Ever since childhood Chrom had suffered through his fair share of injuries, and even in middle age he was still quite capable of taking hits. As many injuries as he had taken fighting with the Shepherds, his ability to recover from them came entirely from the healing items and magic they had access to. Deprived of these things, and without even Cordelia's experience with battlefield medicine, the group had no way of treating the injuries they'd taken in Fort Morgan. Crammed onto the backs of Aurora and Minerva, the group flew as far away as they could before finally landing to tend to their increasingly severe wounds. Chrom had been trying to ignore his injuries, particularly the stab wound Celica's Einherjar had given him, but his spirit was tougher than his aging body. Chrom was sitting behind Ophelia on Minerva's back, and she periodically glanced back at him out of worry. She was the one to make the group stop after seeing that the bottom of Chrom's shirt had become a very dark red.

"Ophelia. Please. I-I'm fine."

Ophelia dismounted Minerva and turned back to her great uncle. "You're not fine! You're covered in blood! We need to stop!"

"No! We need to keep going! They can't catch us!"

"We're kilometers away! They won't find us here! Not if we stop for a little bit. We need to treat that injury."

"I'm fine!" Chrom tried to dismount Minerva himself but then screamed as he put weight on his injury and crumpled off. He had managed to quickly bandage the wound before leaving Fort Morgan, but the bandaging had since come off. Chrom lifted up his shirt to see that the force of hitting the ground had also reopened the wound, and he was now bleeding as profusely as before. He had already lost a lot of blood, and now he was rapidly losing consciousness.

"Chrom!" Ophelia looked to see that Caeldori had landed Aurora. She quickly dismounted alongside Gaius and Henry. "Grandfather! Please help us!" She called towards them.

"Oh no! Oh no, oh no!" Soleil exclaimed as she dismounted Minerva. "Aw man. What did we do the last time he bled out in front of us?"

"We took him to Cordelia!"

"Well… that's not exactly an option anymore."

Ophelia stood over Chrom and tried to stop the bleeding as Henry and Caeldori gathered around him, but Chrom could do little besides mutter. "I-I'm fine. Really."

"Someone do something!" Ophelia turned to Caeldori with pleading eyes, but she returned a sad expression and shook her head.

"I… I can try to stabilize him but… I'm not exactly my grandmother."

Ophelia turned to Henry, who had his usual cheery expression. Henry's own injury had stopped bleeding, but his nose was still disfigured. "Please, grandfather! Is there anything you can do?!"

"Hmm. Let me take a look." Henry knelt beside his brother in law and lifted up his shirt further. Alongside his recent stab wound, Chrom's chest also featured the long scar on his lower abdomen from when E-13 cut open his intestines, the electrical burns from Courtney's Levin Sword, the bullet wound from Theresa, burn marks from Micaiah's light magic, a bruise from Farber striking him in Nowi Falls, and countless other small cuts and injuries. "Well he's falling apart isn't he? I'm not sure all the Exalt's horses and all the Exalt's men could put him back together again. Nya ha ha!"

"This isn't a time for jokes, Junior!" Gaius roared. Henry stood up.

"I disagree. Anyways, I think I could use dark healing on him."

Ophelia tensed up, and Caeldori and Soleil shivered as they remembered the experience. "But grandfather… you said dark healing required a sacrifice. You said it drained life energy from living things. Who could you do that to?"

"It doesn't have to be a person. I can use other creatures." Henry looked around. The group had landed in such a hurry that no one paid attention to the surrounding environment until just now. The most striking features were the mushrooms rising out of the dust and shale. Each mushroom stalk was at least a meter in height, and some were taller than any human. Everyone except Ophelia temporarily lost interest in Chrom and looked around in wonder. Even Minerva and Aurora investigated the fungal growths, wondering if they could represent a meal. "Woah! There's a humongous fungus among us, nya ha ha!"

"The Imperial Creeper." Caeldori responded. "A fungal organism that lives in Ferox."

Ophelia looked up, curious. "Wait… did you say organism? But there's multiple mushrooms. Dozens."

"The Imperial Creeper is named so for its size and ability to spread rapidly across the land. It's an underground organism. Multiple colonies connected through mycelium. It's all part of the same individual. In fact it's probably the largest individual organism on the planet, save for the Fell Dragon itself. It stretches for kilometers. All these mushrooms you see sprout each autumn to release spores. They may be separate from each other, but they're all connected. We're standing on one massive living thing."

Soleil looked back to Caeldori in exasperation. "Hold up. I get that you're knowledgeable in a lot of things but come on! Did Cordelia once take time out of her day to teach you about a mushroom?!"

"Read a book every once in awhile, Soleil. You might learn something."

Ophelia's face lit up. "Grandfather, could you use dark healing on the mushrooms? Could that give you the energy you need to help Chrom?"

Henry shrugged. "Weirder things have happened."

"Great! We can save him, and we won't hurt anything! If all these mushrooms are part of one life form, losing a few mushrooms won't kill it!"

"Do you really have feelings for mushrooms, Blondie?"

Ophelia looked at Gaius defiantly. "All life has value."

"Ha! Oh that's… you're serious?" Gaius looked to Henry, who had also laughed.

"I thought it was a joke too."

"How the hell did a girl like that ever come from you?"

As much as the world has changed since the Fell Dragon's resurrection, nothing has altered it more than the pestilence Grima released into the land. Grima's Blight is a poorly understood disease, but the effect it has had on the planet is clear for all to see. The Blight kills plants of all kinds. Everything from crops, to grasses, to trees are destroyed by the sickness, and there is no cure or treatment. Seeds will not sprout, and healthy plants brought into the area will die within an alarmingly short period of time. Entire swaths of land have been made infertile, and massive sections of the population have lost their livelihoods. Though most of the continent's farmland was destroyed by the Blight long ago, the disease still exists. It lies dormant within infected soil, and even the strongest and hardiest of plants will quickly die if moved into this soil. Countless plant species have been rendered extinct in the Ylissean and Valmese continents, and the planet has been plunged into a period of mass extinction as other animal, fungal, and microscopic species that depended on these plants have perished. The only reason humanity itself hasn't starved is because the Fell Dragon allows the Grimleal to maintain a few stretches of fertile land, free from the Blight. Most cities need to import food from these areas to feed themselves, thus increasing their dependence on the Grimleal. Only the largest and richest settlements and organizations can manage to get their food from anywhere else. They either turn to more esoteric means of getting food, or they smuggle uninfected soil in at great risk and expense.

Some academics believe the Blight to be a kind of fungal infection, and they suggest the effect it has had on fungi as evidence of this. Though the Blight destroys plants, it actually seems to have accelerated the growth of some kinds of fungal species. The layman commonly thinks of fungi as a type of plant, but they're an entirely different kind of lifeform. Millions of years before plants even evolved to live on land, the world's continents were covered in forests of fungal growths. Some individuals were heavier and longer than even the largest of trees. As plants colonized this new environment, the fungi were driven off. Since then they've only flourished in unique ecological niches that plants don't usually compete for. They break down decomposing plant and animal materials, and they form symbiotic growths with microorganisms and larger plants, but the primacy of fungi in the world's biosphere had otherwise come to an end.

