No one moved. No one had moved the entire fight. They had just watched like accomplices as Hawke's sanity ebbed away with each spark between blades. She was crumpled over Fenris, her arm shaking as she attempted to hold herself up. It seemed like hours sped by as Hawke mumbled incoherence as blood pooled around her body. It was obvious where Fenris had gashed her, it was deep and nasty. Varric had always joked about Fenris' sword, but he knew it cut hard. It had ripped through her armor; through the leather to the chainmail underneath and then through her skin. He wondered if it had scraped her ribs.

Her face felt frozen in that shock of horror as she looked around his, recognition sinking in more and more as her vestments became soaked with blood. Where did his start and hers end? The pain in her side was starting to set in, and now she was thoroughly shaking. She ripped her blades out of his chest to throw them away haphazardly. She placed her hands to his wound try to stop the blood flow, but it had stopped flowing rapidly when his heart had stopped. Her eyes were darting from his face to his chest to the blood around them. It was futile, he was gone, even his blood had started to feel cold against her hands.

The footsteps behind her did not register, but her sister's timid voice behind her let her know she had walked forward towards the scene. "He's gone, sister…There is nothing you can do."

She started sobbing them, crumpling up to press her forehead against his collapsed chest. Reality. This was too surreal to even be a dream. It had to be her chaotic reality. What else was there for the Maker to take away from her? Her sister? That was it. Her mother, her brother, her lover…All were gone. Everything was gone and all because of this incessant power struggle between mages and Templars, all because Anders had blown up the Chantry. What was there even to say? What was she supposed to say? Usually there was a eulogy, was it not required that the lover cry over promises broken and bemoan her broken hearted fate? Hawke could not do that. There were no promises between Fenris and her. Even the fact that they were each other's was not spoken aloud by them, it was just something everyone knew. Everyone knew from the red sash he wore, and the way her eyes lingered on him

She doubted that the Maker even existed. If He did what kind of sick joke was her life to watch everything ripped away from her? What kind of a sick creator would make a world where Hawke had to stab her own heart out to stop the world from burning?

She felt her sister's hands on her and that familiar warming sensation jolt her back to her body. Hawke jerked away, to shudder. The surrounding was coming back to her, there was a huge gash in her side that cut her breaths short.

"I do not need it. Save your energy." Her voice felt raw and every breath exhaled felt dry and hollow. Was it even her voice? She felt drained and weak but she could not stop now. They would not understand, but Fenris had. Fenris knew that Hawke could not have laid down and submitted to him, or to anyone in this instance. Hawke had seen it in his eyes in that last, horrible moment: the way he smiled at her as blood ran out of his mouth. He had tried to speak to her but he was suffocating on the blood that was pooling in his lungs and spilling out onto her as he collapsed.

"You are losing a lot of blood. You cannot continue on like this." She heard the fear in his sister's voice, and she heard the other step forward toward her as she stood over Fenris' body, still not able to move her feet as the world spun.

"You must be mistaken. Most of this is not mine." She closed her eyes to tilt her head back as she clutched her side to exhale slowly. It really did hurt. She knew it was a mistake when she had let Fenris that close.

"Hawke, do not be unreasonable." Aveline seemed more tense than usual, perhaps she saw Hawke as a murderer now. Hawke did not care though. It was empty. There was a void now. Perhaps Fenris had ripped her heart out and this was some kind of sick purgatory where she would repeat this moment in a loop.

"You cannot go on without your weapons anyways…" Merrill had moved forward, bent over the tossed aside swords. Hawke watched her out of the corner of her eyes to wince.

"Do not touch them." Hawke had started to walk towards the main courtyard, but it was much too slow. She was hunched over from the pain from her wound as she clutched it"…and you do not have to continue to follow me. I would actually suggest leaving."

Varric lost it, Hawke could hear the anger in his raised voice but she was beyond being moved. He ran in front of her to stop her. "Are you insane? Do you know what you just did? Have you any idea what you are walking into?"

He seemed to shrink at her gaze. "I am fully aware of what I did. I killed the person I loved the most next to my family. I slaughtered the man who held me up in my times of weakness. I watched as the life went out of him and I held him as the last of his blood poured out of him. What am I walking into, Varric? I do not really care. I want to end this."

Hawke pushed passed Varric and the others followed her timidly. They were chattering behind her as she reached down and picked up a sword off of one of the fallen Templars. The mage blood that covered it… did that taint it more than her blades? Her hands shook as she walked into the square to see Meredith and her squadron of Templers.

