"Don't just slash at me, Soleil! Your every move must be part of a greater strategy! You must always be planning ahead!"

Chrom constantly gave Soleil advice as the two sparred. They had been going for several minutes now, and Soleil was becoming tired and frustrated. At first she was happy to receive training from Chrom, but she didn't realize how much work it would actually be. More than that, she was increasingly frustrated at Chrom's constant criticisms. He had a comment for everything she did. "Don't take such wide slashes! Use more efficient movements. Your feet are too far apart. You're holding your sword too tightly!" Soleil was only half listening at this point. In the face of Chrom's constant criticisms, Soleil tried to fight more aggressively and prove her skill. To her dismay she was only shown how much she had to learn for her efforts. Despite not really trying, and despite having over twenty years on Soleil, Chrom completely outmatched her. He was almost as strong with one arm as she was with two, and she could almost feel her steel sword strain everytime it made contact with the Falchion, but beyond that Chrom was just far more skilled than her. He was faster, more agile, and he always knew what Soleil was about to do. Whenever she thought she finally had him, she'd quickly learn it was only a feint, part of a larger maneuver, or that Chrom was trying to give her an opportunity. By now Soleil had devolved into just angrily swinging away at Chrom, and her rage eroded away at the grace and focus of her form. This only drew more criticism as Chrom didn't see how angry Soleil was becoming. "Come on, Soleil! Are you listening? Control my center line! Don't rely so much on your arm shield. Use your sword to defend yourself, but don't block with the sharp part of your blade. Watch out for feints. Keep your focus. You're still holding your sword too tightly!"

"SHUT UP!" Soleil finally snapped. She threw herself at Chrom in a furious attempt to hit him at least once, and Chrom realized how upset he'd unintentionally made her. Even then he criticized her form.

"Fighting with such a lack of focus will only cause you to make mistakes that your enemy can exploit." To prove his point, Chrom focused on only defending himself from Soleil's attacks. He was able to easily sidestep and dodge most of them, and only occasionally had to raise his Falchion to block them. Soleil continued to ignore him, and Chrom finally gave up on talking to her. Instead he simply took a slash at Soleil and knocked the blade from her hands. "Now you're holding your sword too loosely."

Soleil's face was bright red at this point, and the sparring made her so upset that her voice came out scratchy. "This isn't fair! I wanted you to train me, not bully me!"

"Bully you?"

"You find fault with everything I do! Let me tell you something, buddy. I've been fighting for years. You think I'm weak and a slacker, and that I'm not serious about this war, but you're wrong! I was just fine without you! I'm just fine without your constant nagging! You're as bad as Cordelia was!" Chrom's first instinct in the face of this yelling was to get angry himself, but he took deep breaths and remembered that Soleil was just frustrated. He patiently waited for her to finish venting, and then gently put his hand on her shoulder.

"Just… hang in there, Soleil. You'll get better. In fact I think you've made improvement already."

Chrom's friendliness disarmed Soleil, and she slowly calmed down. "Really?"

"Yes. You are a skilled fighter, Soleil, and I appreciate the chance to fight by your side. I just want to help you."

Soleil's rage turned to embarrassment as she tried returning to a playful and cheery demeanor. "Thank you. Sorry I was just tired. Thank you… and thank you for training with me… a-and Cordelia was a good teacher! Really!"

Chrom put on a smile for Soleil, but the pleasant memories of Cordelia only brought out bitterness from her loss. "So you three trained with Cordelia?"

"Yeah. Tiki brought us to her after we met her, and that's also when we met Caeldori. She trained us for years before we went out to do, well, whatever we could against the Grimleal. We tried not to see her much because we didn't want the Grimleal to find her, but we could still use her homestead to rest and train if we needed to. The two of us didn't always get along. I like to have fun, she was always strict and serious… but I miss her."

"I know I wasn't with her long after seeing her again… but I know she loved you. All three of you. Even if you two did argue… she cared a lot about you, Soleil."

"Thank you." Soleil put on a smile of her own. "So any more advice, old man?"

"Well… I do think you could be stronger. Maybe I can show you some exercises later?"

"Uhh-"

"And we'll need to start watching your diet. Are you getting enough protein?"

"I uh-"

"And are you getting a full night's sleep?"

"Yeesh, alright! Alright! I didn't mean bombard me with stuff like that! I got it, dad!"

Chrom froze. "W-what?"

"I got it. You know, I get your message? No need to overwhelm me with specific advice."

"No… what did you just call me?"