But the destruction of most plant life on Ylisse and Valm, and quite possibly the entire rest of the world's continents, has changed this. Areas of land that had once nurtured vibrant and flourishing forests now contained little more than the rotting husks of towering trees, and fungal growths thrive on this biomass. Woody forests have since become dominated by fungi so thick that one couldn't take a step without trodding on some living thing. Beyond that, these fungal growths have even managed to spread into the areas of the badlands that still get regular rainfall. While mushrooms flourish in the remnants of old forests, some sections of the badlands have mats of fungal material growing right out of the dirt. Kilometers of the continent are now dominated by these growths, and these areas have since become known as the Fungal Lands.

Grima's Blight seems to have done more than just alter the environment to favor fungal growth. It actually mutated some species of fungi, producing individuals more aggressive and virulent than anything in recorded history. Many mutated species produce spores with such intensity that traveling to these areas of the Fungal Lands can cause health complications, and other individuals grew so rapidly that they could overtake buildings. Such was the fate of Arena Ferox. The city that had once been of great importance to Regna Ferox had already been sparsely inhabited since the Fell Dragon took over the world, and the area was beset upon by a particularly nasty fungal growth. Mushrooms grew right inside of buildings, and their spores caused lung difficulties. The city eventually had to be abandoned, and reportedly even Grimleal military installations have since been overtaken by fungal infestations.

As harmful as the fungal growths can be to people, certain species of edible fungi have also thrived in the new environments Grima's Blight created. Many eke out a living by farming these mushrooms. For the people that knew only farming before the pestilence made it impossible, tending to these mushrooms was a way to return to that life. To relative normalcy. It was preferable to the alternatives of working with the Grimleal, mining, or finding some other kind of manual labor. Isaiah was one of these people; a middle aged man who lived as a farmer before Grima's rise that now got by through fungal cultivation.

Isaiah wiped the sweat from his brow as he laboriously picked edible mushrooms one by one from the ground. Isaiah was in his late forties. A few dark gray hairs accentuated the small amount of stubble on his worn and tired face, but his short and curly hair was otherwise a violet color so deep that it almost looked brown. He wore simple farmer's clothes, tattered and dirty, and his lower pants were covered in sand and dust. Isaiah lived where the arid badlands met the Fungal Lands. The lack of rainfall in the area kept most fungal species at bay, but the hardier species, possibly mutated by Grima's Blight, managed to creep into the area. Thankfully, many of these organisms were edible. Deep down, Isaiah longed for the days of his youth, when he farmed conventional crops and livestock. Raising these mushrooms was the closest he could get to it, and he much preferred this lifestyle to any alternatives.

For most of human civilization's history, the average person lived in a rural environment and sustained themselves through farming. Grima's Blight made this impossible in the modern world. People must live near settlements to get their supplies, as materials and foodstuffs society used to take for granted have to be imported from the few fertile areas of the continent left. Isaiah was no exception. He couldn't feed his family through mushrooms alone, so he had to live near a large town to sustain himself. Just a few kilometers south of his homestead was a city known as The Saltworks. With farming now impossible in most areas, a great many uneducated workers turned to mining. Founded just fifteen years ago around, as the name suggests, a major salt mine, The Saltworks stands as one of the largest cities in southwestern Ferox. The city makes its fortune selling salt to the Grimleal, and in turn it has the money to support a thriving economy. Shops and businesses of all kinds prosper by selling goods and services to the miners, and these merchants also pay farmers like Isaiah for their mushroom harvests. Besides farming edible fungi, Isaiah also works to kill off any dangerous species that try to colonize his property. Cities by the Fungal Lands always face the danger of being overrun, and so The Saltworks government itself pays Isaiah and other farmers directly to be vigilant for signs of infestation. Through these sources of income, Isaiah can largely live with his family comfortably. Occasionally he had to work as a freelance miner in the salt mines themselves to make ends meet, but he mostly enjoyed the considerably less dangerous life of a farmer. It was nothing like the life had once lived, but Isaiah knew first hand how bad things had gotten for some people since the Grimleal took over. At the very least he was able to raise a family.

Isaiah forced himself to pick mushrooms until his legs finally screamed for some rest, at which point he allowed himself a quick break. He sat in silence for a few minutes until he heard the sound of brief and rapid footsteps behind him. He smiled and turned to look at his seven year old daughter as she ran towards him, but his expression became more worried as he realized what she was holding.

"Look, daddy!" Isaiah's young daughter wore a simple pink dress, also covered in sand and dust. Her hair had the color of her father's, but the intensity of her mother's, and so she was given bright violet hair she kept in two pigtails. "Look what I found! Isn't it neat!"

"Sarah! No! Put that down!" Sarah's excited look faded as her father rushed over and took the object from her hand. It had been a large mushroom, about as large as the girl's head, that notably glowed a bright blue. It appeared to have been responding to Sarah's touch, as the light faded once the mushroom cap was thrown to the ground.

"Y-you don't like it, daddy?" Sarah asked innocently.

"What did I tell you 'bout picking up strange shrooms?! That could o' been dangerous!"

Sarah looked genuinely remorseful. "I… I'm sorry, daddy."

"Why don't you listen to me?!"

"Oh come on, honey. She didn't mean nothing by it." Isaiah turned to see his wife approaching. She was a few years younger than Isaiah, though still in her forties. She wore a simple red dress covered with an apron, and she had long, bright golden hair. "She just wanted to show her father something she thought you'd like."

"Yeah, daddy! I ain't never seen a glowing one before. I just wanted to show you."

Isaiah looked at his daughter, who stared back with puppy dog eyes. He finally smiled and beckoned for her to come closer. "Yeah, alright. I'm sorry, dear." He ran his hand through his daughter's hair, and her smile returned. "I tell you not to pick up strange fungi for a reason. Some of it is toxic, even to the touch. I just want you to be safe, but I appreciate the sentiment."

"What's sentiment, daddy?"

"I'm saying it's the thought that counts."

"Oh! Okay!"

"Run along now, Sarah." Isaiah's wife added. "Supper is ready." Sarah eagerly sprinted back towards the house, and her mother turned to Isaiah. "And that goes for you too, mister."

"That time already, Matilda? I'm not done harvesting yet. I knew I was runnin' late today."

"Come on, darling. Families are meant to eat suppers together. 'Sides you got to go into town and pick up supplies still."

"Right. What're we havin'?"

"Mushroom casserole. What else?"

Isaiah's stomach grumbled, but not in anticipation. "Well food is food… I guess."

"We'd finally get some meat and bread if you'd head into town. All the more reason not to put it off."

"I'll consider that motivation. Alright, I'll head out after supper. Just let me gather these here shrooms. Get my Ma's meal started and I'll be back to help you serve the kids."

Matilda smiled and gave her husband a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. "Love you, dear."

