It was hard for Mercer to describe what was happening to him. He couldn't see or feel his own body, but he still felt like he was physically present somewhere. All he could see was black. He couldn't move, and he couldn't tell where he was. In the distance he could hear chanting. There were dozens of voices. He thought some of them were familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint them.

"Here in my empire, that you do not remember

Your hands do not toil

Your eyes do not see

Your ears do not listen

Chaos reigns

And your hands cannot toil

And your eyes cannot see

And your ears cannot listen

But I will return, and my crusade will bring order to the land

And through war your hands will toil

And through war your eyes will see

And through war your ears will listen

I shall return

And the world will toil

And the world will see

And the world will listen

And that world will cease to be

My world will remain"

"What?!" He cried out. No one answered him.

Mercer awoke in a bed. He immediately jumped up and looked around. He could see his body this time, and he looked to be in a normal room. "What a strange dream." Mercer got up from the bed. He was bare chested, and it wasn't a pretty sight. He had electrical burns all along his chest, and the stab wound from Courtney's levin sword was prominent. He retrieved a shirt he found hanging up and stumbled out of the room.

Mercer seemed to be in a log cabin of some kind. It didn't have much in the way of furnishings, but it was clear that someone was living there. "Ophelia? Soleil? Caeldori?" Mercer thought he could hear something in the background. His hearing had rapidly degraded over the past several years, but he could swear it sounded like a harp. He followed the music into a small room down a hallway. Inside he saw something so unlikely, that he could barely comprehend it as anything but yet another cruel illusion. The woman playing the harp had long, flowing red hair. Her clothes were unassuming, but she noticeably wore a short skirt with long boots that went past her knees. Just like when he had seen Caeldori for the first time, Mercer thought he was looking at a figment of his imagination. The woman looked so much like someone he had once known, and again he had to speak up on the chance that she was actually real.

"Who… who are you?"

The woman froze. She stood up quickly, but she turned to face Mercer very slowly. This time, Mercer was sure. This woman was someone he had once known. "You're awake. You're finally awake." The woman grinned from ear to ear. "Gods! It's so nice to see you again, Chrom. After all these years."

"Cordelia?!" Cordelia looked middle aged, but time had been far less forceful with her than it had been with Mercer. Cordelia had wrinkles, but they did nothing to subtract from her soft features. Mercer's wrinkles by comparison seemed to want to pull his whole face down. Cordelia had noticeable gray in her hair, but it was still bright red for the most part, and it was still smooth and well kept. Mercer's hair barely had any blue in it, and his unkempt beard was completely gunmetal gray. Cordelia's posture was completely straight, while Mercer could no longer stand up straight without something in his body talking to him. There was something distressing about her however. Cordelia had a brown rag tied over her eyes like a blindfold. Her smile faded, as if she knew where Mercer was looking. "Are you-"

"Blind? Yes."

Mercer was hit by a twinge of guilt, and any happiness he had at seeing a Shepherd again was replaced with pain. "Did that-"

"Was I blinded because of what happened thirty years ago?" Cordelia looked down. "Yes." Mercer tried to speak, but he choked on his words. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he could only make gurgling noises until finally spitting out a word.

"I-I… I… I'm so sorry! I did this to you."

"Chrom… the girls told me how you feel about what happened. You have to stop blaming yourself."

"I did this to you!"

Cordelia walked up to Chrom and placed her hands on his face, gently running them down to his chest. "Hey come on. This is a happy moment. I… I thought you died thirty years ago. I was horrified when Caeldori brought you here on the verge of death, but you're safe now. I am so glad to see you again… metaphorically speaking."

"Cordelia…"

Cordelia began to walk away. "Come on. Let's talk."

Mercer and Cordelia sat together at a table. Cordelia had made tea, but Mercer couldn't touch it. He couldn't bring himself to take anything more from Cordelia, and he already felt bad about everything she had done for him. Without Cordelia's help, Mercer would have died from his injuries.

"So you've been living here since Grima took over."

Cordelia nodded. "I had a bit of money saved up from my time as a Pegasus Knight. When the Fell Dragon took over, there was something of a market panic. Land was very cheap, especially in Ylisse. This place is remote. I haven't been bothered since I moved here."

"Caeldori grew up here then?"

"Yes. I trained her as a Pegasus Knight… and I also raised her. I was like her mother really."

"What about her actual mother…"

Cordelia was silent for almost a minute. "Oh, Severa. I miss her so much, Chrom."

"She's gone then."

"I don't know. I had been living here for five years when Severa found me. I don't know how she found me, but she just appeared at my doorstep one day. She had Caeldori with her, and she was only about five years old. She was the most adorable little girl. I still remember her clinging to her mother's leg, poking her little head out to look at me."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Severa begged me, I mean she begged me, to take Caeldori. She said the Grimleal were after her. I think they'd taken Caeldori's father not long before. Severa didn't talk much about him, but she acted like the Grimleal had made him disappear. She said she didn't have much time, and she asked me to take Caeldori. I asked if she would come back. She said she didn't know." Cordelia's voice became very low. She had long processed the emotions in her story, but it was still painful for her. "I begged Severa to stay with me. I told her she'd be safe with me. I told her they'd never find us here. She wouldn't have any of it. She stayed for three days, then she left. I never saw her again, and Caeldori has been with me ever since."

"You raised her by yourself? While blind?"

"I wasn't blind back then."

"But-"

"When the Shepherds fell, I was slashed across the eyes. I don't know how, but I managed to make my way to a settlement. They managed to heal my eyes, for a time anyways. As the years went by my vision deteriorated, and nothing could reverse it. I went fully blind about ten years ago."

"But when Caeldori moved out, you lived here by yourself?"

Cordelia smiled. "I'm blind, not crippled. I can live on my own just fine. In fact I bet I could take you."

"You probably could. My body gives me trouble whenever I do anything these days."

"I know. I examined your body after Caeldori brought you to me, and after we took care of your most immediate wounds."

"You examined me?"

