"This can't be him! It just can't be!"

Pheros stepped forward and looked down. "I'm sorry, Ophelia, but this is clearly your great uncle. Chrom, what did you do?"

Chrom slowly brought his head up to see Pheros, Ophelia, and Cervantes looking down on him, subtle looks of horror and disgust in their faces. It was now very late at night, and the sun had set hours ago. Chrom was curled up against the back of a building. He was barefooted, and his pants had been torn up to the thigh. His work shirt, already ragged from his fight with the Deadlord Mus, was barely clinging to him now, leaving much of his chest exposed. Perhaps most worryingly, Chrom was no longer bothering to cover up his birthmark. The brand of the Exalt was now visible to everyone, and his right shoulder was now covered in bloody scratches. He was also wearing Cordelia's blindfold over his eyes. Last but certainly not least, Chrom reeked of alcohol. It was a disheartening sight to Ophelia and Pheros, and even Cervantes gave a worried look. Chrom only gave a sad glance for a few seconds before hanging his head and groaning.

"Chrom!" Pheros snapped, both anger and worry in her voice. "What is this?! What happened to your clothes?!"

"Termite queens don't wear clothes." He responded meekly.

"What?!"

Ophelia knelt down. She looked on the verge of crying, and her voice choked as she spoke to Chrom. "Did you… did you do that to your own arm?"

Chrom nodded to his birthmark. "I don't deserve this." He suddenly sat up and started to claw at it. "I DON'T WANT IT ON ME ANYMORE!"

"Chrom!" Ophelia exclaimed in desperation as she grabbed her great uncle's arms. Ophelia wasn't strong enough to actually hold Chrom, but he did calm down slightly at her touch. "Stop it! Please!" Ophelia looked him up and down, and she only grew more horrified. "You still had Cordelia's blindfold? Why are you wearing it?!"

Chrom gave a pulsed and stuttered exhale as he struggled to speak through his own sorrow. "When I look at myself, I see a man responsible for everything the world has become. I see a man who failed everyone that loved him. When Cordelia saw me, she saw a hero. Even after all this time. I… I don't know. I guess I wanted to see myself the way she did… and I would have to be blind to do that."

Ophelia couldn't hold back her emotions anymore, and she sniffed as a tear fell down her cheek. "Chrom… that's one of the saddest things I've ever heard." Ophelia gently took off the blindfold, revealing Chrom's own red and irritated eyes. "I thought we were past this. I thought you were getting better!"

"You need to stop expecting things from me, Ophelia. Tiki was wrong about me. I'm only going to keep failing you."

Pheros shook her head. "Chrom, get up! You're lucky it's so late. If any Pacification Squads were patrolling now, you'd be arrested for public drunkenness! If they realized who you were, we'd never see you again!"

"Just let me drown." Chrom muttered as he pulled out a flask he'd apparently purchased in his drinking binge and looked it over. The front had a cartoonish depiction of a Tunneller. The text read "The Cuddly Tunneller. Located off of 13th Street and Imperial Way." The back had a depiction of a salt miner swinging a pickaxe. The text read "The City of The Saltworks. Founded 2626 Archanean Calendar."

"You bought a flask?!" Pheros cried. "What's even in there?"

"I forget." Chrom took a quick swig. "Oh yeah. Whiskey."

Cervantes stroked his beard as he watched Chrom take a much deeper drink. "How the mighty have fallen."

"Don't mock him!" Ophelia snapped.

"I wasn't."

"Chrom, please. Stop drinking!" Pheros pleaded. "Ophelia and Gaius told us that something had upset you. Whatever it was, just please come with us. Don't make this any worse!"

"I just keep failing people don't I?" Chrom responded solemnly as he prepared to take another swig. Ophelia couldn't bear the sight.

"Chrom! Stop!"

"I'm sorry, Ophelia." He said without pausing.

Ophelia eyes darted around as she desperately thought of a way to snap him out of it. "You, *sniffle* you said you'd train me to use the Falchion! Did you mean that?!"