Isaiah watched his second wife walk away as he gathered the picked mushrooms into his baskets. "I love you too… more than you could know."

Mercifully, Henry's dark magic did work on the Imperial Creeper stalks. One by one he would siphon some kind of energy from the mushrooms, reducing them to shriveled and crumpled piles of dead material, and transfer a sickly green energy into the wounded. The process was painful and strangely produced a foul odor, but the group's injuries were mostly healed. Ophelia and Soleil's minor shrapnel injuries were treated, and Chrom's stab wound closed. He still didn't regain consciousness, but his breathing and pulse were regular.

"There!" Henry smiled to his granddaughter and stood triumphantly over Chrom's body. "All better! That was a persistent princely piercing wound, but he's fine now."

"But… why won't he wake up?"

Henry shrugged and tapped Chrom with his foot. "I don't know. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Ophelia smiled back, but she was having a hard time looking right at him. "Grandfather, your nose?"

"What about it?"

"It still has a hole in it! Will healing not work on it?"

"Huh? Oh, OH! Yeah! That did happen to me."

"You forgot?! Isn't that incredibly painful?!"

"Of course, but I don't know. I kind of like it. It stings so good!" Henry inspected his wound with his fingers, and Ophelia had to turn away in disgust. "I don't think it's that bad."

"Please, grandfather." Ophelia stuttered as she struggled with her queasiness. "Please do something about it."

"Alright. I just don't see why it's a big deal." Henry walked a few meters away to find a mushroom he hadn't destroyed. He transferred the same green energy as before into himself while holding his nose in place, and the injury disappeared. Henry seemed more upset than anything by it. "Aw. Now it's just a boring old nose again."

Ophelia glanced off into the distance to see Caeldori resting on the ground. Besides Chrom's wound, Caeldori's injuries were among the most severe. Shrapnel had torn off a lot of the skin on her right thigh, and a few particularly large pieces were visibly buried in her leg. Some parts of Caeldori's thigh were so badly savaged that it looked like there wasn't any skin there at all, but Caeldori had been hiding the severity of her injury. She covered much of it with bandaging before leaving Fort Morgan and acted like the wound wasn't serious, but it was actually giving her incredible pain. Even Henry's dark magic hadn't been the end of it. Most of the flesh on Caeldori's thigh had grown back, but some of it was discolored and refusing to heal properly. These spots marked dangerously large pieces of shrapnel that were now embedded into her leg, as Henry's healing didn't remove them and the skin had grown around it. Caeldori's wound was far from stable, and the shrapnel still inside of it caused her significant discomfort, but still she tried to hide it. She acted like her leg had been completely healed, but Ophelia was too observant. She noticed Caeldori still limped when she walked and rested a lot. Knowing how much she hated to show vulnerability of any kind, Ophelia was increasingly wondering if something was still wrong. She knew Caeldori could be pretty stubborn about these things, but her growing concern was eating away at her. She had to confront her about it.

"Caeldy?"

Caeldori had been running her hand along one of the discolored spots on her leg when she turned to see her friend approaching. She quickly tried to act like she had simply been scratching and stood up, though there was a noticeable wince as her right leg bore her weight. "Phelia! I mean… Phelia."

"Are you okay?"

"Fine w-why?"

Ophelia glanced around and ran her hand down the back of her neck as she searched for the right words. "You know… you know we all look up to you right? Soleil and I? You're a lot more talented than the two of us. We only got a few years of training from Cordelia after all, but she's been forging you into a soldier since you were a girl. You're very inspiring. Even Chrom and Gaius are impressed, and I know how proud Cordelia was."

"Um… thank you. But there's no need to put yourselves down. You and Soleil are-"

"No please! Accept the compliment. We could both learn a lot from you."

"Alright?"

"So…" Ophelia looked Caeldori in the eye. "There's no need to hide any weakness from us. We wouldn't think any less of you. It doesn't make you a burden."

"What?! What are you-"

"Your leg, Caeldy. It's not better is it?"

"It's fine!"

Ophelia stepped forward and very gently tapped Caeldori's thigh, but she acted like Ophelia stabbed her. Ophelia also got a better look at the wound, and the sight made her recoil somewhat. "Please don't lie to us."

"Hrng. It's… it's fine." Caeldori muttered through gritted teeth. She tried to keep her composure, but her annoyance was clear to Ophelia. "I don't need your concern."

"Please don't do this! I don't want you to be hurt. Talk to Henry! If it's not healed properly than just ask him to help you again. I'm sure he won't mind."

"I don't need any help. Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine!"

"Caeldy, I'm worried about you." Ophelia almost reached up and placed her hand on her friend's shoulder, but Caeldori's now very bitter glare made her rethink this. "I know you've got to be in a lot of pain."

"The leg is nothing!"

"I meant from… from Cordelia's death." Ophelia forced herself to place her hand on Caeldori's shoulder this time, and her intense stare softened. "When I found out the Grimleal took away my mother, that I'd probably never see her again, I was devastated. I was alone. I hadn't met Tiki or Soleil or you yet, and I had no one to turn to. I was also only eleven years old. It… it was horrible. Cordelia raised you, so you basically lost your mother when she died. I know what you're going through." Caeldori couldn't meet Ophelia's eyes anymore, and she hung her head as the words got to her. Ophelia gave a warm smile. "But you're not alone like I was. You can turn to us, and you don't have to hide any weakness. It wouldn't make you a burden." Ophelia was silent until Caeldori finally looked back to her. "Now does your leg still hurt? Do you still need help?"

Caeldori nodded sheepishly. "But you don't understand. There's still shrapnel in my leg. Henry's healing just made the skin grow around it, and he can't remove it. I'd need a surgeon, so it does make me a burden. There's nothing you can do now, but I can make sure I'm not slowing the group down."

"Oh…"

"Thank you for caring, Phelia, but you can't do anything for me. I am a burden right now, and it's my responsibility to minimize that."

"I see."

Caeldori sat down again, grunting as she did. She let out a sigh of relief as her leg finally stopped supporting her weight, and it looked like she had no intention of getting up again anytime soon. Ophelia just stood there looking at her for some time. She had nothing else to add, but it didn't feel right to leave her alone again. Caeldori eventually decided to keep talking, if only to break the silence. "Ophelia?"

"Yes?"

"Do you and Soleil… really look up to me? Or were you just saying that."

"Of course we do." Ophelia sat by her friend. The dusty surface of the badlands didn't make for a comfortable place to sit, and Ophelia realized just how much pain Caeldori must have been enduring to want to stay sitting. "You're more of a soldier than the two of us, and you're more of a leader. I wish I had some of your strength, discipline, and courage."

"Does… Soleil really think that?"

"Well she'd never say that, but I think she does. Why… why do you two fight so much?"

"I don't set out to antagonize her, Phelia. She just never listens. She's a slacker and a goof off, and she just seems to want to fight sometimes."

"There are two sides to every story, Caeldy."

