Note: Last cut-away jump now, aren't you all glad, but what's in store for poor Elissa…

Apologies, the pacing's gotten out of hand and my interest in this story is waning hard, hope it doesn't show too much.

Elissa could only stare, frozen in horror. Her mind was screaming, telling her she'd misheard, but there was no mistaking the amber gaze that pierced into her soul, nor that unsettling nickname.

"Fle…meth?" she croaked, blinking back tears. "What…how…"

'Megara' merely chuckled, tearing her hand from Elissa's face. Elissa hissed, the woman's nails leaving marks. She tried to raise her head again, but the pain was too much, so she was resigned to staring at the floor. Her entire body shook, and her nausea was back in full force.

What the hell was going on?

"I have waited for this moment for far, far too long," Megara said, pacing the floor. "But I must admit, each setback has been worth it, for it has greatly increased my chances of success." She slipped the amethyst necklace into her palm, letting it dangle freely. She brought it close to Elissa's Shard, and Elissa winced, the rune burning beneath her skin. "Now I have almost all the pieces, the time of Etro's rebirth will be upon us, and the Maker's foolish transgression will finally be undone."

The name sent a shiver down Elissa's spine. She groaned, clenching her fists.

"Let…me…go…" she whispered.

Megara smirked.

"Come now, is that any way to show your gratitude, after all I have done for you?" She licked her lips. "You should have known there would be a payment for my generosity over the years." A sigh escaped her, and a flicker of remorse crossed her features. "Would I wish it were another way, Sixteen, alas I cannot delay any longer. The board has been tilted, and if I do not intervene, all that has been fought for will be for nought."

She ripped open Elissa's collar, exposing the Shard completely. The Cousland ring nestled just above it, glinting in the rune's soft light. Elissa shivered, the memory of her reunion with Leliana prickling. Megara ignored her, brows narrowed.

"Generation after generation I watched failure after failure, every vessel destroyed by the very soul they sought to house," she said. "You would have been no different, had I not acted, and your friends not interfered at the moment of transference." She fingered the necklace chain. "A mortal cannot host the essence of the divine, but this accident gave me the chance I needed. And so, here we are." Her eyes glinted. "You are dying, Sixteen. I bought what time I could, but the Shards are a poison, and it will not be long before they claim your so-called Champion and presumptuous Herald, as well. But Etro's power cannot be lost again. It must go to a vessel that can endure; one who was born with the soul of an old god himself!"

The amethyst burst into light, and Megara forced it against Elissa's skin. The effect was instant, and Elissa screamed, writhing in her chains. The metal cut into her wrists, leaving bleeding welts, but that was nothing to the inferno in her chest. Every fibre of muscle and sinew and bone was on fire, squeezing all the breath from her lungs and draining her sight and strength. The chamber blurred, turning into hazy darkness, and something cold wrapped around her. The tendrils spread, gripping her in a deadly embrace, and she howled, suffocating, blind.

Suddenly the chamber snapped into focus, and Elissa spluttered, as if she'd been underwater. She could taste blood in her mouth, and her ribs and back were aching something fierce. Each breath sent shudders through her, and she couldn't stop trembling.

Megara murmured to herself, pulling the amethyst to her palm.

"Ah," she mused. "It seems Andraste's blood tie is powerful, indeed."

She turned to her acolytes, chewing her lip. Her gaze darkened, and she abruptly grabbed one by the neck. The woman gasped, struggling, when Megara activated the amulet again, and she fell limp. The other mages tensed, watching fearfully as Megara held up her lifeless body.

"Her sacrifice will not be in vain," Megara announced, "for every soul is eternal. She will merely be reborn when the final bells come to toll."

With those words, she tore into the woman's belly, and blood poured freely between her fingers. The crimson splatter became the colour of lyrium, and the amethyst flared. Elissa screeched, the surge turning her Shard into a venomous flood. She strained in her chains again, desperate to claw the rune off, bile pooling in her mouth.