For once what Ophelia had said got to Chrom, and he stopped right before bringing the flask to his lips. "You're… you're right. I did say that." Chrom sealed the flask and steeled himself. "And I did mean it." He tried to stand, but he tripped on a glass bottle of whiskey by his feet and fell flat on his face. He didn't seem to want to try again, as he lied in that position and moaned for several seconds. Ophelia shook her head and pulled out a diamond.

"Just hold still! Don't move."

Ophelia repeated the spell she had used on Chrom and Gaius earlier, and once again a blinding light radiated outwards from the diamond. Chrom tried to slowly rise to his feet as the light faded, but he still wasn't entirely back to normal, and he fell into Ophelia. Pheros tried to help Ophelia catch him, but Chrom was too heavy for the women to support, and they only managed to set him back on the ground. "Damn it, Chrom!" Pheros spat. "Get up!"

Ophelia wasn't as harsh, and she gave a warm smile for her great uncle as he looked back up. "You put away your flask for me?"

"I… I did. I'm sorry, Ophelia. I just can't be the hero you want me to be. I did this to the world, and it didn't have to be that way. Everyone suffers for me knowing them. How could I be a hero? But… you have potential, grandniece. Helping you realize it is the least I can do for Owain. For Tiki. For Lissa. For Henry. I… will train you. You deserve that from me."

Ophelia smiled wider. "Aww. You're like my Jagen."

"Excuse me?"

"You know? From the legends of the Hero King? I'm Marth, the young hero of destiny, and you're Jagen, the experienced warrior who trains me and guides me."

Chrom frowned, but he wasn't really offended. He actually gave a kind of playful tone. "I am not Jagen!"

"Yes you are. You're my Jagen."

"Am not!"

"I guess you could also be like Gunter, from the fairy tales of Hoshido and Nohr? Or maybe I'm like my grandmother, and you can be like Frederick?"

"I don't know about that."

"Well anyways." Ophelia stuck out her arm. "Be my mentor?"

Chrom took Ophelia's arm and forced himself up. As soon as she was sure he wouldn't fall over again, Ophelia stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Chrom would be lying if he said he wasn't moved. He tried to stay stoic, but his mouth quivered. "W-what are you doing?"

Ophelia hugged him for a few more seconds before answering. "I'm sorry. You just seemed like you really needed a hug. You hate yourself so much, but… but I love you. I don't care what you say."

"... Ophelia."

"And maybe Tiki didn't understand how broken you were, but you know what? She was right about you, because you are a good man. Chrom, surely you see this is all Gangrel and Aversa's fault? Not yours."

Pheros nodded. "Where is that rage you felt when Gangrel crippled Emmeryn. Even in Valm I remember hearing about that, and I remember being disgusted that anyone would threaten her. I know Walhart wanted to conquer Ylisse, and I know we had to destroy the feudal system, but I still couldn't believe that Gangrel could do that to her. Walhart would have treated her with respect. Emmeryn… never hurt anybody. As much as I disagree with what you were as a young man, you were right to stop Gangrel. You can still help us do that. I know you don't want to kill anymore, but surely you still feel rage towards Gangrel and Aversa?"

Deep down, Chrom had always had a capacity for rage and violence. There was a reason why he took up the Falchion while his sisters preferred healing staves. Though Chrom tried to consciously suppress his anger ever since giving up the Falchion, it boiled over now. As Chrom looked over to the wall of a nearby building, he saw a larger than usual poster depicting Gangrel looking down on the viewer. He couldn't handle the emotions that flooded through his as he looked at his old foe in his still partially inebriated state, and he took the glass whiskey bottle in his hand. "Of course I do! Gangrel keeps killing my loved ones, even all these years later. I, I HATE HIM!" With an almost feral roar that shook everyone present to their bones, Chrom threw the bottle at the poster. It smashed against the wall and shattered, but the poster was hardly affected. Chrom calmed down, the sight serving as a metaphor for the futility of his anger.

"Calm down!" Ophelia implored.

