The Grimleal capital of High Point was created after the Fell Dragon's ascension. It was intended to be a symbol of the new world, distanced from the borders and cultures of the old world. To that end it was built with help from the Fell Dragon itself, and it was an engineering achievement beyond anything humanity had ever done itself. There were many notable ways in which High Point was different from any other city, but the most significant was that it moved as the Fell Dragon did. High Point hovered about a kilometer and a half above the surface of the world, just above the planetary boundary layer of the atmosphere. It could also move under its own power, exactly as the Fell Dragon did.

Living quarters in High Point were cramped and as tightly packed as possible, but High Inquisitor Aversa's personal quarters were much larger than anyone else's. Her quarters were dwarfed by anything in Gangrel's palace in Ylisstol, but it was considered spacious for High Point. She had a personal bathroom, a kitchen separate from her sleeping area, and a room for meditation. She did have windows, but they were small. The door leading to her quarters was metal, and it was completely airtight when shut. At that altitude the air was much colder, and you didn't want to be outside anymore than you had to be. Windows were needed to circulate air through the living quarters, but they were small to minimize loss of heat. High Point was much colder than the sunny Plegia Aversa was used to, so she often took warm baths. Aversa had always liked to take baths or go swimming, and it was a great way to get away from the cold temperatures at high altitudes. It was one of the few things she could enjoy in High Point.

Aversa was no stranger to Grima's telepathic communications. Though the Fell Dragon had to use the Hierophant to communicate with members of the Grimleal on the surface, it was capable of telepathically speaking to anyone on High Point. Aversa could constantly feel Grima in her head. She could not have a thought or a feeling without Grima being aware of it. It was something she was used to, but that was only something the Fell Dragon did passively. When Grima communicated with her directly, she was always aware of it.

"Did I have the oven turned off?" Aversa wondered aloud as she sank deeper into the warm bath waters. "Mmm… yes. Yes I did. Aah. Long day, long day." Aversa took in the warmth of the bath water, and for a moment she allowed herself to smile. It was very short lived. Without any warning, she began to feel a sharp pain in her head. It was like something was tightly pinching parts of her brain. She furiously grabbed at her head, but the pain could not be relieved. It grew worse and worse until she began to jerk around. She looked up to find that she was surrounded by nothing but pitch black darkness. She could still feel the bath water, and the parts of her below the waterline weren't visible, but she didn't appear to be in her bathroom anymore. She was in some kind of black void, and in front of her materialized six glowing red eyes. They bathed her in a menacing red light, and there wasn't anything else she could see in the black void. The eyes had no pupils, but Aversa knew they were focused on her. "AAAAGH!" Aversa struggled to speak through the pain. "Lord Grima! W-what?! WHAT?!"

"High Inquisitor!" The Fell Dragon's voice boomed.

"What do you want?!"

"You have FAILED me!"

"How?!"

"The spawn of the Hero King still live."

"Gangrel you idiot." Aversa muttered to herself "Lord Grima, I apologize for my failure. Gangrel was the one charged with governing humanity, however. Why am I at fault?"

The pain in Aversa's head grew even worse for a few seconds. Aversa felt relieved when it finally stopped, even though the pain didn't disappear completely. The agony was so great that it made the original mental attack seem pleasurable. "Yes Gangrel was charged with governing humanity, and you were charged with enacting my will. I charged both of you with eliminating those who can wield the Falchion, though you are right that Gangrel is too weak to stop them. I need a real member of the Grimleal."

"So you want me to do it?"

"Go to the Ylissean continent. Wipe them out."

"You do know I'm in High Point right? The Ylissean continent is several hundred kilometers away!"

"DO NOT QUESTION ME!" Grima mentally tortured Aversa for another thirty seconds, and when it finally ended she found blood trickling down from her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

"Agh! I'll do it! I'll kill them!"

"Those who can wield the Falchion against me must be killed. If I have to go to the Ylissean continent myself, you WILL NOT like what I do! I will turn the surface into glass! Your miserable race will no longer be spared, and you will witness its DISMEMBERMENT!"

The red glowing eyes disappeared, and Aversa finally returned to her bathroom. She glanced down to see that the bath water had become slightly red from her blood dripping into it. She leaned back against the wall. "Argh! I'm always having to pick up after Gangrel! Never send a man to do a woman's work, and never send a King to do an Inquisitor's job." Aversa raised her hand and had magical energy arc off her fingers. "Oh Chrom sweetie, you don't know what you're getting your royal rear into. What was the worse thing Gangrel did to you? Send your daughter after you? That's nothing. You have no idea what I'm capable of now."

As soon as the fighting had ended, Soleil had been taken to a doctor for medical attention. Caeldori and Ophelia were forced out at the time, and Caeldori wasn't able to see Soleil again until the next day. When she returned to see Soleil, she found her lying conscious in a bed. She was alert enough to turn and look at Caeldori when she entered, and she wasn't coughing and hacking with every breath anymore. Caeldori smiled out of relief, and Soleil gave a wider than normal smile in return. "Hey." She said in a very soft and weak tone. "Caeldori. You came to see me?"

Caeldori took a chair and sat by Soleil's bed. "Of course. I was so worried about you. It's good to see you're not struggling to breath anymore."

"Well the doctor applied a healing staff to me. He said everything should be fine so long as I don't do anything rough for the next few days, or maybe he said weeks. Anyways it's nothing serious-" Soleil suddenly started a violent hacking fit that lasted several seconds. Caeldori gave her a pained look.

"Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine." She answered softly. "That comes and goes." Soleil glanced down to see two roses in Caeldori's prosthetic hand. "What are those for?"

"Oh. Right." Caeldori pressed a switch on the back of her prosthetic that caused its index finger to release. One of the roses dropped, and she handed it to Soleil. She slowly took it and smiled even wider. "This is for you."

"Is this a damn joke to you?" Soleil jested. Caeldori smiled at the words she had once said to Soleil when she was injured. Soleil sniffed it. "But really, thank you. You found that flower merchant I went to?"

"I guess I did, but the stall was abandoned. Flowers were scattered everywhere. I didn't want them to go to waste."

"What's the other rose for?"

