Jennifer screamed as she looked upon the confused, and sleepy, expressions of Bethany and Leandra, she crawled away from the small palette on the floor and curled into a ball in the corner of the room. As Leandra pulled her coverlet down to hurry to Jennifer, Garrett erupted into the room followed by a grumpy Gamlen.

Jennifer screamed again but the room started spinning. As she fell over Bethany caught her shoulders and eased her down gently. Hawke stepped forward with a smirk. "Maker, what in the Void happened now?" Bethany glared at her brother and he had the courtesy to look sheepish. With an overly dramatic sigh he turned away, "I'll go fetch Anders. Andraste's granny panties, this is annoying." Bethany hurriedly pulled the poor girl back onto the pallet and sighed, mirroring her mother's worried expression.

-ooo-

Hawke stepped quickly through the early dawn, making his way to Darktown, if any time was a good time to travel along the thug riddled streets, early morning was it. The streets were empty because the thugs had just gone to bed and the thieves hadn't awoken yet. He climbed up the stairs that lead to the entryway of Anders clinic, seeing the dusty lantern flickering in the archway. He stepped through and found Anders bent over a small rickety desk, littered with half scribbled parchment pieces.

Anders turned quickly at the sound of metal clad footsteps reaching for his staff and spinning to face the intruder. "Oh Hawke, I didn't expect you this early, did she wake up?"

Despite his annoyance, Hawke grinned. "You could say that." At Anders confused expression he continued, "Let's just say when she woke up, so did the rest of the house. She screamed so loud and hard she fainted." He chuckled.

After Anders grabbed his satchel and placed a few bottles within, he followed Hawke through the dismal streets of Darktown. They took the freight up to the lower regions of Lowtown and slowly wound their way past the Hanged Man to Gamlen's hovel. As soon as they stepped inside, Garrett groaned. "Why can't I ever enter to a quiet home?"

Jennifer was in the main room, she had swiped the poker to the fireplace and was holding it out before her brandishing it as a weapon. "Stay away from me! I don't care who the crap you are but stay away!" Her gaze shifted to Hawke and Anders and she froze. "Oh crap. Oh, holy crap balls!"

Hawke turned to Bethany with an irritated look, "Don't look at me that way!" She exclaimed. "She won't listen to us."

Jennifer took the moment of distraction as opportunity, with swift strike that almost came as practiced, in Anders opinion, she knocked Garrett on the side of the head with the poker and bolted for the door. Hawke yelped and grabbed his head. Bethany ran to him and healed the rapidly swelling welt on his head.

Anders was quicker however and tapped his staff on the ground and a vein of ice cracked along the floor and froze the door shut. Shards of ice erupted from the door and Jennifer paused midstride her face in awe. He put her lifted foot firmly on the wooden floor and reached a hand out towards the ice, it's cold. So it's not an illusion. She blinked once. Twice, then fell to her knees. "Holy crap." Her eyes drifted to the floor and followed the zigzagging vein of ice along the floor up Anders staff, along the white knuckles of Anders' hand, up his arms to his disheveled feather pauldrons to his honey warm eyes. "M-magic."

Anders' warm eyes suddenly went hard an action that would have confused Jennifer… if she hadn't been so excited. "Magic!" With a girlish squeal of delight she jumped to her feet with grace and danced in place. "You can do magic! Actual magic!" She jumped excitedly and hurried towards him. He stepped back with a look of confusion and worry bringing his staff as a shield before him. "You can control water! Sweet Mother Earth! This is AWESOME!"

Hawke stared at the woman, dumbfounded.

Anders grinned crookedly before bending to lean the staff along the wall. "Have you not seen magic before?"

Jennifer shook her head enthusiastically. "Not actual conjuring. Prestidigitation and illusion, but not actual elemental conjuring!" She clapped excitedly as she reached out for Anders's hand. She stopped suddenly and tilted her head to the side. "How did you do it?"

Anders again looked at her confusingly. "It's a manipulation of mana from the Fade."

