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Josephine’s mind was frozen.

Huddled behind her overturned desk, knees groaning in protest as soft silken fabric and flesh met cold and abrasive stone, Josephine attempted to calculate her options given her current danger. Her normally tidy office was in a violent disarray, books had been hacked to pieces and chairs brutally smashed apart, and in the center of it all was Inquisitor Cadash who wailed in what Josephine believed to be a mixture of pain, and rage.

She’d heard many times from a boisterous Iron Bull during games of Wicked Grace, and even many of the Inquisition’s soldiers during celebrations, that Brauna was a true fiend on the battlefield. In those proclamations however, she was both fearsome and explosive in power, yet punctilious when it came to directing the flow of the battle and singling out targets.
This display in front of her was nothing like her Brau- Inquisitor Cadash; Brauna’s movements were un-calculated, destructive and punitive as if she were meting out some kind of harsh justice only she could understand. Josephine winced as the Inquisitor punched the cobbled wall again, screaming unintelligible words and sounds. The gentle and reassuring hands of the inquisitor were covered in blood, knuckles worn bare from the dwarf’s abuse of the furniture and decor, red and raw ripped skin swollen from the damage she was causing, biceps bulging as she pounded relentlessly into the wall. Gone was the lovely warm and rich brown skin tone that reminded her of vendors hawking spices from distant lands she longed to see; Brauna was slowly destroying her body as much as the room they were trapped in.

Not for the first time, Josephine watched Brauna slide to the floor whimpering and sobbing as she desperately wrenched at the roots of her hair, and felt herself flinch and grip onto the overturned desk as Brauna began shrieking in pain for the second time that hour. So much had been Josephine’s weeping through this ordeal that she could no longer feel the sticky tears roll down her grimy cheeks. The sounds ripping from Brauna’s throat were hoarse and unlike that of any sound a mortal being should make. The louder Brauna cried the harder Josephine wept.

She had long since given up on the other advisers being able to get through to help her, as the sickly green light of the fade seemed to encase the room in a cocoon of it’s eerie light, barring entry from the outside, it was the same light that shone from Brauna’s eyes. She’d heard nothing at first when it all began, then a few crashes which was nothing new at Skyhold, but as she’d gotten up to scold the source or sources (as it usually was) of the noise, she’d been assaulted with the sight of downed guards and banquet tables overturned and hacked to bits. The Iron Bull and Master Tethras had been shouting to Inquisitor Cadash, but when they’d aimed their weapons at the Inquisitor, only to see her deflect Varric’s bolts and knock The Iron Bull back as though she were swatting a fly, she’d realized they weren’t shouting to her, but at her in warning.
Josephine had let loose an audible gasp when those warm hazel eyes turned on her, and instead she saw nothing but an eerie green glow that cast the Inquisitor’s entire face in the light, turning is pallid and sickly.

Something whizzed over her head, breaking her out of her reverie, shattering against the wall. The leg of a chair? Josephine had been so shocked she hadn’t been able to react in time to bar Brauna out, and the dwarf had taken advantage of that, seeking more things to break and destroy. And now Josephine had taken refuge behind her overturned desk after an attempt to grab the Inquisitor had left her with a bruised back from being thrown violently to the floor.

She should help, she should do something, but what could she do? Any attempts to reason with her had been met with snarls and fists seeking flesh. She felt utterly useless and terribly anxious, unable to return help to the one who’d willingly listened to her frustrations about everything and anything. Brauna who’d, upon learning she still suffered nightmares and cold sweats from the events that had transpired at Haven, had realized she’d been staying in her office and overworking herself to the point of acute exhaustion just to have dreamless nights. Brauna had stubbornly decided to stay with her and talk her to sleep instead, going as far as to sound like she herself needed it so that Josephine needn’t feel embarrassed. While Brauna would often go out of her way to maintain the morale of her comrades and troops, Josephine had never thought it would extend to herself disconnected as she was from the actual force of the Inquisition.

When they’d first met, Josephine heard herself sound defensive as she stared down at the shorter woman who’d become this incredible icon for the people of Thedas, thinking that someone who survived the carta and The Temple of Sacred Ashes would laugh at Josephine’s job of glorified diplomacy. Brauna however, had stared right back up at her with eyes that glowed when the candlelight hit them just right, and her mouth had curved into a big smile as she stated how grateful she was to have someone so well prepared to take on these tasks. She’d asked her questions about herself and her home, things people hadn’t been particularly interested in since she had begun he Ambassadorial duties, and let her know she could always rely on her if she needed anything. Though Brauna had also admitted with an embarrassed grin that she might not be all that helpful in those sorts of matters, as she’d never dealt with nobles before. She never for a second let Josephine feel like she lacked importance to her just because she wasn’t physically apart of the fight. She gave her enemies pause, but still carried a gentleness in her heart that had surprised the Ambassador. Josephine had been in awe of the woman who changed the course of events like a force of nature, who instilled fear in her enemies and respect in her allies, and soon found herself desperately in love with her.

“Jo..sep..hi....”

Josephine eyes opened as she heard her nickname leave the the mouth of the Inquisitor as gentle as a pained whisper. She struggled against the urge to immediately go to her side, wondering what trick of the fade this might be, and whether Brauna could possibly be possessed. She hoped desperately that last thought couldn’t possibly be true. What could she do?

“J...os.eph..ne..”

Another broken whisper drifted over to her ears, and she grabbed at her head afraid and ashamed. What should she do?!

“Please...Josie...get out!”

Josephine’s hands fell to her side as Brauna’s hoarse cry rang out in her office. Even in the thrall of the Fade, she was trying to hold on for her safety.

She wasn’t sure when she’d stood up, or when her feet had carried her to the side of the Inquisitor, but she found her arms wrapped delicately around the woman’s neck and had her face buried in the hollow of her neck. When the dwarf began to struggle against her she remain locked onto her, refusing to let go and resolute in her decision to stay with her and try and bring her back.
Then the howling began, shrieks of agony as if her mere touch burned the woman, but Josephine simply gripped her tighter and hummed to try and block out the desperate sounds.

‘Please Maker, give her back. Not even to me, but just let her live, let her be free. I beg of you, cast away this pain she is feeling, cast it onto me, I don’t care just help release her from this and let her live.’

“Live Inquisitor, you must live.”

Brauna began to claw at her back through her dress, snarls erupting from her in angry bursts.

“Inquisi- Brauna please, you must live!”

Josephine felt her heart pounding in her ears, Brauna’s screams nothing but white noise to the loud cadence.

“Brauna...don’t give up...please do not leave us...me...your strength inspires me so much, and even if Andraste didn’t choose you, you’re so important to us…..me…...please..”

She’d tried to stay in control of her emotions while she reached out to the woman, but as the words threaten to bubble up and trickle off her lips in cliched romantic babbling, her heart had paused and she felt the raw sob escape her.

“Come back, please just come back!”