Pascal had to admit he wasn't always the best of fighters. He tended to forget he was the mage of the party and would rush in to attack. Luckily his warriors would get there before him and prevent any such massacres. This time he was completely alone and was still going to rush in to attack. He placed a barrier over himself and tossed another stonefist into one of the nightmare spider's eyes. It cried out an unnatural scream and shook its head. Well at least he knew that hurt it.

"I'm surprised Inquisitor," the demon's voiced boomed, causing Pascal to stop in his tracks. "I didn't think you would do this."

"Oh?" Pascal asked, "I guess I'm full of surprises then."

"You fought hard for your Inquisition, yet now you abandon them in their greatest time of need. This is not Haven. You shall not rise again. Choosing to die here means I get to cut off the head of the snake, and destroy the Inquisition."

"I think the rest of my friends may disagree with that," Pascal turned his staff and send bolts of ice at the creature, but this time it did not flinch, "They will be able to go on without me."

"Perhaps you have forgotten Haven. Did they not squabble like children when you were gone the first time? They will dissolve to infighting just as they have before, however now it is due to your cowardice to surrender to me."

"I'd call it a gallant sacrifice actually."

"Or is it a selfish one? Stroud was willing to sacrifice himself for his order. You took that glory away from him. Hawke was ready to sacrifice herself for you. You took away her chance at peace. What do you hope to gain, Inquisitor?"

That was a tough question, as expected from a demon trying to manipulate him. Pascal wasn't really thinking of gaining anything. He was saving two amazing people from making this choice. Stroud would earn more helping to rebuild the Grey Wardens, and Hawke already had experience as a leader. She may be tired of it, but she could do it. Pascal didn't take anything from them, he was gifting them opportunities. Instead of a response, Pascal shifted and tried to hit the demon with a winter's grasp, but it still didn't seem too harmed. Damn his choice to be an ice mage, it never affected spirits as much.

"No answer, hmm?" the demon said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Can't you read my mind? If not, then that's a bit underwhelming for an all-knowing nightmare demon."

"Your humor doesn't do you any credit, Inquisitor," the demon said without any of that previous amusement, "It is a weak excuse for your fear."

"Humor's a common coping mechanism, but usually people just call me a smart ass," Pascal shrugged. "And can you transform into something that's a little more fightable than a gigantic spider thing?"

"Your wish is my command, Inquisitor."

Oh no. Did he just make a deal with a demon? Pretty sure that's rule number one in things not to do as a mage. The demon did oblige, its spider like form glowing green and shrinking down to a smaller size. Pascal had to shield his eyes from the light, and when he put his arm down, a ghostly version of Cassandra stood in front of him. He instantly knew it wasn't really her, even though he so desperately wished it would be. The slight glow around her gave off the hint that she wasn't real too. It reminded him of the bad future he saw with Dorian.

"Is this what you wanted, Inquisitor?" the demon said in a voice that was close to Cassandra's but still garbled. The demon drew her sword, a replica of the one Pascal had Harritt build especially for her. "Do you want to fight me now?"

Pascal didn't lower his weapon. "Not particularly."

The Cassandra demon strode towards him and Pascal didn't make a move to attack. He should have done it. Taking down a human shaped thing is a lot easier than taking down a spider shaped one. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He wondered if it was his own weakness, or if the demon was physically manipulating him. The Cassandra demon didn't attack him, it just stood directly in front of him.

"Do you have anything to say, Inquisitor?" it said, "To her."

Well yeah, he had a lot of things to say.

Cassandra stumbled out of the breach in the Fade. Varric and Iron Bull had already made it through, and were watching with anxious looks to see the fate of the rest of them. She got up on her feet and did the same. Pascal and the others were trailing a bit behind them, so it made sense that they were taking some extra time to get here.

"That's a place I never want to see again," Iron Bull grunted.

"You don't have to say that twice," Varric replied.

She agreed with them as well, but didn't say anything. It felt like too much had happened in such a short period of time. They had traveled into a place they should never have physically gone, and learned the dark truth of what really happened at the Conclave. Finally learning the truth of a long mystery was not always a good thing, as she thought about the Rite of Tranquility. Seeing Divine Justinia, or a spirit, or whatever that was, definitely shook her. But now the most important thing was seeing Pascal walk out of there. When she saw another person begin to materialize, she was overjoyed. Then she saw that it wasn't the Inquisitor.

Stroud and Hawke came out of the Fade, both with dark expressions on their faces. Stroud wouldn't meet her eyes and Hawke looked crushed. They didn't say anything as they walked towards the group. And they didn't say anything when the portal closed behind them.

"Pascal?" she whispered, mostly to herself, "Where's Pascal? Where's the Inquisitor?"

Stroud still wouldn't look up. Hawke had more courage than that and faced Cassandra, but didn't respond either. There wasn't anything to say. They walked out and he didn't. Cassandra refused to accept that. Anger and fear flooded her emotions and she got up in Hawke's face.

"Where is the Inquisitor?" Cassandra demanded.

"He chose to stay," Hawke said. She was unfazed by Cassandra's approach, so Cassandra grabbed a handful of Hawke's collar.

Varric stepped forward. "Seeker-"

"Stay out of it, Varric," Cassandra warned him, then turned back to Hawke, "What do you mean he chose to stay? Why isn't he with you?"

"The demon wasn't defeated," Hawke said coldly, "It blocked our way out, so he offered to be a distraction in order for us to escape. And that's what we did."

Cassandra didn't know what to say. She certainly didn't loosen her grip on Hawke's shirt. She had lost Galyan at the Conclave, she couldn't lose Pascal here. He said he was right behind her. "You could have helped him."

