Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori sat a table as Cordelia and Mercer stood over them. Mercer was sullen and sheepish, and he rarely glanced over at the girls. Cordelia stood by his side as if to reassure him, and she stood facing the three. "Girls, it's been days since we encountered that assassin, and Chrom tells me that you three have barely spoken a word to him since then." The three girls looked over at Mercer, and he hung his head. "I know you three likely have some strong feelings towards him after what you learned, so I think it's best if we air them. It's not good to keep them inside."

Soleil crossed her arms. "Oh I don't think the old man will like anything we have to say to him."

Cordelia sighed. "Soleil, please. The best thing to do right now is talk about this. If you say your feelings out loud, you won't dwell on them anymore. You'll feel much better. Would… would anyone like to start?"

The three girls looked to each other, and Ophelia eventually stood up. She slowly walked over to Mercer. "Mercer I uh… oh, wow. This is hard." Ophelia glanced up at Mercer. His gaze was filled with sadness and remorse. Ophelia looked down at her feet and took a deep breath. "Mercer… I don't hate you. I don't. I know that what happened isn't your fault." Ophelia looked back to Mercer, but he still gave her a solemn look. Ophelia glanced over to Cordelia, and she smiled and urged her to continue. "But… but I… I'm afraid of you."

Cordelia frowned. "Afraid?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. I just… I can't stop picturing it. You loved them. They were your friends and family, but it didn't stop you. You told us that you last saw your sister, my grandmother, holding your daughter. You told us that you hacked apart a Risen that was holding your daughter. That means… your own… oh gods. I can't help but be afraid of you now. I'm sorry."

Mercer's lip quivered and Cordelia put her hand on his shoulder. "It's alright." She whispered to him. She turned back to Ophelia. "Thank you, Ophelia. It's good to tell others what's bothering us. Do you feel better now?"

"I… I guess."

Cordelia nodded and turned to Soleil. "Would anyone else like to share?"

Soleil didn't look up, and her face scrunched up with frustration. "I can feel that dead stare of yours through your blindfold."

"Just share with us, Soleil. It'll help."

"Will it?"

"Yes."

Soleil groaned and walked over to Mercer. She got uncomfortably close to him and looked him dead in the eye. "You killed my father, and I don't want anything to do with you."

Mercer choked back a look of pain and Cordelia shot a nasty glance at Soleil. "Soleil!"

"What?! You told me to share my feelings! My mother had to raise me alone because of this man! She is the greatest woman in the world, and she had to work her fingers to the bone every day just so we could get by! It's all because I had no father!" Soleil turned back to Mercer. "And it's all your fault! When I first got to know you by that campfire with Ophelia, I feared that you were just a broken shell of a man. I thought that interacting with you was a fundamental waste of time. I was right. I should have listened to myself."

"Soleil that's enough!" Cordelia shouted. Soleil's expression twisted with anger and she threw herself in Cordelia's face, repeatedly jamming her finger into her chest and forcing her backwards.

"SHUT UP! Your opinion doesn't mean anything to me! When you trained the three of us, you always looked down on me! You called me a slacker, a pervert, undedicated, and you said I'd never make it as a Pegasus Knight. Now though, now I see that you have no right to talk down to me. You may be a much better soldier than me, but you're barely even a woman!"

"Excuse me?!"

"You are just a mindless, soulless drone. Your feelings for him blind you. Of course you can't think negatively about him! You were brainwashed into being unable to think anything bad about him! The Pegasus Knights brainwashed young women into being mindless servants of the Exalt, so of course you're incapable of realizing how horrible he is! You're just a weapon! A tool! You're not capable of independent thought! You of all people have no right to talk down to me!" Soleil walked back to Mercer and stuck her finger in his face. "If you were really sorry, you would have died with them." With that, Soleil stormed out of the house and into the front yard. Ophelia stood up and followed her out.

"I'll go talk to her."