"Cordelia. I want to put it on her grave."

Soleil's smiled disappeared entirely. "Oh gods. Something did happen to her? I couldn't look up to see, but I heard everyone screaming."

"She's gone, Soleil." Caeldori whimpered. Soleil rarely saw Caeldori show any real emotion, and she certainly never showed weakness. "She… she wouldn't let me untie her. Not as long as you needed help. That enforcer we fought at Cordelia's house killed her in cold blood. I couldn't do anything about it. I was too busy tending to you." Caeldori looked down at her feet, and Soleil physically trembled from a twinge of guilt. "If you hadn't been hurt, maybe I could've freed her. Maybe she'd still be here."

"Caeldori." Soleil said with genuine remorse. "I am so sorry."

Caeldori looked back up and suppressed her feelings. "I'm not mad at you, Soleil. That man did this. It's not your fault. But… why did you have to talk back to him? If you hadn't talked back, he wouldn't have done that to you!"

"I had to show some kind of defiance. I couldn't just let him push us around."

"But you had nothing to gain! The whole time we were captured, I was loosening my bindings. That's why I could break free as soon as the fighting started. You shouldn't have openly talked back like that. It didn't do anything to help us, and it just got you hurt."

Soleil sank into her bed and sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not perfect like you." Soleil's words weren't filled with snark or resentment. She seemed to be gripped by self loathing. "You're right, Caeldori. Cordelia died because of me. I'm sorry."

"No!" Caeldori said as she gently grabbed Soleil's shoulder. "That's not what I'm trying to say. I'm upset because… because I almost lost you. For no reason."

"You… worried about me?"

"Yes! I know we bicker, but I couldn't let you get hurt! Soleil… I'm alone. Who knows where my mother and father are. Cordelia raised me, and now she's gone. Without you and Ophelia… I have nothing. If I lost you two… I'd be alone." Caeldori ran her hand down Soleil's arm until she gently gripped her hand. "You put your life in danger for no reason. Just to talk back. I'm not mad at you. I just…" Caeldori was clearly trying to not break down, and Soleil didn't know what to think. She honestly never thought Caeldori cared that much for her. "Please… don't leave me alone."

"I would… I would never do that. I'm sorry. Please don't be upset." Soleil took her hand away and placed it against Caeldori's cheek. "Remember what I always say? Turn that frown upside down. Know what you have then? A smile!" Soleil briefly went into another hacking fit, but Caeldori was calmed by what she said.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm, I'm fine. Hey, I'm sorry I abandoned you when we first saw the Tunnellers."

"It's fine."

"No really. I'm sorry. It's just that Ophelia and I saw them before. It was awful. We panicked, but I should've known that you would get us through it."

"It's fine, Soleil. What's important is that you both came back."

Soleil relaxed in her bed. "I was right. Cordelia never trained us for what we have to deal with, but she did do a lot for us. I wish I'd taken her training more seriously back then. I wish I didn't goof off so much. I wish I didn't talk back to her so much. I'll miss her."

"She was a good teacher. She did love you, Soleil. She loved all of us. She saw the future within us. She was proud of what we've become."

"Yeah. I guess."

Caeldori got up from her chair. "Well I'm glad to see you're okay. I'll tell everyone. I should get going, but I'll check up on you again."

"Sure. Thanks for coming to see me."

"Of course. Goodbye, Soleil." Caeldori left. Soleil stared at her longingly until she wasn't visible anymore, and then she sniffed her rose.

"Goodbye… Caeldy."

Caeldori made her way back towards the city's citadel, where the group had buried Cordelia. There she found Chrom standing over her grave, just staring at it. Caeldori wanted to be alone, but after several minutes Chrom refused to move. Caeldori sighed at the realization she would have to interact with him, and so she walked forward until Chrom turned at the sound of footsteps. "Oh! Caeldori! Did you come to see her grave?"

"Yeah." She responded weakly. "And… I'd like to be alone with her."

"Oh." Chrom stared at the ground for a few seconds. "I see. I won't bother you any further."

"Wait. Don't go. It wouldn't be right for me to force you to leave. We'll just… be here together for awhile." Chrom and Caeldori both stood together, looking at the small piece of wood that marked Cordelia's resting place. "How long have you been here?"

"I've lost track of time." Chrom responded.

"She meant a lot to you?"

"She did. I want to say that I loved her, but you might not want to hear that. Maybe you think I took your grandmother away from you in the final days of her life, and maybe you think she shouldn't have been so kind to me after what I did to her."

"I… well… yeah." Caeldori looked at her feet. "Yeah."

"You're entitled to your opinions. I won't offend you by talking about how much I grew to care for her these past few days, or how I don't think I would've kept going without her support. Instead I'll talk about what she meant to me as a Shepherd. She meant very little."

"What?!"

Chrom shook his head. "I didn't make time for all of my allies. I probably never spent more than an hour with her. I never made time for her. There were a lot of them that I never really talked to. I regret that. I took some of them granted. I took her for granted. Apparently she loved me, even back then. She tried to hide those feelings, but almost everyone figured it out. Everyone but me. That's how little time I spent with her. In a better world she would have become captain of the Pegasus Knights. She would have reported directly to me. Even then I'd probably never spend time with her. I… I didn't know what I had." Chrom placed his hand on the makeshift grave. "I am so sorry, Cordelia. You deserved so much more of my countenance. I didn't deserve the kindness you showed me these past few days. I love you. I failed you. Just like I failed my wife. My children. My sisters. My friends. Everyone."

Caeldori hesitated at first, but she eventually put her hand on his shoulder. "Mercer."

"Please don't call me that. I took that name to turn away from who I was. I thought I'd dishonor the Shepherds if I ever took up a sword again, but now I see that innocent people will continue to die if I do nothing. The only way to stop it is to fight back." Chrom turned and looked Caeldori right in the eye. "I would like for us to be allies again. I want you and the others to stand by my side. It's what Cordelia would have wanted. I understand if you hate me though. You have every right to hate me."

