Cordelia opened the door with a twist of the knob, pushing light into the lone room. With just a sliver of a gap to look through, she could barely make out the boy in his bed.

She opened the door again, stepping into the dark-ridden room. She rolled up the window, the gray skies bearing down against the glass still.

Chrom didn't try to stop her.

She looked down at her friend in his bed. He hadn't left the room since he entered. Even with all the times she had come since then.

Still, she sat herself right beside him, sinking into the bed just to lean over him.

All she did was stare at him. At the friend empty in his heart closing off to the world. At the young boy buried in his sheets, hiding from the world.

You can't do anything.

Cordelia winced and pulled herself back, only to grab her hand, fighting against herself from being overwhelmed by her intrusive thoughts.

She needed to help.

She wanted to help.

More than she was scared. More than her anxiety flared every time she saw his face. More than her brain was beating herself up.

She wanted to help a friend who mattered to her.

She put her hand down against his shoulder, gently brushing the mark fading in and out.

"Heya, sleepyhead," she said quietly in the room. "I know it's been a while, but do you wanna come out?"

Chrom's eyes flicked up from his blanket to the wall ahead, though he didn't answer.

"You don't have to get up if you don't want to. I just want to see you come with us today."

Chrom shrugged in silence, pulling his shoulder away.

...But, after some time, he rolled back, just enough for her fingers to touch.

"We can get up and go somewhere another day. I'll get you your meal, okay?"

Cordelia got up and left the room. Leaving the door open, when light entered the empty room.

The boy laying down in his bed sighed, closing his eyes a little longer.

Cordelia came back with a hot tray of food, steam rising off his breakfast. Meat and oranges, what more can a Chrom want? And she made sure, as always, the oranges were unpeeled.

...Like a heretic.

But if one asked her what she wasn't expecting when she got there, there was a lot of things she'd have imagined. She wasn't expecting the room to change much, or for Chrom to get up before she got back. Nor did she expect things to start flying out of the door, scattering everywhere in and out of the room. Sheets. books. equipment, you name it.

The answer was Panne.

Specifically, Panne dragging a half-awake Chrom by the leg who in this instant was kicking and flailing while his head slipped from under half the blanket pulled over him.

Specifically, in addition to all that, with a blue haired archer playing a trumpet from behind that was somehow both obtrusive and not lacking in skill as if cheering her on in her action.

"It's been long enough, rat! Get out of bed this instant!" Panne was hare's away from wrapping him by the leg and just flipping him overhead outright.

"Why are you doing this right now!" Chrom shouted as he gripped the sheet.

"I will throw you and the bed if it'll get you to finally wake up!" she answered.

As a matter of fact, Panne threw Chrom back onto the bed, and lifted up the mattress with him on it. And as if to make good on her words, she then hurled it against the window, smashing it and him through the wall into the rainy training yard.

"What the hell!" A raincoat-wearing Flavia snapped back at the shattering mess of glass. "Why do you guys keep smashing holes in this castle!"

She looked down at the prince in blue whose smashed face rolled onto the ground at her feet. "Oh, hey, Chrom. I guess you've technically gotten out of bed."

"A miracle for the Shepherds! Let the sun shine bright today!" The archer came out into the rain and dooted a low note on his trumpet, bringing it down to the prince's ears.

"Well, your tactics are effective. Thank you, Bruce, and of course, Panne," Flavia said.

"Please, Regnant! Bruce was my father," the archer told her, pulling his trumpet down with a grin.

"I did all the heavy lifting. You just stood there and played your instrument," Panne commented.

The rain fell on Chrom's head, giving the prince lying flat an early morning bath as the mattress next to him entered the process of becoming a sponge.

"Oww."

Chrom pushed his hands up, scraped face covered by waterlogged hair as he held onto his mattress for grip. "...Can any of you explain to me why I am being violently woken up?"

"If you were not thrown from your bed into the sea of earth, would you have gotten up to swim?" Panne asked him.

"Oh-hoh, I'll take that." Wayne took out a spinning pen to steal her words into his notebook, swiping them before pocketing said book.

"I admit, we are being a tad excessive. Clearly, I should've went with a flute." The man chuckled. "However, I'm more than sure that you haven't recognized just how long it really has been. Kellam, check the calendar."

"The calendar reads April 26th!" the knight said, tapping the calendar he held in Chrom's room.

"Thank you, Kellam," the dandy said.

"Kellam, out," Kellam flashed a peace sign, and then simply put the calendar back where it belonged and left out from the hole.

"Is all this really necessary? Come on, you two. Look at what you're doing." Setting Chrom's food down for him so as to not let it get ruined, Cordelia stepped out into the rain to get down next to the prince.

"Oh-hoh-ho, dear lady." Virion brought the trumpet held in his hand across his chest. "Kindness is a virtue, but do not forget we're on a time-sensitive mission. Besides, if not for the new information in our hands, we may never have had to resort to such drastic measures."

"What new information?" Cordelia said. "Nobody told us about any new information that came in."

"Well that makes sense, because it just came thirty minutes ago!" the archer exclaimed. "Gangrel is preparing for a head-on assault."

Cordelia flinched back. "What!"

"And it's been six days since we've arrived, so that means we've spent nearly half of our two-week time limit that we originally had. And of that time spent, one could say we have nothing to show for it. How strong do you think Gangrel's forces will be should they gain ground and force us to clash?" The man extended his hand out, looking straight at the girl who'd effectively stood in place of the boy still down on the ground.

"How do you have this info before us, fancy-pants?" Flavia said. "Not even Basilio's scouts are expected to arrive this early."

"I may have one or two personal aids of mine to keep up to date on the state of my enemies during critical points like this." The archer brought his fist back under his chin and looked down at it. "And I've been debating whether it's necessary to introduce such a lovely messenger when there's no one expecting such an unimportant person to step through that door and introduce herself."