"Maybe, but she spends more time flirting and dancing than she does training. We're at war, Ophelia. We'd stand no chance against the Grimleal if we were all like her. There's no denying that."

"Well… I'm sorry you two don't get along. I think she does want to be closer to you though."

"Could've fooled me."

Ophelia stood up. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I don't think so."

"I could talk to Henry. Maybe he could help you with the pain?"

"I doubt it. Dark magic is about aggressively altering human physiology and psychology, and that man was trained by the Plegian military to be an instrument of death. Even his healing causes pain. I doubt he could help me. Tell him I appreciate the effort, but I'd need a surgeon."

"I don't think that's fair, Caeldori."

"Isn't it? Dark mages are feared for a reason, and Plegia wasn't known for its peaceful policies. Holy magic is known for healing, but Plegian dark mages? Not so much." Caeldori looked up to Ophelia. "If I were you, I'd focus on the holy magic. It won't turn you into a monster."

"That's not fair. Holy magic is not inherently good, and dark magic is not inherently evil."

"Maybe. I concede that I know less about this than you do. That being said, Plegia was known for cultivating brutal dark mages that found new and destructive ways of waging war. Ylisse, the other side of your ancestry, was known for devotion to a connection to Naga herself, and holy magic is known for healing and vanquishing threats to humanity. Just saying."

This time Ophelia had nothing else to add, so she walked away. She found her grandfather studying some of the dead mushroom stalks. "G-grandfather?" Ophelia still found herself afraid of Henry, but his seemingly genuine smile warmed her somewhat. It was hard to shake those first impressions, but Ophelia was slowly realizing how much Henry did want to be around her.

"Hey-o, Ophelio. I saw you talking to Cordelia II. Is her leg holding up?"

"Well not exactly. Caeldori says there are pieces of shrapnel under the skin, and your healing just made the skin grow around it. She says she needs a surgeon. I don't suppose you could help?"

"Hmm. Not really. Not unless I use a total leg removal spell, nya ha ha!"

"That's not funny!"

"Sure it is."

Ophelia shook her head and reminded herself that Henry probably didn't mean anything personal against Caeldori. "Do you at least know a spell that could help her with the pain? She won't admit it, but I don't think she can walk very well."

Henry thought deeply about it. "Well there is this one curse. It can kill someone quickly and painlessly. Just like that! Easier than falling asleep. See someone mortally wounded on the battlefield? Pchew! Dead. No pain. Personally I like watching people bleed out, but some people aren't into that."

"What?! I don't want her to die painlessly! I want her to live painlessly!"

"Hmm. We could try burning her alive. It'll hurt at first, but eventually her nerve endings will burn off. Then we just extinguish her and just like that she won't feel pain anymore."

Ophelia sighed. "I guess that's technically what I asked for, but we can't do that. Thanks anyways."

Henry shrugged as Ophelia walked away. She didn't think anyone else could provide assistance, but she decided to try asking Gaius. She didn't expect him to be able to do anything for Caeldori, but if there was the slightest possibility of helping her, she had to take it. To Ophelia's surprise, Gaius actually thought about what she told him. As it turned out, he was capable of helping to some degree.

"When I was a younger man, I ran with a small group of thieves. They taught me a few things, including how to treat some battlefield injuries. I might be able to treat her leg."

"So you're a surgeon?"

"Well… not really, but how hard could it be?"

Ophelia scowled. "That's not reassuring."

"Let me put it this way. The hardest part of being a surgeon isn't the cutting. Anyone can just cut something out right? The hardest part is making sure the patient survives and recovers. Thing is, we have Henry's dark healing. I can't promise I won't cut her up pretty bad, but it won't matter. Henry can just heal all her injuries when I'm done. If I just get the shrapnel out first, it won't matter how much of a mess I make. Henry will heal everything. It'll be sloppy. I'm not a trained surgeon. If I just remove the shrapnel though, that should keep her fine until we can find a real surgeon."

"So… you won't hurt her?"

"Err, Henry will be able to heal anything I do to her. Thing is, I will be hurting her during the surgery. A lot. I mean you and Shrill will probably have to restrain her."

"What? Why?!"

"We don't exactly have any anesthetic, Blondie."

"You'll cut into her leg with her awake for it and everything?!"

"What choice do we have? As soon as I get all the shrapnel out, Henry will heal her leg. Until then, it'll be pretty painful and bloody."

Ophelia thought about it. She knew Caeldori would agree to it, but only because she was so terrified of being a burden on the group. Only because of her pride. She wouldn't think of how dangerous it could be. Ophelia didn't want to risk anything serious happening to Caeldori, and she didn't want to put her through that pain. To protect her, she needed to choose for her. "I'm sorry, Gaius. It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't think that's safe."

"That's fine. I'm not sure I would do it if I were her."

"Is there anything you can do for her pain now?"

"Well…" Gaius pulled out a bottle from his clothing. "I have this."

Ophelia took it to see that it was a bottle of whiskey. "Where did you get this?!"

"I took it off the Arch Surg back in the fort."

"Huh?! When could you have done that?"

"I have a knack for taking things under people's noses. I'm always on the lookout for interesting things to, uh… borrow. I don't usually like alcohol though. When I do drink, it's usually just sweeter stuff."

"Then why did you take this?"

"It's strong. I was saving it for when I really wanted to be out of it. That's why I think Caeldori could use some."

"You want me to get her inebriated?!"

"If the shrapnel won't come out, then at least she won't have to feel it as much."

"That doesn't sound right."

"It's this or we treat her injury. Otherwise she just has to tough it out, and that's assuming it doesn't get worse. She's uh… she's already missing a hand, Blondie. What if it gets worse."

"Alcohol won't fix that."

"But at least she won't feel worse." Gaius pulled out a second bottle. "Better take some more."

Ophelia took both bottles. She removed the lid from one and took a short whiff. The potency was immediately apparent to her. "Well… it's better than the alternative."

"We'll find a doctor for her, Blondie. I promise we won't leave her."

"Chrom too?"

"If he doesn't wake up, we might have to."

Hours passed, but still Chrom refused to wake up. Eventually the sun began to set, and the temperature began to fall. The group was at the border between Plegia and southwestern Ferox now, and the autumn nights could be surprisingly cold. It was much more merciful than winter, but the wind chill across the open badlands was still brutal to endure. Gaius, Henry, and Ophelia stayed by Chrom, but Soleil eventually began to wander around. Ophelia grew worried and eventually chased after her, but she too became interested in exploring after catching up to her old friend. Eventually Soleil gathered dried husks of the mushrooms Henry had killed, and she moved it all under a particularly tall mushroom stalk to get some shelter from the winds. Ophelia used a fire tome she'd taken from the fort's armory to light it. The fungal material successfully sustained a blaze, and the two women were able to enjoy a brief moment of peace from the cold by a warm fire. As difficult as the past few days had been for everyone, Ophelia and Soleil were able to forget about it all, if just for a moment.

"Oh that's nice." Soleil said, almost moaned, as she sprawled out by the open flame. "I can't believe it got so cold all of the sudden! Brrr!"