Mercer was fighting back tears at this point, and Cordelia grabbed his shoulder again and gently rocked him back and forth. "Okay… that was… why don't you go Caeldori?"

"Grandmother." Caeldori said in a pleading tone.

"Please."

Caeldori sighed and stood up. "Mercer it's not that I hate you. I just… don't respect you. At all." Cordelia grabbed Caeldori by the ear and pulled on it. "OW! Grandma!"

"Listen here you little runt! You don't talk to your elders that way!"

"Soleil said much worse!"

"But she's not my granddaughter! I raised you better than this!" Cordelia let go of her ear. "Now you're entitled to your opinions, but rephrase them in a more respectful manner!"

Caeldori took a deep breath. "Fine. Mercer, it's not that I hate you. Rather… I just think you're a heartless, soulless, killing machine capable of killing your own family members… is all."

Mercer turned to Cordelia. "This isn't helping."

Cordelia shook her head. "Ugh. Caeldori… just go."

Caeldori followed Ophelia and Soleil outside and Mercer sat down at the table, burying his face in his hands. Cordelia quickly sat by him and tried to comfort him as Mercer took short and rapid breaths. "Hey, hey. Come on. It's alright."

"Oh gods." Mercer whimpered.

Cordelia grabbed one of his hands and held it. "I know they said some nasty things, but they're just angry. They'll feel better, and they still look up to you. I know they do. When, when I first got Severa to open up to me, she said very hurtful things to me. She didn't mean it though. She was just trying to push me away because she was afraid of letting me in, but she still loved me. The girls are angry and hurt but they still need you. They'll feel better. I promise."

Mercer took his face out of his other hand, revealing tears running down his cheeks. "Cordelia… you don't have to make me feel better."

Cordelia grabbed Mercer's hand and clasped it with both of hers. "Chrom, do you remember my husband?"

"Libra?"

"Yes. We had so much in common. We both joined the Shepherds around the same time, and for similar reasons. We were both the last survivors of our squads. Phila's squadron was killed in the war with Gangrel while protecting Emmeryn, and I only survived because I stayed behind. Libra was the only survivor of his group when they went to rescue Emmeryn. I loved him so much… but I didn't even see it for the longest time. I never thought about him like that before he proposed to me." Cordelia paused to collect herself. "But he wasn't who he appeared to be. He had a darkness within him. He didn't like what he did, and I wasn't sure that he was happy. I was a young bride. Phila took young women and turned them into warriors, but I didn't know how to be a wife. I didn't know how to help him. I watched as my husband slowly wallowed in depression." Cordelia gripped Mercer's hand very tightly. She slowly brought it to her lips and kissed it. "I'm not going to do that again. I'm not going to just stand by and watch as another man in my life is consumed by his inner demons. I'm going to help you. Maybe I can't make you stop hating yourself, but I'm not going to stop helping you. Maybe, just maybe, I can make you feel anything else about yourself." Mercer didn't respond. Cordelia stood up. "I'll make us some tea. Would you like that?"

"You don't have to do that for me."

"Maybe I want some." Cordelia started to make her way to her cabinet. "You're welcome to have some." Mercer watched as she began making it, and in the corner of the cabinet he noticed what looked like a wine bottle. It immediately became the focus of his attention, and he became so fixated on it that time became irrelevant to him. He didn't even notice when Cordelia eventually left the kitchen. He only cared that he was alone. He quickly got up and retrieved the bottle. It really was wine.

"Oh gods. I haven't had a drink in weeks, and I haven't had wine in years." Parts of Mercer told him that drinking now wasn't right, or that Cordelia might have been saving that, but they were drowned out by Mercer's suppressed but ever present alcoholic. "Cordelia won't mind if I take it. I just, I need a drink." Mercer placed the bottle on the table and sliced off the top with his Falchion. He then immediately began chugging right from the bottle.

