The following day I was itching to hold a sword but instead of heading into the back alleys as I was hoping Leliana took me to a secluded area just outside the southern end of the docks. It was wooded with places for us to hide should the guard come looking but open enough that we could spar.

"I suppose I should be glad you are letting me even HOLD a sword," I said as I strapped my shield onto my arm. Picking up the practice sword I gave it a toss to test the balance and weight. "I know, I know. I almost died." She gave me a stern look, holding her practice daggers at her sides.

"There was no ALMOST about it," she replied curtly. "You DID die Kora. Your heart stopped. If Neria wasn't there and wasn't a tempest mage you'd be burning on a pyre right now so stop your WHINING," she warned, stalking toward me like a cat to its prey, "and get your guard up."

She came at me like a whirlwind of blades and red hair. I had just enough time to get my shield up but not enough to ready my stance so I went flat on my ass with an oof. I put up my hands in surrender, shaking my head.

"OK! Ok, I get it." Standing, I brushed myself off and sighed. "I'm sorry Lel."

"Kora," she said as she dropped her daggers and put a hand on my shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Look at what we accomplished! We saved an entire alienage from slavery. I have no regrets." I shook my head, taking her hand from my shoulder and staring at the ground.

"It seems like the more I stick my nose into things the more pain I cause to those I care for." She sighed, shaking her head as she took me into a strong hug, one I returned gratefully. "That is why I am sorry." She laughed and released me.

"You keep us on our toes, My Lady," she smiled, returning to pick up her daggers and twirl them in her hands. "And I plan to return the favor, now get your guard up!"

We sparred until the sweat poured into our eyes then, after a water break, we worked on bow defense. I was blindfolded and Leliana would pick a spot to fire from. She taught me the different methods she used to detect hidden threats and, along with my ability to sense my surroundings, I was more confident I would not be taken out by a bow again.

At one point we sat down for a snack when I spotted one of her daggers laying on the ground next to me. A thought occurred to me, how convenient it would be to have a distance weapon. A throwing knife would be useful in a fight.

"Do you think you could teach me to throw one of those?" I asked, picking up the blade and tossing it up in the air to get a feel. She smiled as she stood.

"Let's find out."

Days went by and I allowed them all their turn at testing my physical and mental readiness for a fight. Every day I was under 'house arrest', as I called it, someone different would spar with me. On Garrett's day we worked on my defense against daggers and how to read my opponent. With Aeden it was about facing down warriors as he was proficient with both shield and two handed weapons. Then, when it was Neria's turn, I was vehemently against it.

"What if I accidentally smite her?" I practically shrieked, shaking my head and waving my arms at Leliana in my room. "No, absolutely not. I will not take the chance of hurting her." Neria grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to face her.

"You think you'd be the first?" she laughed. "Please, you're not even taking lyrium anymore! You don't scare me missy."

"I faced off against a magister, love," I replied, "and when I smote his ass he was NOT laughing. And then the smite branched out and hit two other mages! My answer is NO and that is FINAL." She released my arms and took a step back, absorbing what I said.

"You… smote a magister and it… what?" She was in shock. I realized what I said and became a bit shocked myself.

"It looked like electricity," I whispered, bringing my hand up to examine my finger tips. "It didn't occur to me at the time, I was just glad I still was able to do it. Now that I am thinking about it I have to say I'm a bit scared." Neria motioned for me to sit on my bed.

"Do you think you could let me dig around inside you?" She asked. "Maybe I can identify what it is that's fueling your abilities now. It would answer one question at least." I looked into her eyes and, seeing the concern, nodded, sitting down as she took my hand. "Ok, close your eyes.

"Now clear your mind and open up, like the day you took your vows and your first draught of lyrium. Remember how it felt as it flowed out into your body. Can you feel it?" I nodded. "Good, now just relax, this may feel a bit… prickly."

I jumped slightly as she entered through the hand she held and made her way up my arm, into my chest. As she moved around I felt every hair on my body stand up, like a cat being rubbed profusely on a carpet. A few minutes later I heard a hum come from her lips as she retreated back out through the hand she had entered. I opened my eyes, bringing myself back to the present.

"So?" I asked, watching her face for any clue. She shook her head, seemingly confused.

"If I didn't know any better," she whispered, then looked over at Leliana. "Has she come in contact with any spirits?" I grabbed her hand, making her turn her gaze to me.

"Talk to me." Demanding and forceful, I had to know what she was holding back so when she hesitated I stood, pointing to a chair at the table by the window. She turned and sat down in it. I crossed my arms, waiting as she seemed to wrestle with what she had to say.

"It's… complicated." I continued my stare and she sighed. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were… an abomination."

I gasped, the weight of the word she just used hitting me square in the chest and knocking the wind out of me. An abomination, which meant I was possessed… or worse.

"Can you elaborate?" I heard Leliana ask. Neria shook her head.