"You're cold? Look at me! I'm in sandals and a mage outfit over here. Besides, aren't you a quarter Feroxi? I thought you would be used to the cold."

"I don't see how that means anything. I grew up in Ylisse." Soleil did seem to consider Ophelia's words. "Chrom says my grandmother was a great dancer and singer. Why am I so lousy with my dancing and singing?"

"Keep practicing, Soleil. You'll get there."

"I don't really have much time to practice. Not to mention little miss perfect always gets angry with me if I don't spend all my free time training. It's exactly what Cordelia used to do."

Ophelia looked down and felt a sudden chill run through her. She inched closer to the fire, but the feeling didn't go away. "I'll miss her, Soleil. A lot."

Soleil sighed, and her smile almost faded entirely. "Yeah… me too. She did a lot for us. Gave us a place to stay. Trained us. Believed in us." Soleil looked contemplatively at the roaring fire. "She could be a very strict teacher. Always riding me for something or another. 'Soleil! Stop your dancing! Stop your singing! Leave the village girls alone! Stop trying to ride my Pegasus!' I remember wanting nothing more than to just leave sometimes. Now I got my wish. Now I'll never have to deal with that again… only to find myself wishing I'd taken her training more seriously."

"She was proud of us, Soleil. I know she was."

"Still. I should have done more for her." Soleil relaxed and tried her best to be comfortable on the barren surface of the badlands. "Of course, that doesn't mean she wasn't being unfair sometimes. Remember when we first met her? It was a pretty sweet set up. We had her nice big house to live in. Training only took up part of the day. Sometimes we could go down to the nearby town. Tour the markets. See a show of some kind. Mmm. Chat up the girls."

Ophelia shook her head. "Was that really necessary?"

"Don't hate just because you were too shy to get any action."

"Did you get any 'action', or were you just being turned down?"

"I certainly had to cast a wide net, but I caught a few." Soleil blushed and seemed to stare off into space. "Some of those farm girls were anything but dull."

"Alright. I get the picture."

"But Cordelia changed over the years. She got a lot more strict, especially with me. She made us train more and more, and eventually she stopped letting us visit the town."

"Gee, I wonder why."

Soleil sat up. "Woah, hey! It had nothing to do with me. Those fine maidens loved it when I paid them visits. Besides I needed the outlet. It was hard being cramped up in that homestead with no new women to talk to. Hell… I might have looked at Cordelia differently… once or twice."

"W-what?!"

"I was lonely. She… she wasn't bad for her age. I-I don't know. I might have… said some things."

"You hit on Cordelia?!"

"Woah! Let me set the context. I didn't expect anything to, like, happen. I just wanted to practice the material."

"She was our mentor!"

"There was a time where she argued with me almost daily. I figured it couldn't get any more awkward."

"She's years older than us!"

"I don't know. I like older women. They're… experienced. Plus they've always got stories to tell."

"Soleil, please don't continue."

"Well like I was saying, it wasn't my fault." Soleil glanced around before speaking again. "It was probably her granddaughter's fault."

"Caeldori? How?!"

"Do you remember when we first met Caeldori?"

"It was when we met Cordelia."

"Not quite. It was about a month afterwards. Caeldori was away when we first came to the homestead."

"Oh yeah!"

"Do you know why?"

"Was she traveling somewhere?"

"Cordelia didn't actually train her all by herself. There was a time where she would send her to learn from other tutors and instructors. I think she became worried that the Grimleal would learn about us if she continued. That's why she didn't find any for us." Soleil leaned towards Ophelia. "But that's not the only reason why she stopped sending Caeldori to them."

"W-what?"

Soleil grinned. "Caeldori kept making passes at the male ones! Little miss pole up her butt was hitting on her teachers! C-can you believe that?!"

"Y-you're kidding!"

"I'm serious. I remember overhearing an argument Cordelia had with Caeldori. She was not happy. Cordelia and I used to snap at each other, but she was yelling at Caeldori. She was furious on how irresponsible she had been. You know, the words she usually threw at me. Caeldori made these men so uncomfortable that they couldn't maintain the teacher student relationship. This happened more than once too. She did this constantly."

"Caeldy?!"

"Some of these men were much older than her. It's like she had a thing for instructors. Cordelia worked to get her the best possible military training and she turns into a schoolgirl about it! Ha! Miss stuck up! Not so stoic after all huh? Anyways, it was Caeldori that probably ruined the town trips for us. That or Cordelia became afraid that the Grimleal were slowly starting to track her down, but that one is less funny."

"Wha… I…" Ophelia just shook her head as her face scrunched up. "I can't say I can picture Caeldori chasing after anyone. Her teachers? Really?!"

"I'm not sure she's ever been with a boy, and I've never seen her pursue one. I think she's not interested in ones her age. In fact, I think she's got a thing for men with authority over her. Men out of her social standing. It's like she wants men that, deep down, she knows she can't really have. Sort of like a more extreme version of what old grandma had for the prince huh?"

Ophelia glanced at something behind Soleil. "Uhh…"

"Except Cordelia got Chrom in the end now didn't she? Caeldori doesn't know what she wants."

"Soleil…"

"She says I'm a pervert, but at least I chase after people I can get."

"Soleil, turn around."

Soleil slowly realized what Ophelia was looking up at, and she turned to see Caeldori's glare bearing down on her. Though she had soft and conventionally feminine features, Caeldori could give a menacing look when she wanted to. Something also seemed off about her. She swayed back and forth as she stood, and her gaze wasn't completely fixed on any one object at a time. "Oh hey, Caeldori! Good to see you up and around." Soleil nervously rose to her feet. "Is your leg doing better?" Soleil smiled, but also awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. Caeldori continued to shoot daggers at Soleil, and her smile became more sheepish. "You uh, overheard me huh?"

"Yes I did. I really appreciate your attempt to psychoanalyze me, Soleil, but my love life is none of your concern. Now what are you two doing?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"What are you doing?" Caeldori's voice was very bitter, and she slurred her words. Soleil became uneasy as she realized something was wrong with her.

"W-we're just warming up by a fire."

Ophelia stood up and tried to smile, though she also realized that something was off. "Do you want to join us?"

"Don't you think this is a waste of time?"

"No? It's very cold out. Aren't you cold?"

"No." Caeldori took a few steps towards the fire, and she stumbled somewhat as she walked. "You two should be training! Our encounters with the Arch Surg have shown that we still have a long way to go. Put out that fire. We have work to do."

"W-what?! No way!" Soleil dashed in front of Caeldori. "It's almost night time, and we're cold!"

"I saw you fight at the fort, Soleil. You would have died without me there to cover you. You need to train."

"We can do it tomorrow."

"Oh can we now? Oh please, Soleil. Tell me when we should be doing things. You know so much more than me." Caeldori stepped closer to Soleil this time. "My grandmother was a Pegasus Knight. Tell me again. What was your grandmother? A dancer?"