Cordelia stepped out to the porch. She took in the cool night air and listened for the three girls. Though they went silent as soon as she walked by, Cordelia could still hear their breathing, and from it she knew where they were and who was where. She turned to the three girls. Caeldori stood up. "Grandmother… about what happened-"

"It's fine. You were just doing what I asked you to. You're all entitled to your feelings."

Cordelia sat beside the girls. Ophelia sighed and looked out into the forest by the house. "I'm sorry Cordelia, but we just don't trust him anymore."

"He's still a good man."

Soleil shook her head. "Have you ever considered that your feelings for him are blinding you to what he's really like?"

Cordelia thought about Soleil's words for some time before answering. "You will never know how badly I once wanted that man. There was a time where I felt like he was all that mattered to me. My feelings for him just consumed me and I… it was hard to focus on anything else sometimes. But I buried those feelings anyways because they weren't appropriate. I didn't spend my adult life training to be a Pegasus Knight so that I could fawn over men. I did it so that I could protect my country. The Pegasus Knights have protected this country for thousands of years. The Hero King himself had Pegasus Knights fighting by his side. I was proud to follow in that legacy. I served because it was my job. I followed Chrom because I believed in his cause." Cordelia turned to Soleil. "So no. I'm not blinded by my feelings for him. I refused to let those feelings affect me in any way, and I still thought he was a good man. Just give him a chance. It's not wrong to react like this but… look at me. He blinded me, but I don't hate him. I don't. I know that it wasn't his fault. I know that there's still a hero in him. He can help you. He can still help the world. Just give him a chance."

The three girls looked to each other, but they didn't say anything. For several minutes the four just sat in silence, until Cordelia looked towards the forest. "Wait… I heard something."

Caeldori looked at her. "You're always hearing things."

"No I heard something. Someone is out there. I know it."

"Well, well, well… I guess someone does live out here." The four women looked up in horror as Courtney stepped out of the tree line. "And a Pegasus Knight at that! There aren't many of you left."

Cordelia didn't know who Courtney was, but she could hear how panicked the three girls were becoming. "Girls who… who is this?"

Caeldori slowly drew her spear, and Soleil and Ophelia followed suit with their weapons. "He's with the Grimleal." She answered bitterly.

"What?! How could they find us?"

"That assassin we sent after Chrom may have abandoned his job, but he did tell us where you were."

Cordelia looked horrified. "No! No, he wouldn't!"

"Oh but he did, Cordelia."

Cordelia stepped forward. Caeldori stuck her arm out and tried to stop her, but Cordelia gently brushed her away. "How do you know me?"

"I know all of you. The Inquisitors maintain extensive records of the Shepherds. We know everything about you, but more than that we met once."

"We met?"

"Well… no, but I saw you." Courtney took off his mask, exposing his warped face. Cordelia was the only one who didn't grimace from the sight. "I saw you."

"W-when?"

"Thirty years ago, back when you were a young woman, and I was just a boy. I was a peasant, and I lived with my family in a small village in the border sands. Right on the border between Plegia and Ferox." Cordelia froze as she remembered what he was talking about. Courtney's badly burned lips curled into a smile as he saw Cordelia recall the location. "I remember seeing you Cordelia. I remember a Pegasus Knight with red hair, bright red hair, flying overhead. There was a battle going on. The Shepherds were fighting with the Grimleal. I was frightened by the fighting, but my parents urged me to get back inside. They said we'd be safe so long as we stayed in our village. The fighting wouldn't affect us there." Courtney looked down. "But it did come to us. Barbarians came to our village, and they ransacked us. They took my family for everything we had. When it was all over, I could see that the Shepherds were still nearby. You could have helped. You could have saved us, but you didn't."

Cordelia took a step back as the memories came back to her. Courtney was talking about a battle fought just after she joined the Shepherds. It was the battle where the Shepherds first met Nowi and Gregor, and when they first met the Grimleal. There had been villages nearby. "You… you were a villager!"