He turned his eyes to the training yard's double doors.

"And I've been debating whether it's necessary to introduce such a lovely messenger when there's no one expecting such an unimportant person to step through that door and introduce herself," he said.

Nothing interesting happened.

"...Well that's no fun," he said as he turned away from it. "You know what? I'll just bring her in. You can meet her yourself."

He curled his hand and coughed clear and loud. "Ahem! Oh, Pen—!"

"Cherche. It's just Cherche."

A rose-haired knight stepped into the yard on her own.

"Oh come now!" the archer responded in flabbergastation. "You can't just do that! We had a plan and everything!"

"You had a plan, one that I'll remind you where I said I would not be a part of it," she answered.

"But have you no sense of dramatic timing? No sense for the necessity of flare?" The man threw down both hands in front of him, yet all he served to accomplish was futile in the face of the woman before him.

"There are other things more important than dramatic timing and your plans," the woman said, cocking her head at the man so taken aback.

"Like making a fool out of your superior?" he replied incredulously.

"Yes!" Cherche said with a smiling nod.

The archer paused in response, his eyes hanging low. "...May I at least choose the kind of fool I am?"

"Oh, please." The woman gave a shrug of her shoulder. "You choose the kind of fool you are everyday."

The man finally dropped both his head and shoulders, resigned in defeat.

"I can't believe I'm associated with this woman. By choice, even." Bringing his trumpet back to his lips, he blew a low whump for the assassination of his character before bringing it back down.

"Uh-huh… and who exactly is this woman associated with you, for that matter?" Flavia asked.

"Yes, I believe a proper introduction is in order as a matter of face," Cherche said to the ruler she faced. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Khan Flavia. This mister right here speaks fondly of this group between you and Ylisse's royalty. Call me an ally of his. I serve to perform a variety of tasks, although recon seems to be a specialty of mine as of late."

"So then you're the aide in question who was keeping track of the state of things back in Plegia, I take it?" she responded.

"Precisely, I hope that's not an intrusion to the war effort. Normally I'd be elsewhere currently, but when you all made your moves the day of the Exalt's execution, he sent me to pick up where you left off. And what I can confirm is that His Royal Majesty has been marching northwards out of the capital towards the city of Aelita. From there, it'll only be a matter of time before his assault begins."

"You'd think you'd at least tell us about this beforehand. We could've used this level of deep-region info days ago," Flavia responded.

"Forgive us, but with the direness of the situation, we felt some discretion was a necessary precaution," Cherche continued.

"Yes, yes," the archer went-on. "Skulkery should be left between thieves and not our band of loyal rulers and knights, but we didn't wish to risk anymore danger by connecting my most trusted companion to the most wanted group in Plegia whilst in isolation any further than necessary. You see now why such actions were called for?"

"Mmm, I see it, but I still don't like it," Flavia relented. "Next time an invasion's going down and somehow you've got yourself involved in it, save us the trouble by telling us next time."

"I'll be sure to cash in that check when the time comes." The man chuckled to himself.

"In the meantime, however, I have heard quite a lot about you all. Especially in regards to the skill of some of the fighters here. I would hope to see your victory against the King," Cherche continued.

"Whether or not you'll see victory, that all depends on him." Panne answered Cherche before pointing right at Chrom, still hanging low.

"Ah yes, the Prince of Ylisse, so it would seem," Cherche answered. "The man beside me has spoken with nothing but high regards of both your person and your blade skills. And in vivid detail I might add."

"That sounds ominous," Cordelia told her, only to be answered with a quiet yet equally ominous giggle fit from the woman.

"I can guarantee that was not my intent," she responded. "Still however, you do seem to have landed yourselves in something of an incident here. I must be intruding, aren't I?"

"...No, you're not," Chrom said.

"In fact, you've given us enough to jump against our foes." Panne looked down at the prince in front of her, meeting eye to eye.

"Listen well, Lowell. The wounded beastfolk does not fall down until the fellow of their warren have taken them out of danger. And right now, Gangrel has put us all in danger. It is in your hands whether you stay as you have been, or act as you should. But we both know which one of these your broken heart aches for. And if your sister were here, she'd ask the same, too."

Chrom's brows creased as he stared. "How would you know that?"

"Because I saw her, just like you," she stated firmly. Her voice hardly rose, but its sharpness grew tremendously. "I put my faith in her just like you did, and I have fought for her just like you did. I watched her as she gave her words in the pursuit of peace for more than just herself. And I trust in the promise she made to me to show the compassion of humanity."

Still staring down Chrom, Panne's brow relaxed an inch softer. "Do not mistake my words for malice. There is no time for malice when we have an obligation to protect our people. And if Lady Emmeryn were here, she would meet Gangrel before a single life could be threatened. I know that, because I know her. Spoke to her. And she would not ask that you suffer to appease her."

Panne lifted her back, bringing her hand out to the broken prince.

"Stand," she commanded. "And stand with strength. Because you'll need strength to defeat Gangrel if it comes to it. And you'll need strength to move through the world while loss clings to you."

"...Okay," Chrom said, getting back up to meet her. "You're right that we need to go and face our opponents. I'll do everything I can to make sure we finish this."

"Good. Now prove it, prince," she answered back affirmatively.

"You're gonna need a lot more than strength if you're gonna clean out Gangrel's forces," Flavia chimed in with her lifted backhand. "Hope you're ready to hatch a plan for when you're actually facing him on the field. We won't have surprise to steal the advantage anymore."

"And even your strength could still use some work," the noble-like man added in. "Those masked guards are still out there. Will your abilities alone be enough to take them down? And to say nothing of their presence on the battlefield, either."

"Then the only way of improving your odds is through the one tried and true method: hard work and sheer dedication," Cherche answered to the ones asking questions. "Your time grows thin, is that not true? Then the time you have left is time that must be spent in preparations for this critical battle ahead."

