Just as with the trip there, the journey from Shepherd's Folly would take two days. After a long, largely silent carriage ride, Pheros, Chrom, Gaius, and Henry stopped at an inn for the night. This time the group was headed for The Saltworks itself, and so the carriage route was different from before. This inn was part of a small town. It was still an hour or two from sunset, so Chrom decided to wander around the settlement seeing what contemporary life was like for people in what had been western Ferox. The town was rather developed. It even featured a gunsmith, and Chrom noticed this after turning to the sound of a familiar voice arguing with the smith in question. Gaius was apparently frustrated with the man's prices, and he had sat himself at a nearby table by the time Chrom arrived.

Gunsmiths were a relatively new sight in the world, but they weren't so different from the blacksmiths that had come before. Before mass production made it easy to create identical, replaceable parts, guns were made by hand. Every single firearm in existence was crafted personally by a gunsmith. They varied in skill level, and each one tended to add their personal touch to their creations. Even guns created by the same person, if for no other reason than simple human error, wouldn't be the exact same. Gunsmiths were artists, and their creations were their lethal masterpieces.

Gaius was fiddling with the front of the "Sunspitter", trying to fit a tubular attachment to a slot below the actual barrel. Chrom could have sworn he was distracted, but Gaius spoke directly to him as soon as he reached the table without looking up. "Hey there, Blue. Not going to sleep in the middle of the day this time?"

"Not today. What are you doing?"

"Attaching a grenade launcher, or trying to anyways."

"Grenade launcher? What's a grenade?"

"I sent one your way at Cordelia's homestead. Remember?"

Chrom winced. "R-right."

"Well this little doohickey is supposed to be a spring loaded grenade launcher capable of lobbing one further than anyone can throw one. It can attach right to my arquebus, and it's a lot less hassle than a hand mortar. Of course, that sounds too good to be true to me. Even if the thing works, I'm boned if the spring fails and the grenade goes off in front of me. Even then, lighting a grenade, shoving it in, and firing it off before it explodes is easier said than done."

"But you bought it anyways?"

"Have a little faith in me. The man wanted 6300 gold for it, so I convinced him to let me try it out first… eventually. I'm trying to focus here, by the way. I scratch this thing trying to, hrng-" Gaius became a bit frustrated, and he tried to force the launcher on. "Get it on here, and I have to pay for the damned thing!"

"Wait, but you have that much on you?!"

Gaius finally looked up, but he didn't look at Chrom. Instead he seemed to scan the area. "I don't really like to talk about how much money I have on me. I learned that way back as a young man. Plus, I don't want Pheros to stop paying for things." Chrom stared at Gaius silently for awhile. He lost track of time, and he wasn't even aware Gaius had eventually turned to look right at him until he loudly cleared his throat. "Blue! The hell?!"

"Gaius… why firearms?" Chrom asked quietly.

"Huh?"

"Why do you use these strange weapons? Don't they… scare you? None of them seem right to me. Arquebuses, grenades, pistols, they're all… horrifying. You pull a trigger or light a fuse, and you can take a life. Just like that."

"Is a sword so different?"

"A sword is an honorable weapon."

"What's honorable about slowly bleeding to death in a ditch? Guns are the great equalizers. You want to know why I use them? It makes things easier. I'm a fifty two year old man. With an arquebus, I can take down a twenty year old in an instant. I can't do that with a sword. These weapons keep me alive."

"Is that it?"

Gaius looked down at his firearm, staring blankly into it. "And… they make things easier in other ways. You wouldn't believe the range I had with this thing when I still possessed those goggles. I… I didn't really have to look at people when I killed them. I just shot them and turned away. With a sword… you have to watch someone die. I… I couldn't do that."