"Yes. Because you didn't save us, my family lost everything. My parents had to send me to an orphanage. I was furious with them. I hated them for it. I ran away and travelled kilometers to make it back to my village. I refused to let my family abandon me. When I got back though, the other villagers told me that my parents had died. They'd starved. We were so poor after those barbarians pillaged us that my parents couldn't even put food on the table. They gave everything they had to me so I didn't know how bad things were, and they sent me away to save my life. They had so little left for themselves that they didn't last a week after I was gone. They were starving even as they sent me away." Courtney looked back to Cordelia, his deformed face further warped by rage. "And it's all your fault. The Shepherds could have stopped those barbarians, but you didn't get to me. I lost everything because of you."

Cordelia was moved by Courtney's words, but Caeldori was uncaring. "So you blame them for what happened? Now you just want revenge? You realize that those barbarians were with the Grimleal right? You're with the people that ruined your life!"

Courtney laughed and put his mask back on. "You're right. I am with the people that ruined me. See… I don't care about revenge. That's a childish motivation. No, no that's not what this is about. It's just that I learned something then. Feudalism is about trusting the people above you. The peasants work for the lords, and the nobles, and the knights, and in return they're supposed to protect us. When my family needed help, when we were losing everything, where were they?! Chrom formed the Shepherds to protect the people of the land, but where was he when my family needed him?! I learned that you can't depend on other people for your protection. You are the only person you can depend on. You are the only person who can guarantee your family's safety. I learned that you have to be able to take care of yourself. That's why I'm with the Grimleal. I vowed that I would never become a victim again. I vowed that I would be on the winning side one day. Now?" Courtney stuck his arms into the air, and over a dozen Reavers materialized from the forest. The four women froze and looked around warily as the Reavers surrounded them. "Now I survive! You're going to be wiped from the face of the world!"

Cordelia showed no fear. She just turned to the three girls and nodded. "Stay together. We'll be fine."

Courtney turned to his own forces. "Reavers! No bows! No pistols! No projectiles! Melee weapons only. I want this to be dirty." Courtney reveled in the fear and anxiety of the four for several seconds before finally signaling to attack. The Reavers charged at the four women without fear or hesitation, but they were ready. Within seconds they had cut down almost half of the Reavers, but the remainder didn't react. They continued to press forward without any care for self-preservation. Courtney himself took the violence in for awhile before finally moving. "I love my job!" He readied his gauntlets and waded into the fray. Blindness be damned, Cordelia fought as fiercely as her younger counterparts and managed to hold her own against the Reavers. She wasn't prepared for Courtney's sudden offensive however. Courtney singled her out and drove her back with rapid strikes before managing a solid hit on her face. Cordelia fell to her knees, and Courtney stood over her. "You ignored me then! Can you ignore me now?!" Courtney started pummeling her into the ground, smiling sadistically under his mask. "For the record, it's okay for me to hit you. I'm handicapped too."

Meanwhile Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori worked together to fight off the Reavers. The three were perfectly coordinated, moving with each other to provide a constant offense while ensuring that they had no holes in their defense. Within two minutes they had cut down every Reaver, and they turned to the man that had once been their warden. Courtney glanced up from his assault in time for Caeldori and Soleil to both stab him the chest. Courtney managed to drive them back by furiously swinging his gauntlets, and his armor saved him from serious injury, but he was still knocked to his back. He quickly realized that the Reavers were gone, and the three girls moved to surround him. "Beta Squad! Put that taxpayer money to work and GET ME!" A dozen Reavers Courtney had been holding in reserve emerged from the trees, and Courtney scurried away as Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori moved to protect Cordelia. Courtney ran to a carriage he had quietly parked nearby and banged on the cabin. "Kryczek! Deploy E-13 now!"

"Not unless it's absolutely necessary!" Kryczek shouted back. Courtney banged on the cabin even harder.

"Deploy her right gods-damned now! I'm almost out of Reavers!"