"Oh! It was from a purely medical perspective I assure you!"

"What I meant was, how could you do that without seeing?"

"Well… my other senses are much stronger. I have a very developed sense of touch. I felt your body."

"You felt me?"

"I… err… from a purely m-medical perspective." Cordelia blushed. "I ran my hands along your chest because, well I had no other way… it was just so that I could make sure you were okay… I didn't mean to feel you up or anything… that's not what I was doing! I just, err… nevermind. Anyways, I can tell that you've taken a lot of injuries over the past few weeks. You have burn marks, subdermal burn marks, stab wounds, piercing wounds that don't appear to have come from melee weapons, and a lot of bruises. Whatever it is you're doing, if you keep living like this, you'll die."

"Death comes for everybody."

"Stop!" Cordelia grabbed Mercer's hand. "Stop. This is a happy time. Gods… I can't believe you're still alive. I can't believe it. You… you can't imagine what this means to me."

"Cordelia… I hurt you. I failed you. I failed everyone."

Cordelia shook her head. "I don't want to hear it. This is a happy moment. Come on. Follow me."

"Where are we going?"

"For a walk."

Cordelia lead Mercer some distance from the cabin, expertly navigating through the path. Mercer felt guilty about not leading her, but she never slowed down to let him pass her. She avoided every rock and branch in the way as if she'd done it thousands of times. Mercer realized just how long thirty years was. He hadn't even lived in his house for that long. Eventually Cordelia made her way to the edge of a cliff. Mercer could see the forest below extend for kilometers into the distance. It was sunset, and the view was breathtaking. Mercer stood at the cliff side and took it in while Cordelia sat on a nearby log. "It's… wow. This is quite the view."

"Yeah. It is something isn't it. I used to come here with Caeldori when she was a little girl, and when I could see." Cordelia took a deep breath and exhaled. She turned towards the direction of the sunset. "Chrom… could you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Could you describe it for me?"

Mercer briefly turned to Cordelia in confusion before remembering that she was blind. It was surreal. Mercer's mind kept imagining her as she was thirty years ago. "Oh, uh… sure. It's, it's beautiful. There's red, and orange, and yellow. You can see for kilometers."

Cordelia smiled. "Thank you, Chrom. I haven't seen a sunset in ten years. It's one of those things you take for granted, you know?"

"Yeah. I guess we take a lot of things for granted." Mercer turned to Cordelia. "Like being with friends."

"You know… when we were in the Shepherds… I don't think we ever had a moment like this, just the two of us."

Mercer immediately thought that couldn't be right, but he realized that he hadn't really spent much time with Cordelia by herself. "You're… you're right. That's strange. I was so used to seeing you, but you're right. We didn't spend much time together… though I think we spoke on a beach once?"

Cordelia blushed. "You remember that?"

"You had heat stroke or something? I had to carry you."

"Y-yeah that's what happened. Heat stroke." She responded nervously.

"Well… I'm glad we could share this moment. Thank you, Cordelia."

"You don't know how happy I am to see you again, Chrom."

"Really?"

"Yes! Yes, really." Cordelia stood up and walked towards Chrom, gently feeling for him until she reached his shoulder. "It's a miracle that we're able to see each other again."

Though Cordelia couldn't see him, Mercer couldn't look right at her. His lip quivered, and his voice cracked. "Cordelia… can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Why don't you hate me?"

"What?!"

Mercer placed his hands on Cordelia's blindfold. "I did this to you! I'm the reason why Severa isn't with you! Why your husband isn't with you! I'm the reason why Caeldori had to grow up surrounded by war!"

"Chrom you have to stop blaming yourself for what happened."

"It was my fault!"

"No it wasn't! I know it wasn't!"

"Cordelia… everything that's happened to the world is my fault."

"Stop talking like that!"

"I destroyed your life!"

"I don't hate you. I can't hate you. I will never hate you."

"I don't deserve your kindness. You should have let me die."

"Stop it!"

"I did this to you!"

"I don't hate you!"

"Why not?!"

"Stop it!"

"Why not?!"

"STOP IT!"

"Why not?!"

"Because I love you!" The two froze. Mercer couldn't bring himself to say anything, and Cordelia's face turned the same color as her hair. She took very deep breaths, and almost started hyperventilating. She had to sit back down to calm herself. "Because I love you. I've… I've always loved you."

Mercer was unable to think of anything but simple and inane questions. "You… love me?"

"Yes."

"You've always loved me?"

"Please stop making me say yes."

"S-sorry." Mercer sat beside Cordelia, and she had to turn away from him to feel comfortable.

"I… I don't know when it started. I guess I've always felt this way. Even long before I joined the Shepherds."

"Why… why didn't you-"

"Because I didn't think it was appropriate. I was just a soldier, and you were the prince! Life's not a romance novel. Things don't work that way. When Emmeryn died… I realized you would be Exalt. I would report to you one day. It didn't seem appropriate. It'd be as weird as if… as if Sumia had been with you, or as if Sully had been with you. It wasn't my station."

"I… I didn't-"

Cordelia sighed. "It was for the better. You found true love, and I met my husband. I loved him very much, and he gave me Severa. That was the happiest time of my life. It was better this way." Cordelia's blindfold grew damp as tears ran down her cheeks. "But I lost him, and Severa left me… and now I have no one. No one except Caeldori, and you. I thought my feelings for you were nothing. I thought it was just a crush. I thought it would go away. When I was with my husband, I thought it had gone away. I was happy… but then it was taken from me. I've been alone for a very long time. I spent thirty years thinking you were dead. To see you again… my feelings for you are as strong as they ever were. We're both thirty years older, and I still feel this way about you. I can't even look at you, and I still feel this way about you! This isn't a crush. I… I love you. I can't hold it in anymore. If there's anything I've learned from my life, it's to not take things for granted. It's to not waste the chances you've been given." Cordelia finally turned to face Mercer. "You tell me that I should hate you. You tell me that you don't deserve my respect. I can't hold this in anymore. I can't bear to hear you put yourself down when… when you matter so much to me. I have to tell you that I love you so that, so that you know that you don't have to feel this way about yourself. No one hates you more than you do. A lot of people still look up to you. A lot of people still think you're a great man. A lot of people still love you. I just… the way I feel about you… I just wish you felt that way about yourself."