"Gaius…"

"When I saw you at Cordelia's homestead, I thought I was some heartless killing machine that could do anything to survive. Now that I'm with you again… I see you and I… I see now how far I'd fallen. I was just lying to myself. The killing did get to me. I used firearms because they made the killing so much easier. It's a cold thing to say, but it's true. Guns… make it easier." There was a moment of silence between the two. Chrom wanted to say something to reassure him, but he didn't know what. Gaius perked up and readied his arquebus, the launcher firmly attached, before he could. "Well, enough with the personal crap. Let's see if this thing works." Gaius took a pebble he'd been keeping on the table and wedged it into the launcher. He pushed it back until the spring was set, then stood up with the gun held outwards. Gaius was aware enough to have the barrel away from Chrom's head, but he didn't quite factor in the launcher.

"Are you sure that's a good way to test it?"

Gaius turned towards Chrom, taking the gun with him. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"How do you fire it?"

"... I don't know." Gaius lightly tapped the launcher. Unfortunately, it was at this exact moment that it chose to fire, and a pebble was sent hurtling into Chrom's face. He was knocked to the ground holding his nose, and a stream of blood flowed from the bottom of his hand a second later. Chrom briefly shouted in pain, but he'd taken so much worse in even recent times. He didn't feel that he was badly hurt, but he was comforted nonetheless when Gaius threw himself at his side. "Oh damn it! How could I be so stupid?! I'm sorry!"

Chrom managed a smile. "Well at least we know it works."

Gaius fought the urge to smile back. "Are you really… come on. Let me get a look at it." Gaius moved Chrom's hand to see that his nose had been bent out of place. "Ooh. Alright, lean your head forward and breathe out of your mouth. I don't want that blood to run down your throat. Does it hurt? I mean obviously it hurts, but is it really bad?"

"I don't know."

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

"Compared to what happened to me at Donnel's homestead, this is nothing. I honestly can't tell if it'd be painful normally."

"Then… I'd better get a good look at it. Uh, I'm going to touch it now. Let me know if I'm hurting you."

"Again, this is nothing."

Gaius took a cloth and gently cleaned up as much of the blood as he could. He then ran his hand slowly and carefully along Chrom's nose, occasionally prodding at certain areas. As much as the two men had gotten to know each other thirty years ago, Chrom felt that this wouldn't have been anything but awkward back then. Now though, Gaius' attention was oddly soothing. Chrom actually found himself focusing on his touch, and he wondered if he'd be so calm and collected without it. Gaius eventually shrugged and stepped back. "Look, let me give you some gold. It's the least I can do. Go see a healer in town. A healing staff should be able to fix that without any problems."

Chrom shook his head. "I don't want to take any of your money. I can just see Pheros."

"I don't know, Blue. I don't want you seeing her anymore than you have to. You know how she is. She hates you!"

"She's not so bad, Gaius."

"How can you say that?!" Gaius again touched his old friend, this time using his hand to emphasize the line Pheros had cut into the Mark of Naga on Chrom's arm. It had since scarred, and it would never go away. "Did you forget that she did this to you?! I, I honestly worry about you whenever you're near her."

"She's not even armed."

"She's the kind of woman that's scary just for being around."

"I'll see her, Gaius. Please don't give me any of your money."

Gaius raised his hands up in mild annoyance. "Alright." Chrom again looked at him without saying anything. This time Gaius simply sighed. "Look I'm sorry, okay! I just wasn't used to having the launcher on the arquebus. I shouldn't have pointed it at you. Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll let you have a free one. I'll let you punch me in the face."

"Huh?! I don't want to do that!"

"Really? The girls took me up on that offer."

"They did?!"

"Uh… never mind."

"That's not it. I was just thinking about what happened at… Shepherd's Folly. I never should have hit you. You were just trying to help me, and I reacted with fear and rage. It's the same thing that happened with Cordelia at Nowi Falls. You deserve so much better from me. I'm sorry."

Gaius almost snickered. "Is that what you're worried about?! It's fine. Like I said, no more personal crap."

"Heh, right."