Caeldori darted her eyes around, thinking of her words. "I uh, well… mmm. I can't… I can't say that I'll ever look up to you like I did when we first met in the Rockpile. In a way though, that wasn't fair of me. I was just seeing the man that Tiki told us about. I didn't really know you then. After you told us about what really happened thirty years ago, I did hate you. I am still mad at you." Caeldori looked at him sympathetically. "But that's not fair. It's not fair to hate you for something you didn't have control over, but it's also not fair to want you to be the man that Tiki told us about. I need to get to know who you really are now. From what I've seen, you're a bitter, self-hating man. When you don't wallow in angst and pain, you're violently lashing out at something. When you were a young man you believed that the world could be changed for the better, but now you think it's dead. You're willing to fight against the Grimleal now, but not because you think yourself a hero. You do it out of revenge. You do it out of rage. Your idealism is gone. It's been replaced by bitterness and loathing, and when you're motivated to do something, it's out of anger." Chrom tried to look away, but Caeldori stepped closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "But you still care about people. You may not want to be around others much, and you turn away from almost any affection people show you because you don't feel like you deserve it, but you still care about people. You'd do anything to help someone in need. I know you still think the world can't be saved, but you're willing to fight against the Grimleal now because you don't want anyone else to get hurt. You don't even think of your own safety. You just want to make sure no one else has to die. You are still a hero, even if you don't think that way about yourself. That's what my grandmother loved."

"I… I don't-"

"So maybe things can't be like they used to be, but I will stand with you. If you'll help us fight for the world, then I will stand by your side."

Chrom smiled at her. "Thank you, Caeldori. I will fight with you. I can be the man you want me to be, if you'll let me. I just… I just need some time." Caeldori nodded and the two looked at Cordelia's grave for some time before Chrom spoke up again. "You know, there is something I've been thinking about."

"What is it?"

"You lost your Pegasus right?"

Caeldori looked saddened. "Yes. I lost her when I was captured in Southtown."

"Well now Cordelia's Pegasus doesn't have her rider. She needs someone to take care of her."

Caeldori's eyes widened. "M-me?!"

Chrom gave her a faint smile. "You can't be a Pegasus Knight without a Pegasus."

"I don't know. She's so old. I'm not sure how to care for her."

"I'm sure you're up to the challenge. You're a gifted soldier." Chrom placed his hand on Caeldori's shoulder this time, and the two smiled at each other. "Cordelia would be proud of you."

"She'd be proud of you to see you fighting by our side. Thank you." Caeldori looked down. "But… if it's okay… I'd still like to be alone with her."

"Oh! Of course." Chrom began to walk away. "Goodbye, Caeldori."

"Goodbye, Mercer… I mean, Chrom." Chrom left and Caeldori turned back to her grandmother's grave. She pressed a switch on the back of her hand, and the other rose dropped out. She placed it on the grave. "I miss you. So much."

In the city center, near Nowi's skeleton, most of the city's surviving civilian population gathered around a podium. The crowd was anxious and worried, but the men standing on the podium did nothing to alleviate their uneasiness. The man standing in the center was a tall, thin man dressed exactly like Lucina, to the point that he was wearing a blue wig and a butterfly mask. By his side was an older man in black armor, and another elderly man with a massive beard that consumed most of his face. Several civil patrol troops armed with long halberds and arquebuses flanked them.

"What are we waiting for, Justicar?" Cervantes asked. "The crowd is worried." Cervantes glanced over to the outside of the city center. The massive pile of corpses that the Tunnellers had made was still there, even if the Tunnellers themselves had been slain. The very sight of it was horrifying, and in a few hours the smell would become excruciating. "We need to address them."

"I'm waiting on Vasto." Keith responded. "I tasked him with looking at the damage to the city from the air."

"Why does he need to be here? This crowd needs to be addressed! The people look like they're on the verge of panicking!"

"Do not question the Justicar!" Farber snapped.

"Wait, Farber! He's right. We should address this crowd." Keith looked out over the audience and raised his sword into the air to draw their attention. Farber nodded to the civil patrol troops, and two of them fired their arquebuses into the air. The crowd briefly cried out in terror, and the people all turned to look at Keith when they realized who fired the shots. "People of Nowi Falls!" Keith roared. "This is your Justicar. I have two announcements to make! One. Old Man Marty, who we used to respect, is actually a con man. He will be beaten with a stick tomorrow morning. Two. On account of the Grimleal attack last night, and because we cannot possibly remove the hundreds of corpses scattered throughout the city before they become biological contaminants, this city will be abandoned." Keith paused as the crowd began to panic. Two other civil patrol troops shot their guns into the air to silence them. "I hereby release you from your allegiance to the Archanean Liberation Front. Those who choose to remain in the city will no longer have our protection. Those who choose to leave must provide for their own transportation." Keith and the other Arch Surg soldiers stepped down from the podium as the crowd broke apart. Many people ran at them, bombarding them with desperate questions, but the civil patrol troops held them back.

"Secure the seedlings." Keith commanded to Farber as the three hurried away from the crowd. "We can't abandon the plants we have growing here, and I don't want the civilians to take them in their panic. The wheat, soy, potatoes, and cassava take precedent. Take other species only if we have extra space on the convoys."

"Yes, Justicar." Farber was about to leave, but before he could Vasto swooped down and landed his wyvern in front of them. He quickly dismounted and ran up to Keith.

"Justicar, sir!"

"Report."

"It's horrible!" He stated in a shaky tone. "There are bodies all over the place! There probably isn't a family here that isn't missing someone!"

"What about structural damage?"

"There's a massive hole in the east side of the wall. I have no idea what caused it. Maybe it was that explosion we heard?"

"I think I do." Keith answered. "In the morning I came across a dead Tunneller with cast iron pots strapped to it."

"Pots?"

"Yes. The pots were filled with gunpowder."

"They were bombs?"

"They're called Thunder Crash Bombs. Cast iron pots filled with gunpowder. They have fuses that make them go off when the fuse burns out. The Grimleal must have strapped bombs to Tunnellers and used them as suicide bombers to blow open that hole in the wall. The Tunneller I found must have been away from the blast, and its bombs must have been duds."

"But why open the hole in the wall like that?" Vasto wondered. "The Tunnellers could just dig underneath it."