Make…it…stop!

At last contact broke, and Elissa threw up. The coppery scent on her breath was permanent now, and her stomach was in twisted knots. The respite was extremely short-lived, however, as the amethyst was shoved against her again. It threw Elissa into darkness, silencing all senses but the screaming, bleeding agony that drowned her heartbeat into nothing.

Flashes crossed her vision, trying to pull her into the unknown, but just before blissful unconsciousness hit, the burning pressure vanished. Prickles of after-pain spread, and her head was forced up again, jarred to wakefulness. Megara's face was a blur, and Elissa heaved, her throat tight.

"You will not let go so easily, will you?" Megara's voice was mocking. "Then you shall just have to remember…"

"Lady Megara!" A startled shout broke through. "The witch, she's returned, and she's…"

The rest of the warning ended in a strangled shriek. Megara tensed, releasing Elissa and glancing back. Elissa groaned, her Shard irritated by the mana in the air. Weakly she raised her head, catching sparks of fire and thunder flying across the chamber. Then the ground yawned, charged with an inescapable force, and the screams and yelps heightened.

"Elissa!" Bethany cried. "We're here!"

Her force-spell brought yet more cultists down, and Megara clenched her jaw, seemingly unaffected.

"I think that's quite enough, children."

Megara flung up her hands, and all magic was abruptly dispelled. Most of the cultists lay on the floor, dead, and in the centre stood Bethany and Morrigan. At once they charged, staffs ablaze, when Megara snapped her fingers. A barrier appeared around her, and Bethany and Morrigan broke apart, narrowly avoiding it.

The rune rippled in the emptiness, and Megara tapped it with a finger. The barrier shattered, its fragments morphing into gleaming arrows, and they shot for the two mages. Bethany tried to counter, but the energy snared her wrists and ankles, and she cried out, falling. Morrigan hissed, destroying one set, alas the other bound her hands behind her back. Her staff clattered uselessly, and she dropped to her knees.

Megara's lip curled. She surveyed them, folding her arms.

"Were you never told not to interrupt your elders?" She strode forward, raising her left arm. Bethany and Morrigan grimaced, the shackles of mana forcing them upright. Megara scoffed, waving her wrist, and they both slammed into the wall, trapped by an unseen force.

"What madness…is this…" Morrigan gasped, struggling to break free. "How…"

"Madness, indeed," Megara smirked. "I did not expect you to return once Kieran was safe. It seems the years have softened you much, Morrigan."

The blood drained from Morrigan's face.

"No." Her amber eyes went wild. "It cannot…I refuse to believe…not you!"

"Hmph, you sound so thrilled to see me again," Megara snorted. "You played your part perfectly, child, until the very last act. I would have even let you get away with it, would the circumstances have allowed it."

"I will not let you touch Kieran again!" Morrigan rumbled. "You will not defile him as you did to me!"

Megara smiled.

"What I have planned for my dear grandson is nothing what you assume." She turned back to Elissa, and Elissa's chest tightened. She struggled, pleading with the Maker to let her chains break.

No, not again!

"I will have Kieran at my side once more," Megara stated, twirling the amethyst necklace. "But first, I require a Shard to give to him."

"No," Elissa rasped, "no, not again, please, NO!"

The amethyst rammed into the rune, igniting it all over again, and Elissa screamed. The tendrils returned thick and fast, dragging her into the abyss, but once more, as she almost sank into nothingness, the amethyst was removed. Two breaths later it was back, the howling agony set afresh. The cycle repeated; twice, three times, five times, and Elissa lost herself, caught in an endless twilight of pain and fire and darkness.

"Remember!" Megara boomed. "Remember your final moments!"

Another shriek was torn from Elissa's lips, and her vision unfocused. Soft whispers began to drift, and she whimpered. Her breaths were starting to slow, her heart overwhelmed.

"Stop, stop!" Bethany wailed, her eyes streaming. "Stop hurting her!"