"I-I'm sorry." Chrom took a deep breath. He could tell Ophelia's spell did work, but he was too intoxicated for it work immediately. "That didn't solve anything."

"What in tarnation?! You did not just vandalize a poster of the Emperor in front of us!"

Chrom noticed that Pheros' normally serious expression melted away, and she became gripped in genuine fear. "Oh no. Grimleal Enforcers. Why did we have to run into them?! Why does Naga hate us so much?!"

As Ophelia and Cervantes also tensed up, Chrom turned to see the same two Grimleal Enforcers that he confronted after they'd harried a woman outside of Throb. The armored man with the poleaxe and his masked companion were both walking towards the group, as were the three soldiers that had accompanied them earlier. The armored Enforcer stopped, gripped his poleaxe, and pointed towards them. "Stop right there, criminal scum! You've committed crimes against The Saltworks and her people. What say you in your defense?"

The masked man drew his short sword. "Spala-te pe dinti ca vin cu pula in inspectie!"

Cervantes and Pheros exchanged glances. "My boy, you may have just doomed us all."

"Enforcers aren't like Pacification Units. They won't ask for our cooperation. We'll be lucky if all they do is drag us into a back alley and break our hands." Pheros added. "They're also not stupid. If they see that birthmark…"

"Can we get away?" Chrom asked while watching the five men.

"I don't know that we'll be able to escape from them, especially since they can call for Pacification Squads to mobilize and flood the city streets, and they'll kill us if we anger them. Damn it, Chrom. Why did you do that?!"

"I… I just keep failing people."

Ophelia herself was initially frightened by the Enforcers, but this fear became determination as she heard her great uncle put himself down yet again. "No. We can deal with this. I… I have an idea."

"Ophelia, don't do anything stupid!" Pheros spat. Ophelia ignored her and pulled out the diamond again.

"Just be ready to move."

"You're going to bribe them?"

"Ooh, crafty. That just might work." Cervantes chuckled. Ophelia scowled at both of them.

"No! This is mine. Just keep calm, and wait for them to get closer."

And so the four stood their ground as the Enforcers yelled. Eventually the man with the poleaxe became frustrated enough to start walking towards them, though the other four men didn't join him. They instead moved to block the nearby streets, leaving the group surrounded. "Hey! I'm talking to you, consarn it!"

"Wait for it." Ophelia said with determination in her voice. Chrom didn't share it.

"Ophelia-"

"Wait for it!" Though no one was sure what Ophelia was trying to do, they didn't see any other options. Everyone did as Ophelia implored, and the Chosen Heroine stood tall and brave as the much larger man finally reached her. The man was about to raise his poleaxe and yell again, but Ophelia thrusted the diamond in his face. "Ha! You've fallen right into my trap, vile cretin! Now I shall channel magical energy into this diamond, and the blinding flash of light shall rend the clarity from your very eyes! You shall be left stunned, and we will make our escape. You've been outwitted!" Ophelia tried to perform her spell, but the Enforcer simply grabbed her hand and crushed it in his own armored gauntlet before she could, and Ophelia fell to her knees in agony. Pheros responded with a callous sigh.

"You're not one of those idiots that calls their attacks are you?"

"*sniffle*... n-no?" She answered through her groaning.

"How dare you?!" Chrom suddenly snapped. Not thinking clearly, he put all of his might into a strike against the man's armored chest, but the attack was of little consequence. Chrom only succeeded in injuring himself as his fist struck the steel plating, and he fell to his knees alongside his grandniece. Ophelia at least gave him a small smile as she slowly recovered from her own injury.

"Well… it means a lot that you tried."

"Wait a minute." Chrom looked up in horror as the Enforcer knelt down in front of him. Even through his close helm it was easy to see where his gaze was drawn to. "That birthmark on your arm. We're not far from Shepherd's Folly. Where the Falchion was found." The man gripped Chrom by the throat and forced him to his feet. "You're him, aren't you? Well it must be my lucky day! I can't believe, I can't gods-damned believe you actually wandered into a Grimleal city all by your little lonesome, you feudalist, twinkle toed, mother loving, slimy little nematode prick tease! I could get a promotion for bringing you in!"