"Dad?" Soleil smiled wider, though it was an attempt to defuse the situation. It was clear that she'd upset him somehow. "It was a joke! Because you were telling me what to do? It… it's funny!" Soleil nudged Chrom a few times. "Come on!"

"That's not funny, Soleil!"

Soleil seemed more confused than anything. "I-I'm sorry?"

Chrom took a deep breath. "N-no. I'm sorry. It's just… for a moment… I saw someone else's face in yours."

"What?"

Chrom sheathed the Falchion and turned around. "Look… we'll do this again later. I'm done for now."

"Okay…" Soleil retrieved her own sword, and turned back to see that Chrom was already walking towards Isaiah's homestead. "Wait! You're not mad are you?!" There was no way Chrom didn't hear Soleil. He just walked faster, leaving Soleil by herself. Though she was only a short ways from the home, she felt as if she'd been left alone in the middle of the badlands. "I'm sorry! Chrom?! ...Chrom?"

By coincidence, Henry and Ophelia had also decided to practice at this time on the other end of the homestead. Like Soleil, Ophelia had mixed feelings about practicing with her former Shepherd companion. By contrast, her apprehension came before it even started. Though happy to learn from an experienced mage, Ophelia couldn't shake the subtle feeling of dread she felt whenever she looked at her grandfather. Henry gave her the same cheery expression as ever, but Ophelia couldn't help but remember the people he'd killed right in front of her with that same expression on his face. "Anyways, that's why we should focus on your resistance." Henry continued. Ophelia was only half listening to him. It wasn't that she found what he was saying uninteresting, but rather she was concentrating heavily on suppressing her own fear. Ophelia thought to herself that her own grandfather would never hurt her, but she had to think this repeatedly to calm herself. Unfortunately that kept her from really hearing Henry speak, and so she was completely unprepared for a spell he sent hurtling at her. Ophelia rocketed to the side to avoid it, a face full of dirt waiting for her as she hit the ground. "I guess you weren't ready for that one. Are you listening to me?"

"Gah!" Ophelia sprung to her feet and readied herself to move again at any moment. "Why are you attacking me?!"

"Because we're training, silly. Remember? We're going to work on your magical resistance. There are a lot of dark mages in the Grimleal, and you need to be able to defend yourself against them." Henry raised his arm, and magical energy crackled off of it. "Now are you ready?"

"N-no! NO!"

"Here it comes!" Henry flicked his wrist and sent a lightning bolt at his granddaughter. Ophelia quickly mustered magical energy into her own hands to create a force field of sorts, and she used this to absorb most of the attack's power before managing to fling it away. The lightning bolt arced into the ground, its heat literally fusing the sand together. "Good!" Henry cheered, oblivious to Ophelia's terror. "You deflected it!"

"I said I wasn't ready!" Ophelia shouted back.

"That's why I sent it at you! Your enemies will be attacking you when you're not ready, and we have to be realistic, nya ha ha!"

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Ophelia looked back to her hands to find them lightly burned. Deflecting spells wasn't like simply blocking with a shield. She was still somewhat injured by the strain of the attack, and Henry hadn't really gone easy on her. She'd have been knocked out had the attack hit her entirely. "I-I don't think we should train like this."

"But we're practicing defending against spells. I'll be throwing right at cha!" Henry made a finger gun with his right hand and fired a magical blast just strong enough to sting Ophelia. "Pow! Ha ha!"

"Ow! Stop! I-I wasn't listening!"

"Huh?"

Ophelia briefly felt guilty, but she steeled herself and thought that it wasn't her fault. She couldn't blame herself for being afraid. "I wasn't listening alright! I was distracted!"

"By what?" Henry smiled wider, and Ophelia's heart sank further. Her grandfather's complete apathy or obliviousness to her feelings was the most disturbing trait to her. "Did you see something cool? Like a wyvern, or a Risen, or a Risen wyvern? Ooh, show me!"

"By… nothing. Let's just… can we do something else?"

"Like what?"

Ophelia tried to think of something non violent, and she took one of her gems from her robes. "I know! How about gem magic!"

"Never heard of it."

"Oh… uh… how about poses! We could work on combo attacks and poses! Ooh, we could think of names too."

"Poses? You mean like form? How to hold yourself when blasting people apart?"

"N-no. That's not really what I had in mind."

"How about curses? I've wanted to teach you curses since the moment I first saw you! Someday we'll be able to come up with new ones together. I'll finally have a curse buddy!"

"Are curses violent?"

"The ones I like are."