Meanwhile, Mercer finally forced himself out of his wine induced trance and stumbled outside to see what the commotion was about. He froze in panic as he saw Cordelia on the ground, and the three girls furiously defending themselves from Grimleal soldiers. When he glanced up, his fear was replaced with fury. Mercer and Courtney's eyes locked from across the front yard, and Mercer immediately sprinted back inside for his Falchion. As soon as he had it in his hands, he flung himself outside. With a roar that made Ophelia, Soleil, and Caeldori stop in their tracks for a second, Mercer cut down two Reavers before continuing to hurtle himself at Courtney. Courtney couldn't help but be startled, but his uneasiness was supplanted by excitement as he realized how perfect the situation was. "OH YE-HEH-ESS! It's like a storybook! Kryczek! Let E-13 out of her shackles!" Courtney got ready to sprint away at a moment's notice, but he didn't actually move until Mercer was almost on top of him. He darted behind the carriage an instant before Mercer could hit him with the Falchion, and then jumped up and tore off a partially undone lock keeping the carriage's back doors shut. "Showtime, girl!" He yelled without stopping.

Mercer tried to follow him, but as soon as he passed the carriage doors they flung open as if some burst of wind had forced them outwards. Mercer turned to see what happened just in time for a figure to tackle him to the ground, and he brought the Falchion up to defend himself a second before a sword was brought down on his head. Mercer forced the figure off of him and scrambled to his feet. He readied his sword and glanced up to see a face he hadn't seen in a long time. It was a face that had haunted his dreams, his visions, his very soul, for thirty years, but he hadn't seen the woman it belonged to since it happened. Time seemed to fall away, and Mercer wasn't sure that the moment would ever end. Thirty years worth of pain, guilt, and self-loathing came crashing down around him as his weary mind struggled to comprehend the face staring back at him, a face that symbolized all of his failures.

"Lucina." Mercer whispered to himself. "H-how? How is this-"

Mercer was utterly paralyzed by the emotions coming down on him as his tired eyes fell on the microcosm of his many failures, so E-13 made the first move. Mercer barely recovered in time to prevent her from decapitating him, and E-13 pressed her offensive. E-13 was identical to the Lucina that Mercer had once known, but she was far more angry. E-13's face contorted in ways Mercer didn't even know Lucina's face could as she fought. She had all the violence Lucina was capable of, but none of the empathy, restraint, and heroism to ground it. Her bladework was highly skilled, but she otherwise fought like a feral beast. Her voice was undeniably that of Mercer's daughter, but it was gripped by a hatred Mercer didn't think Lucina could ever possess. When Lucina had been alive, Mercer worried for her future. He wondered if she would ever live a normal life. Would she someday have a husband? Children? A career that wouldn't get her killed? Could she live a normal life one day, or was violence all she ever knew? Would a lifetime of fighting prevent her from settling down? The Lucina in front of Mercer now seemed like something out of Mercer's nightmares. She was the epitome of everything Mercer feared Lucina could become. She was violence with no cause. Rage with no justification. Fury with no provocation. If Lucina were stripped of all her conscious beliefs, was this who she would be? More weapon than soldier? Mercer's family was defined by violence. Mercer himself, his father, the First Exalt, the Hero King, Anri, all made their mark on history through death. Was this the logical conclusion of Mercer's genealogy? When he fathered Lucina, did he taint her very soul? Did he doom her to the endless warfare that had always defined his ancestors?

Mercer struggled to ward off E-13's blows, but he eventually managed a glancing hit on her shoulder. E-13 briefly stepped backwards, but the pain didn't faze her. She pounded on her own wound with her fist for seemingly no other reason than to intimidate Mercer. He couldn't say it wasn't working. E-13 came at him again. She seemed to move twice as quickly as before, and Mercer cold barely keep track of her. For all her speed however, her blows still had incredible power and weight behind them. Mercer knew he couldn't last much longer, so he gambled everything on his superior strength. Lucina wasn't a particularly large woman. She couldn't have been stronger than him. Mercer launched a feint to move E-13's sword out of the way before tackling her to the ground. Though Mercer managed to force her on her back, she was far stronger than she had any right to be. She almost managed to throw him off, and Mercer had to press the Falchion to her neck to incapacitate her. Mercer pushed the flat part of the blade against E-13's neck so that it didn't cut her, and threw all of his weight onto it. E-13 furiously struggled to free herself, but Mercer held her.