"And have us all die? Neither of us forced him to do this, Seeker. In fact, Stroud and I both offered to stay ourselves but he wouldn't have it."

"You don't know that… that he's dead. He could still be in the Fade, no? You didn't see the demon kill him."

Stroud looked up for once, "He mentioned his ability with the rifts-"

Hawke shook her head. "He was lying to make us leave. He doesn't know how to get out and he knew that when he told us."

Cassandra tossed Hawke aside and began to pace. "He's still in there. We will get Solas, and maybe Cole…"

"An apostate and another demon aren't going to fix this. The Inquisitor is dead."

Those words rang in her head. Dead. It wasn't supposed to end up like this. Pascal had flirted with her quite a few times, but she knew it wasn't just some playful thing. He cared about her and she cared about him. They just never said it. She wanted a fairytale romance like the ones she read in Varric's stupid books. Pascal Trevelyan was a noble man. He would have given that to her. Cassandra thought she had been too cold, she should have been more accepting of his advances, maybe things would have been different… but now he was dead. Cassandra sunk to her knees, not quite knowing what to do.

"He, uh, asked us to say a few words," Stroud mentioned quietly.

"What were they?" Varric asked because Cassandra wasn't capable of doing so. Hawke answered instead of Stroud.

"He said that the Inquisition should go on in his memory. That we should continue its purpose, and beat the damn creature that caused all of this. I know I'll try. I won't let his sacrifice be in vain, and I know all of you will try just as hard because you've already poured so much into this organization. I think he believed the Inquisition was more than only one person and we're going to prove that to Corypheus when we kill him."

The area was deathly silent. Hawke's words had power, but it was hard to be motivated when their leader had perished. It reminded her when Haven had collapsed and they all thought Pascal was dead the first time. They hadn't been as close back then, but she couldn't remember being happier than the moment she saw that he was alive. Except he wasn't coming back this time.

"Cassandra," Stroud said softly. She looked up at him, "He… he also said to tell you that he was sorry."

She wished an apology was enough to bring him back.

"You do pretty good impressions, you know," Pascal said, "You'd be a hit at children's parties."

The Cassandra demon scowled. It was an expression he knew quite well from her, one that he had found endearing. "You're not being serious, Inquisitor."

"I rarely am. And Cass would call me by my first name, if you want to feel realistic."

"Fine, Pascal," the demon said, "I want you to tell me what you'd say to her."

Pascal took a deep breath. Why not tell the truth? It's not like this was going to get broadcasted across Thedas. It was just him, alone in the Fade, before he most likely died. Perhaps it would actually feel best to get some stuff off his chest.

"I'd say that I was sorry, although I hope Stroud and Hawke already did. I'd say I wish I was right behind her. I'd say I'd hope she understand that I couldn't leave people to die. Isn't that what a leader is supposed to be about? Sacrifice and all that? Anyways." Pascal paused. This was hard, because it felt too final. He had to keep going. "I'd say that I was serious when I flirted with her, it wasn't just me being a dork as always. I would have been so good to her. I would have wrote her poetry that would've put Varric to shame. I would have loved her. And that she doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to have someone she love die, again. I hope that rage doesn't consume her like it did before, that it doesn't make her do reckless things, and that she's safe."

The demon smiled. It probably would've clapped too if it didn't have her sword in its hand. "Very good, Pascal."

He bowed. "Right from the heart."

"Would you sacrifice yourself for her, Pascal?"

Pascal smiled a little. "I already have."

The demon nodded, apparently pleased with the answer and without much warning it swung forward, slicing the sword diagonally across Pascal's chest. Even though mage robes looked pretty cool, they didn't offer any protection. He had no chance to pull up another barrier either. Pascal shakily brought up a hand to his chest and felt where the sword had cut him so easily. Blood started to leak through his wound and all over his hand.

"Oh," Pascal said and fell to the ground. He didn't know how to stop the blood. "G-guess I should've paid more attention in healing class." He coughed a thick, wet cough which brought up more blood. The demon stood over him with a curious expression on its face.

"Humans are weaker than I thought," it said.

"You'll eat those words wh-when we defeat you," Pascal said. His vision blurred slightly and he started to feel numb. "Plus we have a pretty buff Qunari on our side too."

The demon scoffed, just like Cassandra would've, and tossed its sword down at Pascal's side. It knew he was in no power to use it, he couldn't even bring himself to use magic. What was the name he and Harritt gave the sword? Maker's Fury or something? He always thought naming swords was funny, but Cassandra appreciated it.

"You aren't going to defeat us, Inquisitor. You've already lost," the demon said and turned to walk away. For a brief moment he wanted to call out for her to stop. He wanted it to actually be Cassandra when he turned around. She'd rush to him, maybe swearing in her native language and calling him a fool for being the reckless one this time. Varric and Bull would be behind her, juggling health potions in their arms. He would be fine with his team around him, except this time he was alone.

Pascal blinked slowly and eventually shut his eyes. The pain had been hot throughout his body but now the numbness was stronger. Dying didn't feel as bad as he thought it would. He could only hope he made the right decision. He couldn't handle the Inquisition dying with him. They had messed with so many of Corypheus's plans already, there was no way he could still bring about that bad future he saw with Dorian.

The anchor on the Inquisitor's hand pulsated. It sent out green flashes of light, like a last call for help, but no one was coming. It flashed a few more times and then the light slowly died out, leaving Pascal in a dark corner of the Fade.

And that's it! Thanks for reading, guys.