Ophelia didn't hide her frustrations anymore, and she furiously shook her head. "Why is everything you want to do violent?!"

"Well we're at war." Henry said casually. "Messing around with gems and poses and whatnot is great and all, but you'll be killed if you face a dark mage who spent their time focusing on combat. The Grimleal has been pretty good about training mages for battle and, well, the Grimleal isn't exactly on our side.

"I guess that makes sense." Ophelia muttered sadly. Henry actually seemed to notice.

"I thought you'd like resistance training. We're not killing anyone."

"I just don't want to do this anymore okay!"

"Wait, wait!" Henry did recognize that Ophelia was about to quit, but he wasn't sure why. "What if… what if we just practiced defending against curses. Dark mages will be throwing them at you. It won't be like defending against normal spells."

"... how so?"

"Well defending against a curse is all about willpower. If your will is greater than that of your enemy, they won't able to hurt you! It can still be a bit tricky defending against curses though. They startle you and make you want to panic, but you can resist them by learning to get through that. I'll teach you. It's a great skill to learn."

"Well… okay. Just go easy on me."

"Of course."

"So how do I-" Henry had already flung a curse at Ophelia before she could even finish the sentence. Ophelia immediately felt a sharp pain in her stomach and a sudden urge to vomit. She fought it for about ten seconds before giving up.

"Good!" Henry exclaimed as Ophelia finished wiping her mouth.

"What did you just do?!"

"That was a sickness curse. You didn't quite resist it, but you did fight it! You'd be making a dash for that outhouse over there if you hadn't done anything, nya ha!"

"I-how could-I said to go easy on me!"

"Aw come on! That was nothing. Hold on. Here's another minor one. You'll feel a bit of a sting if you don't resist it, but it shouldn't hurt you."

"Shouldn't?!"

"Get ready!" Henry said, ignoring her. "Now remember your will needs to be stronger than mine. Focus on something. Really concentrate." Ophelia found that focus in her hatred of Henry. It was a feeling Ophelia was surprised to have, and she didn't think it was right, but it felt real. Focusing on that gave her clarity and strength, and it allowed her to power through when Henry's curse came. Ophelia felt a crushing, overwhelming force trying to overpower her, and a primal sense of dread spiked inside of her, but she suppressed it. Through sheer will she refused to let it affect her, and the curse quickly faded. She looked up to find Henry genuinely surprised. "Y-you did it! I mean I was using a pretty weak curse, but you did it!"

"I… I did. I did!" Ophelia allowed herself to feel excitement, but she didn't lower her guard. "I really did it."

"Let's see if you can do it again!"

"Wait, just tell me when you're about to-"

Of course Henry just blasted Ophelia without warning again, but she saw it coming. Again Ophelia was enraged at her grandfather's seeming lack of respect for her, and this rage overpowered the curse. This time Ophelia shot Henry a glare, but he was happier than ever. "Alright! You're pretty good!"

"I… I am getting it!" Ophelia understood that Henry truly was helping her, and she thought deeply about her feelings. She didn't want to be angry at Henry. As genuine as the feeling was, she knew it wasn't right of her. Henry had saved her before, and he did want to help her. Ophelia slowly considered that this was Henry's way of showing love. Maybe she couldn't expect the kind of help that Cordelia, Tiki, and Chrom had given her, but that didn't mean Henry didn't care. Ophelia tried hard to remember this, and her instinctive fear and hatred of her grandfather faded. Unfortunately, this also sapped her of the will she'd been drawing from.

"One more time!" Henry exclaimed as he attacked again. Once more Ophelia was distracted by her thoughts, and she couldn't resist it this time. The resulting pain wouldn't have registered as a "sting" in even the most inarticulate of minds. It was a full on cascade of pain. Ophelia's skin felt like it was going to melt off, and her robe started to smolder at parts. She threw herself to the ground and rolled in the sand until the actual heat was extinguished, and it still took several minutes for the pain to dissipate. Henry just watched the entire time, patiently waiting for her to finish. "Uh… heh… that didn't go as well. Hmm… one more time!"

"NO!" Ophelia shrieked as she shot upwards. Her fear had returned even stronger than before, but this time it was accompanied by a sadness. Ophelia thought she could finally trust Henry, but the trauma that followed only served to solidify her first impressions. "ENOUGH!"

"You don't want to practice curses anymore? Alright. Let's go back to spells again!"

"NO! N-no more! I'm done!" Ophelia fought both the urge to cry and lose control of her voice, and it came out screechy and infuriated. "I just wanted you to train me, and I just wanted to spend time with my grandfather! All I get from you is pain, and you don't care! You don't care about how I feel, or if I'm hurt. My grandmother must have been insane to see something in you!"