Pheros wasn't nearly as gentle as Gaius. Her solution to Chrom's injury was to rather forcefully shift his nose back into place before using her healing staff. It was less than pleasant, and Pheros had a rather cruel smile on her face as she did it, but she was a professional. Chrom only suffered briefly before she applied healing magic, making it like nothing had ever happened. "There. Tell me if you experience throbbing later."

"Thank you."

Pheros nodded and walked out of the room. Chrom was a little hurt at first, but that passed very quickly. The two didn't exactly have much to talk about. Chrom looked out the inn window and noticed that the orange color of a badlands sunset was flooding the town. He didn't have any reason to stay awake, so he thought about having a small meal and going to bed. It was then that a voice spoke to him. His own voice.

"You know she's angry with you, right? For leaving the Falchion? Her superiors are going to be angry with her, and you know she'll take it out on you." Chrom turned to see… himself. A Chrom was standing in the middle of the room, but he was young. He even wore the same armor that Chrom wore as the leader of the Shepherds. This Chrom was completely identical to what Chrom himself looked like thirty years ago, but his skin had a strange black aura around it, and his eyes glowed bright purple. "Or maybe she'll take it out on Gaius and Henry. You've made a mistake, old man."

"The hell?!"

"No he hasn't." Chrom turned to see another version of himself, though it was hard to tell at first. This Chrom looked thirty years older than him. Instead of armor, he wore robes very similar to what Emmeryn had once worn, though they were blue and gold. Unlike his younger counterpart, this man didn't have the Falchion on him. "Abandoning that sword was the right thing to do, for in doing it you've renounced your status as little more than a cog in the war machine. Think of all the violence that sword represents. Think of the thousands, the tens of thousands, of people that have died by that sword over the millennia."

"That sword has been in your family for thousands of years!" The younger Chrom barked. The older Chrom just shook his head.

"He had no one to pass it down to. The sword would have left his family either way."

Chrom furiously looked back and forth between the two. "What is this?!"

Young Chrom stepped forward. "I'm you. The part of you that isn't a new age, stuck up, pacificistic moron."

Old Chrom also stepped up. "And I'm you. The part of you that isn't a self righteous mass murderer who revels in the suffering he's wrought upon the world."

"Oh come on! Think of all the good we did! We saved Ylisse from Plegia! From Walhart! From countless brigands! Now you're going to turn your back on war because you couldn't stop the Grimleal?! How could you defeat Grima without war? You think you can just go up to it and say 'Ay yo, Grimsies! How 'bout you stop killing my homeboys, ya feel me!' What you think you can just hug Grima until it leaves humanity alone?!"

"Reducto ad Absurdum. You can't prove that peace isn't viable by making such an extreme argument."

"Quiet, you old bag!" Young Chrom turned to his very confused counterpart. "Don't listen to that one. Your life has been defined by war. War is how you saved Ylisse! You couldn't have negotiated with Gangrel or Walhart, and you can't negotiate with Grima. You have to stop it! It's what the heroes of legends did! The heroes of yore were all violent men and women! They killed, and the world was made a better place because of it! You cannot stop the Grimleal without fighting. Don't you remember Cordelia's death?! People will continue to die if you do nothing!" Chrom couldn't help but feel that his younger self was right. That Chrom's appearance changed. His skin and eyes became normal, and the older Chrom suddenly had a black aura around his skin and bright purple eyes. "What has peace given you?! You were the second child! You were unimportant. Destined to marry some unimportant noblewoman, and have unimportant children that would never inherit the throne. War made you into what you are! War gave you the Falchion! War gave you the throne! War gave you your friends! War gave you all those young women that would have eaten each other to be your wife! War gave you all those happy moments with the Shepherds! You'd be nothing without conflict. Because of war, you became Marth, and Emmeryn became Elice. Nothing more than a footnote! War made you the lord of the story! If war isn't your mother, then she's the woman that made you a man!"

"What?!"