"Agh!" Was all Chrom managed to choke out in response.

Out of options, Pheros quickly drew a small holdout blade she'd somehow purchased or snuck into the city and tried to stab the Enforcer through a chink in his armor. The man briefly grunted, showing that the knife had reached his skin, but he was otherwise unfazed. "Aw, girl. You're gonna piss someone off hitting them with a knife that small!" Pheros quickly withdrew the knife and tried to go for the man's throat, but he let go of Chrom, grabbed her arm, and violently dislocated it. Cervantes also drew a hidden weapon, but the man simply kicked Pheros into him. At this point the other Enforcers also began to draw their weapons, and Chrom and Ophelia tensed up in fear as they prepared for the worst.

Chrom reflexively grabbed Ophelia and cradled her, anticipating gunshots from the other Enforcers. He closed his eyes as the cracking sounds of gunfire echoed through the city streets, but he didn't hear the bullets impacting anywhere near him. Furthermore, he only heard two shots, and they seemed to be one right after the other. Each of the other four Grimleal soldiers likely had a firearm, and they would've fired all at once. Cautiously bringing his head up, Chrom turned to see that two of the Grimleal soldiers now lied dead in the street. Chrom then noticed a figure on the rooftop of a nearby building, and he focused on it to see a dark skinned bald man with leather clothing. The same man that had threatened him in the Arch Surg safehouse. Lowering his double barreled arquebus, Malc simply nodded to Chrom before disappearing out of sight. Chrom wanted to investigate further, but his mind snapped back to the more immediate threats.

The third Grimleal soldier discharged his arquebus at Malc, and the armored man drew his carbine and did the same. Chrom instinctively covered his ears and recoiled at the deafening sound of the firearm going off right next to him, but Ophelia rose to her feet and tried to hurry him away to safety. Looking back, Chrom saw Cervantes reach for the Enforcer's discarded poleaxe, and the two men grappled for it while the masked Enforcer approached with his short sword drawn. Ophelia stepped forward and tried to telekinetically hurl small rocks, debris, and anything she could find really at him. Meanwhile, the far younger Enforcer slowly got the better of Cervantes, and only the elderly officer's sheer strength prevented him from being completely overpowered. Chrom felt that he had to help somehow, but he had no weapons, and the situation with Malc only confused him. Was this an ambush? Would gunmen come for him if he focused on the Grimleal? Chrom's mind blanked as the chaos erupted. He was never good with unexpected situations. The Shepherds had Robin make the tactical decisions for a reason, after all. Beyond that, guilt continued to consume him as he realized the situation was his fault. It was only the sound of a familiar voice that snapped him out of it.

"Blue!"

"Gaius?" It sounded too good to be true, but Chrom felt a surge of confidence as Gaius came running up to him. "Gaius!"

"Damn it, Blue! Move! They need your help, Chrom! Do what you always do! Save people!" Chrom realized as Gaius approached that he'd recovered the strange lance Old Hubba had given him. Chrom backed away at the sight. "Wait, you don't want me to use that do you?"

"I know you doubt yourself, Chrom, but we don't have time. They need you! That's all that matters!"

Without stopping, Gaius hurled Geirskögul at Chrom, and he caught it effortlessly. A smile slowly appeared on his face as he held the lance. If Gaius had offered it to him, he surely would have continued to doubt himself. He didn't feel like he deserved it. However, by forcing it into his hand, Gaius didn't give him the chance, and the Exalt was forced to see the reality of the situation. Chrom's allies needed him. His own thoughts didn't matter. Chrom turned to Gaius, who had since hurled some kind of smoke bomb at the third Grimleal soldier. "Thank you, old friend."

Meanwhile, Cervantes had been staggered after the masked Enforcer hurled a javelin into his back, and the armored Enforcer was finally able to throw him to the ground. Ophelia tried to telekinetically grip the man himself, but this was far more than she could manage, and the attempt left her exhausted. The masked man seemed to notice, and he prepared another javelin as he turned to Ophelia. "Jalnic!"

