I looked him in the eye and he stared back, "Despite my past, despite my anger and hatred of mages. I let him fool me; I let him get close to me and made me believe he was different. I was truly beginning to trust him… I have never felt like such a fool in my life."

"Fenris…" The anguish was clearly written on his face, and I didn't know what to say. He said I was blindly attached to him, but I wasn't. I knew what Daddy was capable of and I accepted it anyways, but to Fenris? This probably felt like a personal betrayal beyond my understanding.

"I am leaving." He mutters and I feel adrenaline spike through my whole body.

"You can't leave because of this!"

"I stayed your three weeks and more. You will not stop me this time." He stands and starts heading towards the clinic door.

"It's just a book from Tevinter. If it helps separate Justice isn't it worth it?" I know the book is more then that, but I was desperate for him to stay. Unfortunately my attempt did nothing but anger him because he turned back in rage.

"Do you think I did not notice the obvious?" He shouted, "I have watched him for weeks, he has never shown an interest in removing that demon! That was clearly a lie, and you know it."

So he saw through it even without witnessing last night. I can't reply to his accusation because if I did it would just be a lie.

"You can not defend him anymore." He makes to leave again but I cut him off by standing in front of the door.

"Wait!" I couldn't just stand by and watch him leave, "A few days ago Hawke mentioned that he had a lead on how to get you back to your real body."

He gave me wary look, not sure if he should believe me. I guess I can't blame him after what just happened but I won't lie, seeing that untrusting expression directed at me hurt. "Why tell me this now?"

"Because if you leave now and something happens to you on your own, everything everybody has done would have been for nothing." I knew this kind of guilt trip was risky with Fenris but I was out of ideas. "You can't leave when you are so close."

"I am capable of handling myself on my own for a few days."

Great, he took it as an insult of his abilities. "Well, no one will know where to find you when Hawke figures out how to undo the spell!"

I knew it was a weak argument as soon as it left my mouth and he didn't even humor it with a response, be just glared. "Move. I am leaving."

I couldn't give up, not yet. I had to try one more thing. "Then stay for Daddy's sake. You owe him that much."

He scoffed, "I owe him nothing."

"Don't you? He has been taking care of you for almost a month now, and even though you feel betrayed right now, you don't hate him nearly as much as you pretend."

"Blackmail then? You say I owe him because I was thrown into a situation I had no control over? I did not want to stay here, you made me stay."

I couldn't believe he actually had the nerve to blame me. "You're wrong, you had a choose. You agreed to my deal when you came here, you choose to stay after the three weeks were up, and you slept in our bed on your own freewill. You can't blame me or anyone else for your chooses Fenris, like you said, you are not a slave."

He growled and looked like he was about to attack me, it was then I realized my hair was raised and I was in a position to pounce as well. This whole thing had gotten out of control, and fast. I don't know how to fix this anymore. I tried, I really did but I think I just pushed Fenris away further.

I backed down and with a defeated sighed move away form the door.

If Fenris is surprised by my sudden resignation he doesn't show it. Instead he spares one glance my way and without a sound, leaves through the clinic door. And just like that he was gone.