"I must agree with her, as well," Cordelia added, seconding her. "We can't afford to lose while Gangrel still has a chance to recover fully from the discord of the last battle. It may decide the very fate of the war itself."

"Then let's start moving," Chrom said. "We'll make preparations as we make our way back to Plegia."

Cherche smiled at him. "It would seem like my liege made the right call to fall in with a group like this. I'm sure you're to do well."

"Of course I'd make the right call!" the dandy chimed in eagerly. "Clearly, we'll need to have you dragged with us as a reminder of my intuition and greatness. After all, who else would I be if not the handsome, dashing rogue of Hou—"

"You do realize I have business to take care of that you yourself ordered me to stay on top of, correct?" Cherche cut in.

"Come now, my dear Cherche! Why stay in a city that's been beat down and trampled upon when we can head off to a country that awaits our arrival!" He threw his hands out over their heads. 'There's sand, there's water and an open sky! I'm sure you and you-know-who would have a pleasant time."

"Those would all be pleasant if you were describing a beach and not long stretches of desert and bog," she pointed out.

"There was also a beach!" he pointed out. "Do you have no time for a gentleman of words after months of being apart?"

"No, not really," she said.

…Now the man crossed his arms. "Hmph, you're never fun, Cherche. But as your lord, I order you to come with regardless!" He raised his finger immediately, bouncing right back.

"You realize I could simply say no, correct?"

"Too late, I refuse to take no for an answer! We need all the help in the world, and I'm taking all the help I can get!"

And he immediately left before she could object any further, marching out the door with his triumphant trumpet played within his hands.

"...Your lord is quaint," Flavia said as she watched him go.

"You would not hear the end of it," Cherche said plainly. "If I had a fox's tail for every tall tale he's told while I tailed, I'd have enough tails to no longer need to hear another of his tales."

"I'm stealing that!" he called out, blowing a rumbling note from his instrument.

"I suppose my work has been cut out for me," Cherche then said. "Then we'll be taking our leave now, I presume?"

"Yes," Chrom said. "We'll do just that."

Time passed since they received word of Gangrel's approaching assault. The Shepherds immediately mobilized, and the Feroxi army followed close behind.

What started as a soft timer before the army lost morale for its leader turned into a race to stop Gangrel before he could regain his foothold in the war. And now time ticked down by the second.

So with what time Chrom had left, all of it was spent doing what he knew best. Back in the Midmire, weapons clashed in the rain. Only instead of bloodshed, they sought to hone themselves for the final confrontation.

Sully dragged her arms back just in time to pull under a swing at her chest. "Come on, Chrom! Put some heat into it!" She shouted as she swiped her halberd from one side to another, catching against the wooden blade as she inched it nearer against the skin of his neck.

"Graahhh!" Chrom hooked her axehead and swung it back around, throwing it off of him. He lunged right in and struck twice, Sully stepping left of the first hit before blocking the second outright.

"What's all that princely training and weapons got to show for? Or are you only as good as you were back at home!" The knight stepped back and launched a sweeping strike, forcing Chrom to dash back onto his feet and ready himself.

"Hyaa!" Chrom shouted, smashing the muddy ground from recoil when he launched into the air, bringing his sword high once more.

"Aether!" The prince came roaring in, spinning again and again and again before crashing down blade to blade against Sully's axe. The strike alone was strong enough to have ripped the weapon away had Sully not been the one to have gripped it firmly, and now he was bearing down against her twisted neck and clenched down teeth.

"You think Gangrel's gonna take this… With an axe better than this lump of metal!" Sully mustered the strength to throw him sideways off of her, but that knocked him hand and feet first to the mud, letting him bounce back with that same whirlwind speed.

"You can't just brute force your way through it!" Sully sidestepped and cross-countered him straight in the gut, stopping him dead-cold.

The blow was enough to send him reeling, but not enough to get him to break down.

"Damn durable kid. 'Least you're strong enough to keep taking hits," Sully said, watching him refuse to even kneel after taking such a swift blow during an equally swift rushdown.

"You're getting back to your old self, but something's not right."

"Gh-h… Not right?" Chrom grunted, steadying quick enough to have surprised her if she wasn't used to it.

"Yeah, you're not giving it your A-game. Take five. No point in wasted effort with the battle coming up." Sully threw her practice axe to the ground, stepping over the soggy mud.

"What's got you down this time? Wallowing in defeat? Girlfriend trouble with that other redhead of ours?"

"No?" he answered back, slowly bringing his head up as he held his stomach. "Besides, she's taken! You have to respect a taken lady, Sully."

"Cordelia will be taken when you get married, bub. Get it into that thick brick that powers your head." Just for that, she slapped him lightly on the back of his head. Enough to jolt him down a bit without it hurting.

"In a state like this, Chrom will be left unable to focus properly. He'd be at a significant disadvantage should he be left to face Gangrel in a confrontation." Stepping through the rain to reach closer to them, the brim of her hat spilt down forth the rain caught upon it before Miriel.

"I doubt magic training will provide any progress either. Even when compared to his usual difficulties during our sessions, now would only serve to show how quickly one would be able to scorch their arms. I fail to see any potential results from this, regarding the war effort. In terms of magic theory, he remains an interesting spout of data to research hands-on."

"No,' he panted out. "Don't. Let's keep trying. We can make it work." Still breathing in and out, Chrom stretched his hand out to his left, igniting a mystical flame.

Miriel's eyes widened.

While Sully's eyes shot out from her. "Wait, no dammit—!"

Boom.

Watching the guy currently face down in the mud and the two women he took down with him, Flavia cracked an eyebrow next to the red girl beside her as both stood behind them. "...So that's the guy you're head over heels for?"

"I am not!" Cordelia blurted out as she turned redder than she already was.

"Really?" Flavia just scoffed plain and simple. "And I'm to assume that lunch in your hands isn't just for him?"