Henry's smile faded, though he didn't react in any other way. "I… Ophelia…"

"I know you've saved me before, but I don't have to be abused like this!"

"I'm trying to help you!"

Ophelia just shook her head and walked away, leaving Henry confused. "Are you… afraid of me? Your own… family?"

"GO AWAY!" Ophelia shouted behind her. "I should have stayed by Chrom!"

Ophelia couldn't have been aware of Henry's earlier argument with Chrom, but he was reminded of it. "Was… Chrom right? Am I just… hurting her? But I don't want to! Being a grandparent is hard. Hmm."

Ophelia wanted to storm all the way back to the house, but she looked upwards as a raven of all things flew overhead. Ophelia wondered how a bird could survive in this wasteland. The answer eluded her until she noticed it land on Henry's shoulders. "And I didn't think dark mages could get any weirder." Henry played with the raven for a few seconds before walking towards Ophelia, but she threw her arms in front of her and backed away. "Look whatever this is, I don't want any part of it!"

"Wait! Hold on." Henry shook his arm until the bird flew off, then seemingly drained its life force from it in midair. The bird didn't fall dead, but instead dissipated into nothing. The purplish energy flowed through Henry, and he appeared to be invigorated by it.

"W-what did you just do?! How dare you just kill something in front of me!"

"No! I didn't kill anything! Watch." Henry waved his arm, and the ground beneath Ophelia's feet began to shift. Ophelia stepped backwards in a panic, but she wasn't harmed by anything. Rather the sand and dust seemed to morph into soil, and vibrant and colorful flowers popped out. Henry casually plucked one and handed it to his stunned granddaughter with a smile. "See?"

"You… brought the land back to life."

"That's exactly what I did! Very good. I didn't reanimate it, but I did bring it 'back' into a state of life."

"Huh?"

"It's a time reversal curse. When I was a young man I used it to help Cordelia's friend Sumia when she broke some bowls. I just used the curse and presto! The bowls were back to the way they had been. I've gotten pretty good with that curse over the years. Now some three decades later, I can make it like three decades never happened!"

Ophelia looked down to her flower. It appeared to be perfectly normal. "So you made the land like it once was?" She barely managed to state in her stunned silence. "How could you have that much power?!"

"The raven. I didn't kill it. I just absorbed it. I made that raven." Henry pulled out a tome from his robes. "It's a spell I came up with."

"You made that tome?!"

"Sure did. Ever since… uh… your father and grandmother… parted ways with me, I've been increasing my power as a mage. Eventually I became so powerful my body couldn't handle it. All that dark magic was giving me a bad case of indigestion. Worse than what you get from Chon'sin food, nya ha!" Henry activated the tome he pulled out, and the same purple energy from before poured out of him. The raven from earlier materialized from the energy, and it landed on Henry's shoulder again as he kneeled down in pain. "Argh! Forgot how much that hurts."

"What did you do?"

"This is what my tome does. To keep my body from falling apart, I sealed some of my magical power away. This raven is a manifestation of it." Henry playfully scratched the raven, which reacted as if it were an entirely real bird. "I can always absorb my power back from it, but I usually leave it sealed away in its form. I'd be far stronger with all my power, but I wouldn't live as long. Slow and steady over one pump, heh."

"You created life from dark magic?!" Ophelia was still angry, but her childlike wonder from when she first met Henry also returned. "That's not possible! There's no way!"

"It's not?"

"You can't create life from thin air!"

"People have children."

"That's different."

"Is it? This reminds me of a conversation I had with Miriel. People always try to find complex answers for things. They miss the simple answers in front of them. Most people would never believe that any mage could create life from thin air, but anyone can have children. Think of magic like that. You'd think things impossible if you think of magic as some strange force that exists outside of nature, but it's a perfectly natural thing. When you understand that, magic will make more sense to you." Henry nudged the raven forward, and it landed on Ophelia's shoulder. She immediately tensed up, but the raven just sat patiently. Slowly Ophelia petted it, and a smile appeared as the raven appeared to enjoy it.

"Aww. It's… a perfectly normal bird."

"Huginn. That's his name. Huginn is what I named the tome, and the bird is named after it. The tome can be used to create it, though I can reabsorb it whenever I want."

"Does that hurt the raven?"

"Not at all! See." To prove his point, Henry absorbed and reformed the bird several times. He was on his knees and out of breath by the time he was done, but he was still smiling. "See!"