Cullen seemed to be backing off from her. They all did. Meredith had some eerie red glow around her. Hawke narrowed her eyes. Hawke remembered that feeling well. The same energy when she had touched the idol in the Deep Roads.

"My own Knight-Captain falls to influence to blood magic. You are all weak, allowing the mages to control your minds to turn you against me and I do not need any of you. I will protect this city myself."

Cullen stepped forward, raising his sword. "You will have to go through me then."

"Idiot boy, just like all the others."

Hawke looked back at Varric, motioning him forward. "Varric, does that seem familiar to you?"

"….Yeah… She's lost it just like Bartrand…"

"I am glad I wasn't just seeing things." Hawke slowly walked forward, tense and in pain.

Meredith turned her gaze to Hawke. There was something insane and feral in the gaze. "And look who it is, the Champion of Kirkwall has come to tear it down. I always thought you were nothing but trouble, climbing the ranks for what? To let the blood mages free? What about your own mother? Did she not die by a blood mage's hands? Cold corpses speak louder than abstract freedoms, do they not?"

Hawke raised her blade weakly. Her arm hurt her, the lyrium was burning under her skin. "You can walk away, Meredith. If you step down we can get this city back under control."

"What is this blasphemy? The Grand Cleric is dead and you speak of me leaving when you are the one who needs to make amends."

Meredith's blade started to glow a darker shade of red as she smashed it into the ground and made a prayer to the Maker for strength. Her body was engulfed in the red energy then and she made a mad dash for Hawke.

Hawke slid out of the way, ripping her side open more to scream in pain. She staggered to her feet to look at the area around her. Most of her friends were frozen, encased in that red lyrium. It seemed only Varric had slipped away from the lyrium, and Merrill. The statues were even moving forward towards them.

"Are the other okay?" Hawke was parrying Meredith's slashes weakly. She felt one misstep and she was a goner. It felt like Hell's flames were licking at her arms as the lyrium reached out to touch her.

Merrill had poked a frozen Aveline. "They just seemed to be frozen. If we defeat her they should be fine."

"Then let's get to it!" Varric's arrow had hit Meredith's blade to make her stagger back.

The Templars seemed to be handling the statues but Hawke doubted she could beat Meredith in her condition. Her pride was going to be the death of her. She got a few good swings in before Cullen had come to her aid to get the main focus of Meredith away from her. The weaker Meredith seemed to get the more her friends seemed to unfreeze. She felt Bethany blast her with a healing spell to then watch Meredith twirl around and gut a Templar. Varric was peppering the statues as Hawke danced around Meredith escaping her blows a lot quicker due to Bethany's healing.

"Maker, give me strength!" Meredith's voice pierced the battle for Hawke to jump backwards. She was a red ball of light, and the beam that shot out dazed her. Hawke fell to her knees to cover her eyes.

"Maker, guide your humble servant. Please tell me what I must do. What if…I am not doing the right thing? What if this is all madness? No! I must stay vigilant."

Meredith had really lost it. Perhaps in an alternate world where Meredith had not gone insane from the Lyrium…maybe Hawke could have liked her… Hawke could hear her footsteps drawing near and she crawled over the stones to hurry and stumble to her feet. She still could not see clearly but she wasn't about to lose here. A large stone went flying past her knocking Meredith back, sometimes she really loved Merrill's skills. Hawke shook her head, clearing her vision up to rush forward with Aveline and Cullen at her side. Their blades slashed at Meredith taking the focus away from Hawke. She leapt forward digging her blade into Meredith's throat to kick Meredith back. Hawke landed uneasily on her feet, gasping from the pain in her side as Meredith staggered backwards.

"I will not be defeated!" Blood was pouring out of her throat but her eyes were still that eerie red. "Maker, aid your humble servant!" She raised her blade and Hawke prepared herself but there was an odd sound, a shrieking before her blade broke into tiny shards. Meredith's screams filled the air as she fell to her knees. The lyrium circled her, encasing her and deplating her of everything. She was left as a glowing mummy before Hawke's eyes.

The Templars rushed forward, encircling Hawke and her company. They checked to see Meredith, and Cullen's eyes met Hawke's. She did not waver, and slowly the Templars stepped back. Hawke looked around, holding her side to meet her companions' faces. They did not make a sound as they turned and walked out from the main courtyard…..