"Yes!" she said, bringing the lunch boxed and packed alongside hot chocolate corked and bottled to her chest. It was also for her.

"Okay, sunshine," Flavia said, although she put emphasis on the 't' of sunshine that shouldn't even be there. But with a roll of her eyes, she grabbed Cordelia by the back and shunted her forward.

"Break time, prince! Come get your lunch!"

"Wah—!" Cordie stumbled through the mud as she was forced towards Chrom. And now as she was dragged into it, she suddenly found herself in a flush of heat. Why couldn't she do this without an issue?

She was already halfway, though. It'd be a waste of food to go back the way she came and eat half of it on her own. Plus, it wasn't as if he didn't also just make a fool out of himself, so maybe things wouldn't be so bad.

At least until she actually started walking towards him. As that was when her knees started to get weak again. At the rate she was going, she was sure they'd be churned into butter.

She was already doing this for six days, why was she getting worked up now?

Amidst her shivering anxiety as she moved across the field, the redhead grit her teeth, shutting her eyes as she walked further and further. And with a slow count, she breathed in and out, reaching down and grabbing him by the shoulder.

"Come on, now it's time to actually get up, sleepyhead."

Chrom pulled his head up from the mud just to see the one before him. "Oh, hey Cordie," he said, eyes and even voice softening.

Cordelia dug her eyelids deeper, turning her head away as she reached the point to where she was even shutting her lips tight. Then she lifted the red box up, handing it in front of him.

"...Here, you're gonna need this," she said curtly. "You haven't been eating nearly enough as you should, and I'm sure it's part of why your training's off."

"What's this?" He took the box from her hands, opened it to see some hot cutlets of meat with some fix-ins. "Oh sweet, meat! I'll take it!"

He took the fresh-cooked meal right into his hands without a moment of hesitation, bringing it up to his mouth as he took the fork and immediately dug in heartily.

"Yeah, I mean, it's nothing special. It's literally meat and rice again," Cordelia responded. It was one of the few recipes she actually knew by heart. She was good at a lot of things, but when it came down to recalling every instruction and preparing every meal, it was not something she had a talent for. She could at best say she was only ever good roughly midway into cooking, which led to less than stellar results at times.

Yet for Chrom, that seemed to have mattered little at all. What once was a prince who was silent and stone-eyed now ate with the fervor of a world champion after a world-shattering final bout. Scooping rice up with his spoon and tearing into the meat on his fork, he didn't stop even while scarfing down savory broccoli, sweet carrots and extra-filling potatoes. A rare combination considering they were all vegetables, but there'd be no complaint from him.

"But it always taffes super good when you maffe it!" he said with a muffled 'mouff,' swallowing. "It's salty, and meaty, and everything you could ask for in a meat lunch! That's always special to me!"

An arrow found its way through her chest as the flustered girl opened her eyes, face more red than before. "Th-thank you, my prince! I-I, I mean Chrom."

"Sure thinff!" he said, swallowing before immediately digging in again.

"Gee, you think you got enough food to reach his stomach Cordie?" Sully quipped as she watched him go.

"At the rate he eats, do you think the energy of his motions could power a lamp?" Miriel inquired. "Would you believe me if I said I've conducted a similar experiment involving a dozen bananas of the green plantain variety?"

"What kind of experiments have you been doing?" Sully said with a stare.

"Ones involving the creation and usage of electricity and thunder magic," Miriel said. "Science demands answers from anywhere."

"You think you got enough bananas to power a sword that can shoot lightning maybe?" the knight jokingly said.

"Actually, yes, but it's too troublesome for practical application," Miriel clarified.

"Huh. Well, I tried," Sully said.

As Chrom was busy wolfing up his meal, he looked to the side of the lunch box and swallowed. "Got anything to drink?"

"Oh! R-right here!" She took out the bottle of hot chocolate and brought it out for him to snatch up in his excitement, lifting it over his head.

"Chocolate!" Chrom cheered. "Sweet chocolate, I've missed you since the Great Tikimas Famine of 1860!"

Despite having had chocolate roughly a week ago, Chrom still uncorked the bottle and drank straight from the top, only bothering to blow on it when it was clearly too hot past the point of being able to taste it. And still, once he did so, he was ready and set to start downing it.

"You really love your chocolate don't you?" Cordelia said, putting on a smirk at the sight.

"Like you don't?" Chrom pulled away with a smirk back. Then he brought the bottle to his lips and gulped it in three shots, wiping his lips. "Geh! Thanks, Cordie!"

"And the world record for speed eating goes to Prince Ylisse himself," Sully said with a round of claps.

Chrom went and patted his shirt down twice. "I sure do feel full and fed! But I think I ate a little too much right now. Like I ate twice as much as normal."

"Ah—" Cordelia opened her mouth with a tiny gasp. "Actually, the second half was mine."

"Oh." Chrom dropped his arms down. "I'm sorry, Cordie, I didn't know."

Chrom looked at her, and he did so looking so honest, apologetic. Even with the frown on his face, all she could feel was warmth knotting in her chest.

"...Everything is fine with you around, my prince. I-I mean—!" Cordelia brought both hands to her lips, shutting herself up quick to save herself from the mindless words that left her. Having her eyes fall upon Sully and catch her attention, the knight just cocked her eyebrows and smiled.

"You gonna spill it?" she asked.

"Spilling? What do you…" Miriel paused for a moment before gathering what she meant. "Ah, I see. Statistically, if you were the one to speak up, then with the behaviors exhibited by the both of you, you'd have a higher chance of having your feeling's reciprocated—"

"Stop, please!" Cordie yelled, now shutting Miriel up with her hand.

"Spill what?" Chrom asked.

"Nothing much," Sully told him. "She's just an enthusiast of swords and would like to get a hold of your Queensfang.

"You, shut—!" she snapped at Sully.

"Hah!" The knight cracked out a laugh, pressing down against her crossed legs as she fell back and landed the back of her head into the mud.