Mercer just stared blankly at Cordelia. Almost a minute passed, but the moment felt timeless. Cordelia's expression grew more and more anxious. "This… this is really awkward for me, Chrom. Say something!"

"Oh… sorry. It's just." Mercer looked around for a few seconds. Even through the blindfold, Mercer couldn't bear to meet her gaze. "I don't believe you."

"You don't believe me?!"

"No. Cordelia… I took those things from you. I took your husband from you. I took Severa from you. I took Sumia from you. I took your life from you. You should hate me."

"I don't!"

"You should!"

"I will never hate you!"

"I should have died thirty years ago!" Mercer shouted. "I don't deserve to live! I don't deserve to be here, when so many others died! They trusted me! They believed in me! They're dead because of me! I don't deserve your love! You are too smart a woman for this! You should hate me! Everyone should hate me, as much as I hate myself! You shouldn't love me!" Mercer's voice wavered. "I don't believe you."

Cordelia put her hand on Mercer's cheek, and he shivered. "I've never done anything like this… but I'm done hiding my feelings. You really don't believe me?"

"I stole your life. You shouldn't-"

Cordelia leaned in and kissed Mercer, gently running both of her hands down the side of his face and holding him for several seconds. Mercer didn't move. He just sat there and stared through Cordelia, waiting for it to be over. Deep inside of him, Mercer felt feelings he hadn't known in thirty years, but he also felt a very familiar feeling. It was a feeling he had known daily, and as Cordelia held him and slowly brought her lips into a smile, it became unbearable. It was guilt. "Do you believe me now?" Cordelia whispered. Mercer shivered even more.

"You deserve better than me."

Cordelia acted like Mercer had just punched her. She took her hands away and sank into the log. Before either of them could say anything else, a thundering noise could be heard coming from the forest. Mercer looked over to see a pillar of smoke rising into the air. Cordelia jumped up, her sensitive hearing giving her a more intimate relationship with terrifying noises. "What was that?!"

"An explosion. It's coming from the cabin."

Cordelia and Mercer looked to each other, than immediately sprinted back to the cabin.

Outside of the cabin, Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori found ways to kill time and enjoy the quiet. Caeldori meditated, sitting cross legged and still. Ophelia sat in a similar position, but she wasn't calm. She was trying to levitate a small rock into the air. Ophelia managed to keep if off the ground, but the rock shook violently. Repeatedly it fell back towards the ground, only for Ophelia to slowly bring it back to where it was, only for it to then defect back to gravity and its inexorable pull. Soleil was the only one moving around. She was busy practicing her swordsmanship against the air, swinging wildly and accentuating each strike with a loud roar. Soleil practiced until she was tired and sweaty, and she fell to her knees in exhaustion. "Phew. Good workout." She said to no one in particular.

"Yes." Caeldori responded. "I remember how proud I was when I first defeated the air in sparring."

"I don't recall talking to you."

"Well it's impossible to not pay attention to you given how loud you are. Even Ophelia can't concentrate."

Soleil looked remorsefully at Ophelia. "Oh. I'm sorry, Ophelia. Was I bothering you?"

"No! No, I'm fine thank you. This is hard on its own."

Soleil put down her sword and sat by Ophelia. "What are you doing anyways?"

"I'm practicing my telekinesis."

"Telekinesis?"

"Yes." Ophelia finally opened her eyes and let the rock fall to the ground. "Cordelia once told me that Robin was so powerful, he could move small objects without touching them. She told me that she once saw him moving a tome and his levin sword around his arms. I've been trying to figure out how to do it ever since."

"You're doing a great job! You actually moved that rock."

"Yeah, but I'm not doing very well. I can't even hold this rock." Ophelia closed her eyes, and the rock slowly levitated about half a meter into the air. Once again Ophelia couldn't hold it in place. Soleil reached out and grabbed it, and Ophelia winced. "Gah! That feels the same as if you'd torn it from my hands."

"Oh, sorry. Do you need any help?"

Ophelia took the rock from Soleil and tossed it into the air. She concentrated, and managed to catch it right before it hit the ground. "How could you help?"

"I don't know. I could help you concentrate?"

"I don't see why not." Ophelia focused on the rock again, and Soleil got closer to her.

"Clear your mind. Focus on things that calm you, like… kittens!"

"Kittens?"

"Yeah! Everyone loves kittens. I think I have a few kitten posters you can borrow. Ooh! And you can borrow my bunny blanket! Just think about cute things everywhere! That should help!"

The rock fell to the ground, and Ophelia shook her head. "You're not helping, Soleil."

Soleil glanced down at Ophelia's abdomen. "Well… maybe concentration isn't what you need."

"Hmm?"

"Maybe you need some… excitement!" Soleil jabbed her fingers into Ophelia's sides. Her face contorted in a desperate attempt to not break out laughing, and she fruitlessly grabbed at Soleil's arms.

"SOLEIL! ST-STAHP! I CAN'T BR-BREATH!" The rock in front of Ophelia jumped and flittered around as Ophelia refused to let it go, and it eventually shot backwards and hit Caeldori in the nose. She cried out, and looked up when she finally stopped clutching her nose in pain. A look of fury took her as she noticed Soleil trying to hide behind Ophelia.

"SOLEIL!"

"Why am I in trouble?"

"Ophelia wouldn't have done that if you hadn't been messing with her!"

"Yeah well… you shouldn't have been in the way!"

Caeldori rose to her feet. "I can't believe this! You hit me in the nose when I wasn't doing anything to you, and I can't even get an apology?!"

Soleil stood up and looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry, but it was an accident."

"It may have been an accident, but your lack of discipline is always causing problems!"

"Excuse me?"