"It's difficult to explain but I will try." She shifted in her seat. "I felt a presence, or I should say a fragment of a presence. Someone or something is residing inside you and that is what is fueling your templar abilities. Or, I should say, PART of someone or something."

"Explain 'part'," Leliana insisted as she moved to stand next to me.

"It doesn't feel like an entire entity," she insisted, struggling with how to interpret what she felt. "It's as if someone took a tiny piece of themselves and placed it inside you, inside your very soul. Like a lock of hair or…"

"Or a piece of THEIR soul so that they could find me, no matter how far away I was," I said deadpan, putting the pieces together and not liking what I was seeing. "Seriously Flemeth?" I ran my hands through my hair and began pacing the room. "Wow."

"It would make sense," Leliana said thoughtfully, "she did have to reach into another reality to bring you back." I shot her a look.

"Not helping," I growled, fighting down the temptation to hit something… hard.

"Wait, Flemeth? THE Flemeth?" Neria seemed beside herself as she shot to her feet. "This I have to hear." My glare turned to her, making her shrink back a bit.

"Not now," I insisted. Seeing her reaction I sighed, closing my eyes and trying to center myself. The anger welling up was making it difficult but I fought it off and was able to focus. When I opened my eyes I saw Leliana standing in front of me, her face fraught with concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a shaky voice. I immediately felt embarrassed, ashamed that she may be afraid of me now that we knew what was going on inside of me. Abomination. I shook my head, unable and unwilling to accept that I was anyone other than myself.

"I… Lel, I am no different than I was when you met me," I insisted, "if this is truly a piece of Flemeth in me it hasn't changed who I am or how I react to things. Caden would have noticed if there was something off." My faith in my twin was what I held on to, faith and trust that if he had noticed anything he would have spoken up. I turned to Neria. "Is there a way to get rid of her? I mean, it's a small piece, not a full on possession. Could we…"

I racked my brain for any bit of information I could think of that related to the present circumstance. All of the history books on magic and possession that I was forced to read at the circle, nothing came to mind that referred to a 'partial possession'. I finally sighed, feeling the sting of defeat as I walked over to the bed and sat down.

"Honestly, I am at a loss," Neria finally admitted. "But as you said, it doesn't seem to have affected you in any way beside your templar abilities." She sat there thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. "There are worse things than being a highly skilled templar and NOT being addicted to lyrium, ya know." I glanced at her and tried to smile, failing miserably and falling backward onto the bed.

"Wow, what the…?" I asked the ceiling. I felt Leliana lay down on one side of me, then Neria on the other.

"If it's any consolation I still love you," Leliana whispered as she grasped my hand. I gave hers a squeeze and managed a small smile.

"And I love you," I whispered back. Neria gave a little whine.

"I always kinda liked you," she whimpered. I laughed, turning to face her and grasped her hand as well.

"I always kinda liked you too, Ner. Still do." I squeezed her hand and she smiled wide.

"Ok, now that THAT is settled," Leliana announced as she sat up, "you are going to have to spar with a mage." I shook my head.

"Unless you can come up with a mage I despise, it is not happening." I let go of their hands and crossed my arms. Leliana gave a small laugh.

"Then I shall find one."

After Leliana and I filled Neria in on my 'trip', which again I didn't understand how the people of Thedas could accept what happened to me so easily, we headed out into the sparring area.

"Not exactly what I had in mind," I said as I stared down my 'opponent' in our sparring area south of the docks. My 'opponent' being a dummy stuffed with straw and a lyrium draught. Neria giggled.

"It should be sufficient to test your mana drain, since we know your smite is more than satisfactory," Leliana insisted, glaring at the two of us, "and you can work with Neria on your cleansing ability." I rolled my eyes and shook out my arms, rolling my shoulders and reaching out toward the dummy.

I closed my eyes and felt around with my mind, finding the draught. I closed my hand, imagining it wrapped around the mana and letting it soak into my skin. Once I was sure I had pulled half of it I released and refocused, opening my eyes. Neria started clapping.

"Wow, you are GOOD!" she exclaimed as she jumped in front of me. "See if you can cleanse this." She put her arms up in front of her and set up a glyph under the dummy. I reacted, reaching out and snuffing the glyph into nothing. "WOO HOO! This is fun!"

"I'm glad I can entertain you," I said as I looked to Leliana. "I think we're done here." She shook her head and threw Neria her staff. She must have been holding it behind her back, I didn't even know she had it.

"Time to play," Neria sneered as she circled me. I smirked back at her.

"Ner," I warned, "you sure you want to do this?" She nodded and twirled her staff. I cracked my neck and nodded. "Ok, what are the rules?"

"There are no rules," she said as she pointed her staff at me, a stream of lightning shooting from it. I put my hands up to block, pushing it out and away as I spun from its path. It deflected, landing on a tree nearby and blackening the bark. I growled.