"My Queensfang? Oh, right!" Chrom braced his hips. "No, not unless you beg first."

"Whah?" Cordelia's brows creased, and the girl gave a hard glance to the prince uttering those atrocious choice of words.

"I said you shall not hold my blade between your two soft and supple hands. You know how important it is to the future of this country." He chose—of course, of all things—to stand up before her, his soaked clothes sticking to his abs. "Also, do you know what Vaike means when he starts laughing when I say I gave you my silver stick? I mean, I put that in your hands but that's not the same. And I don't get why he's laughing."

There were a lot of things Cordelia was expecting today. As she rose to meet him and stared in complete astonishment, the last thing to cross her mind was the first thing to leave her lips.

"...Soft and supple?" she questioned.

"Well yeah, I've held your hands before. Look, see?" He got in close and swept her hand into his, running his thumb against her knuckles in gentle circles.

"They're soft. And yes, supple too. I was right." He looked up at her face. "See what I mean?"

Cordelia froze, staring unresponsive at the prince gripping her by the wrist before she began to overheat outright.

"I… okay." She vented out her words like a steam cloud had just come out of her.

"Where is my Queensfang, anyways?" Chrom added on. "Is it in the convoy? I can't find it."

"Oh, that's with Marth," said a Sully who had been covering her face and dying of laughter the whole time. "I saw her runnin' around with two swords in her hands screaming at Flavia about what to do with 'em."

"Wait, when did she get ahold of my sword? Who gave it to her?" Chrom asked.

A loud gaffe rolled through the rainy bog right then and there.

"Oh, did you forget?" And finally approached the eastern Khan of Ferox. "Tell me, Chrom. What starts with Mar, ends with Mar, and dove into a wall after chasing the stick like a dog playing fetch?"

Chrom began to lift his finger in objection. "I— Oh, I guess I did cause that," he said, forced to bring it back down. "But I didn't say she could take the sword from me."

"Your point being?" Flavia said in retort. "If you didn't want your sword taken from you, don't discard it!"

"But that's a family treasure!" Chrom exclaimed. "A legendary weapon belonging to the royal family for over centuries!"

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to think about what not to do next time in a raging fit while you're spending this century trying to get it back," Flavia said.

"Ouch," Sully said, leaning back from the stone-wall response. "Tough luck, kid! Can't win against Ferox's Rules."

Chrom grumbled in offense and objection, setting back down on the mud. "Now I don't have my sword anymore, though. What am I gonna do now?"

"How about you try to find the nearest longsword without the power to turn on fire?" Flavia said. "It's almost as if we have weapons like that."

"Gah…" Chrom started to fold one arm, before bringing it back up. "Wait, I got it!"

He shot over to the convoy, landing down on the wooden floor of the wagon speedily enough to have blown Cordelia's hair into her face.

"Hhhhere it is!"

Chrom shot back to the group quick enough to blow a shut-eyed Cordelia's hair out of her face.

Chrom spun on a dime again and levitated the item in question. "Doot! Doo-doo-do-dooot! I got the Wooden Sword!" he said, carrying a finely crafted, white… wooden sword.

"Again with this?" Sully said. "...How do you even levitate it at this point? Your magic is bullshit."

The sword plopped down into Chrom's hands, the boy bringing the blade out. "Maybe with this I can—!"

"No," Flavia said. "I don't know what it is you're about to say, but I know it isn't good. It's probably like this."

Flavia cleared her throat, putting on her best impression of the prince in front of her. 'Maybe with this I can defeat Gangrel! He'll never see a wooden blade being driven into his chest!" She pumped her fist and cheered, matching it with a goofy-looking grin.

"Something like that."

"Oh, so you're gonna tell me you know exactly what I'm thinking?" Chrom spoke with pitch perfect mimicry of the woman copying him. "I didn't realize we had a telepathy user in your ranks. Perhaps you also knew that my next words were going to be that I can use this to practice while getting ready to face the king."

"Uh—!" Flavia inched back, dropping Chrom's voice. "Struck back with another impression. Touché."

"Unfortunately, Milord, not everyone can recreate the voice of their target to such a fine degree as yourself," Chrom said, bringing his fist near his chest. "And please stop mimicking my own voice."

"And that's Frederick right there. Though it might need a damn or two, just for good measure," Sully said, sticking her tongue out in jest.

Chrom lowered his eyelids halfway and spoke with a cadence both sarcastic and high-strung. "He's not that great, guys. Why do you even bother praising him? Gawds."

Cordelia choked on the air in her throat, shooting her head up. "That's not even remotely like me! And I don't say gawds! Who does that!"

"Hmph, don't question me. It's not like you can do any better, whatever." And Chrom folded a shrugging pair of arms, then turned his head up and swiped it.

"His ability to replicate other people's voices with little issue is simply astounding. Remind me to investigate a means with which to replicate it," Miriel said.

"Fine, okay, jeez!" he said with a sneer. "If only it'll get you to be happy about it."

Chrom returned to his smiling self, swinging his sword up as he sat down. It really wasn't something to defeat Gangrel, he ultimately knew. But until then, he could still use it while hatching a plan to take him down. Though he really should be getting that sword back before he'd get in trouble and receive a talking to…

The sword he swung slowed down, falling back in front of him.

The rain fell upon the sword's wooden edge, pooling together underneath.

Chrom let out his breath, lowering the plaything back to the ground. Stuck between rain and mud again, his eyes shut as he focused instead on sizing up the enemy—and growing the army—before him.

But a hand then reached out to him, resting on his shoulder. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

It was Cordelia. When Chrom opened his eyes, it was her pulling him back to the rest of them.

"You look like you're still struggling from earlier, you know." Her face was nervously flushed, and she pulled her hand back to where she could bite at her thumb, but she kept her eyes on him.

In her own way, though, she made him drop his head and smile. "How is it that you can always tell what's wrong with me?"