"Peace is not a natural state of things. Humans form their groups, their tribes, and then exclude the other tribes. There are two absolutes in the minds of every man, woman, and child. Us and them. You are part of their 'us', or you are 'them'. Peace is not a guarantee in nature. Life is violent. Animals are defined by their inability to produce their own energy. By their need to kill other living things to sustain themselves. Boundless slaughter is a part of nature, and much of it happens for no reason. Fish die as soon as they hatch because they accidentally swim in front of a larger animal. Sometimes they're even eaten by their own parents! Caterpillars are targeted by wasps as soon as they hatch! The wasps lay eggs in the caterpillar, and the thing is eaten alive by the larvae. There's nothing it can do about it! Baby birds are sometimes murdered by their larger siblings, so that they can get all the food. They're doomed simply because their sibling is bigger, and that only happened because they hatched a few days earlier. Deer fawns starve to death because their mother had twins, and only wanted to feed one. Piglets are savaged by their own mothers. Cicadas become trapped underground because a building was constructed over them while they were developing. The young of many mammals are murdered by new alpha males, because they want to ensure that only their bloodline is passed on. Even humans sometimes abandon their children. Even beyond the predator prey relationship, nature is filled with death. It's pointless, and it happens for no reason. Even in nature, there is no such thing as peace. Humans are different, though. We make slaughter, but not for no reason. To help people. To fight for ideas. For freedom. We are different from beasts, because we make war for a reason! Our suffering comes for a reason. The heroes of legend used war to save the world! War is part of human psychology. People will always demonize their enemies, justifying war against them. Groups of humans will always fight each other. Humanity as a species will never get along. Never! We are violent, selfish creatures, but good can come from that. We can make the world a better place for our violence! War is human nature made manifest. That is why it is perfect!"

The older Chrom just shook his head again. "You talk about us and them, but the problem with war is that our enemies are humans. Just like us. Is there any such thing as an absolute enemy? An enemy that you'll always fight against? Look at history. Once the countries of the Archanean continent were separate, and they warred with each other. Then Marth united them all. Eventually the continent was split apart again, but even then enemies change. Ylisse and Plegia were once foes, but you united them against Walhart's Empire. Even now, Ylisseans and Plegians fight side by side in organizations like the Arch Surg against the Grimleal, which also consists of Ylisseans and Plegians. Even the dragons are not always enemies. Grima was not always around. Medeus was once an ally of Naga who supported her plan to have humans succeed the dragons. Even Naga was not always so benevolent. Enemies change as easily as the wind. Today's friend can be tomorrow's enemy, and today's enemy can be tomorrow's friend. Just look at the people you knew. Gaius, Henry, and Tharja were your enemies, but they became your allies. Pheros was torturing you, but now you two are at peace. Gaius especially once hated you, and now he's your closest friend. Soleil once blamed her father's death on you, but she came to love you in his place. Don't you see the tragedy of war? Conflict is not absolute. Politics are not absolute. Enemies are not absolute. Death is. All men are brothers, and all women are sisters. Our enemies are always changing, but those who die in war are gone forever. When you kill someone, you take away everything they are, and everything they were going to be. Don't you see how pointless it all is?" Chrom thought about the words of the older Chrom. Again the younger Chrom had a strange black aura around his skin and glowing purple eyes. Now they both looked menacing, and Chrom wasn't sure who was right. "We're all just people trying to find our way in the darkness. Society has been built on war. Politics, economics, technology, they're all just aspects of war. Of societies trying to compete with each other. This war machine has dominated society, but that doesn't mean there can't be peace. It's what you were always fighting for, wasn't it? You can't make peace through war. You just can't. The cycle breeds itself. War causes hatred, suffering, and lingering conflict. These in turn trigger new wars, and these will trigger new wars. For all the men and women that die, nothing will change. All wars in history can be traced back to another conflict. Another historical event. You cannot stop it by fighting. You have to work for peace. You did the right thing by giving up the sword."

The younger Chrom stepped forward. "Don't listen to him! War is who you are! You have to fight! It's why you were written!"

"Written?!"