"Would it kill you to focus on training instead of messing around?"

"I do train! I was just training!"

"Swinging your sword around in the air isn't really training, and you're constantly practicing your hopeless dancing and singing, or you're going on and on to some poor farm girl about imaginary deeds you've accomplished."

"Don't act so high and mighty. You're no different than I am!"

"I'm a Pegasus Knight. I'm part of an order that had protected Ylisse for thousands of years. You're just a mercenary."

"Well I'm pretty sure it isn't Pegasus Knight procedure to have a stick jammed so far up your rear that I can see it every time you open your mouth."

Ophelia stood up and looked sheepishly at the two. "Come on, guys. Stop. Please?"

"Ooh, real mature. Yet another example of your lack of discipline."

"Yes well this is… this is another example of your… ugliness."

"You know what I enjoy most about our conversations, Soleil?" Caeldori responded dryly. "It's your sparkling intellect."

"Yeah well… no you."

"Stop it!" Ophelia shouted. "Why are you two always fighting?! This should be a happy time! We're all together again."

"Why are you yelling at me, Ophelia? She started it!"

"She threw a rock at me!"

"Enough of this!" Ophelia cried in exasperation. "I'm tired of all these childish fights. You two need to get along!"

Soleil and Caeldori crossed their arms and turned their backs to each other. "She's the problem!" They both said. Soleil stuck her finger at Caeldori. "Hey I was talking to Ophelia!"

"You're wasting her time. She needs to practice, and you're over there getting in the way."

"Fop!"

"Loitersack!"

"Prick tease!"

"Pink-haired weirdo!"

Ophelia ran her hands through her hair. "That's it! You two are going to learn to get along! I want you both to say nice things about each other!"

"Huh?"

"Do it! Both of you! Say something nice about each other!"

Caeldori and Soleil looked at each other for several seconds before turning back to Ophelia, who was staring daggers at them. Whenever one of them tried to protest, her glare grew more severe. Finally the two awkwardly turned to each other. Soleil nervously cleared her throat. "Umm… Caeldori… I like how, uh… I like how your flashiness in battle makes the enemies go after you instead of me."

"No! It can't be passive aggressive. It has to be a real compliment."

Soleil groaned. "Fine. Caeldori, I like… umm…" Soleil kicked her foot back and forth and stared at the ground. "I like… um… I think your Pegasus is pretty."

Caeldori became very saddened. "Thanks but… she's not with us anymore. Remember?"

"Oh I'm… sorry."

"It's alright." Caeldori looked thoughtfully at Soleil. "I… I like how brave you are in combat."

"R-really?"

Caeldori smiled. "What you lack in discipline, you make up for in determination. It's… it's very inspiring."

For once, Soleil's eternal smile became genuine around Caeldori. "Thank you. You know what? I do admire how talented you are, Caeldori. You have a real gift for being a soldier."

"Thank you."

"It's just… I wish you wouldn't look down on me. I'm sorry I'm not as disciplined as you. I'm sorry I don't spend all my time training. I'm tired of you acting like I don't care. I know I'm not the soldier you are, but I'm tired of you thinking of me as someone who isn't dedicated to our fight. I left the Grimleal to be with Ophelia. It made me a target. They even sent former members of my squad after me. I was close to some of them, so they sent them after me just to mess with my head. Some of those people were good men and women. I didn't want to fight them, but I had to. It was me or them. I did it because I believe in what we're doing. I left my mother to fight this fight. She's one of the greatest women in the whole world, and I left her alone to be here. Sometimes I send money to her, but I can never visit her. If the Grimleal found out about our relation, they'd kill the whole village just to get to me. I love her so much, but I may not see her for years. I left because I believe in this fight." Soleil looked Caeldori right in the eye. "I may not be like you, but I do care about what we do."

Caeldori nodded. "You're right. Maybe I am too dismissive of you. I-I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

"It's just… I am the most experienced of us. I don't mean to control you. I just want to help."

"That's not a bad thing, Caeldori. You just need to loosen up a little."

Caeldori shrugged. "Maybe you're right. You know there's another thing I admire about you, Soleil. You almost never get embarrassed, no matter what you're doing. Sometimes… I wish I could talk to people like you talk to young women."

Soleil blushed. "You-you want to learn how to talk to girls?"

"Not literally. I just wish I had your confidence. I wish I could talk to boys like you talk to girls. It'd be nice to get to know them instead of just staring wistfully."

"Right! Yeah, of course not literally. You're not into girls. That would be too good to be true." Soleil muttered, her voice trailing off as the sentence went on until it was barely audible.

"I guess we could both teach each other things."

"Yeah. I guess we could."

Ophelia's face lit up. "Great! We're all friends now! Everyone can be happy again!"

Caeldori looked at Ophelia. "What do you mean everyone can be happy? Were you not?"

"Well… it was hard watching you two fight all the time."

"Everything has to be about you, huh Ophelia?" Soleil said in an annoyed tone. Caeldori nodded.

"Did you want us to stop fighting so that things would be easier for you? Our feelings don't matter?"

Ophelia looked back and forth between the two. "But, I just wanted to-"

Soleil turned to Caeldori. "Gods she can be annoying. At least she doesn't talk about fate, and the stars, and being the chosen heroine so much anymore."

Caeldori nodded. "That was annoying. I also wish she'd comb her hair more. I'm tired of that cowlick."

"Guys I'm standing right here!"

Soleil and Caeldori ignored her. "And she's always leaving tomes around!"

"And I wish she'd wear less revealing clothes. I'm tired of looking at her stomach."

"I don't know. I kind of like her outfit." Soleil glanced up at Caeldori, who was giving her an annoyed look. "I mean, how dare she!"

"Remember when she used to call her attacks?"

"Oh yeah! That was annoying."

Caeldori chuckled. "One time a Grimleal soldier hit her in the face because she spent too much time calling her attack, and the next day she still did it again!"

Soleil giggled. "Oh I have tons of Ophelia stories from before you even met her! You'll love these."