"Caeldori, that's hardly fair."

"Do you have a problem with me, peasant? Come on." Caeldori put her face to Soleil's, and she realized what was happening as the unsubtle stench of alcohol in Caeldori's breath hit her. "Try something. You always want to fight, so try something. I dare you."

"Caeldori… this isn't you."

"And how do you know me? Huh? How do you know what I am and am not like?!"

Ophelia slowly stepped forward and tried to look as friendly as she could. "Hey, come on now. We're all friends here. How is your leg doing, Caeldy?"

"My leg is not a problem!" Caeldori turned towards the fire. "I want to think that, Ophelia. Really I do! I want to think of you two as friends, but you never take me seriously! You two listen to me, and you listen good. You've got no one left! No one!"

"Huh?!"

"You heard me! Cordelia is gone! GONE! So is Tiki! Chrom may be helping us, but we all know he's not the man we need him to be. We don't have anyone to guide us, so I'm doing what my grandmother wanted me to do. I'm leading us now, and things are going to change. No more slacking off. No more wasting time! I'm going to make you two into soldiers. Now put out that fire!" Caeldori tried kicking sand into the blaze, but Soleil liked it too much to let that happen. She moved to block Caeldori, and she drunkenly fumbled forward. Her uninjured leg was unintentionally thrusted into the fire in a desperate attempt to keep her balance. Caeldori reeled forward in pain and accidentally smashed into the mushroom stalk the girls had taken cover under. As if reacting to her presence, the Imperial Creeper stalk promptly released a cloud of spores. Ophelia and Soleil jumped backwards, but Caeldori got a face full of the material. She fell to her knees and vomited while trying to wipe the yellowish gunk off of her.

"ARGH! Gods above all! Agh! Crock of beans! Suffering sheep dip! Argh, mule muffins! Pickled pigs feet! Mother hugging pimple on a bee's rear!" When Caeldori brought her head up again, her eyes were an irritated, burning red, and her expression was consumed by rage. Ophelia didn't want to speak with her anymore, but Soleil couldn't resist a joke.

"Well, Caeldy. I'd say you gave that mushroom a happy ending!"

Caeldori stumbled forward as quickly as she could and confronted Soleil again. Ophelia glanced down to see that her other leg was now suffering from burn wounds, and part of Caeldori's prosthetic hand caught flame, but she ignored it all. She just brought her anger and frustration choked eyes down on Soleil's and overpowered her ally's cheery demeanor. "Ever ready with a joke, mercenary. If only you were so proficient with your blade, you would actually stand a chance of beating the Grimleal."

"We can smell the booze on your breath. This isn't you. Where did you even get the stuff?!"

Caeldori gave a not at all reassuring smile. "Why don't you ask Ophelia?" Soleil looked over to her in confusion.

"S-she was in a lot of pain from her leg. Gaius said it would help. How much did you drink?! Gaius didn't want you to have that stuff just to act like this! He just wanted to help you with the pain!"

Caeldori shook her head. "But it made me realize something. I was drinking. Choking down the stuff. Then it got easier and easier to drink, and then I realized something. We're not… we're not where we should be. Cordelia wanted us to lead the fight against the Grimleal one day but… what have we done?"

"We found Chrom?"

"And what has he done?! He's not the man Tiki wanted him to be. He can't help us like we wanted him to." Caeldori's expression saddened, but Ophelia and Soleil were still wary of her. "I was supposed to rebuild the Pegasus Knights, but I have no idea how! Where do I find more mounts? The recruits? The weapons and armor? How do I train them? Cordelia wanted me to rebuild the entire order, but I don't know how! More than that, we were supposed to be the start of something. We were going to lead the people into rebelling against the Grimleal. We haven't done anything to inspire any kind of rebellion. What have we even done against the Grimleal? We pushed a man off a cliff, but that's it!"

"You're being very hard on yourself, Caeldy." Ophelia said, though she still didn't want to get any closer to her. "No one ever escaped the Rockpile before us. We showed that they're not invincible."

"But what good did that do?" Caeldori stood up straight, and her anger seemed to return. "You two don't get it. We haven't done anything! That changes now. We're shaping up. We're going to become what Tiki and Cordelia needed us to be. We're going to live up the Shepherds!"

Soleil stopped smiling. "And let me guess. You're going to lead us. Tell us what to do."

"I am the most experienced of us. The most highly trained. Who else, Soleil? You? Huh? You?" Caeldori stepped closer to Soleil again, but she didn't back away this time. Ophelia tensed up at the sight of her friends once again at each other's throats. This time she couldn't rely on Caeldori to act rationally.

"P-please don't do this." She whimpered. Caeldori ignored her.

"Get away from me. You need to just calm down."

Caeldori didn't relent. "Do you have a problem with my leadership, mercenary? Come on. You're always finding something to argue about. Why don't we settle this."

"I don't want to fight you, you damned moron!"

"That's bunk and you know it. You're always arguing with me, Soleil. Let's just finish this. Come on. Make a move." Caeldori shoved Soleil. "Make a move. Give me a reason."

"To do what?!"

"Prove just how weak you are."

"I'm not doing this."

Caeldori started giving Soleil light but repeated nudges. "Come on. You know you want to. Come on. Give me a reason."

Soleil held her temper for a few seconds, and Ophelia tried to get between the two. To her chagrin, Soleil snapped before she could. Soleil tried lunging at Caeldori but, even in her drunken state, she was able to quickly overpower her and throw her to the ground. The sight of this made Ophelia want to start yelling, and she had to take a few seconds to calm herself. Soleil's face turned bright red, and Ophelia moved in front of her and instant before she could shoot up and lunge at Caeldori again. "STOP! Stop it! I'm tired of being the arbiter of these childish skirmishes. Caeldori, please! Just sober up!"

"Oh so you want to lead. Is that it, Ophelia? I bet that royal blood is just boiling right out of your skin at the thought of us commoners not immediately swearing fealty to you."

"What?!"

"You're not the Exalt yet. Chrom's decomposing body is still sitting on the throne, such as it is, and I'm not going to just do what you say! Chrom may have had Cordelia wrapped around his finger, but I'm not going to just mindlessly allow you to lead us!"

"You're being ridiculous. We've been friends a long time now, and we've always been equals!"

"Really now? You and Soleil knew each other for some time before you met me. I've always been the outsider anyways, so I might as well embrace that. I don't need to be your equal! I just need to get you slackers into shape! We need to be better! All three of us! We're not, we're not the heroes we should be!"

Ophelia gave Caeldori a determined stare. "I think you've had enough. Give me the bottles."

Caeldori glared back, but Ophelia didn't relent. After a few seconds of tense silence, Caeldori reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the whiskey bottles, though she didn't pull out the second. She hurled it at Ophelia, who barely caught it. "Fine. Tribute to the Exalt-to-be from the last Pegasus Knight." She turned and walked away into the growing darkness, limping from her wounds and drunkenly stumbling at the same time. "We're all going to die! If you don't take this seriously, we're all going to lose this war! We can't fix the world!"