"Something about you doesn't feel right when you're upset." She pulled her hand to her head and grabbed at her hair. "You stop smiling, for one. But you also get really quiet, and you won't say much unless someone brings you into a conversation."

Chrom scoffed. "Yeah… I guess I do that, don't I?" He scratched his own head and grinned halfway. "I end up focusing on what I'm going to do to fix the problem, and then I stop thinking about the stuff around me."

He let his head fall, a laugh starting to make its way under his breath. "Just look at where we are now because of what I've done."

His head fell further as his laugh grew loud just enough to reach the four around him. The prince then picked it back up, leaning an arm on his leg.

"...Only an idiot like me could get the people he cared about killed on his behalf."

The clouds still hung over the field, rain soaking them all. And soaking him.

"...And I've only been making things worse. Getting into fights. Causing problems. Taking it out on people who don't deserve it."

Chrom pulled his body back. "Hey, where are Reflet and Marth, anyways?" he called out.

Flavia answered back, "Those kids are already running up ahead with Basilio. They scrambled together whichever of you was willing and went to Plegia to secure some ground for the upcoming fight. A messenger should be running back to us right now. We're bound to cross paths soon enough."

Chrom grunted in surprise, but it wasn't long before his eyes hung in shame. "Great. Of course they would."

"Is something amiss?" Miriel said. "You seem as if you'd prefer if they hadn't left without your orders."

"No, in fact just the opposite," he answered. "This whole time my friends were out there sticking their necks out to help win this war. And what have I been doing? Wallowing in my own mud."

Chrom's teeth started to grind against each other, biting against his tongue. "I've made a real mess of this whole war. Sorry, everyone."

Sully got up from the ground. "Hey, that's my friend you're sayin' those things about. Take them back, and stand up so I can punch you."

"It's not like I don't deserve to be punched right now…" Chrom said, his eyes closing shut.

That was the moment that Chrom got gripped by the collar and ripped from the ground.

"Hell no, ya don't!" Sully shouted in his face. "You think some damn setbacks are enough to talk shit about one of my best friends? You're better than that! I know you're better than that!"

The red-eyed woman threw him backwards, kicking the end of her training axe such that the staff landed right between her hand as she spun it like a spear.

"Now ready your weapon and come at me! Cause I'm coming at you!" Sully wound her axe up and lunged at him, her weapon bearing down on him.

"Woah!" Chrom jumped back as the axe struck the mud, crashing waves of drenched earth in front of his face. A deliberate miss, and the only deliberate miss she'd give him.

"Fight me with everything you have, or don't fight at all!" Sully twisted her axe and swung back up, pressing the attack with her halberd coming up before swinging down like a frenzied dancer, swiping with an aggressive rhythm that gave Chrom no option but to lift his legs and jump back just to gain some ground.

"Why the hell—!" Chrom readied his sword and swung back, clashing against the axe coming at him like a roaring tiger. But the force of Sully herself was strong enough such that it was he who was knocked to the wayside, planting his sword into the ground to gain some grip as he rolled away from a swipe that would've grazed his chest. Dragging his blade across the mud, he pulled it up right in time for it to bounce against a nearing blow, securing a hold underneath the axehead.

The crackle of embers under the rain reached their way to his ears, alerting the prince to the flickering blaze.

"Huh?!" He glanced to his right, the gray to the side of him lighting up into a red hot glare.

"Elfire!" Miriel called out, the blast surging with a fraction of time for Chrom to jump away, his sword dropped in order to escape.

"Why are you fighting!" Chrom shouted at her, falling back into the ground.

"Why am I fighting?" Miriel asked. Her own jaw fell open, as if seemingly she was asking herself the very question.

"...Because Gangrel is not exclusively a physical attacker. Magic is in his sphere of power, and it isn't in yours." She picked her head back up, fixing her glasses as another red flame burned alive. "And this is training, yes? Then training is best done with experience that reflects reality!"

"One way or another, we're gonna get you out of that funk of yours, dammit. And if fighting's what's gonna keep you alive and kickin' when we beat the bastard, I'll fight you as many times as it takes." Sully spun her halberd behind herself, eyes narrowed, ready to rush in when another flame surged through the gray.

"Grah—!" Chrom attempted to jump out of the way again only to find himself slipping against the ground. Just as the blaze would've made contact was when he was pushed out of the way, his savior coming in right at the nick of time to cut right through it.

"If the experience is supposed to reflect the reality, then who's to say Chrom needs to do it alone? I'll stand by my prince as many times as it takes! That's what a Pegasus Knight fights for!" With a gust of wind, the fires scattered into the air to be stamped out by the rain, Cordelia swinging her sword back down.

"Then come at us, jokers! Make this a match worth spittin' beer for!" Sully said and challenged them, rushing right in.

Cordelia gave Chrom a quick, knowing look, swinging her hand before her. A razor gale cut through the rain to strike at the flamecaster, when the flier rushed right in to take the knight head on.

"Tch." Flavia watched the whole fight both break down as swiftly as it did and continue as fiercely as it did. "Come on, prince! Show 'em what for!" She swung her fist for real this time, shouting for him to keep going.

"Uh—?" Chrom looked from the fight befoee him to the woman behind him. "Yeah! Okay!" He charged right in. Sword poised below him, strong and swift.

...Watching the prince fighting with everything he had, the Khan cracked herself a smile. "They just might start bringing him back."

Rain continued to fall upon the Midmire, but now embers sparked across the sunken earth, blown against the wind that howled at the roaring flickers. Wood cracked against wood, the two friends and rivals bashing against each other, each determined to finish this.

"Aether!" Chrom shouted as he jumped at her, soaring high under the clouds. He spun straight back to the earth, driving his blade down at the knight with all the speed he had.

"Ah—!" Chrom then gasped right before they came to blows, recognizing something within his attack. Unfortunately for him, however, it held no way from saving him from the kick straight to his stomach from below by his rival opponent.