Ophelia face palmed as the two bonded over shared complaints of her. "You had to bring them together, Ophelia. You had to open your mouth, Ophelia." Ophelia turned and began to walk away when the serenity of the moment was obliterated by an ear rupturing blast. The three girls turned in panic as a thundering noise emanated from the forest, and an instant later a compressed blast of air almost threw them off their feet. They recovered and watched warily as a pillar of smoke rose from the forest. Ophelia and Soleil both looked to Caeldori, hoping that it was something she was familiar with. She gave them an apprehensive look.

"Whatever that was, it wasn't normal. We should go investigate."

"You want us to go towards the explosion?" Soleil said in an exasperated tone. Caeldori shot her a bitter glare.

"Can you just go along with what I say for once? Just once can you not fight me on something?"

"Just once can you suggest an idea that isn't crazy?"

Caeldori and Soleil faced each other down. "Why are you so hostile to my orders? I'm the more experienced soldier, and I've received actual combat training from an actual soldier."

"You're not our leader! Besides, I've received combat training! I was in the Grimleal, remember?"

"My instructor used to kill Grimleal soldiers before breakfast!"

Soleil was so caught up in her need to outshow Caeldori that she didn't put much thought into what she said. "Yeah well… my side won in the end!"

"You're on our side you dunderhead!"

"Yeah well… no you!"

"Evening, ladies!" The three turned to find a man standing behind them, a man that absolutely hadn't been there before. The man was standing between them and the cabin, cutting them off from it. For the most part the man wore unassuming grey, black, and dark brown clothing that was baggy and ill-fitting. He resembled a thief, but there were a few unusual things about him. Only the bottom of the man's face was visible. His eyes were covered by strange goggles. The goggles had a number of lenses in front of them, and each lense was attached in such a way that it could be flipped up and out of the way. It gave the man's face an almost robotic look. The man also wore a helmet that covered the top of his head, so that no hair was visible. The man was covered with weapons, but not common weapons. Instead the man was covered in very advanced gunpowder weaponry. The only melee weapon on the man was a small sword by his hip. Fuse lit grenades were attached to his vest, and two wheellock pistols were slung into his sash. Hanging at the man's back was a very large hand mortar, and also slung across his back was a long arquebus. Caeldori didn't react to it, but Ophelia and Soleil were gripped by fear as they remembered their experience with gunpowder weapons in Veslil. Finally the man had some kind of metal brace along his right arm, giving him a very mechanical appearance. The man seemed to have a toothpick in his mouth, but he pulled it out and revealed that it was a lollipop of all things. "I'm looking for an old man. Have you seen him?"

The three looked to each other. They were all unnerved by him, but they didn't back down. Instead the three girls took a step forward and readied their weapons. "Who-who are you?" Ophelia asked.

"Never you mind who I am. I'm looking for Chrom. Have you seen him?"

A chill ran down Ophelia's spine. She looked to Caeldori and Soleil, and they also realized that the man was likely with the Grimleal. The three nodded to each other and gave the man the most determined expressions they could. "We're not taking you to him."

"Girls, you look smart, so I'll make this as simple as possible. I'm going to put that old man in the dirt, and if you don't get in my way, I won't hurt you too. They don't pay me extra for additional bodies. I know he's here. I just want to make this as easy as I can. Are you helping me or not?"

Ophelia prepared to attack with her Missiletainn tome. "We're not afraid of you, and you can't take all three of us."

"Oh babies, don't play this game with me." The man leveled his arquebus at the three and fired. The bullet hit the side of Soleil's arm shield, tearing it off her arm. Soleil was uninjured, but the sheer force sent her flying backwards. Caeldori and Ophelia did a double take. "You're messing with the big leagues now."

Mercer and Cordelia made their way back to the cabin. Cordelia pulled Mercer down into a bush as they neared the front. "Wait! Don't run out. Someone's there. I can hear them."

"What?" Mercer looked to see a man standing over Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori. They looked uninjured, but they were tied together. The man circled them.

"Come on, girls. I don't want to hurt any of you, but I don't have any other sources of information. Just tell me where the old man is and we all get to walk out of here."

Ophelia shot the man a defiant look. "You're with the Grimleal aren't you?"

"Quit worrying about who I am, Blondie. Just know that we'll have problems if you don't tell me where Chrom is. Why are you so loyal to this old man anyways?"

"Because he's going to help us save the world." Soleil declared. "He's going to help us overthrow the Grimleal, and purge men like you from the land."

The man winced at Soleil's very high pitched voice. "Keep telling yourself that, Shrill. Chrom used to work with men like me. A lot actually."

"He would never work with an assassin like you."

The man laughed. "Well… I'll give you half credit for that one. I was no assassin back then, but he worked with plenty of horrible people. We were all killers. Murderers. We created piles of bodies for Chrom and his tactician."

Caeldori looked curiously at the man. "You knew him?"

The man walked over to Caeldori and knelt beside her. "You know, you look exactly like a woman I once knew. You're like a… copy."

"Go to hell."

"Well you certainly don't have her manners, Copy." The man stood up. "But yeah, I knew him."

"Who are you!"

The man turned to see Mercer rising from the bush, the Falchion in his hands. Cordelia desperately tried to fumble for him, but he left her so quickly that she fell over. The man smiled. "Well speak of the shadow dragon." He quickly pulled out his hand mortar and lit one of his grenades. The man then shoved it down the barrel and sent it hurtling towards Mercer. It stopped several meters in front of him and exploded into a rapidly expanding cloud of smoke. The man drew his sword and shot Mercer a devious smile as the smoke enveloped the area. It became so thick that Mercer couldn't see the cabin or the man anymore. He readied his Falchion and glanced around.

"What is this? Who are you?!"

"Don't recognize me, Chrom?"

Mercer looked around, still unable to tell where the man was. "How do you know me?" The man responded by charging at Mercer from behind. He barely deflected the attack, but the man did not counter. He ran back into the smoke and disappeared. "Show yourself!"