"Mana? …Oh magical energy! Wait… mana. MANA! Holy crap nuggets!" With that she turned back to the door wrapped her nightdress around the watered handle of the door and pulled with a quick jerk. The light from outside stung her eyes before fading into the cool hours of the morning. Dust and dirt littered the walkways of Kirkwall and the tall stoic buildings of Lowtown towered overhead. People clamored around in strange out of date clothing and Dear sweet Baby New Year is that a dwarf?! She quickly pulled herself back into the hovel and blinked leaning her back against the door.

Awed and incredulous faces met hers. "Where the hell am I?"

Anders stepped forward, his hands before him in a defenseless and unarmed gesture. "You're in Kirkwall. One of the cities in the Free Marches." Anders smiled warmly, attempting to comfort the crazed woman.

Jennifer nodded with a look of contemplation. She paced forward and stopped, she opened her mouth as if to speak then shut it only to open it again. "At the risk of sounding completely and totally insane, or at least more than I do now, have any of you heard of Texas?" At the shake of all four of their heads, Gamlen was out, undoubtedly incurring more debt, she smiled. "So it would be safe to assume none of you have heard of Barack Obama, Ford Lincoln Mercury, or McDonald's." At their 'she's totally gone mental' expressions she smiled. "Alright. Sorry to frighten you. I am completely and whole-heartedly NOT insane. I was just a bit confused."

"More than a bit." Hawke rebutted and Bethany elbowed him in the side.

"Please excuse my brother. He thinks his jokes are actually humorous." Bethany stepped forward between the two stupefied men. "I am Bethany Hawke. This is my brother, Garrett, and my mother Leandra."

Jennifer made a short bow, uncertain if a handshake was appropriate. A new world, imagine that.

Bethany then turned to Anders and smiled, "This is a friend of ours, Anders."

Jennifer beamed brightly at him and he smiled crookedly. "I'm a mage, hence my magical…talents. Bethany is a mage too." Bethany held out her hand and mana swirled around her fingers before dissipating.

Again Jennifer bounced happily and grasped Bethany's hand. "Oh I'm so happy! Finally a world with magic, real magic!" She quickly hugged Bethany then Anders. "You have to teach me everything! I wish to learn as much as I can!"

Both Bethany and Anders turned to one another. Hawke cleared his throat. "While I'm sure Bethany and Anders are more than willing to teach you anything you would like to know, if you want to put lessons into practice you would have to be a mage-born."

Jennifer looked between the three before settling her gaze on Hawke.

Leandra stepped forward, changed into a simple dress. "I'll go to the market to pick up some food, I do hope you like stew, dear." Bethany and Hawke smiled at their mother. "Anders I expect you to stay for dinner as well."

"I would never miss your cooking for the world." He smiled and his eyes sparkled in the firelight.

The door closed softly behind Jennifer and she continued to gaze upon the three before her. "A mage-born?"

"A person born as a mage. There are tests that can be done to see if someone is a mage, but usually their power manifests in uncontrolled bursts that lead to the discovery of their connection with the Fade." Anders replied.

"Test me." Jennifer scuffed her toe gently into the wood. "Please."

"W-why? Why would you want to be told you were a mage? Why wouldn't you rather remain blissfully ignorant?" He accused.

"What wouldn't I?" Jennifer folded her arms before her defensively.

"Mages are subjugated in all of Thedas. Being a mage is said to be a curse of the Maker." Bethany replied cautiously.

"That's dumb." Jennifer blushed as she looked down and felt all their gazes upon her. "Please test me."

Anders sighed and moved closer to her. Goose bumps appeared along her arms and legs and she giggled. Anders placed his fingers on either side of her head and closed his eyes. Jennifer followed suit and willed herself to be a mage, to control the earth beneath her feet like she always dreamed.

When Anders finally stepped back she opened her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I sense none of the Fade within you."

Jennifer sighed. "Back to square one, I suppose."