Megara withdrew her hand again, and Elissa slumped in her chains, choking out a mouthful of blood. Every muscle was shaking, and she could no longer move of her own accord. Sweat and grit and dust plastered her skin and hair, and her insides churned, begging for relief. Her thoughts were tangled, a mismatch between past and present.

Who…are you…

"You are making this harder than it needs to be, Sixteen," Megara said. "If you will not accept who you were—who you are—it is going to kill you."

Elissa groaned. Her Shard was a scorched mess; a brand that would never cool. Yet even as she fought for breath, her entire body a symphony of pain, it was Bethany's sobbing that hurt her more. It wasn't fair she had to watch this.

But…what…am I…supposed…to remember?

"Please, please just stop," Bethany begged, "she…she can't take much more…"

Megara chuckled.

"You hear your friend, do you not, Sixteen?" she goaded. "You wound her as much as I do. You can end this, for all of us. Let the pain release you, and remember!"

She plunged the amethyst to the rune once more, and Elissa jerked, fighting an invisible enemy. Pained grunts escaped her—all her breathless lungs could manage—and the chains cut deeper. It was almost familiar, and she flinched, her body recalling a forgotten memory. But before it took hold, the shadows crept back, and Elissa strained for their cold embrace.

And yet again, she was denied.

Maker…

Let…me…sleep…

"You'll kill her!" Bethany shrieked. "Stop it right now!"

Her cry hung in the air, and Megara stilled. Elissa felt the woman's amber eyes watching, her chest a tight bundle of painful rasps.

"Hmm, it seems you might be right," Megara said at last. "You had best get healing then, young mage, in case I accidentally do kill her."

She snapped her fingers, and Bethany fell from the wall. She caught herself on her hands and knees, her ankle bindings broken, although her wrists remained tethered. Without hesitation she stumbled towards Elissa, reaching out and touching her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Bethany mumbled, bringing their brows together, her face soaked in tears. "I'm so sorry, Elissa!"

Elissa couldn't respond, but the mage's warmth and the pain of her words struck right to her core. Soon the soothing balm of healing magic washed over, banishing the rawness in her throat, but it did nothing for the ache in her chest. If anything it provoked her Shard further, and she recoiled, her nausea rising again. Bethany sobbed, and then the mage's hold left her. A colder, harsher touch replaced it, and Elissa shuddered.

"You show far more resilience than your predecessors, Sixteen," Megara said, pressing the edge of her thumbnail into Elissa's chin. "But perhaps I should not be too surprised." She let Elissa's head drop. "After all, you weathered the loss of your family so well, once I convinced Rendon Howe to slaughter them."

That almost-forgotten name set something off, and Elissa found the strength to open her eyes.

"What…did you…say?"

Megara chortled.

"Oh, I thought that might catch your interest." Her eyes glimmered, like a cat about to devour a mouse. "You think that fool attacked the Couslands of his own volition? Even his petty jealousies weren't worth that." She rested her hands on her hips. "No, Sixteen, that idea was planted by me. A few whispers here and there, a mere suggestion at the edges of his mind, and that was all it took. The promise of power is enough to send anyone astray. And he went above and beyond what I desired."

Elissa suddenly snapped her head up, a slumbering anger stirring.

She…what?

…she can't have…

"They all had to die, Elissa," Megara went on. "It was the only way to ensure you became a Grey Warden, to protect you and give me the time I needed to prepare for this day. To ensure Etro's resurrection."

Elissa stopped listening. A new pain had taken over, let loose as old wounds untouched for so long were now ripped afresh. The blood-rage was pouring, an endless tide that could not be stemmed, and she couldn't surface.

"You…"

You…

You…killed them…

My family…my home…my life…

Everything I had to endure…

Because of you?!

"The poor man admired Bryce so much," Megara said, glancing at her fingernails. "But respect cannot trump envy. And with the right words, he was but clay in my hands…"

"I'll kill you!" Elissa thrashed in her chains with newfound strength. "I'll kill you, I'll kill you!"