Ophelia desperately stuck her arms out and backed away. "Wait, wait! Maybe this is all a misunderstanding! Do you speak our language?"

The Enforcer stood tall and thumped his own chest. "I speak a language far superior to the barbaric tongue you people bark out here, but I do understand you. Even now, I only speak your language to mock you! Now, why don't you go piss in your own father's tooth cavities?!"

"What?!"

The Enforcer conversed no further, instead hurling a javelin at Ophelia. She furiously moved to dodge it, and she seemed to take some pride in managing to avoid the attack, but Ophelia wasn't able to prevent the man from charging and staggering her with a shield bash. "Mai are tac-tu copii proşti?!" He roared as he then tackled Ophelia to the ground. Stunning Ophelia with a headbutt as the two hit the street, the man readied his short sword and prepared to viciously drive it into her face. Ophelia was only given the chance to focus on the situation by the man's apparent vanity, as he triumphantly raised the blade into the air before bringing it down. "Adică, acești oameni, ei nu sunt nimic!" The man followed through with a downward thrust, but his blade stopped just centimeters from Ophelia's face. The ornately armored Enforcer put all of his strength into it, but the blade only shook in place. Just as when E-13 had almost killed her at Cordelia's homestead, Ophelia's fear and desperation here gave her the will to telekinetically resist the man's strike, and she managed to hold the sword in position. Still, Ophelia couldn't maintain this forever, and the Enforcer would've won eventually had the end of a lance not been thrusted through his back. Ophelia looked up in relief and awe to see Chrom propelling the Geirskögul into the Enforcer's abdomen. His cuirass was enough to save him from a fatal injury, but the man was still incapacitated with pain. "Nu ai onoare!"

Withdrawing his lance as the Enforcer keeled over, Chrom turned to see the armored Enforcer preparing to strike Cervantes down with his poleaxe. Pheros defiantly charged the man before he could, but she could do little to harm him with his heavy armor, and he simply laughed in her face. "Oh, bless your heart. You can't wait your turn!" The man got a solid grasp on his poleaxe and used the shaft to sweep Pheros off her feet. He then prepared for an exaggerated, execution styled swing of his axe as she desperately tried to recover. Pheros didn't make it back to her feet before the man had finished winding up, and he brought his mighty weapon down in a furious power blow. Pheros raised her arm and closed her eyes, but nothing happened. Confused, she opened them to find the Enforcer's poleaxe had been sliced in half mid swing. The blade itself was lying by the man's side, and he could do nothing but stare at it as he tried to understand the situation. "Err… hold up. What just happened?" The man's question was answered as the Geirskögul was thrusted into his thigh. Though the man's plate armor saved him from crippling injury, the otherworldly weapon was still able to penetrate it, and the Enforcer was racked in pain. "Gaaah! Lucina's tiara that stings!"

"Don't speak her name, and get away from my friends!" The man tried to swing at Chrom with what remained of his weapon, but he dodged it and struck at the man's helmet. Though Chrom wasn't as familiar with lances as he was with swords, the Geirskögul was very well balanced, and using it felt very natural to him. Ophelia's spell also continued to take its effect, and Chrom's inebriation was finally disappearing. Chrom was easily able to avoid the man's attacks, and he eventually managed to dislodge the man's helmet after several strikes from his lance. He finally brought the man to his back with another strike to the leg. As the fight was going on, the foreign Enforcer rose to his feet and tried to shoot Chrom in the back with his pistol, but it failed to fire. Inspecting it, the Enforcer found that Ophelia had telekinetically seized the hammer on the gun's firing mechanism, preventing the flint from striking the gunpowder. As the man stood in shock, or even embarrassment, Chrom turned and brought him down by striking his head with the shaft of the Geirskögul. Ophelia then kicked the Enforcer in the head for good measure, though it hurt her as much as it did him due to her preference for sandals.