"Gotcha!" Sully said.

But her eyes shot open when Chrom fell onto his feet. Or rather, shot forth as they connected the ground.

"Hyaah—!" Chrom shouted, cutting right across her shoulder as he shot past her. Had he been using a real sword, or had he put an incredible amount of force into the attack, the damage would've been severe enough to need critical treatment.

Instead, what was left was a mild, wide scrape across Sully's arm. It was wounded, but truly only mildly.

"...Well I'll be damned," Sully said. "I think your spirit's finally comin' back to ya. Great job, partner! Knew you could do it."

"Marvelous! Then he's that much closer to bringing us towards victory." While Sully lost her final strike against Chrom, Miriel had her flame pointed in front of Cordelia's chest. And a training sword poking at her neck.

"Then I believe a break is in order before we march?" the mage said.

"Looks like it," Sully agreed, pointing her thumb back while she let her other arm hang low. "Our work's done here. Let's leave the rest to these two over here. I gotta get back to Libra and get this fixed."

But first, Sully looked back, smiling at Chrom ahead of her. "I know you got what it takes to beat that king to a pulp. You can do this."

The two of them walked off back to the wagons, Sully tossing a hand up while giving a look at the redhead, while Miriel fanned rain and ash out of her hat before putting it back on. And that left Flavia to step in and approach the remaining two.

"Well then, you seem to finally be getting the reins on this mess," Flavia told the pair of them. "But remember that a war's going on. Gangrel won't stop if you're not ready to face him, so you'd better get done with everything you need before you draw weapons against him."

And then Flavia took off, leaving the two to just themselves. The end of clashing and echoing voices left them with nothing but rainfall. And that left Cordelia to look back at Chrom.

...And despite all that happened, between then and now, his eyes still kept peering at the colorless road ahead of them. Eyes retreating to their hollow, empty look of before.

...Cordelia stepped closer to him, bringing them back to the conversation from before. She did so, because seeing those eyes like that, she just couldn't stand there and do nothing. No matter what she might have thought, or what she might have told herself.

"I lost someone else important to me too, the day we tried to rescue Emmy."

Chrom nodded slowly. "Yeah…" He looked at her with nothing but those empty, dark eyes of his, his rain soaked bangs fallen over his face.

"Phila was someone important to me when I joined the knights," she told him. "Maybe not the best with all my problems, but she certainly tried. I was happy around her, especially with her as the leader. She was always so serious, telling me to double down and put twice the effort into training to make up for my shortcomings. She had high hopes for me, even when I was the worst trainee of the group."

Cordelia lowered her head, turning it the same way that Chrom stared. "She was… kind of like a big sister to me. The kind of one who always looked after you the way you'd wanted when everyone singled you out, you know? She was the only one I felt I could speak to in the Knights, at the time."

"I don't really know much about your time training in the Pegasus Knights," he answered.

Cordelia gave him a soft chuckle. "Heh, sorry, I haven't tried to think too much about the past like that. You know how it was. I'm just glad it's all over."

She put on a smile after saying that, though. A small one. "Well, it's not like everything about the past was all bad."

She looked back at the boy's eyes. "...Do you remember that one time back then? When we were caught over in Breakneck Pass?"

"Hmm?" Chrom looked at her blankly, but then confusion managed to break through that. "Wait, you mean when you got shot in the chest?"

"No, not that!" Cordelia waved both hands in front of her. "Don't you remember? The other time! Sheesh…"

Cordelia huffed under the rain, but kept on going, "...When we were younger, after you left the village. I joined the Pegasus Knights like I said I would, and we had a mission that took us to that place. We were only supposed to hang back while the full fledged knights cleared it out, but the bandits ambushed us. Everything soon turned into chaos, and the trainees all started panicking as they started firing at us. And then my horse got so scared, she threw me off the cliff."

"And then you showed up." She turned her attention back to him. "You were the one to save me that day, remember? You shot up from under the cliff of all things, and carried me back into the sky. What are you, some kind of superhero?"

"I— No I'm not! I just did what anyone would've done if their friend was in danger!" he told her in objection.

Cordelia smirked at his answer, only to then shut her eyes. And thoughts of that day rushed out all at once. The shouts of her fellow recruits screaming in terror, and her own terror as she was

And all that vanished when the wind blew from below, the red-haired girl being lifted into the sky in the arms of the blue-haired prince. That radiant look in his eyes burned blue as he soared the two of them out of danger.

All he did after was put her down gently, before storming the bandits with his rapier and the others arriving at his command. With only the Shepherds of that time and the regrouping knights, they drove back all the bandits and captured their leaders, putting an end to that day and the threat of those thieves in one swift victory.

"But you still saved me that day," she said. "I'd have hit the ground fast enough to never get back up if you didn't catch me." Cordelia lowered her arms, looking at him earnestly. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. So… thank you."

"Of course, Cordie," he said. "I'd do anything for you if I knew you were in danger. We've been friends since the start. I always wanna help you if I can."

The two stared at one another, Cordelia into his eyes, and Chrom into hers.

"...Okay, that's enough staring back at me!" She hastily turned herself away. "You've had enough, gawds—"

Cordelia looked back at him, shot eyes open and face deadpan. "You heard nothing."

"Gawds, you don't have to tell me twice," he mimicked in her own voice back to her.

That was not how she sounded, Cordelia thought as she grumbled and grabbed her head. Before a snicker pulled her hand back down, making her cover her face as more laughter kept coming through. "What am I doing…?"