"What are you?! WHAT ARE YOU?!" E-13's only response was yet another yell. "I don't want to hurt you! I won't hurt you!"

"Get up, girl! Get up!" Mercer looked up to see Courtney yelling at E-13. E-13 herself rolled her head to the side and noticed the Reaver corpses scattered around the front yard. The sight of her slain comrades sent her into a bestial rage. She turned back to Mercer, her eyes choked by hatred, and struggled to free herself. Mercer could barely hold her. "That's right, girl! They did that!" Courtney yelled to her. "They did that! They killed your pals! Are you going to let them get away with it? Get up! Make them pay for it! Get up, girl! Get up!" E-13 finally forced Mercer off her and quickly got on her feet. Before Mercer could recover himself, E-13 retrieved her sword and almost bisected him, cutting him so deeply that his intestines came tumbling out. Mercer gave something between a shriek and a gurgle and fell to his side in agony. E-13 charged at him, but Courtney got in front of her. "Wait! One second. I want to talk to him first."

E-13 didn't seem to calm down whatsoever, but she did as she was told. She took a step back as Courtney stepped over Mercer. "Beautiful isn't she? I've never see such a warrior. Who'd a thunk she could have come from you?" Mercer was in too much pain to look up. He desperately held his wound and tried to keep his insides in. Courtney smiled under his mask. "That's right. She's yours. The one you actually fathered. When the Shepherds fell, the Grimleal took the infant children. Your daughter is now Gangrel's greatest weapon." Courtney leaned down. "You know what the best part is? When she last saw you, she was still sucking on her momma's teat. She was too young to even remember you." Courtney walked away laughing as Mercer screamed in anguish. "Alright, girl. Complete your mission."

Courtney put some distance between himself and the two as E-13 prepared to finish Mercer. Mercer couldn't look his daughter in the eye. He barely had the strength to turn his head, but he also couldn't bare the sight of her. He only ever wanted a better future for the younger Lucina, but because of him she was turned into a collaborator for the very death god he had tried so hard to stop. In a way though, perhaps this was penance. Mercer's own daughter had once fallen on his blade. Perhaps it was poetic justice to die by his other daughter's hand.

Mercer closed his eyes and accepted his fate, but Soleil tackled E-13 before she could bring her sword down. "Get away from him you harpy!" Soleil forced E-13 backwards and managed to disarm her before she could recover, but E-13 wasn't afraid to charge Soleil with her fists. She struck Soleil in the neck and wrestled her to the ground. Soleil was spared further harm only after Caeldori appeared from behind and stabbed E-13 through the stomach with her spear. The pain didn't stop her, and in fact it seemed to fuel her. She threw her head backwards, her long blue hair getting in Caeldori's eyes and the back of her head slamming into her nose, and forced herself off of the spear. She quickly retrieved her sword and engaged Caeldori in a bitter fight.

Ophelia, Soleil, Mercer, and even Courtney were taken back by Caeldori's skill. Ophelia and Soleil always knew that Caeldori was a step above them, but they'd never seen her in action like this before. She fought with both ferocity and grace, and her every move was efficiently planned. She never expended more energy than necessary and her strikes always flawlessly flowed into another move. Her every attack was part of a larger strategy, and anything E-13 did was quickly countered. She was always planning multiple moves into the future. For all the violence and chaos of battle, it was analyzed like a game in her mind.

Caeldori just didn't have E-13's strength or speed though, and she certainly didn't have her viciousness. Caeldori was holding her own, but she was also being steadily driven away from her allies. Ophelia readied her personal tome and prepared to strike, but she couldn't get a clear shot. She cautiously followed Caeldori and E-13 as they fought. "Caeldori! Come back to us! I can't hit her like this!"