"That's true." Cervantes responded. "We thought about that. We think they blew open the hole so that human agents could enter the city."

"It explains a carriage I found by the citadel." Keith stated. "They might have been after us… or maybe even Chrom and his companions."

"Gods. So many civilians died." Vasto shook his head. "I wish we could have done something for them."

"At least we saved most of civil patrol." Cervantes said in a cheery tone. "Only ten casualties there."

"But hundreds of civilians were killed! How could so few civil patrol troopers be hurt. Were they sent away?!"

"Of course! I had them evacuated as soon as he attack began!"

"But you didn't evacuate the civilians?!"

"Of course not! They distracted the Tunnellers. We couldn't have evacuated civil patrol otherwise."

"You… you left the civilians to die in order to save our troops?" Vasto took several steps back. "We're… we're supposed to protect them! What is wrong with you?!"

"What? I saved our garrison! Civilians are expendable."

"Wha! Y-you're a monster!"

"What?" Cervantes looked to Keith and Farber. "That's being a good officer! I saved our men."

"There's nothing wrong with that, but you left the civilians to be torn apart! We're not just supposed to fight against the Grimleal. We're supposed to rebuild civilization. We have to protect these people!"

"They knew how dangerous it was to live here."

"What kind of message does it send if we abandon the civilians whenever things get difficult?"

"What kind of message does it send to our troops if we abandon them?! We would be looking at mass desertions."

"They were innocent!"

"Cervantes is right." Keith added. "There are no innocents in war. There is us and them. Those who stay loyal to the Grimleal are enemies. Those who live with us know the risks. We can't put them ahead of the men and women who actually give their lives for us."

"I can't believe you three! How can you be so apathetic to the civilians?! This is a time of mourning!"

"You're going to be mourning the loss of your teeth if you speak that way to the Justicar again!" Farber barked.

Vasto glared at the three men. "You're all monsters! You all rant about saving humanity, but you only care about yourselves. I'm tired of taking orders from you Keith! You have no military experience. You have no empathy. You're nothing like the woman you so desperately want to copy. She was a hero! You're just a thug!"

"Hmm. That is ironic. Look everyone! Vasto detected an irony! He's so smart. Yet despite his intelligence and military experience, I'm higher ranking than he is. Oh look! Now I've detected an irony!"

"The only reason you're so high ranking is because you're Archangel's son! She took pity on you!"

Keith stepped forward, and Cervantes and Farber stood by his side. "Are you questioning my authority?"

"I'm not afraid of you."

"But you are afraid of Archangel. You're just a dove, and she's a raptor." Keith got right in Vasto's face and spoke in a low and menacing tone. "Question me again, and I'll drag you back to her in chains."

Keith, Farber, and Cervantes left. Vasto glared at them as they left, then turned to look at the civilians the civil patrol troopers were holding back. "This is not over."

On the other side of the city center, towards the front of Nowi's skeleton, Tiki stood alone, contemplating it. She didn't notice Ophelia approaching until she was standing right next to her. Ophelia wasn't sure how to break Tiki out of her trance, but she did eventually notice Ophelia's awkward sighs. "Oh, Ophelia! I'm sorry. Did you need something?"

"Not right now. I just wanted to see what you were up to."

Tiki sighed herself and looked back to Nowi's skeleton. "Nothing."

"Did you… did you know her?"

"Yes. I did. I know humans think Nowi was old, but to my kind she was just a child. They did this to a child." Tiki's words were very pained, and Ophelia wasn't sure how to respond, but she didn't feel right leaving Tiki by herself.

"I can't imagine what it's like to see her like this."

"I'll tell you. When I look at that, I see what's becoming of my kind. We're all going to end up like this one day."

"Wha?!"

"My race is dying, Ophelia. It has been for some time. Ever since the degeneration started. We degenerate into madness, or humans hunt us down. There's some kind of infertility that keeps us from breeding, and we can't remain in our dragon forms without degenerating."

"I… I don't know what to say."

A tear fell down Tiki's cheek. "I thought I was the last Divine Dragon born, but Nowi had to have come from somewhere. She filled me with hope. She made me think that our race could have a future. To see her like this now… it's over. We're all going to die out, and if we don't stop Grima, humanity will join us."

"But we will stop Grima." Ophelia looked at Tiki and tried to put on a brave face. "And we couldn't do it without your help. Thank you for being here."

"Of course. I'm sorry for not being here sooner. When the Grimleal ambushed Caeldori and I at Southtown, I moved around frequently to make sure they weren't tracking me. Then it took me some time to find you all. I'm so sorry I couldn't be here sooner."

"That…" Ophelia thought of Cordelia. "That wasn't your fault. You did save our lives. We're happy to have you back."

Tiki went back to staring at Nowi's skeleton. "I never saw the civilization my kind used to have. The degeneration started not long after I was born. My mother made me slumber to prevent me from degenerating. It ruined us. It destroyed everything."

"How so?"

"You humans celebrate the defeats of Medeus, Duma, and Loptyr, but they just sadden me. They remind me of what my race is becoming. Medeus was once the fair and just leader of the Earth Dragons. He even agreed to take a human form when the other Earth Dragons refused. But over time he degenerated, and he became consumed by his hatred of humanity. Duma was once a proud warrior. He once challenged my mother, and when Naga defeated him he chose to try and better human civilization. He too degenerated into madness. Loptyr was once a proud member of the Earth Dragons. He was proud of his heritage, and he didn't want our civilization to disappear. He degenerated, and he was consumed by his hatred of humans. They used to be good people, Ophelia. Humans remember them as monsters, but they used to be proud and strong members of our civilization."

"Degeneration is really that horrible?"

"You know the wyverns?"

"You mean like Minerva?"

"Yes. They used to be a tribe of dragons. They used to be sapient, just like you and I."

"W-what?! They used to be people!"

"Yes. They refused to take human forms. They weren't as powerful as the other tribes, so they didn't threaten the world when they degenerated. They just turned into feral beasts. Now humans tame them and breed them."

"I had no idea!"

"Don't feel bad, Ophelia. There's nothing we can do for them now."