She shook her head, bringing it back up. "...It's because of that day that I started realizing how much stronger I needed to be. You showed me how much you grew then, and how much I needed to grow if I wanted to protect what mattered to me. But we never got to see each other with how busy things were when we returned. What with Emmeryn becoming the Exalt and all the stuff that happened afterwards. And as things kept happening back at the Palace, you seemed so far away by then…"

...With her going back to the knights and her friends going back to their place as royals in the palace, that left her on her own. And Phila wasn't always around either, so she was left to deal with the other trainees messing with her, ganging up on her. Alone in those barracks, she found herself retreating to the corner of her bedroom, thinking of better times, and better friends. And that face. The face of that boy who'd been a prince in disguise all along, staring at her in his arms. Yet it seemed more than that. Like it was staring through her, seeing beyond her. And she wanted to stand up and see what he was seeing.

That burning desire. To reach him, to see him once more. Not as a failure who needed saving but a knight could hold her head up high as a comrade-in-arms. Beside him. Alongside him. It was all that kept her going as a knight. Even when she was a knight no longer.

"I'm sorry, Cordelia," that prince said. A prince who couldn't see what he used to. Not right now.

"...I wish I never rushed in to try to take down Gangrel at the pass," he said between the ripples of water splashing down. "No, even before that, I wish I never started the fight that brought this war to us. I should've just listened to what Gangrel was saying and given him the sword. And just let him do what he wanted. If it wasn't for me, Emm would still be alive. My mom would still be alive."

"I'm sorry, too. …But, I don't think Phila would agree with something like that."

Chrom huffed and shrugged rather empty-hearted. "How do you know that?"

"She said as much, once. It went something like this." Cordelia turned her head down to the ground, staring the same way as the prince.

"Don't think for a second that you can shoulder the weight of the world on your own. We have things in this world to protect, even if it means we may not be around to see the sky with them. And when we vanish, we might have unfinished dreams and regrets, deep-seated regrets that might make our souls burn as they try to claw their way at life again. But to fight is to know that, and to know that is to know others may soar after us. And those others may one day carry our dreams that will put an end to our regrets."

"...I think that's what Iris and Emmy were both thinking." The pegasus knight turned her head to face the prince in the rain. "Iris saved you because she loved you. And Emmeryn did what she did because she loved not just you, but everyone she knew."

And so Cordelia held her head up high, watching the darkness in his eyes. "So what is it that you want to protect?"

"...Everyone," said the prince, lifting his head up. "I just want to keep those who I care about safe. The people I meet, whether for an hour or a year. …I don't want to pick fights against Gangrel and start more problems, but I want to fight to protect what matters to me. And I want to do that no matter what stops me."

He looked down at the sword his mother gave him, sighing. "But it seems like all I do now is cause more problems for people."

Cordelia closed her eyes, and took a slow, four-second breath.

"...Do you remember why the war started in the first place?" she asked, opening them again.

"Because I couldn't trust Gangrel. And because he called me like my father," he answered. He stopped, and then he kept going after that. "And…"

"...And because Maribelle was in danger," they both finished, having answered at the same time. And Cordelia looked back at him.

"Do you think we could've saved her if we didn't fight?" she continued further. "If Lissa wasn't there to warp her out, or if Ricken and Gaius weren't there to free her from that hold she was in?"

"...I don't know," he said. "But maybe there was another way that wouldn't have led to this. Maybe Emm would still be alive."

"But we fought to protect someone we cared about. You fought. Because someone else might've died if you didn't. And you've kept on fighting. Even now, you've always been fighting to protect someone."

She took a step closer to him and kept looking him in the eyes. "Maybe we couldn't save some of them, but we can still save those that are still here. And even though we'll fight knowing we might not one day come out of it, we can hope and strive to keep each other alive. So that we can see the sky with them once more."

Cordelia extended her hand, reaching out. "You've done more than enough for me. As a friend, as a leader… and as someone who I care a lot about. So don't be so sorry that you weren't there then, and keep fighting with me while you're here now, okay? I know you're still hurting, but I know how hard you try. And we can keep trying to make the future better."

The rain-soaked prince looked back at her. "...I'll try my best," he said.

"You always do," she said.

He took her hand and held it, the two of them staring up at the sky. Even when dark clouds lingered, and the rain never seemed to end, they kept watching it together.

"I was having dreams about my mom again yesterday," he said, staring up above.

"Yeah? What were they like?" she asked, doing the same.

"It started with the day we first met, and I smashed straight into your head and said hi."

"Yeah-hah, you're lucky I didn't bop you further for that one. It really hurt, you know? Your skull is denser than iron!"

"It hurt me too, I'll tell you that! I don't remember all of them, though, but I did remember that time when we snuck off in the morning."

"Which one? We did that a lot, you know."

"Remember? It was my birthday, and we ran all the way to the beach just to fight over there!"

"Oh, I remember that day now! And then Freddy caught us! And then the cake got ruined!"

"Death! A thousand years of death upon the perpetrators!"

"Ahahahahah!"

The two of them laughed together, looking back at the other with growing smiles on their faces.

"Tell me more about the dreams you had yesterday, I want to hear all of them." Cordelia looked back at him warmly, sighing gently in the rain.

And Chrom's smile made no attempt to hide itself. And the shadows in his eyes faded, to something less dark and more blue than before. "If that's what you wish. Alright."

And the two kept talking. Kept walking. Kept watching the sky under the rain.

With their hands tied with each other. With the two sharing with each other. Laughing with each other.

And despite all that happened then, and all that happened now, the two kept sharing their dreams from yesterday.

But a new dream was right there.

The Dream to Build Today.

Act 1, Finale 4: The Dream to Build Today.

Author's Note:

Chrom and Cordelia have reached Support Rank A.

I hope I'm not repeating myself with this chapter. And I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you also enjoyed the relationship between Chrom and Cordelia. I like to think that they bring out sides to each other in ways that suit them.

I hope that by the end of this year, we'll be done with the Plegian Arc of Pale.

Let's see if I can put my money where my mouth is.

See you next time on Countdown 3.

Thank you as always for reading this far. It means a lot. I put a lot of effort into building this story. So the few people that like this fic, niches and faults and all, I really appreciate.