"Of course you don't recognize me. Us commoners always were beneath the notice of you blue bloods." The man charged at Mercer again. This time the two exchanged several sword blows before the man disappeared into the smoke. Mercer frantically looked around, and he noticed that the smoke was slowly dissipating.

"You can't hide forever!"

"Don't need to. I only need the drop on you." The man burst from the smoke cloud to Mercer's right and the two engaged in a bitter struggle. The man was much faster than Mercer, and Mercer hadn't fully recovered from his injuries, but Mercer could tell that he was more skilled with his sword. Mercer managed to disarm the man after a furious exchange of blows, and he held the Falchion to the man's neck. Mercer finally got a good look at the man, and he could tell from the man's skin that he was middle aged, but he couldn't figure out anything else about him. The man's face was mostly obscured by a helmet and strange goggles of some kind. The man slowly moved his arms to the side and had very nervous breathing, but he didn't stop smiling.

"It's over." Mercer pressed the Falchion closer to the man's neck. "Now tell me why you're attacking us!"

"Why? Really? That's your question? I think it's pretty obvious why people want you dead."

"How do you know me?"

"We know each other, Chrom. You must think us commoners stupid to not know of your activities. You must think we pick daisies, and stare at tourist attractions, and eat bonbons all day."

Mercer's eyes widened. He was sure he had heard those words before. "You-you… you're-"

The man didn't let him finish. He revealed that the metal brace along his arm was part of a pistol sleeve, and in an instant Mercer found a small holdout pistol pointed at his abdomen. Mercer grappled with the man and managed to point the pistol up and away from him, but it still went off right by his ear. Mercer reeled in pain as a ringing noise took his left ear, and the man took advantage of the situation to attack. He brutally struck at Mercer with his fists and finished by kicking him in his bad knee. Mercer fell to the ground in agony, and the man finished with a kick to his face. Mercer struggled to get up, and he noticed Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori looking on in horror. He turned to the man, tears rolling down his cheeks from the sheer agony. "Don't hurt them! Please! Don't hurt them."

"Don't worry. I'm not like you. I won't get innocent people killed."

"What do you want with me?"

"Someone paid a lot of money to have you killed. It's as simple as that. It's not personal… well that's not true, but I'm doing my job."

"I think… I think I know who you are, but the man I knew was no assassin."

"Figured it out did you? Granted I didn't use gunpowder weapons back then. They weren't very widespread. They are handy though. Swinging a sword around is a young man's game." The man took off his helmet, revealing graying, bright orange hair. "Anyways, I may not look like the man I was thirty years ago, but I am." The man finally removed his goggles. Mercer immediately felt a surge of guilt, the same feeling he had when he first saw Cordelia again.

"Gaius."

Gaius gave a small smile. "Yes. It's been a long time hasn't it, Blue."

"You were never an assassin! You had a moral code! Why are you working with the Grimleal?!"

"To be fair I don't like the Grimleal, but they really want you dead. I can buy a lot of sweets for 250,000 gold."

"What's wrong with you?!"

"Shut your mouth. You did this to me. You and Bubbles."

"What?!"

"You're right. I did use to have a moral code. I never took a life on the job. I never took a life outside of self defense. That was before I joined the Shepherds. You and Robin, you made me kill. Constantly. I was just a thief, but you made me a soldier! Did you ever realize how many people we killed?! We were just a few dozen people, but we killed hundreds, maybe thousands. I know most of them were bad people, but they were still human beings! You and Robin turned me into a machine! The killing never stopped! It never stopped! I know it was to save the world, but they were still human beings! We made mountains of bodies for you and Robin. You made me a murderer." Gaius had to pause and collect himself. "I told myself it was for the greater good. I told myself that the people we fought deserved it. I told myself that we were protecting the world. I told myself… this is war. This is what we do. All that killing… it gets to you. It stains your soul. I can't eat food without it tasting like dirt. I keep eating candy but it all tastes like mush anymore. I can't drink anything without it tasting like stale water that's been in the sun for hours. I can't be with a woman without it feeling like a corpse. When I look at people I just see puppets. Living people are puppets on strings, and dead people are puppets with the strings cut. When you kill someone, you're just cutting the strings. That's all it is. You and Robin… you made me into this."

"You blame me for what you've become?" Mercer asked bitterly. Gaius looked him right in the eye.

"You didn't make me the best assassin in the continent. I did that myself. You're the reason why I can do this work, though. I never took a life as a thief, but you and Robin made me a murderer. You both acted like our foes were just enemy pieces in a game, but this isn't a game! This is real life! Those were human beings. Did it even get to you?"

"Of course it did. Not a day goes by that I don't remember it, but it was for the greater good."

Gaius chuckled. "I remember when I believed that. I told myself it was for the good of the world. I told myself that if Chrom and Robin believed it was necessary, then it must have been for the good of the world. I trusted you. I believed in your cause. When you betrayed me… when you betrayed all of us… you made me realize how cruel the world is. You taught me that nothing matters except survival. Now I survive, and you're just a broken man." Mercer didn't respond. He just hung his head, and Gaius drew one of his pistols. "For the record I could have put a bullet in your head from a distance, but I had to get one last look at you first. Look how old you've become." Gaius pointed the pistol at Mercer as Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori desperately cried out for him. "This is for my wife and daughter."

Gaius was so focused on Mercer that he didn't notice another woman run up behind him until she was almost on top of him. At the last moment he turned and pointed his pistol at the woman, while the woman brought a knife to his throat. The two stood in shock. "Cordelia?!"

Cordelia had overheard part of the conversation, and the man's voice confirmed what she had suspected. "Gaius!"

"What… why are… are you blind?!"

"A lot changes in thirty years."

"Yes. Yes it does."

"Don't do this, Gaius."

Gaius' pistol had been shaking, but he steeled himself and pointed it right at Cordelia's eye. Cordelia showed no fear, though she might not have known it was even there. "Don't talk to me like that! You have no idea what I've had to do to survive." Gaius waved his pistol at Mercer. "Besides, he deserves it! He ruined our lives! I bet he made you blind!"