"You really want to play it like that, Ner?" I asked as I pulled all of my new found power to the surface of my skin, letting it flex and bend with every move I made. "I'm not sure what my limits are, if I even have limits." She smiled.

"And that is something I am VERY interested in learning about," she replied, moving to an attack stance and whipping around to fire another shot at me. Knowing she could heal me if I became injured, I let it hit me right in the chest. Closing my eyes just before the impact, I gasped, waiting to see if I felt any effects.

"Maker," I heard Leliana whisper. As I was still standing I assumed I was ok and opened my eyes.

The lightening was dancing around me as it tried to find purchase on my skin. The 'barrier' I had put up was reflecting it, but just enough to keep it from penetrating, not enough to send it away. I watched as the tiny bolts fizzed and cracked, like thousands of fire flies buzzing around me.

"That is so beautiful," Neria said as she crept closer. I shook my head.

"Everyone back," I demanded, "I'm going to try something." They backed away to the tree line as I searched for a target that wouldn't burn the forest down. Spotting a large brown rock that appeared to be made of sandstone I decided it would do.

Closing my eyes, I felt the barrier respond as I used it like a blanket, rolling and wrapping up the lightning into a ball between my hands. When I was confident I had control of it I took a deep breath, focusing on the ball, and quickly pushed it out and away. I felt the ball leave my hands and opened my eyes to see it crash into the rock, shattering it into a thousand electrified pieces of glass.

"Wow," Neria whispered as she walked over and picked up a piece, still zapping with electricity. It must have given her a shock as she hissed and moved it to her other hand. I smiled.

"That was definitely amazing," I said as I surveyed the damage. Leliana appeared at my side, slapping me on the back.

"And handier than a throwing blade," she laughed.

"I'm still glad you taught me that one though," I said. "Hey Ner, wanna try that again but faster?" Her eyes shot to me as a huge grin took over her face.

"Um, YES!"

We practiced all day, sending Leliana out to get us lunch as we played with the new 'toy' my abilities became to Neria. She wanted to test every aspect; strength, speed, control and ignition were all pushed to their limits as the day progressed. Finally it was getting dark so I threw my hands up in surrender.

"You win, I quit," I said as I walked over to the remains of our picnic lunch to bring it back to the inn. Neria moaned.

"But we were just getting to the good part," she whined as she stomped her feet. Leliana and I laughed as we gathered everything up, leaving no evidence of our presence.

"Let's go, kiddo," I said, "There's always tomorrow." She brightened up at that.

"Promise?" she asked, a hopeful gleam in her eye. I shook my head.

"Well, I can't promise, but I can say that you may very well be a witness to it if we go into the back alleys." I glanced at Leliana looking for confirmation. "Am I finally up to your high standards, oh holder of the keys to my cell?" I batted my eye lashes and smiled, eliciting a laugh from the rogue.

"You have," she replied, "but right now all I am concerned with is FOOD. I'll bet Trudy has a magnificent evening meal waiting for us and I for one am not going to waste any more time getting to it." She disappeared into her purple smoke, making Neria jump. I laughed, giving her a shrug.

"She does that, you'll get used to it." She giggled nervously, staring a few more moments at the place where Leliana had stood then jogging to catch up with me.

"So…" she drawled out, looking up at me through a few rebellious locks of red hair, "Alistair." My heart clenched so I grit my teeth, trying to keep my emotions under control. Taking a deep breath I trusted my voice enough to speak.

"What about him?" I asked, attempting to sound unaffected.

"I was hoping you could tell me about him," she said slowly, as if trying to feel out my response. I swallowed, my heart having made its way up into my throat once again.

"Such as?"

"Well…" she thought for a moment. "He isn't very forthcoming about his past, do you know where he is from?"

"Ferelden, silly," I replied, trying to smile. She shook her head.

"If this bothers you…"

"Ner..." I stopped walking and stood to face her, trying to keep my pain buried and make her feel more at ease. "I know that you want to know more about him because you care. When you care you want to know so you can feel like a part of it, be a part of his life.

"I understand, I just… I think you should be asking him. It is his story, after all, and there may be some things he wants to hold onto for a while until he gets to know you better. I know more than he has told me, after all, and it would be a breach of confidence to reveal it." I handed the half loaf of bread I was holding in one hand to a passerby who thanked me immensely, then took Neria's hand. "Do not take this the wrong way. I accept that you care for him and that he has chosen you. All I ask is that you talk to him." She gave me a sad smile.

"It pains you, doesn't it?" She asked. "To talk about him, I mean. I know what you said and I understand but the fact that you can't be together..."

Looking into her green elven eyes I saw the truth in her words as well as her understanding. She knew I loved him and she knew that if there was a way we could be together we would be. I sighed, looking for the right words but I knew that she would believe nothing less than brutal honesty. Throwing caution to the wind I took a deep breath.

"I will never love another the way I love him." She nodded.

"I know what you mean."