"I have her!"

"Let us help you!"

"NO! I can do this!"

Meanwhile, Kryczek slowly exited the carriage and crept towards Courtney, careful to avoid Ophelia. He shook his head in frustration when he saw E-13 and Caeldori fighting, and when he realized Courtney was doing nothing to stop it. "No, no, no!" He said to himself. "This is too much fighting! She shouldn't be doing this much fighting!"

Ophelia continued to follow E-13 as she pressed Caeldori backwards. Caeldori fought as hard as she could, but E-13 just didn't seem to tire. Caeldori eventually made a mistake, one mistake, and E-13 was able to slash her across the left shoulder. As Caeldori staggered backwards, E-13 brought her sword through her right wrist. Caeldori's spear fell to the ground. Her hand was still clutching it.

Caeldori fell to her knees and grasped her arm while shrieking at the top of her lungs. E-13 didn't react. Though Caeldori was defenseless, E-13 didn't attack her any further. She simply stood and stared, seemingly reveling in her agony. Caeldori tried to rise to her feet, but she stumbled and fell over. All she could manage to do was hold out her uninjured arm and desperately whimper for mercy. E-13 continued to loom over her, intently fixated on Caeldori's pain. In the distance, Kryczek noticed Soleil furiously charging at E-13. He ran over to her and called out for her to turn around, but E-13's obsession with what she'd done to Caeldori couldn't be broken. She continued to stand over her and ignored Soleil's roaring until she was right on top of her.

Once again Soleil tackled E-13 to the ground, but E-13 easily overpowered her and shoved Soleil backwards. Soleil and E-13 exchanged blows with each other, and Soleil managed to disarm her of the Falchion yet again. E-13 responded by roaring in frustration before grabbing Soleil's sword arm and striking her elbow with her other arm, bending it out of place. Soleil yelled in pain and dropped her sword. She took a desperate swing with her other arm, but E-13 caught it and head butted Soleil. Soleil stumbled back, and E-13 landed a solid kick to her knee, dislocating it. Soleil fell over in crippling pain, but this time E-13 didn't just stand there. She climbed on top of Soleil and started savagely striking her in the face. She ignored her sword, and she didn't attack any other part of Soleil. She just struck her in the head over and over, accentuating every swing with a shriek. Kryczek watched in frustration as E-13 viciously but pointlessly attacked Soleil with her fists. He ran his hands through his short, gray hair and ran towards E-13.

"STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" E-13 finally stopped striking Soleil and looked up at Kryczek. "Stop it! Put her down! PUT HER DOWN!" E-13 continued to stare at her handler, but she didn't move. Kryczek started stomping his feet. "GODS-DAMNIT, PUT HER DOWN RIGHT NOW! PUT THE DYKE DOWN! PUT HER DOWN!" E-13 finally let go of Soleil. "Soleil is not a priority target! Chrom and Ophelia are priority targets! Kill them so we can go home! Get up and go kill them!" E-13 stood up and started walking towards Mercer, leaving Soleil, Caeldori, and her sword behind. Kryczek chased after her. "No! Don't use your fists! That takes too long! Use the sword! Get back here! GET BACK HERE AND USE THE SWORD! Gangrel will kill you if you leave that sword here! Go back and get the sword! NOW! Go back and get the sword! Use that!" E-13 slowly went back and retrieved her sword. She turned to Kryczek and glared at him, expecting him to further disagree with her actions. Kryczek pointed towards Mercer, who was still too injured to move. "What are you waiting for?! Go kill him! Kill him so we can go home! Kill him! Kill the priority targets! Chrom and Ophelia! Kill them! Do it now!" E-13 finally started moving towards Mercer, and Kryczek shook his head. "Gods! It's like talking to a child!" Kryczek turned back towards the carriage but froze when he saw Ophelia standing behind him, her face twisted with anger. Kryczek took a few steps back, quickly glancing around to find Courtney. He turned to Ophelia only after he couldn't find him. "W-wait! I'm unarmed! Be reasonable!"