Ophelia looked at her feet in pained silence, but Soleil yelled after her. "Yeah keep walking! See what happens if you come back here! Gods! I have half a mind to knock you upside the head!"

"Soleil, please stop."

"Why are you defending her actions?! The two of us, right now, we could knock some respect into her. Tie her to a mushroom for the night or something. I don't know."

"Please just leave it alone. For me, Soleil?"

Soleil calmed down and sat back in her original spot. The two sat in silence again, but it was hard to relax as they had before. Soleil was really struggling to let everything that had happened go, and eventually she had to bring it up again. "I just… I don't get her. Sometimes she's nice and affable. She can even be pretty fun. She makes me want to get to know her better. The next moment she's snapping at us. She reminds you that deep down, she looks down on us. Sometimes she makes me wish she'd just leave."

"But you would miss her if she did. Just like with Cordelia."

"Yeah… I would. I'm just so angry with her! What the hell?!"

"She's in a lot of pain, Soleil. She needs time."

"That doesn't excuse her behavior! She didn't act like this after losing her hand, and I wasn't anything like that after taking a knife in the lung."

"No, no. I mean she's still hurting from Cordelia's death. I know it's easy to forget, but that was just the other day. Cordelia has raised her since she was five years old. She was basically her mother. Would you be okay if your mother died right in front of you?"

Soleil thought of her own mother. She was the only one of the three to still have a parent, or at least to know where her parent was. Soleil hadn't seen her mother in years. She was too afraid of the Grimleal learning of her and targeting her. She did write frequently, and she tried to send money when she could. "No. No… I wouldn't."

"She's also alone, Soleil. You have your mother. I have Chrom and Henry. Caeldori only has us. It's sad to see her pushing us away, but she's just angry and afraid of showing weakness. Don't turn on her, Soleil. She needs us. We just need to wait for her to calm down."

Soleil's anger faded as she realized the truth in Ophelia's words. It was natural for her to pick fights with Caeldori, but for once she really tried to see things from her point of view. She tried to see how Caeldori really did want to be closer to her, even if she was just as frustrated by Soleil's actions as her grandmother had once been. "You're right. She… she does need us. I should try to connect with her… painful as that can be."

Ophelia smiled, her sadness finally leaving her. "Thank you. Promise me you won't go attack her in her sleep or anything?"

"I promise. Oh gods. Can I borrow a piece of paper, Ophelia? And something to write with?"

"Sure. Why?"

"I want to write to my mom again."

Meanwhile, Caeldori sat herself in the sand. She had wandered some distance from the rest of the group. Her other leg was now suffering from moderate burn wounds, and she had no shelter from the winds, but she didn't care. She just sat staring at her other whiskey bottle, crying to herself. She slowly raised it in the air and gave a sad smile. "Well here's to you, grandmother. You're in a better place now. Better than the hell your generation left us." Caeldori took a sip and looked back down. "I'm sorry I snapped at them. They're just too weak! I'm too weak! I'm so sorry. I'm not the woman you needed me to be. I'm just not perfect like you."

Chrom woke up to find himself in an empty, grassy field. He wasn't an adult anymore. He was a boy no more than four years old. He felt scared and alone, but he lit up as he turned to see the familiar faces of his mother and father. His older self couldn't even consciously remember his parent's faces, but he recognized them now. His father was wearing his gold and blue armor, and had the Falchion by his side. His mother had long blonde hair and soft blue eyes. She wore an elaborate blue and gold dress. The two smiled down at their son as he ran up to them. Chrom wrapped his arms tightly around his mother's leg, and his father ran his fingers through his son's hair.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Chrom shouted in glee as he tightened his grip on his mother's leg. She gently dislodged him before kneeling down to hug him. Chrom closed his eyes and smiled, but when he opened them again he found the Falchion being held in front of him. Chrom's father laid the sword down on the ground. Chrom tried to lift it, but it was too heavy for him to even budge. His father chuckled.

"Don't worry, boy. You will be strong enough to lift it one day. You will grow to protect Ylisse."

"I will, daddy! I promise."

"I know you will. Goodbye, son. Make us proud."

"W-what?" Chrom looked worried. "You're leaving me?!"

"Yes. You'll have to be without us from now on."

Chrom's mother smiled down at him as she stood up. "But we'll always love you."

"You are descended from great heroes, boy. You must protect this land as they did."

Chrom's mother and father vanished, but the Falchion remained. Chrom stood up straight and struck his idea of a heroic pose. "I will!" Chrom quickly became scared again. He was once more alone in the field, and he was afraid to wander away from the Falchion. Eventually he heard footsteps coming from behind him, and he turned to see a group of brigands. "S-stop there!" He stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

The lead brigand looked at Chrom and gave a menacing smile. "We're here to rape and kill and plunder. Not necessarily in that order. In any order we feel like really."

"Huh?! Why?! How could you?!"

"It's fun." The man noticed the Falchion. "I know who you are. You're Prince Chrom. You think you can stop us?"

"I-I…" Chrom was terrified, but he remembered his father's words. "I won't let you do that!"

"Ha! Oh this will be fun." The brigand walked forward and mercilessly kicked Chrom in the face, shattering his nose. He was knocked to his back crying and screaming, but the far larger man gave him no pity or remorse. He readied a downward strike from his axe, and the young Chrom was forced to run for his life. He sprinted forwards, blood pouring from his nose, until he bumped into another man. He turned around and pointed a Levin Sword at Chrom, and the young boy looked up to see Gangrel when he was King of Plegia.

"So this is Prince Chrom. You think you can stop me? I will ensure Plegian domination of this entire continent, and someday all the world will bow before Gangrel!" Gangrel swung at Chrom. He ducked under it, but some of the electricity arced into his body and burned him. He ran away yet again to once more bump into someone. This time he looked up to see Aversa and Validar.

"Aw. Look at the sweet little boy. Are you lost, love?" Aversa stepped back and Validar prepared an attack with dark magic.

"Grima's rise is inevitable, Chrom. You cannot stop it." Chrom immediately fled, but Validar attacked anyways. The blast struck Chrom in the back and severely injured him. It was like getting struck by a moving carriage, except that the blast was unbearably hot. Chrom couldn't muster the strength to get back up again at first. He could do nothing but cry into the apathetic dirt.

"Mommy! Daddy! Please come back. I need you!"

Chrom eventually tried to get back up, but an armored boot smashed him in the back of the head. Walhart, surrounded by Excellus, Cervantes, Pheros, Farber, Yen'fay, and Dalton, looked down. He apparently wasn't even aware Chrom had been there until just then. "Mewling worm! Get out of my way! Those who stand in the way of my unification of humanity will be swept aside!" Walhart did just that. He grabbed Chrom and threw him to the side. When Chrom could finally rise to his feet again, he saw Courtney looking down on him.

"Ha! There you are, dipwad!" Courtney grabbed Chrom as he tried to run and jammed his blade through Chrom's arm. His laughing almost drowned out Chrom's screaming. "Doesn't feel so good does it?! Men like me do what we want with the world now. You can't stop it!"