"Don't you get it?! You're the lord of the story! You're supposed to fight! Just like all the other lords in the other stories! Your entire life is nothing but the thirteenth chapter in the story of Fire Emblem, and it's a story of war! You're but a unit in a game, and your moves are not your own. They are made for you by an invisible hand. You exist for that unseen intelligence. They're drawn to these stories because they enjoy the war. They play God with your lives!"

"What?!"

The younger Chrom stared right at his counterpart, but his glowing purple eyes seemed to look through him. He wasn't talking to Chrom. His words were meant for something else. Perhaps he was speaking to that unseen intelligence he'd been ranting about, as if it could somehow read his words like one might read a chapter in a story. "You. You like it don't you? The fighting. The killing. The adventure. You enjoy these stories, because you enjoy war being turned into a game. Chrom. Robin. The Shepherds. They're there for you to experience this tale of heroism and fighting. All the emotion. All the suffering. You drive it, and you do it because it's fun."

Chrom ran his hands through his hair. "I don't understand any of this!"

"You were made to entertain these unseen intelligences, Chrom! You're a unit in a game, and you have no right to think for yourself! They don't want to see pacifist Chrom. They want to see you pick up the Falchion and fight! They want you to kill Grima! They want you to avenge everyone that died! You exist for their entertainment, now do what you were written to do! Fight! Go back and get the Falchion!"

The older Chrom stepped forward. Both were yelling now. "No! The only way to win the game is not to play! The fighting can be endless if you let it, but you don't have to play! Don't get the Falchion!"

"Get your sword!"

"Don't get your sword!"

"Get your sword!"

"Don't get your sword!"

"Get your gods-damned sword!"

"Don't get your sword!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Chrom?" He turned to find Gaius in the doorway to the room. "Are you alright?"

Chrom was sure none of that had been real, and he tensed up. "How much of that did you see?"

"How much of what? I just got here, but I heard you yelling."

"Uh… it was nothing. W-what do you need?"

"You need to come out here now!"

"Why?"

"It's Soleil and Caeldori!"

That was all Chrom needed to hear. Without another word he bolted after Gaius, and he almost couldn't believe his eyes. Several Grimleal Reavers took position at the end of the street leading into town. In front of them stood Inquisitor Altman, the man that had once tortured Soleil and Caeldori at The Rockpile. As such, it was only fitting that the two women themselves were in front of them. Chrom couldn't begin to imagine how they'd escaped Dartsmoth at the homestead, but he barely cared at all. What mattered is that they were alive, and they were here. "H-how… is it really-"

"I don't know what happened, Blue." Gaius readied his arquebus and cautiously approached the Reavers. "But they're here, and they need our help! Come on!"

"Blue?" Soleil recognized Gaius' name for Chrom, and she briefly turned her head to see him. Both of them returned big, goofy smiles. "Heh, try to keep up, old man."

Chrom excitedly turned to Caeldori. "And you-"

Caeldori smiled to herself, but she didn't turn away from Altman and the Reavers. She kept her lance pointed at them. "It's me, Chrom, but this isn't the time. Help us deal with this!"

"R-right!" Chrom and Gaius ran up. The Reavers readied their weapons, and Altman readied his glaive. His expression was calm, and his voice didn't have even the slightest sign of frustration or distress.

"You two can't run from me forever." He said to Caeldori and Soleil, ignoring Chrom and Gaius completely. "No one leaves The Rockpile."

"We're not going back with you! Not without a fight!"

"You lack the clarity and the purity to understand what I do for humanity, but very well. I can converse with you on that level." Altman pointed his glaive at the group. "Get them!"