Ophelia mercilessly hit Kryczek with a blast from her Missiletainn tome. Kryczek had no protection whatsoever. Ice materialized on much of his body, and the force of the attack sent him flying backwards into the forest. E-13 turned in time to see everything, and at the sight of her handler being injured, E-13 flew into a berserk state of rage that made her previous behavior seem tame. She unleashed a primal roar of hatred that shook everyone present to their bones before sprinting at Ophelia. Ophelia slowly and warily looked up to see her first cousin once removed throwing herself at her, her holy blade, a weapon once used by the hero of time herself, only a few seconds away from being driven into her skull. A part of Ophelia was too scared to do anything but stand there, but she steeled herself. She remembered everything Tiki, Cordelia, and Mercer had told her. She would not give up here. No matter what happened to her, she would not let her friends die. She forced herself to stand up straight and readied another attack.

E-13 didn't seem to have Courtney's resistance, but she was able to resist being blown backwards by Ophelia's attacks. Even as ice formed on her and as her skin turned a sickly dark color, E-13 pressed forward. Ophelia attacked again and again, but each attack only bought her a second of time. Eventually E-13's inexorable march took her to her destination, and she roared as she tried to bring her sword through Ophelia. Ophelia closed her eyes and roared right back.

Ophelia opened her eyes to find E-13 just standing there. At first it didn't look like she was moving, but she was putting as much force as she could into her sword. It was her weapon that wasn't moving. It had stopped right in front of Ophelia, and no matter how much E-13 struggled it refused to budge. Ophelia was so consumed by rage and fear that she forgot where her hands were until she saw them extended outwards. When she moved them towards her chest, E-13's sword was wrenched out of her hands. With a flick of her wrists, Ophelia sent it flying away. "Gods! Telekinesis! I'm… I'm doing it!" E-13 tried to strike Ophelia, but she raised her right arm and E-13's fist froze. She screamed and struggled against Ophelia, but Ophelia didn't let her go. Ophelia begun to understand how to use telekinesis. Soleil had been right. It wasn't concentration so much as excitement that fueled it. With her friends injured and dying all around her, it wasn't hard for Ophelia to focus on her rage. With a shout that drowned out E-13's own feral howls, Ophelia lifted her off the ground by her wrist. Everyone present, Courtney included, looked on in awe as Ophelia lifted E-13 over her head and flung her into the forest. E-13 disappeared into the trees, her screams becoming quieter until they were no longer audible. Ophelia smiled in triumph for only a second before she started to spasm and convulse, and she fell to the ground unmoving.

Soleil slowly limped over to Ophelia and inspected her friend. "Ophelia?" She whimpered. "Ophelia, please get up! Tell me you're okay? Ophelia!" Ophelia was sweating profusely and twitching slightly, but she wasn't conscious anymore. Soleil gently rocked her back and forth until Courtney brought his armored gauntlet down on her head.

"What the hell?! What the friggin hell did your friend just do to my new weapon?! What a load of bull!" Courtney started savagely beating on Soleil. "You forgot about me, dipwad! Let me tell you something. There ain't no magic to save you this time!" Courtney struck Soleil in the face two more times with his armored gauntlet, almost shattering her nose, but a bullet tore through the back of Courtney's head before he could attack any further. Courtney fell over as blood spurted out of the wound, and Soleil rolled over to get a look at her savior. It was the same man that had tried to kill Mercer a few days earlier. He ran up to Soleil and knelt beside her as her vision blurred.

"It's going to be okay. I'm not here to fight! I'm not here to fight. I'm going to help you."

"Oh… I… I can't… get away…"

"Hey, stay with me! Stay with me, Shrill! Hey! Cordelia! Over here! Help me with this!"