Cordelia's lip trembled. "Yes… but you can't do this!"

"It's my job."

"You're better than this, Gaius. You need to stop blaming him for what happened."

"He did it!"

"Cordelia is right!" Caeldori shouted. "He's a good man! He's sorry about what happened!"

"Yeah all he does is angst about it." Soleil chimed in. "He's a broken man. 'Oh my wife is dead. Oh my children are dead. Oh my sisters are dead.' It's all he's ever on about. He feels sorry about what happened! Really."

Ophelia tried to look at Gaius sympathetically. "I know he's a good man. Whatever happened, I'm sure he did his best to stop it. Please forgive him! He regrets not being able to stop the Grimleal from killing his friends. It wasn't his fault, though. I know he would have done anything to stop it. He's sorry!"

Gaius was shaking with anger, yet he gave a strange smile. "You… you three don't know. Cordelia didn't tell you. I know Chrom didn't tell you. No wonder you follow him. You don't know."

"Know what?"

"How the Shepherds fell. He didn't tell you. Of course he didn't tell you. If you knew, IF YOU KNEW, you wouldn't think so highly of him."

"It wasn't his fault!"

"SHUT UP!"

Gaius walked towards Chrom, ignoring Cordelia's blade, and knelt beside him. "Tell them."

Mercer slowly looked up. "Gaius, please."

Gaius hit him with his pistol. "Tell them! Tell them what really happened!"

"Gaius, stop!" Cordelia yelled. Gaius pointed his pistol at Chrom.

"Tell them, of I'll fill you with as many holes as I can before you bleed to death."

"It won't change what happened!"

"THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW! THEY NEED TO KNOW JUST HOW HORRIBLE YOU REALLY ARE! Tell them right now! I'm not going to let you lead more young people to their deaths! Tell them right now!"

Mercer looked up at the three girls. They were angry with Gaius, but they also seemed curious about what happened. Part of them seemed to want to hear the story. "Gaius, please."

Gaius dropped his pistol on the ground. "Tell them, and I'll let them go unharmed. I won't do anything to them, but only if you tell them. Every detail. Tell them the whole story."

Mercer was silent for a long time, but he couldn't find a way out. He wasn't sure if Gaius was capable of hurting innocent people, but a lot had changed in thirty years. If there was a chance of making sure nothing happened to Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori, he had to take it. Reluctantly, Mercer looked up at the three girls and told them exactly what had happened thirty years ago.

Chrom stood alongside his younger sister in the camp's nursery. He gently rocked his infant daughter back and forth in an attempt to calm her. She wasn't crying, but she was making uncomfortable wails and squirming so badly that Chrom almost couldn't hold her. Nothing he did seemed to help. Chrom looked to Lissa, and she smiled warmly. "I hear that when a baby is squirmy like that, they need to be burped."

"Oh, alright. I'll try that." Chrom forcibly patted his infant daughter on the back, which caused her to actually start crying. "I uh, don't know how to do this. Lissa would you mind getting my wife? I think she's in the mess hall."

"I can help."

"I wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense. I love to spend time with my niece." Lissa took the infant Lucina in her arms and gently burped her. "There, there, sweetie. Your aunt Lissa has you now." Lissa smiled as Lucina calmed down, but she glanced up at Chrom to find him looking at her uncomfortably. "Yeesh, Chrom. Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to drop her or anything! I'm a parent too."

"What? No, no! It's nothing like that. I just… I've had a headache all morning. It just got worse in the past few seconds."

"Do you need to lie down?"

"I just… I could use some fresh air."

Lissa nodded and playfully bounced the infant Lucina up and down as Chrom walked out into the open. A number of the Shepherds outside turned and waved at him as he walked by, but he didn't notice. The pain in his head grew worse every second until he fell to his knees and clasped his head. Sounds suddenly became deafening, and lights became bright and wavy. Chrom couldn't see more than a few centimeters in front of him, and every noise he heard seemed to blend together. "Oh gods! Gah! What is this?" Chrom kneeled in pain for several seconds before the feeling finally faded. He rose to his feet and exhaled as lights and sounds became tolerable again. "Ah! Finally. That was weird." Chrom went back into the nursery. "It was nothing, Lissa. I feel better now-AAAGH!"

In an instant, fears Chrom never even realized he had came to life. Lissa was nowhere to be seen. Chrom could see his infant daughter, but his sister was no longer holding her. Lucina was being held by a Risen. The monstrosity roared at Chrom as he entered the nursery. Chrom drew his Falchion. His blood felt like it was going to boil right out of his skin, and he could barely form coherent words. "LISSA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" The Risen just roared louder. Chrom didn't have much time to think. He would not allow this monster to hurt his family. "GET BACK!" Chrom threw himself forwards and slashed off the Risen's forearms. He caught his daughter before she even started to fall and quickly placed her in her crib. He then turned and hacked the Risen to pieces, slicing off its arms at the shoulders, its legs, and finally decapitating it. Chrom then ran outside of the nursery. "Lissa! Where are-"

The camp was filled with Risen. Dozens of them. They all turned to Chrom and roared. They didn't charge at him, but they shrieked and clanged their weapons together. Chrom panicked and glanced around. "LISSA! ROBIN?! ANYONE! WHAT'S HAPPENING?" The Risen roared even louder, so Chrom retreated back into the nursery. The screaming had awoken the infants inside, and now almost all of them were crying. Chrom looked in horror at the children of the Shepherds, the ones actually born to this time. He refused to think about what would happen if the Risen got in. He had no idea where anyone else was, or how so many Risen had gotten into the camp so suddenly, but none of that mattered. He had to protect the babies.