"That's… amazing. That's amazing!"

"There's something I wanted to give you." Henry handed Ophelia another tome.

"Huh?" Ophelia studied it carefully. "It looks like the other one."

"That's because I created two. That tome is Muninn, and it also creates a raven. If you create that raven, I'll be much weaker. I usually keep one absorbed, but I created two tomes just in case." Henry stepped closer to his granddaughter. "You don't have to be afraid of me anymore, because now you have some control over me. You can make me stop if things ever get too scary."

"You would trust me with this?"

"If it's what it takes for you to trust me. I just want to be part of your life. I just want to protect you. I just want to help you realize your potential."

Ophelia stared back at her grandfather with a determined look. "I want to use it now."

"Oh. Um, are you sure?"

"Yes."

"If… if that's what it takes." Ophelia had wanted to see if he'd really allow her to use the tome. His answer relieved her, but she also wanted to see if it actually worked. She activated the tome, and again purplish energy flowed out of Henry. A raven materialized in the air and took off as Henry fell to his knees. Muninn was identical to Huginn except that it perched on Ophelia's shoulder. "Gah! That stings, and it's not the good kind of pain!"

"Now we're even." Henry cautiously looked up, but Ophelia hadn't said that in malice. She was giggling and gave him back a genuine smile for the first time in awhile.

"Oh, is that how it's going to be? Be careful. A couple of the Shepherds could tell you all about how bad my curses can get, and I've had thirty years to come up with new ones, nya ha ha!"

"Wait! You're not really going to-"

"It's a joke! See, we're having fun again!"

Isaiah had just finished the chores Matilda left for him, and he now relaxed into a wooden chair on his porch. The land provided an ugly, barren sight, but it was his land, and that fact comforted him. The world may have been dying, but he had still managed to build a life from it. It was then that Sarah wandered out onto the porch, one of her Arch Surg action figures in her hand. "Hey, sweetie. Come to keep daddy company?"

"No." Sarah responded bluntly.

"Aw. Well do ya need something?"

Sarah stomped her foot angrily. "Paul kicked me out of our room! He's being mean!"

Isaiah looked down to the toy in his daughter's hand. "Were you throwing your toys at him again?"

"Nooo." Sarah said, her voice trailing off.

"Don't lie to me, darling."

"Well… okay I was. He's the Fell Dragon Grima, and my Arch Surg guys are trying to kill him! It's just a game."

"Sounds like Paul doesn't want to be part of it. You need to respect other people's feelings."

"But he still can't yell at me and kick me out!"

"That's true. I'll have a talk with him later. Why don't you stay outside with daddy for now?" Sarah smiled and climbed onto her father's lap. Isaiah looked back to his land and smiled, but Sarah quickly became bored.

"Don't cha get tired of looking at this same land all the time, Daddy?"

"No. It's mine, and it's nice to know I own something in this world. I'll never get tired of it, even if it is a little dull. You'll feel the same way when you have your own land someday."

Sarah's face scrunched up. "No! I don't want to be a farmer! I want to be a soldier. A Army Ranger… or a sailor… or maybe even an Inquisitor. Then I could see the whole world. I could see new things every day!"

"An Army Ranger. You want to be an Army Ranger." Isaiah was visibly saddened by his daughter's words, but she was completely oblivious to it. "I'm sure you'll feel differently when you're older."

Isaiah and Sarah both looked up to see Chrom walking towards the porch, Soleil a small figure in the distance. "Look, Daddy! It's that feller from the Shepherds." Sarah looked at her father innocently. "You said you'd tell me about my half sister one day. Who died before I was born? What was her name?"

"Kjelle." Isaiah replied softly.

"Will you tell me about her? I bet she'd be nicer than mean old Paul."

"No."

"But when?!"

"Just… not now." Isaiah was relieved when Chrom walked up and sat down in a nearby chair, as it allowed him to avoid Sarah's questions. "Hey there, Chrom? What have you been up to?"

"Not much. I'm sorry, was there something I was supposed to do?"

"No. I was just wondering was all."

Sarah continued to try and get Isaiah's attention, but he ignored her. She first tried to tap on his face, but then became amused by her own actions. She climbed further up her father and entertained herself by mushing the skin on his face around. "Your face is squishy, Daddy! Squishy, squishy squish!" Isaiah didn't react even as his daughter forcibly changed his expressions. He just continued looking at Chrom, who couldn't help but smile at the ridiculousness of the sight.

"Heh, is this a bad time?"