"Ha! We did it, great uncle! I told you we made a good team, ow! Ow."

Chrom nodded to her, but he also looked to see Gaius grappling with the third Grimleal soldier. Though Gaius struggled to keep up with the younger man, he eventually managed to put a bullet through his chest with a concealed pistol. Chrom couldn't help but be a little upset at the number of concealed weapons everyone else seemed to have. Why couldn't he get one?

"Agh!" The man cried as he slumped to the ground. Gaius stood over him, placing his boot on the gunshot wound just to spite him. Chrom became alarmed at the display of cruelty, and he realized what was about to happen. "W-wait! WAIT! Argh! I-I have a family! I'm a father! I have TWO CHILDREN!"

"Gaius, wait! DON'T-"

"You should have thought of them when you were picking jobs." It was possible Gaius just didn't hear Chrom, but he was entirely callous in ignoring the man's pleas. Without any hesitation, Gaius drew a small throwing knife and sent it into the man's throat with a flick of his wrist, dooming him. Chrom shook with frustration as the man in front of him slowly died. It made sense that Gaius could take life so easily given what he'd done over the past thirty years, but he'd still never shown that kind of ruthlessness in front of Chrom before. He even seemed to have a small smile on his face as the man died.

"Gaius, you didn't… that didn't have to happen." Chrom stated in a defeated tone as he walked up. Gaius just glared at him like he did when Chrom refused to finish off Wolcroft and her soldiers.

"Uh, you're welcome for saving your life! It wasn't easy to pull that lance out of the ground, you know! Come on, we're not done. Finish off yours." Gaius unwrapped a lollipop and nodded to the Enforcer as he stuck it in his mouth. Sure enough, the armored man was trying to rise to his feet. He made it to his knees before Chrom brought the blade of the Geirskögul to his neck.

"Aw, hell. At least I'll be killed by someone important."

Chrom looked the man in the eye, and he tried to show him that he wasn't angry. "What is your name?"

"Huh?"

"You're not just a faceless man in a suit of armor. You have a name like everyone else. What is it?"

The Grimleal Enforcer was a fair skinned man in his early to mid thirties. He had fiery red hair, and his irises were also bright red. "Ashley."

"What man is named Ashley?" Gaius jeered as he walked up.

"I don't know. What man is named Chrom? What was going through your parent's heads? 'What should we name our son? William? Robert? Ted? Nah, nah let's name him Chrom!' What does that even mean? Ashley is a distinguished name for gentlemen."

"You're no gentleman." Ophelia scoffed.

"He's a willing member of an oppressive regime." Pheros added as she clutched her injured arm. "Kill him already."

"Yeah, I'm a naughty boy. Go ahead, Exalt. Kill me. Add me to your body count. Now my Ylissean history ain't the best, but I know you're not like Emmeryn. You killed everyone that got in your way. Now go ahead. Do it. I die a hero of the Grimleal!"

Thirty years ago, Chrom could have killed this man without a second thought, telling himself it was for the greater good. It was to bring peace. He might have even relished it. Now, things had changed. Chrom couldn't bear the thought of driving the lance into the man's neck. Of watching him go down in a spray of blood. Of watching the life leave him. Gaius, Pheros, and Cervantes started to shout at him, but Chrom wasn't paying attention. Violence just didn't come to him so readily anymore. It was one thing to save his allies, but it was another thing to kill a beaten man. Chrom also thought of Ophelia. She wanted so badly for him to be her mentor. What would killing this man teach her?

"This way. The gunshots came from this direction!" Chrom was snapped out of it as the sounds of approaching Grimleal reinforcements could be heard.

"Hurry up, Chrom!" Pheros shouted as the five turned to look. Ashley immediately saw his opportunity.

"Too late!" The Enforcer grabbed the Geirskögul and grappled with Chrom. Reacting quickly, Ophelia telekinetically seized the diamond and Ashley's close helm and threw the diamond into the helmet before wedging it back on Ashley's head. She then channeled magical energy into the diamond, the same spell she tried to use on Ashley before he stopped her. The helmet was flooded with blinding light, causing Ashley to stumble around. "ARGH! BRIGHT! I can't see a blammed thing!"