"I…" Ophelia stared down at her feet. She suddenly felt unable to look at Tiki. "I can't imagine what you're going through. I thought humanity had it bad."

Tiki put her hand on Ophelia's shoulder and smiled at her. "When the degeneration started, and when the infertility began, my mother realized that our civilization wouldn't last. She chose to guide the development of human civilization because she thought your kind could be our successors. So many dragons disagreed with her. They fought her, and even lashed out at humanity itself. But she believed that guiding human civilization was what was best for the world. She wanted your kind to prosper." Tiki's expression became solemn. "But I did little to help. I slept for so long, and even when I was awake I turned away from humans. It was so hard to connect with them. From my point of view, you disappear in the blink of an eye. I didn't want to get close to any of you, because I would lose so many people I cared about over the millennia if I did. Even when Grima was a threat, I did little to help. I didn't join the Shepherds until late in their fight with the Grimleal, and I didn't really do much. I didn't take the threat that Grima was to humanity seriously. Now Grima is more powerful than even my mother, and everything she worked for is going to be wiped out." Tiki couldn't hide her sadness, but she did smile again. "That's why I'm fighting with you now. I'm going to make up for sleeping through so much human suffering. I'm going to be there for you."

"Oh, Tiki. You've done so much for us. I could never fight against the Grimleal like I do now without you. Don't feel bad."

"Thank you, Ophelia."

Ophelia was silent for some time, but the question she had burned at her. She knew it would be painful for Tiki, but she couldn't hold it in. She was always a curious person, and she took advantage of any opportunity to learn. "So Grima is more powerful than Naga?"

Tiki didn't look back at Ophelia. She just stared at Nowi's skeleton again. "Yes. It is. Many people call it a god. My mother would disagree with that. It is stronger than us, though. Grima is not one of my kind. It's alien."

"It's not a dragon? It looks like one."

"I don't know what it is, but I know it didn't exist when I was born. It's just so terrifying. My mother did so much to protect humanity, and this abomination comes out of nowhere. Threatens to wipe humanity off the face of the world. Threatens to undo everything my mother worked for. I don't know what it is. But I can fight against it. I'm not going to sleep through anymore human suffering. I'm going to protect humanity. My mother believes that you can be our successors. I'm not just going to do nothing while you're all wiped out. I may have to move around a lot, but I'll always come back."

Ophelia embraced Tiki. "Thank you."

"O-of course. Ophelia you're… you're squeezing me very tightly."

"Oh! Sorry. I'm just so glad you're okay!"

Ophelia and Tiki turned to see Chrom walking towards them. He almost darted his eyes away when Tiki looked at him. Though he was willing to fight with the girls now, he had turned Tiki away so many times over the past few years. He felt bad about it, but Tiki only gave him a warm look. Ophelia was more worried. "Chrom! Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

"You were at Cordelia's grave for so long. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Really."

"I'm so sorry. I'm going to miss her. She was… the closest thing I had to a parent. After I lost mine."

"When did you meet her, Ophelia?"

"Tiki took me and Soleil to her just a few years after she met us. That's also when we met Caeldori. She trained the three of us."

"When I found Cordelia, she wanted to help train the girls after I told her about them." Tiki added.

"Everyone was fighting for the world except me." Chrom said in a sad tone. Ophelia walked up to him.

"Hey don't talk like that. You're going to help us now." Ophelia became giddy. She took Chrom's hands and almost jumped up and down. "You can help us just like Tiki always said you would! You can train us! You can show us things! We can be just like the Shepherds! We'll be heroes!"

"Uh-"

"We should come up with team up attacks! How about, how about… Icy Gale of Justice!" Ophelia struck a strange pose. She put her hand in front of her face, stuck her other arm outwards, and squatted. "I'll blast our enemies with an icy blast of wind from my tome, and you can hit them with your sword! Now show me your pose!"

"My pose?" Chrom looked to Tiki for support, but she just giggled. "I… what? I don't have a pose."

"Oh come on! Every hero needs a pose! Lucina had a pose! She would stand and hold her Falchion so that the hilt was near her head, and the blade went down to her right side. She also had that pose where she raised her left leg towards her and held out her mask in her hands. I'm confused how she did that though. Was she sitting down? Did she do that standing?"

"I have no… what?!"

"You need a pose! Hmm, maybe we should just come up with more team up attacks. How about… Divine Strike of the Holy Blood! I'll strike this pose!" Ophelia put her feet shoulder width apart and raised her left arm high in the air. She pointed her right arm towards Chrom. "I'll blast the enemy with my tome, and you can hit them with your sword… again."

"Uh Ophelia, I'm not sure about all this."

"How about we name our weapons. You have that pistol. It needs a name. How about... Thundergrypp! Yes! We'll call it the Thundergrypp! Your armor also needs a name, but first it looks like it need to be repaired."

Chrom looked down at the dragonscale armor. After everything that had happened, he forgot he was even wearing it. The armor had saved him from the Tunnellers, but it was also cracked and falling apart. Nowi wasn't invincible after all. "Oh gods. This armor." Chrom looked to Tiki, and she had noticed something strange about the armor.

"Chrom, where did you get that?"

Chrom looked down at his feet. "A street vendor told me it was from Nowi. The scavengers that founded this settlement apparently made it from her scales. I'm... so sorry. I had to wear it. The Tunnellers would've killed me otherwise."

Tiki walked up to him and stood by Ophelia. "Don't feel bad, Chrom. You had to, and you didn't make the armor."

"No. I should feel bad... but I know how to make this right."

Chrom went back and retrieved a shovel, and he started to dig a hole in the city center. It wasn't as deep as the grave dug for Cordelia. It was just deep enough to hold the dragonscale armor. When Chrom was finished he stripped off the armor, leaving himself with only his dark blue work-shirt, his raggedy trousers, and his worn boots. He placed the armor in the hole and buried it. At this point Ophelia figured out what he was doing, and she retrieved a piece of wood. They used it to make a makeshift grave, and they carved two things into it. The name Nowi, and when she lived. No one knew when she was born, so they just carved 2631 AC, the year she died, into the wood. The three then gathered around and gave the makeshift grave a solemn look. "There." Chrom said as he looked back to the skeleton in the city center. "Now she has a real grave."