The Reavers charged forward, and Altman targeted Soleil and Caeldori specifically. The Reavers themselves tried to block Chrom and Gaius off, but they weren't particularly difficult foes. Chrom quickly brought one down with the Thundergrypp, then armed himself with the Reaver's sword. It only took him a few minutes to break through the Reavers as they simply threw themselves at him without form or strategy. As soon as the last one fell, Chrom ran towards Altman in a desperate attempt to separate him from Soleil and Caeldori. Altman's glaive was not for show, and he infused his surprisingly powerful and quick blows with occasional blasts of dark magic. Chrom and Soleil themselves were thrown backward by his magical attacks, but Caeldori managed to weave through them and engage in close combat, her lance and Altman's glaive becoming conjoined in a vortex of strikes, parries, and feints. Caeldori was skilled, and she almost gained the upper hand on the older Inquisitor at times, but Altman was a tier above her. After a furious exchange of blows, Altman managed to disarm her and stab his glaive through her right thigh. Caeldori's combination of a short skirt with knee high boots did little to protect her, and she went down screaming. Altman stood over her in triumph for a few seconds, but the only thing waiting for him as he brought his head back up was a bullet from the Sunspitter. Altman died instantly, and the threat of the Grimleal disappeared. Chrom took little joy in Altman's death, as Caeldori's screaming shattered any illusion of victory he might dared to have nurtured. He rushed to her side with everyone else, though Gaius and Soleil had somehow beaten him there. Pheros and Henry were also by her side, even though they weren't around during the battle. "Is it serious?!" Chrom cried out.

Everyone just turned to look at him, their expressions bitter. "Another one suffers because of you." Pheros responded.

"What?! I-Is she okay? Answer me!"

Gaius shook his head. "You killed my wife and daughter." He said coldly.

"W-what does that… huh?!"

"You got my granddaughter killed." Henry said.

"You couldn't save my grandmother!" Caeldori roared through her pain. "And you had sex with her!"

Soleil stepped forward. "And you wouldn't let me hit you when we were training!" She cried.

"What?!"

Soleil raised the Thundergrypp. Chrom looked down to his own body in a panic. He wasn't sure how, but Soleil had somehow taken it from him. A smile consumed her face as she pulled back the hammer on the barrel that hadn't been fired. "Try to keep up, old man."

"Wait! Soleil… what are you… stop!"

"Good riddance." Gaius said. Everyone but Soleil turned back to Caeldori. Soleil just smiled even wider and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet tunneling through Chrom's head and knocking him to the ground.

Chrom woke up in an empty field. Strangely, he was already standing up, as if he'd been unconscious like that. He tried taking a step forward, but he felt resistance as he moved his leg. Only then did he realize that he was standing in a waist high lukewarm river. The water had a slow current, but he could barely feel it. The river banks were very steep, and Chrom wasn't sure he could climb out of them. "What the?"

Chrom looked forward at the sound of something in the river. A woman with long, blonde hair seemed to rise from the water, hovering about a meter in the air. The woman wore long, white robes, though her arms were covered with golden plate armor. When she turned to face Chrom, he could see that her eyes glowed with a bright golden light. "So much death." The woman said in a soft voice. "Death is tragic, but life is miserable. Life is but a handful of pleasurable experiences. Moments with friends and family. Sexual encounters. Good meals. The rest is suffering and struggling. These emotions are taken with people as they die. The living do not hear their cries. Their suffering may fall on deaf ears. But rest assured, the dead are not silent. I can show you their suffering. Show you the suffering you have wrought upon the world."

"W-what?! What is this? Who are you?"

"It matters not who I am. Come then. See what you have done to the world. To your own kind. Walk forward." Chrom looked around. The river was perfectly straight, and it seemed to go on forever. There was no way out. The woman shook her head. "There is no other way to leave this place. Be warned, the dead would drag you down with them if they could."

"What?!"

The woman didn't say anything else. She just floated ahead, almost out of view. Reluctantly, Chrom began to walk forward. Distance didn't seem to mean anything here. The river disappeared behind Chrom, and the scenery in front of him never changed. He just walked aimlessly along, but he eventually came across another person in the river. As he got closer, he could see that the man was transparent, like a spectre. Getting even closer to the man, Chrom's eyes widened in shock. He recognized him. It wasn't the kind of memory that he could consciously recall, but he instantly realized who the man was at the sight of his face. It was a brigand he'd cut down when he was fourteen years old, shortly after founding the Shepherds. This was the first man Chrom ever killed. Chrom had used the Falchion to slice through the man's throat, and now the spectre had a continuous stream of blood spurting from the wound. "Oh gods!" The man cried, his voice heavily distorted. "My throat! It's coming apart! Please help me!"