"Come on!" Ophelia shouted as she waved towards Chrom and the others. Knowing they couldn't deal with the Grimleal reinforcements, the group proceeded to leave the area, leaving the two Enforcers injured but very much alive.

The five bolted through the city and retreated into Throb as quickly as they could. The club had long since closed for the night, and the group wasted no time in trying to make their way through the empty floor and into the Arch Surg's hidden safehouse, but they weren't able to make it in before a pounding noise thundered from the door. "Hold on!" Cervantes barked. "Nobody move! I'll handle this." Cautiously, the veteran soldier walked back to the front of the business and slowly opened the door. There were no Grimleal soldiers. Rather, a robed man stood smiling.

"Hello there. Do you have a minute to talk about our lord and savior, Grima the Fell Dragon?"

Cervantes simply closed the door in the man's face. "It's okay! It was just a Grima's Witness."

Chrom turned back. "Huh?"

"Oh, just another dumbarsed church. Come on. Let's all get down to the basement and deal with this the Arch Surg way."

"Hiding from the Grimleal?" Gaius responded dryly.

"Exactly, my boyo."

"Grrg! My arm!" Pheros tried mending her dislocated arm herself, but she failed to do it properly with just her other arm. "My arm. Chrom, can you help me with this?"

"Y-yeah, sure." Chrom winced. "But I don't want it to hurt too much. Is there a healing staff you could use?"

"No! The Grimleal took that, and no we don't have one hidden here. Just pop it back into place."

"Are you sure?"

"You think that because I'm a woman I can't take it?! I've taken my fair share of hits Chrom, now do it!" Chrom complied and took Pheros' arm, but he hesitated at the thought of the pain it would cause. Pheros initially glared at him for his reluctance, but then suddenly smiled. "Be gentle."

Chrom remembered when he'd once said that to Pheros. "Of course." With one swift motion Chrom forced her arm back into place. Pheros did cry out, but she quickly caught herself.

"Duma's massive eye that… grrg! Th-Thank you, Chrom. I guess that's the best we can do now since we can't exactly go outside and see a healer."

Gaius paced back and forth. "The whole city is going to be on lockdown now. Damn it, Chrom."

Chrom seemed to want to fall back into his self loathing, but Pheros grabbed his shoulder and tried to nudge him down the stairs. "Come on. Let's at least get to the safehouse."

The group descended the hidden stairwell and returned to the main floor of the safehouse. Farber had returned here at some point, and he occupied himself with paperwork he filled out by candlelight. He paid little mind to his allies as they entered, short of breath and shook up. "Welcome back." He said without looking up. "Has something occurred?"

The run back to Throb was more physical activity than Pheros was used to, and she had to sit down and catch her breath. "You might say that."

"Finish up whatever you're doing, Farber. We're leaving this city first thing in the morning. Before they have the chance to lock it down completely."

Pheros nodded to Cervantes. "I agree. We'll leave as soon as we can tomorrow, but for now we need to lie low. We might as well get some sleep, though it'll only be a few hours before the sun comes up since it's so damned late."

"We're leaving immediately tomorrow?" Chrom asked nervously.

"It's not safe to stay here when the Grimleal locks down the city. Three soldiers died in that fight, Chrom, and we injured two Enforcers. They'll want to find who did it. Unless you want to stay in this basement for the next two months, we need to move now."

"What… what about Paul?"

Pheros had to think to even remember him. "The teenager from the farm?"

"He's the son of a man I fought beside, and he lost his family because we brought a war to his homestead. I'm not going to forget him! I've yet to see proof that you people have even taken care of him!"

"And what about Minerva?!" Ophelia said defiantly as she stepped beside her great uncle. "And my tomes?! My grandfather gave those to me before he died, and I'm not going to lose them because of you!"

