They knew something was different from the moment they entered the fade, but it wasn't something they could bring up. Everyone felt weird, and with the divine there, Robin didn't particularly feel like bringing up his dead girlfriend's presence. Thing was, he didn't even know if she was really there — it just felt like she was. She had a strong connection to the fade, that they knew, and maybe it was the fact he so desperately missed @gainscient that made him even do it in the first place. Hawke or Stroud, one to be left behind in the fade, left to die for the benefit of the rest. Both had bickered the entire way there — Robin didn't like Stroud, not at all — choosing himself to live should be easy, but he hadn't felt Aerith like this in years. She was in the fade, and the fade was in her. To be stuck in the raw fade was a curse to some — but to him, perhaps it would save his life. Not like he had much going for him anyway.
The portal closes behind the group, and he turns his attention back to the demon they'd all been fighting, suddenly feeling the weight of what he'd chosen to do. Poor Varric — he hopes he won't be too hard on himself. Robin clutches his dagger, drawing it over his already scarred forearm to bring in one final surge of power in order to fell the beast. It works, thank the Maker. As it falls, however, he's given the chance to finally think over what he'd done, and he can hardly believe it. “ I can't believe you did that, Robin. ” He says quietly to himself, exhaling into his hands before running them through his much shorter locks, then covers his eyes momentarily. Maker, save me. He thinks, dropping his hands, then feels his heart stop.
It's a flash of pink, an all too familiar color of baby pink that he hasn't seen in over four years. Her shade, disappearing around a rock. This was surely the fade playing with him, taunting him for his use of blood magic. Still, Robin decides to follow, chasing that flash of pink. He chases it and chases it and chases it, going around rocks and trees until he can't move anymore. This was a cruel trick, there was no other way to describe it. He collapses to his knees, palms resting flat against his thighs as he feels blood start to trickle again from his earlier wound. With a quiet sigh, he closes his eyes and dips his head, and thinks of Aerith. That first time they ever met, all the way back in Darktown when she extended that sun-colored blossom out to him. It makes him smile — this was how he liked to remember her. This is what would give him the strength to live out the rest of his days here.
With this resolve, Robin opens his eyes and stands again, though what he sees almost makes him fall again. Surely, this was a trick. A cruel, cruel trick. She stands there — not a flash of pink, not a glimpse of a bow, but her. “ Aerith? ” He dares to call out, feet slowly carrying him towards her. Please, please be real. He mentally pleads, slowly beginning to walk faster through the muck and the slime to what he hopes isn't just a cruel apparition.