"Agh!"

The man stumbled towards Chrom, and he was too shocked to react. The man tackled Chrom, and his touch burned. "Help me! My throat! HELP ME!" The man screamed. The man's searing touch crippled Chrom with pain, and he couldn't stop the man from dragging him underneath the river. He forcibly held Chrom under the water until he finally couldn't hold his breath anymore. At the moment of his "death", he was teleported back to the start of the river. Once more the woman was hovering in front of him.

"What just happened?!"

"The dead would drag you down with them if they could." She repeated. "Walk. Do not stop. Do not run. Just walk."

Again the woman floated away, and again Chrom started walking down the river. He eventually encountered the man again, and once more he stumbled after him, but Chrom didn't stop this time. He kept walking until the man was behind him, and eventually the man's spectre faded away. Chrom looked forward to see several dozen spectres in front of him, and he recognized them all. These were several dozen brigands and Plegian soldiers he'd killed before he met Robin. They all stumbled after him, but Chrom remembered what the woman told him. He kept walking. The spectres moved too slowly to catch him, and they all dissipated as he walked by them.

Chrom eventually encountered a spectre he recognized as Garrick. These were the Plegian brigands he'd killed when he first met Robin.

He then encountered Feroxi soldiers he and the Shepherds had to kill after being mistaken for brigands at The Longfort.

He then encountered Roddick and the brigands that had attacked Donnel's village.

He then encountered Orton and the Plegian soldiers that he killed at the Border Pass.

He then encountered Victor and the brigands he killed when he first met Anna.

He then encountered the Plegian assassins that had tried to kill Emmeryn in Ylisstol.

He then encountered the Plegian soldiers under Vasto that he had killed at Breakneck Pass.

He then encountered Chalard and the Grimleal soldiers that he had killed at the Border Sands.

He then encountered Campari and the Plegian soldiers he'd killed at Castle Plegia.

He then encountered Vincent and the brigands he'd killed after meeting another Anna.

He then encountered the Plegian soldiers under Mustafa that he'd killed at The Midmire.

He then encountered the Plegian soldiers he'd killed while fighting Gangrel.

There was a long pause after that, as there had been two years of peace after Gangrel's defeat. Chrom had lost count of how many people he'd seen. Disturbingly, they all had the same injuries they had when they died. If he killed someone by stabbing them, then blood still poured out from their injuries. If he'd cut of someone's limbs, then they were still missing limbs.

He kept walking, and eventually he encountered more people in the river. He saw Dalton and the Valmese soldiers he'd killed at Port Ferox.

He then encountered Ignatius and the Valmese soldiers he'd killed while going to fight against Walhart.

He then encountered all the enemies the Shepherds had fought against while meeting the second generation children. He saw Gecko and his bandits. Jamil and his Grimleal soldiers. Xalbador and his soldiers. Cassius and his soldiers. Ruger and his soldiers. Nelson and his soldiers. Morristan and his soldiers. Gyral and Dalen, and their forces. Nombry and his soldiers. Ezra and his brigands.

He then encountered the Valmese soldiers under Farber he'd killed when he met Say'ri.

He then encountered the Valmese soldiers under Cervantes he'd killed at the Mila Tree.

He then encountered the Valmese soldiers under Pheros he'd killed at Fort Steiger.

He then encountered the Valmese soldiers he'd killed under Yen'fay when Say'ri had fought against him.

He then encountered Excellus and the Valmese soldiers that died when he confronted Walhart.

He then encountered the Grimleal soldiers under Algol that attacked as they tried to leave Castle Plegia.