Chrom charged out of the nursery. Oddly, the Risen seemed to have forgotten about him. Chrom didn't care. He went up to the closest one and brought the Falchion through its abdomen, and the Risen fell over and disappeared in a flash as all Risen did when killed. At this point the other Risen all turned to Chrom and roared. He didn't give them any time to react. He roared right back and threw himself at the next closest Risen. The Risen didn't fight back until Chrom had killed five or six of them, and even then they didn't try to kill him. They tried to disarm him or restrain him. At one point they tackled him to the ground, and Chrom had to brutally force them off of him. He fought as viciously as he could to make sure that none got away. He couldn't let any slip into the nursery. He cut off limbs. He broke knees. He slashed out eyes. He maneuvered so that Risen would hit each other when they tried to hit him. He fought until his arms felt like they wanted to fall off and his legs screamed at him, and he kept fighting. Whenever he was disarmed of the Falchion, he disarmed the Risen and used their weapons, or he killed with his bare hands. At one point he gouged out eyes with his bare fingers.

The Risen were everywhere. They were in the tents. They were in the food storage. After Chrom managed to clear out most of them, he went around making sure that none were hiding. He even had to chase some of them down, but he never went far from the nursery. At one point he saw a Risen trying to mount a horse and flee, which wasn't a behavior he had ever seen them do. The whole situation was undeniably strange. Chrom shouted for help whenever he could, but the other Shepherds were nowhere to be found. He feared the worst, yet he never found any of their bodies. Nevertheless, he killed the Risen and returned to the nursery. There he found what appeared to be the source of the attack.

A Risen Chief raised its sword and shrieked. Chrom roared at the top of his lungs and attacked, driving it away from the nursery. Chrom and the Risen Chief fought for almost twenty minutes. It was unusually skilled, in fact it was easily the most powerful Risen Chrom had ever fought. It was able to match him blow for blow, and even seemed to use a similar fighting style to him. Chrom couldn't find an opening, and his body screamed at him to give up, but he couldn't stop thinking of the infants. The thought of anything happening to them was unacceptable. Chrom fought and fought until he finally exploited an opening to slash off the Risen Chief's arms. For a few seconds the Risen Chief still refused to go down, so Chrom drove the Falchion through its abdomen. Once again Chrom's headache returned, and lights and sounds began to blur around him. When the feeling abated and Chrom looked back to the Risen Chief, he realized there was no Risen in front of him. Once more he saw a fear he didn't even know he had come to life in front of him.

Chrom froze in abject terror as his own daughter slowly died on his blade. Lucina was covered with so much blood that Chrom could barely see the blue in her outfit. She struggled to take breaths and shivered uncontrollably. Slowly, she brought her eyes to meet Chrom's horrified gaze, and she smiled. She realized that her father was in control of himself again. "F-father. Y-you're… back."

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

"Father… whatever this was… it wasn't… your-"

Lucina's head hung down and she finally couldn't carry herself anymore. She fell downwards, taking the Falchion lodged in her abdomen with her. Chrom couldn't think anything. He could barely feel anything. A billion thoughts and emotions waged war with each other over the chance to appear in his mind as a coherent idea, and Chrom couldn't even imagine doing anything else other than standing still and looking on in terror. Slowly Chrom turned around and looked back at the camp. Deep down he knew what he'd find, but it shook him to his soul regardless.

There never were any Risen. The bodies of the Shepherds were scattered around the camp. Chrom's mind couldn't process so much death, nevermind his own hand in it all. He just fell to his knees, stared aimlessly into space, and gave one last feral howl of anguish at the whole damn world before blacking out.

Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori stared blankly at Mercer. He had their undivided attention, but they had no idea how to feel about everything they'd just learned. Soleil was the first to speak up. "You… killed our fathers?" She almost whispered in a flat tone. Mercer broke down crying.

"I killed them all!"

Gaius pulled at his clothing to expose his bare chest. A long scar ran diagonally down his abdomen. "He missed my heart by a few centimeters. He blinded Cordelia. The only reason why any of us survived is because he thought we were dead."

The three girls looked at Cordelia. "Grandmother?!" Caeldori exclaimed. "Is this-"

"Yes. All of it."

The three girls stared into space in shock, and Gaius turned to Cordelia. "How can you help this man? After everything he's done, how can you stand up for him!"

"I know you hate him, but look at him. Look how old and weak he's become. Look how broken he is." Gaius turned to look at Mercer. "Is killing a man like that really going to make everything better."

"No… but I'll make a lot of money. If anything I'll be doing him a favor."

"It wasn't his fault! He was hallucinating!"

"You think that because he had glowing purple eyes the whole time, that he isn't responsible!"

"Gangrel and Aversa did something to him!"

"But he is still the one who did it!"

"Well I forgive him." Cordelia stepped towards Gaius. "And I won't let you kill him."

"You can't stop me."

"Maybe not. You might have changed in thirty years, but I haven't. Not like you have. You knew me back then Gaius, so you know what I'm like. I don't give up, and I promise you that part of me hasn't changed. I will do anything I can to keep you from hurting him. Either I kill you, with my bare hands if I have to, or you kill me and then him. I will not stand here and let you hurt him."

"You can't hope to beat me."

"Maybe not, but you know I'll try. Can you do that, Gaius? Can you kill me?"

Gaius drew his other pistol. "I've had to do a lot of things I never thought I'd do."

"Then do it. I won't stand here while you shoot him. I will attack you, so it'll have to be me, then him."

"You don't have to die for him!"

"Shoot me, Gaius. Me, then him."

Gaius didn't point his pistol at Cordelia. He just stood there holding it for some time. Finally he dropped it and knelt beside Mercer, who was still sobbing. "Listen here. You are and always will be a miserable pile of trash, but I'm not going to fight Cordelia for you. She doesn't deserve that. I don't know how you inspire such loyalty, but if I ever hear from you again, I'll kill you free of charge. I'm not going to let you ruin people's lives like you ruined our lives. Ever again." Gaius kicked Mercer in the face before pulling out a small sack. "Here's some medicine for your sad little army." With that, Gaius retrieved his weapons and left. Cordelia untied the girls and went to comfort Mercer.

The girls didn't join her.