"No. Not at all." Isaiah gently took Sarah and set her down. "Why don't you find something to do inside okay, sweetie? I'll talk to Paul later."

"Okay!"

Sarah scurried off, and Chrom was strangely fixated on her. Isaiah noticed and cleared his throat. "Everything okay?"

Chrom took a deep breath. "I was helping Soleil with her sword practice."

"Alright."

"She… she called me dad."

Isaiah realized Chrom was actually rather distressed. "I'm assuming that's not a normal thing?"

"She said it like it was a joke. I was lecturing her about how she could take care of herself."

"So it's just a joke."

"A lot of true things are said in jest." Chrom gave his old ally a sad but understanding look, and Isaiah understood what it meant. Chrom had truly come to trust him, and he wanted someone close to talk to. "When she said that to me… I saw… for a moment… someone else."

"Another young woman with a sword that looked up to you?"

Chrom slowly nodded his head. "But I'm not her father. I'm guiding her. Leading her… or am I even doing that? I guess… I don't know what kind of relationship I have with her, and not just Soleil either. Caeldori and Ophelia too. When I stopped pushing them away, I thought I had become their teacher. But… am I becoming something else to them?"

"You mean…" Isaiah hesitated. He didn't want to offend Chrom if he got it wrong, but he didn't want to avoid the conversation when his friend seemed to really need to talk to someone about it. "The Pa they didn't have?"

"Yes."

"That's kind of a strange thing to think. How do you know them? Maybe it was just a joke."

"I don't know them… but I know what that's like. My mother and father died when I was very young, and I searched for parental figures everywhere. In my nannies. In the servants. Even in Emmeryn, and she was really still just a child herself. It wasn't a good way to grow up."

"But they're not growing up, Chrom. Those girls have to be almost thirty years old by now. They're grown women! We shouldn't even be calling them girls! Sure they're young compared to us, but there are Grimleal soldiers out there only half their age!"

"I know. I'm just saying."

Isaiah studied Chrom. "Maybe they do view you as a kind of father figure… but are you sure this doesn't go both ways? Are you sure you have a completely professional relationship with them?"

"No." Chrom answered, realizing the truth in his words as he said them. "That's why I'm worried. I'm not sure it's appropriate for a man my age to be close with them like this."

"But there were age differences in the Shepherds."

"I know. It's strange. I never thought anything of leading people years older than me into battle back then, but it doesn't feel right to be so close to these young women now. These feelings don't feel… appropriate."

"So there are feelings?"

"I… I don't know."

"I think you do." Isaiah leaned forward. "You shouldn't try to replace Lucina with these three, Chrom. She's gone."

"I… yeah."

"But that doesn't mean your feelings are wrong. You say they're not appropriate… but maybe this belief that they should just be your soldiers is what's inappropriate. If they look up to you, and you care about them, then what's the problem? The Shepherds were built on bonds. We met our wives there for goodness' sake! What's wrong with caring about them."

"T-they're not my family! Well Ophelia is but… you know what I'm saying right?"

"No. I don't. Are you sure you're still not pushing them away?"

"I need to maintain a professional relationship with them. We're at war."

"Well maybe you… shouldn't be."

"What?!"

"You've grown so close to these women. Why… why fight at all? Have you thought about just being the family they didn't have? Can't your love for them just be enough? Why do they have to kill people with you?"

"We have to stop the Grimleal!"

"Chrom, look around. They've won. Almost everything that happened in Lucina's time happened here. The only difference is we're still around, and you want to ruin that?"

"How could I give up, Donnel?!" Chrom almost yelled in exasperation. Isaiah only returned a glare. "Lucina gave her life to stop this! I'd be dishonoring her if I gave up!"

"So you'll lead these women to their possible deaths in the name of another dead woman?"

"How dare you!"

"Look we like to think that there's something good to hold onto in the world. We do it for a simple reason. It keeps us hanging in there. But… look at your life. Look at Lucina's life. Ever since you were young people told you that you'd do great things. They fawned over you. You had the world at your fingers. Now you're just an old man, and you have no one. No one but those three… and you'd risk losing it for a stupid dream! Lucina gave her life to fighting it, but what did it get her? She never knew anything else. Never knew love. Never knew a family of her own. Never knew peace. Never knew a fulfilling career. She gave up her humanity to fight against the Grimleal, and what did it get her? Nothing but an unsung death. She didn't even get a funeral."

Chrom had rarely snapped at any of the former Shepherds he'd reencountered, but his patience with Isaiah almost instantly evaporated. "You watch your mouth."