Courtney pulled his blade out slowly, inflicting such a severe wound that Chrom's arm almost came off entirely. He barely managed to limp a few steps away before a long glaive impaled him. Altman withdrew his weapon and watched the four year old in front of him slowly bleed to death. "You're a relic of an ancient regime. There's no place for you in our new world."

Chrom couldn't even move at this point. Blood welled up in his throat and he struggled to even breathe. He was sure he was going to die, and he was surprised that he was alive at all. After all he had suffered, it still wasn't over. Keith walked up from behind him and drew his double barreled flintlock pistol. He coldly put two bullets into Chrom's knees, his stern expression completely unchanged by the resulting screaming. "How could Lucina's father be so weak? You're nothing compared to her! You shame her! I will finish what she started. I will save this world. You're nothing!"

Chrom just wanted to die at this point. He wanted to fall asleep, knowing that he would never wake up again. Never have to feel this kind of pain again. He wouldn't die though. Minutes passed, and the pain only grew more agonizing, but he wouldn't die. He finally realized that waiting for death wouldn't work. For whatever reason it just wouldn't work. He had to fight his way out of this. He glanced up to see that the Falchion had somehow moved to be right in front of him. He forced himself to crawl for it. Every centimeter was mind crushingly painful, but he kept going. "You… you…" Chrom finally reached the Falchion. The moment he touched it, he was no longer a child. He morphed into a young man, wearing the attire he had worn thirty years ago, and his injuries disappeared. He threw himself to his feet as his foes gathered around him. "You won't win!" Chrom first ran at the brigands and cut them down. "I won't let you harm the people of Ylisse!" As soon as the last one fell, he felt a burning pain in his back. This time he easily resisted it, and he turned to see Gangrel with his Levin Sword raised. "If you'll fight for Plegia, then you'll die for Plegia!" He slashed Gangrel across the abdomen before he could move, and he then sprinted towards Aversa and Validar. The leader of the Grimleal fired a blast of dark magic at him, but he deflected it with the Falchion and sent it towards Aversa. It hit her with enough force to tear her head from her shoulders, and Validar was left shocked long enough for Chrom to charge at him. "Anything can change!" He quickly felled Validar, and he turned to see Walhart's followers loyally running at him for their master. One by one he brought them all down. Walhart himself tried to engage, but Chrom slashed through his armor before he could even bring his axe down. "Your dream of empire ends here!" Chrom quickly turned to block an attack from Courtney, and he forced his blade out of his hands. "You're just a thug, and I'll put you in your place." Chrom viciously slashed off Courtney's prosthetics before decapitating him. He then raised his Falchion to block a blast of dark magic from Altman. "You'll pay for what you've done to the world!" Chrom sliced Altman's glaive in half and then cut down the hapless Inquisitor. He finally allowed himself a bit of rest, but it only lasted seconds before he had to raise his sword to block one final attack. Keith launched a furious attack at him, but Chrom knocked him to the ground and kicked his sword away. "You're nothing like my daughter! You think yourself a hero, but you're just a monster!" He willed the Thundergrypp into inexplicably materializing in his hand and shot Keith twice in the head. Chrom quickly looked around, but the long battle was finally over. He briefly turned when he heard something behind him, but it was no enemy. This time Chrom saw his father again. He smiled at his son, but it wasn't a warm smile like before. It was stern and dismissive, and he slowly clapped in a mocking manner.

"Congratulations, boy. You've defeated your foes and overcame your obstacles, and you saved the people of Ylisse. Oh wait. No you didn't."

"Father?"

"You were supposed to have strength to protect Ylisse, not for its own sake! There's no denying that you've become very powerful, but you failed your duty! A thousand years of our family protecting this land came to an end under you. You failed all your ancestors! I knew you would be too weak, boy. I just knew it. You're nothing."

Chrom's battle fury was replaced by a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he couldn't look his father in the eye anymore. "I-I'm sorry."

Chrom's father stepped forward. His anger was gone, but he wasn't being reassuring either. "But… you're all Ylisse has now. You and my great-granddaughter. Maybe you can still change things. Maybe it's not over."

"You still think I can help the world?"

"You have to try. Remember, Ylisse lies before us, Ylisse marches within us, and Ylisse follows us. You have to fight for our people. No matter what it takes."

"Wait!" Chrom looked around. "Where is mother?"

"She's dead. She's long dead."

"But… so are you."

"Yes… and no. It's more complicated than that, boy." Chrom's father began to walk away. "We'll see each other again soon. Real soon."

Chrom suddenly jerked awake, this time for real, to find Gaius shaking him. "Come on, Chrom! Wake up!"

"Huh? What?" Chrom slowly sat up. There was discomfort in his lower abdomen, but the pain had mostly subsided. Gaius smiled down at him.

"I was starting to worry about you. Glad to see you up again."

Chrom did feel a stinging sensation on his arm that hadn't been there before. He turned to see it covered in singe marks, and the ground beside him was scorched. "Wha? What happened here?!"

"Oh that. It was getting colder, so Henry said he could use magic to make a fire for us. Damn thing exploded in a fireball when he tried to prevent it from burning out. We should have used Blondie and Shrill's fire. They made theirs the normal way." Gaius turned to Henry, who was standing a few meters away. "And theirs didn't blow up in their faces!"

"I said I was sorry! It's not that big a deal anyways."

"You almost burned Chrom!"

"He's fine."

Gaius sighed and helped Chrom to his feet. "Anyways, we were afraid you were getting cold. We had you pretty close to the fire. Sorry about that."

"How long was I out?"

"Hours. It's almost night."

"I-I'm sorry."

"It's not all bad, Chrom." Gaius gave him a strange look, as if he were deep in thought and enveloped by strong emotions at the same time. "A passing traveler saw the inferno and came over to help. He thought we were in trouble. We've talked to him, and he's offered us a place to stay for the night. We don't exactly have anywhere else to go right now."

"I don't know. I'm not sure we should be trusting strangers."

Gaius gave a soft smile, but he also seemed worried about how Chrom would react. "That's the thing. He's not a stranger."

"You know him?"

"Yes. So does Henry. So do you."

"W-what?"

Gaius took a few steps back, and Chrom heard a familiar voice. He couldn't initially place it, but he knew he'd heard it before. The voice itself was shaky and choking back emotion. "So it's true. You really are still alive. When I first came across you fellers, Gaius and Henry said you'd might not make it. I reckoned you would pull through though. You're stronger than that, Chrom."

Chrom turned to see the man. He was a local with ragged clothes and dark violet hair. The sight of him sent a now very familiar feeling of guilt flooding through Chrom's body. Gaius stepped forward. "He introduced himself as Isaiah, but that's not who he used to be. He took a new name. A lot like you did actually. Before he was… well you should have figured it out by now."

Chrom nodded and gave a sorrowful expression as he once more had to face someone he had failed. "Donnel."