Tiki was moved by the event, and she had to steel herself. "That was very thoughtful, Chrom."

"I'm so sorry, Tiki. Gods. I am so sorry."

"You have to stop blaming yourself."

"No. It is my fault. She may have escaped thirty years ago, but it's my fault they hunted her like an animal for twenty years. I'll never stop hating myself Tiki." Chrom turned to her. "But I will stop turning away from what the world is becoming. I will fight to protect people." Chrom smiled at Ophelia. "I will fight for my family."

Ophelia gave a grin from ear to ear. "You don't know how happy that makes me. Now you can help us!"

"Yes. Ophelia... come with me."

"Hmm? Why?"

"I have something for you."

Chrom walked away, back towards the citadel, and Ophelia and Tiki followed him, leaving Nowi's skeleton and grave behind. Chrom made his way through the city, its streets now filled with a handful of civilians who ran from building to building gathering whatever supplies they could. Chrom thought it was strange, but he didn't let it stop him. He went back to the citadel and into an alleyway near Cordelia's grave. He returned with a sword in his hand. It looked exactly like his Falchion, but his sword was sheathed. Ophelia's eyes lit up. "Did you... did you steal Keith's sword?!"

"No. This... this is real."

"W-what?"

Chrom took a deep breath. "This is the parallel Falchion. It's the sword my daughter brought back from her timeline. Gangrel must have taken it from... oh gods... from her corpse when the Shepherds fell. He must have given it to... to that enforcer." Chrom looked Ophelia in the eyes, his lip trembling. "But I took it from her when I defeated her. Now I want you to have it."

"You... you're serious?"

"You said you wanted to fight against the Fell Dragon. You'll need to be able to use the Falchion. We are family. It is your birthright."

"I can't..." Ophelia slowly stepped forward. "I can't believe it."

"This is what you wanted right?"

Ophelia turned to Tiki, and Tiki nodded at her. Ophelia moved very slowly, and she acted like she was afraid of the sword, but eventually she did take it. She looked at it in awe, but winced as a red liquid got on her hand. "Ah! This is blood!"

Chrom recoiled. "Yeah. It was a rough battle."

"Is it... is it your blood or her blood."

"I don't even know. It might actually be Cordelia's blood." Chrom felt physically sick to his stomach. "Let's talk about something else."

"R-right." Ophelia smiled at the sword. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe this. I've dreamed about this for so long, but now I can't believe it's actually happening."

"I'll teach you to use it."

"I don't mean to offend you, but I'd rather be a mage."

"That's fine, but you'll still need to know how to wield it."

"Alright. I'd like that." Ophelia gently placed the parallel Falchion on the ground and embraced Chrom. He and Tiki couldn't help but smile, and Chrom shivered a little. He put his arm around his grandniece and sniffled. "I'd like that to, Ophelia."

Ophelia took a step back and darted her eyes around. "I-I know you don't want to talk about this, but what happened to that enforcer? You know... your daughter?"

"I couldn't kill her. I found a way to incapacitate her."

"But what happened to her?"

"I..." Chrom froze. "I didn't even... I forgot about her." Chrom started speaking in a flat tone. "I forgot her."

"There was a lot going on."

"I FORGOT HER!" Chrom drew his own Falchion and slammed it into the ground, causing Tiki and Ophelia to step back. "DAMN IT!"

"Calm down!" Ophelia cried. "It's okay!"

"NO! It's not! You don't understand." Chrom ran his hands through his hair. "The reason I fought so viciously against the hallucinations of Risen was because I thought I was protecting the infants! When it was all over, I forgot them! The Grimleal kidnapped them because I forgot them! It's why I fought so fiercely, and I forgot about them!" Chrom fell to his knees. "And now I've forgotten her AGAIN! DAMN IT!"

"Calm down! Please!" Ophelia hugged Chrom again, and he slowly calmed down. "Maybe she's still there. Maybe a doctor gave her medical treatment. I'm sure she's fine. We just have to go look for her."

"Oh gods." Chrom said through tears. "I hope they didn't take her again."

"How could they take her? They were all killed. They couldn't possibly have survived that."

A few kilometers away from Nowi Falls, Courtney and the three Inquisitors with him made their way through the sand dunes on foot. Courtney was so overheated that he had taken off his mask, and the three Inquisitors gave him a significant berth to avoid having to look at his deformed face. Courtney just trudged on, though eventually he had to rest. After taking several minutes to catch his breath, he turned to see the Inquisitors were several meters behind him. They all quickly turned away when he looked at them. "Oh get over here you babies! You've never seen a burned face before?"

"Could you… could you put your mask back on?"

Courtney groaned and rolled his eyes, but relented. He took out his mask and fastened it back over his face. He rose to his feet and panted as the Inquisitors walked back to him. The female Inquisitor with long, lilac hair wiped sweat from her brow. "Gods it's hot. Why couldn't we take the carriage?"

"Because there was nothing to pull it with, dipwad! The Tunnellers were all dead."

"Could we have walked out through the caverns the Tunnellers dug?"

"The city was in a desert. There were no caverns! Tunnellers normally dig caverns underneath buildings to collapse them, but you can't dig caverns through sand. It just collapses! That's why we had them fight on the surface."

"So we have to walk?" The woman moaned.

"No, we don't have to." Courtney responded in a dry tone. "I just enjoy long walks in the sun!"

Another Inquisitor, a short man with green hair and an acne problem, walked up to Courtney. "Maybe we'd move faster if we weren't dragging her along." The man nodded behind Courtney. He had been dragging a woman through the sand behind him by a rope tied to his gauntlet. The woman was out cold, but she was also tightly bound so that she couldn't possibly move. The woman had a bloody wound on the side of her head, long navy blue hair, and the mark of Naga on her left eye. Courtney stared the man down.

"What's your name?"

"I know I've told you my name!"

"I've outlived a lot of Inquisitors, son. Just remind me of your names. All of you."

"I-I'm Federov." The man responded. Courtney turned to the woman.

"Rayhanah." The woman answered. Courtney turned to the final Inquisitor, a lean man with golden hair and a patchy beard.