"No you listen!" Isaiah shot up, leaving Chrom more confused by the sudden anger than anything. "While you're living in my house, eating my food, sitting in my damn chair, you'll listen to what I have to say! Lucina got nothing for her life of war! Kjelle got nothing! They all got nothing! Do you think they'd really want us to throw away our lives? Do you think Lucina would have wanted you to know nothing but war?! So what if you keep fighting them?! So what if you kill a hundred of them? A thousand. Ten thousand. They have hundreds of thousands of soldiers. They make more money in a second than most people do in a lifetime. You can't beat them! They own everything! The land! The cities! The economy! I mean my own daughter wants to be a soldier. She wants to be one of them! They own our hearts and minds! Your problem is you think it's like a chess game where everything is even and you can win by making the right moves, but it's not! Not only do they have more pieces than you, but they own the whole GODS DAMNED BOARD! Everytime you try to make a move you look down and see that Mark of Grima on each square, staring into your very soul! Every move the enemy puts you in check! Sure you can move your king, but you're just stalling. You can't win. The only way to win the game… is not to play. The war can't be won. Our days of destiny and heroism are gone! Welcome to the brave new world! Welcome to the regime! The game was rigged from the start! This is the way the world dies!"

"Donnel… you've changed."

"I've grown up."

Chrom shook his head, unable to believe what he was saying. "What would you have me do?"

"Lay down that stupid sword and move on. You'll be a lot happier."

"This 'stupid sword' was given to my ancestors by Naga because they were willing to stand against evil, no matter how bad things were!"

"Naga has abandoned us." Isaiah replied coldly. "These three women are a second chance, Chrom, but not to defeat Grima. They're a second chance to be loved by someone, and you want to treat them as just soldiers. That's sickening! It wasn't wrong of you to make the Shepherds, but fighting against Grima isn't what made the Shepherds good. The friendships and bonds between us is what made us good. A life of war hasn't given you anything, Chrom. War took away your sisters, your wife, your children, your country! All your friends and family don't walk beside you now. There's no honor in being a soldier. There's no honor in a life of war. There's honor in being a father. In being a son. In loving and being loved. If you keep living like this, you'll die alone. You're not dishonoring anyone by surviving. By focusing on your family. These girls can be that family… but if you keep devoting your life to war then you may never find a home again."

"So you want me to admit that the Shepherds died for nothing?! That we can't continue their fight?!"

"That's exactly what I want you to admit! We died for nothing, but we lived for each other! For the relationships and friendships we made! It's arrogance to think that man can have dominion over the world. Over gods! Grima's rise was inevitable, and the First Exalt and Lucina were just stalling. But we can have our family members. Don't devote your life to violence. Devote your life to them. Lucina's story wasn't an inspiration. It was a warning."

"You… want me to give up?!"

Isaiah stood up and placed his hand on Chrom's shoulder. "I don't regret going with you thirty two years ago. You helped me, now I'll help you. You showed me a life behind what I had, now I'll show you how to be happy again. I was once a peasant, and you were once a lord. Now I have more than you. Why? Because I remembered what really matters. There's only one way to get past your pain, Chrom. You have to move on. Don't push these girls away. They love you, and you love them, so let them in! Don't just treat them like soldiers. Don't march back into war. The only way to win is not to play." Isaiah walked away, leaving Chrom with no chance to respond.

"You… you can't mean that, Donnel." Chrom was still disturbed by what his companion had said, but he also slowly considered what he wanted Chrom to understand. There was some truth to it. Isaiah did have more than him now. "It can't be that simple. It just can't… can it? Could I be there for them… without fighting?"

"Stupid Sarah." Paul grumbled as he exited the house. "She throws her toys at me, and I'm the one who gets in trouble. Pa yells and makes me clean the stables. She's such a damned baby!" It was now sunset, and Paul sighed as he turned towards the stables, glancing over at the sunset as he did. "And Pa's friends parked their dragon and their winged horse there. I'd better ask that they keep them restrained while I clean."

Soleil smiled at Ophelia as she joined her friend in sitting on the porch. "Hey there!" Soleil said in a cheery tone as Ophelia sat. Her smile faded somewhat as she saw how tired Ophelia was. "So what have you been up to? You look exhausted!"

"Training with Henry." Ophelia grumbled. "I am exhausted."

Soleil became very worried. "You're okay right?!"

"Of course!"

"Your robes look like they've been burned!"

"I'm fine, Soleil. Really."

"You don't have to spend time with him just because you're related."