The words became a mantra, breaking away seals she had never known existed. Nothing mattered anymore; not the cuts at her wrists, the burning in her chest, the stinging magic still ringing through her bones. All she knew was the bubbling maelstrom, of heat and rage and wildfire and loathing that was taking over every part of her.

I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you…

I'llkill you!

The world turned black, but it did nothing to lessen Elissa's screaming. The boiling ocean had finally erupted, like the Waking Sea in a raging storm. The chamber disappeared, shifting into a starless night sky. The air became cold and raw, but Elissa barely noticed. Her Shard was nothing but brilliant agony, setting her blood blazing, and a bone-chilling howl burst from her lungs.

An empty sky hangs above my shattered throne. The crystal of shadows—the source of my power—has been devastated. It will never know brightness again. Warmth pours from my chest, and I grasp the gaping wound. A spear of light pierces, my hands welling with spilled brilliance. So blinding, burning; a poison destroying all I ever will be.

"What have you done?!" A scream bursts from my lips. "You promised…you would not…"

His laughter is cold, mocking. It ignites sorrow, pain and rage—the last things I will ever feel.

This cannot be, it cannot be…

I will never forgive you for this!

"You have doomed every soul forever, Maker of all things!"

The darkness deepens, stealing my final breaths, and at last my tears escape.

"And they will take all of your creation with them!"

The screech exploded from Elissa's throat; a voice that was not hers, yet could only be hers. She snatched the chains suspending her, and black coldness poured from her palms. The choking mist wrapping around the links, and they instantly melted.

Elissa yanked herself free, the shackles falling apart as she dropped to the ground. She snapped her head back, another roar escaping her, and she bolted for Megara.

I'll kill you all!

"And there she is, at long, long last!" Megara gloated, meeting Elissa's charge. She caught her wrists, and Elissa hissed, frothing saliva pooling at her lips. "Welcome back, Etro!"

Elissa howled, and she kicked Megara away. As they broke contact, she threw out her hand, and a lance of shadow burst from her fingertips. It missed its mark, but when it struck the floor, the stone dissolved. Bethany gasped, her bonds vanishing, and she stumbled in retreat. The mist kept spreading, eating the tiles away, and Morrigan tore free from the wall, her own bindings dissipating.

Snarling, Elissa continued her assault, unleashing spear after spear at Megara. The woman kept dodging, flashing an almost teasing smile as she escaped into the hallway beyond. The Corruption however lingered, streaming through the bricks and pillars like a forest fire untamed.

"Elissa, stop!" Morrigan yelled. "You'll destroy everything!"

Whirling around, Elissa flung another lance, right at Morrigan. The apostate dived, just missing its edge as it struck the wall. But by then Elissa was gone, charging out of the chamber, hungering for Megara's blood.

Kill her…

Kill them…

Kill them all!

She caught Megara turning a corner, and she hurled another spear. The mist burned through the stone, unchecked, and exposing the woman's retreat. Elissa tore after her, ripping through anything that lay in her path. Tree roots, fallen rafters, stone and sand; nothing could escape the wrath of Corruption. Savage rumbling shook the ruins, and pieces of ceiling began to collapse as the walls disappeared beneath the onslaught of darkness.

The doors to the Eluvian chamber were open, and Megara sped inside. Elissa sprinted, an inhuman roar breaking from her lips. As Megara's foot disappeared through the swirling vortex, Elissa plunged straight after, emerging back at the Crossroads.

She hit the ground running, making for Megara who was just about to reach another Eluvian. Her hand touched the glass, yet before the spell activated, a Corruption spear plunged into it. The mirror exploded into dust shards, and Megara was forced to take cover in the ruins.

"Elissa!" Alistair shot to his feet, keeping a hand on Kieran's shoulder. "What in the Maker's name...?!"

Elissa spun towards him, growling. Swirling mist gathered about her hand, and she threw it at them.