He then encountered Zanth and the pirates he'd killed while recruiting Gangrel.

He then encountered Ardri and the Grimleal soldiers he'd killed while recruiting Emmeryn.

He then encountered the soldiers he'd killed while recruiting Priam.

Chrom then encountered several dozen more people in the river, and he froze at the sight of them. Save for the few that Chrom knew were still alive, every single Shepherd now stood before him. Deep down Chrom knew that this was coming, but he still wasn't prepared for it. He stood in shock as they began to stumble towards him, and he eventually broke down at the sight. Forgetting the woman's warning, Chrom sprinted away from them. When Chrom was walking, the people in the river only stumbled after him. When he began running, they full on sprinted after him, and they moved faster than he could. Sully, Sumia, Olivia, and Maribelle were the ones to catch him. Just as with the man at the beginning of the river, their fingers burned to the touch, and they tried to drag Chrom under the river. "You betrayed us all!" Sully shouted.

"You cut off my daughter's arm!" Sumia cried.

"We trusted you!" Olivia screamed.

"We were supposed to spend our lives together!" Maribelle yelled. The four women overpowered Chrom and dragged him beneath the river. The other Shepherds stood around them, ready to react if Chrom somehow escaped. The pain and stress was too much, and Chrom couldn't break free. At the moment of "death", he was teleported all the way back to the start of the river. Once more the woman floated in front of him.

"Do not stop. Do not run. You must walk."

And so Chrom walked down the river, again seeing all of the spectres from before. He didn't stop walking when he finally reached the Shepherds. They all stumbled after him as the other people did, but he didn't look at them. He just kept his head down and walked on, and eventually they all dissipated. The last Shepherd he saw was Lucina, still missing both arms. She didn't stumble after him as all the others did. She just gave him a solemn look until she too disappeared behind him.

There was another pause after Chrom walked past the Shepherds, but he eventually encountered more people in the river. This time he saw a small group of slavers that he'd fought after he saw them threatening a caravan. This was when he met Donald, just after settling in the town he'd live in for the next twenty years. After that there was another pause, but inevitably Chrom would encounter more people.

He saw the lieutenants and agents of Courtney that he'd killed after the death of Conrad and his daughter.

He then saw the soldiers loyal to Keith he'd killed at Veslil. Strangely, he then saw the spectres of Tunnellers. Chrom noticed that there weren't any Risen in the river, so he was surprised to see them. The Tunnellers were not as slow as the human spectres. They dashed around and jumped in place, but they also didn't actively try to attack Chrom.

He then saw several Reavers he'd killed at Cordelia's homestead.

He then saw several Tunnellers he'd killed at Nowi Falls. He also saw the Inquisitor he'd shot through the eye and Kryczek. Kryczek still had blood pouring from the gunshot wound in his throat.

He then saw the Arch Surg soldiers he'd killed while escaping Fort Morgan. Chrom was particularly disturbed by this, as many were missing pieces of their bodies after having been attacked by the ballistician.

Chrom finally reached the end of the river. He'd seen the faces of every single person he'd ever killed in his life. Every. Single. One. Shocked and unable to process the emotions the experience had brought out, Chrom did what any other man in his strange position would have. He cried. He'd never seen so much death in his life, but it was all real. All those people had fallen on his blade. He was simply being forced to remember them. The woman eventually appeared before Chrom again. "How many men and women no longer draw breath for your having existed?"

"I lost count." Chrom said, his voice broken.

"You're a mass murderer. You live for battle. Battle brings death. Death brings suffering. How much suffering has humanity endured for your birth?"

Chrom fell to his knees, causing the water to go up to his shoulders. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"

"You have faced your guilt. You didn't let it stop you. You didn't run from it. You faced what you've done to the world. Facing your guilt is the first step to overcoming it. You can still be a hero, Chrom, but you must overcome the guilt that now flows through your very blood. I leave you with this." The woman began to float up. "Do not trust your loved ones."

With that, Chrom was left in the river with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.