"St. John."

"St. John? What kind of name is that? Why not just John, or Saint?"

"What Man is named Courtney?"

"Fair enough." Courtney walked over to E-13's unconscious body. "Look dipwads, Gangrel put you under my authority. If I get in trouble, you get in trouble! Gangrel is already going to be pissed that we failed our mission, and that we lost the parallel Falchion. At least I can save his chief enforcer."

"But Kryczek was the only man who could control her. Without him she's useless. We should just leave her out here to die."

"I'm not throwing away a perfectly good weapon. I'll find a way to control her without Kryczek." Courtney looked down at her. "You hear that, girl? Kryczek held you back. I know you wouldn't have been much if Chrom raised you. He'd have you in a ballgown courting suitors until you finally popped out his inbred grandbabies. Me? I'll unleash the warrior inside you. I'll make you everything your time traveling self was and more. I'm your daddy now, and we're going to have a hell of a time!"

Deep within the Rockpile, two Grimleal soldiers stood guard at a door. They didn't look like they took their jobs very seriously. Their weapons were slumped against the wall, and they leaned back and slouched. The prison revolt that Caeldori had started caused a lot of damage to the facility, and a few prisoners escaped by commandeering wyverns, but the guards had held out in the end. Most of the prisoners were killed in the fighting or later executed. Only a few that refused to take part had been left alone, but since then the facility had been filled with new prisoners. Things had gone back to normal, down to the lazy and uncaring guards that only worked when Inquisitors were around.

"Did you hear about what the Arch Surg did to a village in The Midmire a few weeks back?" One of the guards said to the other. "Those terrorists took all the men and women aged sixteen to twenty two and had them killed. They said it was punishment for being loyal to the Grimleal."

"That's awful!"

"They were lead by that one teenager we occasionally see leading their forces. The one that dresses like Lucina."

"Who?"

"The Shepherd? The time traveling princess?"

"Oh yeah."

"Time to tip the scales! That's what she would say, right?"

"No. That wasn't her. That was Basilio."

"Who was that?"

"The black lady from Ferox. She was the reigning Khan."

"I thought her name was Cherche?"

"No that was the swordsman from Chon'sin who couldn't talk to women."

"How many of them were there?! How were they ever defeated?!"

"Aversa opened a portal and flung them into an alternate universe. That's what I heard."

"That's crazy. She probably just made that up to make herself seem more important. I bet she just poisoned them or something. She's not that powerful, and her Inquisitors are worthless!"

"Hey shut up! Altman could hear you! He's in the other room."

"Why is he still here?! I thought he was just stationed here to experiment on those women?"

"Aversa gave him a new task, but I don't think he's leaving. In fact another Inquisitor came here. He's tall and has white hair. He's got a strange accent. He's from a far away continent. Jugdral, or Magvel, or Tellius, or Algeria, or some such place."

The two guards quickly straightened up when they heard the door to a room down the hallway open. Inquisitor Altman, clad in his black and gold armor and wielding his long glaive, made his way towards them. He walked past the two guards and entered the room they were guarding, and the guards went back to slumping back against the wall as soon as the door closed again. The room Altman entered featured a balcony overlooking the prison courtyard. Leaning against the railing was a tall man wearing heavy robes, with a white shirt and pants underneath. He had stark white hair, though he didn't look older than thirty five, and was very toned. He resembled Robin, the man that had once been the tactician of the Shepherds, but was larger and had a more thuggish look. Most notably, the man had custom sunglasses made from very thin cuts of smoky quartz. As he leaned over the balcony, smoking a cigarette, a translucent figure with glowing red eyes phased through the floor and rose behind him. The man exhaled smoke and rested his hands against the railing. "I know you're there, Sheila. I can hear you breathing." The man turned to face the entity. "What do you even need to breathe for anyways?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." The spectral entity responded in a feminine but distorted voice. "Now who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I don't have to answer that, mate. I only have to talk to Altman. That's what Aversa said."

The spectre floated closer to the man, but he didn't react. "You can tell me who you are willingly, or I can rip the information from your mind."

The man took another whiff of his cigarette. "Spare me. I know your story, Tharja. You try and act like you're some spirit out of hell, but you're just a mage that cast a spell she shouldn't have. You're not the first witch I've met that came a gutser, and you're not the first dark mage I've met with a few hinds loose in the upper paddock. You don't scare me."

"Aww. I used to have that effect on men. Am I losing my touch?"

"Rack off, fruit loop." The spectre raised one of its flickering arms, and the man's cigarette exploded in his hands. "Bloody, fair suck!"

The man drew a tome and made electrical energy arc off his right arm. The spectre channeled magical energy through its own arms, but both turned when Altman finally walked forward. "Can't you two just get along?" He said in a calm and flat tone.

"Keep your pet on a tighter leash, Altman. She's loosening it."

"Leave us, spectre. I will let you know if I have need of you." Altman ordered. The spectre seemed to glare at the two men, though it was hard to tell with the lack of facial expressions, but it did eventually sink back into the floor. Altman stood up straight as he looked back to the man. "Inquisitor Dartsmoth. I've heard so much about you. You're Aversa's best tracker. You're so talented that she had you transferred from your continent."

"I'm not up myself, but that is too right. Aversa sends me to wherever the Grimleal needs people found. I understand you're quite a brick shit house of an Inquisitor yourself, though you're more of a scientist?"

"Yes. I'm currently involved in a project that I can't divert my attention from. That's why you're here."

"Well on to business then. Who exactly do we need offed?"

Altman walked over to a desk and pulled out several folders. He handed them to Dartsmoth. He opened up the first file to see a number of papers related to Caeldori, and a detailed sketching of her. He opened up the next two files and saw similar papers on Ophelia and Soleil. "Those are the descendants of the Shepherds. Ophelia is descended from the Hero King, and is capable of using the Falchion. They need to be taken care of."

"Aww, they're so cute. They still have spots."

"One thing, Caeldori must be kept alive. I need her for Project: Xenologue."

"What might that be?"

"You don't need to know that. Just make sure she's taken alive. The others need to be killed."