"Whoa!" Alistair dived, cradling Kieran as the spear slammed into the archway above. "Elissa, what's gotten into you?!"

"She cannot hear you any longer," Megara said, unseen in the undulating mist. "She has finally remembered who she is!"

Alistair's gaze darkened.

"You did this to her?!" He pushed Kieran behind him, drawing his sword. "Snap her out of it, right now!"

Megara's reply was silenced as Elissa shot into the ruins, both palms brimming with black mist. Twin bolts of Corruption broke free, like snakes ravenous for prey. One skimmed Megara's arm, tearing her robe, while the other smacked into the Eluvian behind her. It cracked the glass, bouncing and ricocheting off a crumbling bridge back to the ground. Alistair rolled in mid-charge, the mist close enough to touch. It clipped his sword, and the blade melted to the hilt. Cursing, Alistair threw it aside, when Kieran suddenly yelped.

"Kieran!" Morrigan shrieked; she had emerged from the Eluvian, and was bolting towards her son. Kieran tried to run as well, but the Corruption was sweeping around him, trapping him against an Eluvian that rested against a stone tower. Yet even that was starting to sink as the mist devoured the ground—an inescapable abyss. Morrigan clenched her teeth, unable to cross the widening chasm.

"Damn it!" Alistair dashed to the tower, immediately scaling it. Once at the top, he cautiously pressed himself to the edge, stretching out his hand. "Kieran, I'm here!"

Kieran shuffled against the tower, climbing onto the Eluvian for extra height. The tiles slowly crumbled into nothingness, and he slipped, almost losing his footing. Somehow he managed to cling on, and he strained, his fingers almost interlacing with Alistair's.

However, that was when Elissa bellowed. Another burst of mist shot from her hand, and it struck the Eluvian. The mirror exploded, and Kieran screamed, jerked away.

"Kieran!" Alistair and Morrigan bawled in unison.

Time seemed to stand still, and they could only stare, helpless as Kieran plummeted into the mist. For a long, long moment, silence reigned, Morrigan's tears frozen on her face.

Then a sudden roar rocked the Crossroads, causing several more Eluvians to shatter. A chilling gale hit, strong enough to displace the Corruption and revealing Kieran's unconscious form. Next a giant pair of talons snatched him up, and the dragon rumbled, its amber eyes furious. It glared at Elissa, shooting a wave of fire, before it beat its wings and took off, towards the last remaining Eluvian.

"No!" Morrigan took chase, broken from her stupor, but she had no hope to catch the beast. The portal crackled to life, and the dragon dived through with its charge. Morrigan kept running, even as the magic rapidly disintegrated. Just as the iridescent sheen almost disappeared, her hand plunged inside, and she renewed the spell. Her momentum carried her straight through, and the Eluvian shimmered, held open from the other side.

Elissa howled, charging for the mirror, but strong arms gripped her waist. She fell to the ground face-first, and something heavy pinned down her back and legs.

"Elissa, stop!" Alistair dug his palms into her wrists to stop her moving. "This isn't you, I know it isn't!" Tears spilled down his cheeks, and he bit back a sob. "Come back, come back to me!"

Elissa writhed, struggling with every part of her being. Eventually she got her leg free, and she rolled over, thrusting her knee into Alistair's stomach. Alistair groaned, his grip loosened, and Elissa kicked him onto his back. Snarling, she latched her hand around his throat, more mist gathering in her free palm.

I'll destroy His entire Creation!

But before she could strike, a bolt of pure ice-flame ripped into her back. It sank through skin, muscle and flesh, and a torrent of warmth trickled from the wound. Her arms fell limp, and she doubled over, her vision clouding.

"I'm so sorry, sis," Bethany wept, her hands clasped around the dagger's hilt. She pressed it deeper, and Elissa groaned. "Sleep…please…"

A gentle hand held her temple, and at long last, Elissa fell into the embrace of darkness.