"Please, Soleil. Just leave it alone."

Soleil stared at Ophelia, but her friend didn't move or return a smile. "Aww… I think someone's grumpy."

"I just don't want to talk about it."

"Well I know how to put a smile on your face."

"There's nothing you can say that would do that."

Soleil gave a sly grin as she slowly moved closer to Ophelia. "It's not anything I would say."

"I don't get what you're-" Ophelia exploded into laughter as Soleil jabbed her fingers into her abdomen. Ophelia tried to wiggle free, but this only encouraged Soleil. "BWA! ST-HAH-HAAAP!"

Soleil only giggled back and tried to get a better grip on her friend. "See! We're both smiling now! Get rid of that frown!"

"T-this isn't FU-HA-HAANY! ST-STOP! SOLEIL! I-I'M WA-HA-HARNING YOU!" Soleil was relentless and only responded with more playful taunts, so Ophelia desperately reached out for a small rock and tried to telekinetically grip it. The rock spastically flew around in the air until it zipped into Soleil's face. She fell over clutching her nose and groaning, while Ophelia fell clutching her sides and giggling.

"OW!"

"I, heh heh, I told you to stop!"

"I tickle you and you hit me in the face with a rock!"

"I couldn't b-breathe!"

Both women felt as if they were being watched, and they turned to see Paul staring at them. He was blushing, but otherwise stood like a startled deer. "Uh… I wasn't watching."

"Oh hey." Soleil responded. "You're Paul right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Need something?"

"Yeah. I was looking for you two. I need you to move your dragon so I don't get eaten while I clean the stables!"

"Minerva? Aw, she's a sweetie. She wouldn't do that."

"Maybe she won't eat you, but I don't want to take any chances."

"You're worrying too much. I'll show you." Soleil and Ophelia lead Paul to the stables. Soleil knocked on the door. "Minerva! We're coming in, girl!" Soleil expected the wyvern to grunt in acknowledgment, but nothing came. "Huh. I hope she's okay." Soleil opened the door and called out for Minerva, but still she couldn't hear anything. She turned to Paul and shrugged. "I guess she's asleep."

"Oh yeah? Then why are her glowing red eyes staring right at us?"

"Minerva doesn't have glowing red eyes."

The screaming that erupted from the stables pierced the quiet evening of the homestead, and Isaiah, Gaius, and Chrom instantly perked their heads up. They bolted outside to find a figure threatening Soleil, Ophelia, and Paul. Ophelia and Soleil drew their weapons, but they were too tired from training to fight effectively. Paul tried fending the figure off with a shovel, but he was more of a liability than anything. The sight of the three in danger shook the men to their souls, and Chrom and Isaiah turned to Gaius in a panic as he loaded his arquebus. "Shoot it!" Isaiah cried out while shaking him.

"I'm working on it!"

"Man! I don't have a weapon or anything! I feel as helpless and frustrated as a one legged cat trying to bury turds on a frozen pond, I tell you what!"

"Damn it, Tinhead! I'm trying to focus but you're making me want to smile!"

"Hurry up!" Chrom roared. His own hand was on the Falchion, but he didn't think he could run all the way over to the stables in time.

"Don't rush me! Handling a firearm is like handling a woman. You don't skip to the end. You take your time."

"GAIUS!" Isaiah shouted.

Gaius finished loading the arquebus, pulled back the hammer, took aim, and fired. An instant later a bullet tore through the figure's head, liberating the interior of its skull from its meaty prison. "Ha! Got 'em!"

"Alright!" Isaiah yelled as he thrusted his arm in the air. "Get 'r done!" The three men's excitement evaporated as the figure's corpse dissipated. Ophelia, Soleil, and Paul were confused, but the three former Shepherds were in shocked silence. "Did you see how the body faded away?!" Isaiah exclaimed.

"It was a Risen!" Gaius responded. "That wasn't a Tunneler or anything! That was a Risen! That was an OG, original Grimleal, Risen! Where could it possibly have come from?!"

Chrom thought where he had last heard about Risen. "Algol."

Algol shrieked in pain, and Pheros, Farber, and Cervantes approached him cautiously. "You okay?" Cervantes wondered as Algol rubbed his head.

"I just got a sharp pain in the back of my head."

"So?" Pheros said callously.

"I'm not complaining about a migraine! I get that pain when one of my summoned Risen dies! I think one of my scouting Risen found something."

Farber's eyes widened. "Chrom?"

Algol gave a devious smile and shouldered his axe. "Huntin' time, boys and girl."