"Got it." Dartsmoth set the three files down and opened the fourth. Inside was a detailed sketching of Chrom. It still depicted him with unkempt hair and a beard. "And who is this bloke? He's rugged looking."

"That's Chrom. He and Ophelia are the priority targets. Aversa would like for him to be brought to her, but it's not necessary. You can kill him if you need to."

"Handsome fellow like this? He deserves more than a gangbanger styled death. I'm a professional after all. I'll bring him back hogtied."

"Excellent. You have your mission, Dartsmoth. Now you just have to find them."

"That shouldn't be that hard." Dartsmoth thought for a moment. "My gut tells me they're probably hiding out with the Arch Surg, and that means they're probably in the GYFA."

"The gyfa?"

"The GYFA. The Great Ylissean Fuck All. It's what I like to call the badlands. The Arch Surg like to hide out there. That's what I've learned from killing a few of them." Dartsmoth set the fourth file down. "Don't worry. This won't take long at all."

"You're that confident?"

"Real piece of piss. Now I will need some resources."

"Of course. Follow me."

Altman left the room again with Dartsmoth in tow. He walked down the hallway, pretending not to hear the two guards as they desperately fumbled to look like they had always been standing upright, and took Dartsmoth into a small room sealed off by a rather heavy door. After undoing three separate locks, Altman stepped inside. The room had a small shelf with a number of tomes and other magical artifacts on it, but nothing else of significance. Dartsmoth casually glanced around in boredom until swirling purple energy began to consume much of the room. He looked back to Altman in a panic to find that he was channeling the energy from his hands. It radiated off his body and occasionally arced and cracked into the walls. "Uh… you're okay right? M-mate?!" Altman paid him no mind, and instead finished casting his spell.

"Warriors born from dark magic! Once you were called upon by the Loptyr Sect, and once you were called upon by the High Inquisitor herself to serve the Fell Dragon's hand!" Altman was yelling, yet he still kept his voice devoid of emotion. "Now I call upon you to once again serve the Fell Dragon. I call upon you to wipe away the spawn of Naga, who would destroy the order we have brought to humanity!" The swirling masses of magic materialized into twelve individuals. They all wore unique armor, but each one of them had the same distinguishing feature. Their skin was pale and seemed to radiate purple light, and their eyes were glowing red.

"Bloody bones of the Earth Dragons!" Dartsmoth choked out. Altman turned to him.

"Allow me to introduce the Deadlords. Mus, Bovis, Tigris, Lepus, Draco, Anguilla, Equus, Ovis, Simia, Gallus, Canis, and Porcus. These are great warriors that have appeared throughout the millennia. They will be yours to command. Take them, and wipe out our enemies. All of them."

Dartsmoth slowly stepped forwards. The Deadlords turned to look at him, but they didn't react otherwise. "Erm, hey there. How's it going?"

"There's no point in talking to them. They're not much for conversation."

"Right." Dartsmoth turned back to Altman, and the Deadlords continued to stare at him. He tried very hard to ignore it. "Anything else then?"

"Yes. Aversa told me that we have Black Authority. We can appropriate anything we need from the Grimleal in the Fell Dragon's name. In other words, feel free to help yourself to Gangrel's possessions and people."

"Now there's blood worth bottling! Thanks heaps for the diggers." Dartsmoth walked out, and the Deadlords tried following him. They all tried to go through the door at the same time, and it was a few seconds before they finally walked out one by one. "Now I get to do my job." He said in a cheery tone.

Cordelia found herself in an empty void of sorts. There was a white light surrounding her, and she felt like she was physically present somewhere. There wasn't anything obviously wrong with what she was experiencing, but it just felt off. She couldn't shake a feeling of dread. A feeling that something was very wrong. Cordelia rubbed her hands against her face and struggled to remember where she had last been. Her memories on what had happened before she appeared here were fuzzy. She vividly remembered Nowi Falls, and being with Chrom, Gaius, and the girls. She remembered waking up to screaming. She remembered Grimleal agents finding her not long after she dressed herself and stumbled outside, but they didn't hurt her. They tied her up and took her somewhere, and they eventually took Caeldori and Soleil too, but she didn't remember them hurting her. She couldn't recall what happened next. She had feelings of fear and horror, and memories of fighting and screaming, but her mind shut down when she tried to focus on exactly what happened. "Mmm." She moaned. "Erm, where am I?"

When Cordelia took her hands out of her face, she saw something that froze her. The most disturbing thing was that she did see something. Cordelia already thought it strange that she could detect a strange white light around her, but now her eyes seemed to be working. The image in front of her was perfectly clear. She hadn't been able to see like that in twenty years. Besides that, the woman standing in front of her was a woman she had long thought gone. It was a woman that had once been her best friend. Sumia. "Here in my empire, that you do not remember. Your hands do not toil. Your eyes do not see. Your ears do not listen." Sumia smiled at Cordelia, but her expression was otherwise blank. Cordelia wasn't sure how to respond.

"I-I… what?! Sumia? How?! Where are we?!"

Cordelia turned when she heard the voice of another woman. It was a voice she hadn't heard in decades, and it immediately brought back countless memories of her past. It belonged to Phila. "Chaos reigns. And your hands cannot toil. And your eyes cannot see. And your ears cannot listen."

"Phila?! What?!"

Cordelia began to back away, only to find Frederick and Sully standing near her. The sight of old friends would have been reassuring, but Cordelia was becoming increasingly horrified by the strange things happening to her. All four of them chanted. "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."

"What?!"

"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."

Cordelia backed away until she bumped into something. She turned to see a very tall man adorned with elaborate blue and gold plate armor. The man didn't look any younger than eighty, but his posture was tall, and the man was very imposing. "My world will remain." He states in an authoritative tone.

"What's going on?! How is any of this possible?! Stay, stay back!"

"Do not worry my child. Struggle no more. Suffer no more." The man placed his hand on Cordelia's shoulder, and she immediately calmed down. Her eyes began to glow bright purple. "Your service to Ylisse has not ended, Pegasus Knight. It has just begun."

"Yes, my lord." Cordelia replied. Her expression was now blank, and her tone was as flat as the chanting of the others.

"Come now, my children. We have much work to do."