Pheros gritted her teeth. It was clear none of this mattered to her, but she cared to make sure Chrom wasn't upset. "Farber… you weren't involved in what we just got away from. There's no chance the Grimleal will recognize your face. You… might have to stay here. Take care of Paul and Ophelia's wyvern, and try to acquire Chrom and Ophelia's weapons after we leave."

Farber shrugged. "Alright. I wasn't looking forward to the trip anyways. How can I secure the weapons without Chrom and Ophelia's traveling papers though?"

"Talk to our Red Syndicate friends. They might be able to set something up."

Gaius seemed to chuckle. Ophelia turned to him. "Hmm?"

"Huh? Oh, I didn't say anything."

Chrom looked over the Geirskögul as he turned to Gaius. "You retrieved this for me?"

Gaius shrugged. "You need a weapon. I know you don't think you deserve it, but it's true."

"Well… thank you, and not just for the weapon. Thank you for believing in me."

Gaius placed his hand on Chrom's shoulder, but he didn't smile back. "I know better than to think you don't still hate yourself. Still, you did good today. You saved Blondie and the Able Sierra." Gaius glared at Pheros and Cervantes. "You people should be thanking him!"

"He caused the problem in the first place!" Cervantes countered.

Chrom remembered Malc and how he'd threatened Chrom when they first met. "I can't take all the credit. Malc was there. He shot two of the Grimleal soldiers dead. Did you see that?"

"No. Malc?"

"The Red Syndicate man with the concealed gun. Why would he help us? How did he find us?"

"I don't know anything about that. Must have been a coincidence. Good thing he had a double barreled gun, huh?"

"I didn't say that. That's true… but I thought you said you didn't see him."

"Err…"

"Come to think of it, how did you find us?"

Gaius tensed up. "What are you trying to say?! I looked all over the city for you. That's how I found you. Are you working with the tax collection service? What's with all the questions?!"

"Gaius, I just wanted to know."

Gaius calmed down. "I'm sorry. I just need something sweet is all. It's been a long day."

"What we need is to go to bed." Pheros chimed in. "We have enough beds for everyone. We also have a bathtub you can use, Chrom. You shouldn't try to go through the Grimleal border checkpoints smelling like alcohol. Those clothes are also torn up. You need new ones."

Chrom looked over to a side room by the kitchen. Sure enough, there was a small bathtub wedged in there. It didn't look appealing at all. "Great…"

The safehouse's hidden bathroom, which was quite literally just that, featured a small wooden tub lined with a cloth to prevent splinters. Farber was tasked by Pheros with retrieving the water, and four times he ventured into the city to fetch buckets from the city wells. Though the Pacification Squads, now swarming the city streets like ants might when their nest was damaged, had no reason to stop Farber, it still looked rather suspicious that he ferried no less than four heavy buckets of water back to a closed strip club. The veteran officer had to take different paths to four different wells, and he was rather annoyed at his task by the time he returned with the fourth two handed barrel. Chrom had noticed that Pheros seemed to have some seniority over her Valmese comrades, but that didn't mean the officers in question had any love for her commands. Farber was done for the day after filling up the tub, and he was rather callous in using his magic to heat up the water. It was almost boiling when he was done, and Chrom had to wait some time before it was safe to get in. At this point everyone else had long since gone to bed, and Chrom very much wanted to retire himself, but he did want to get rid of the stench that followed him around now.

It said a lot about the way Chrom lived now that a short bath in a cramped tub in the corner of a dark basement was the most relaxing part of his day. Chrom enjoyed the water until it finally went cold, and he realized just how badly torn up his clothes were as he got out. Deciding to sleep in his smallclothes, Chrom crawled into the bed he was given only to find himself lying awake for well over an hour. As exhausting as the day had been, his mind refused to wind down. Sleep just wouldn't come, and Chrom eventually gave up. Figuring that the sun would be up in a few hours anyways, Chrom made himself a cup of coffee and took to simply sitting at the table in the center of the safehouse. He blanked out and completely lost track of time, and he wasn't sure how long it had been when Pheros stumbled into the room.

It was only after Chrom noticed Pheros that he remembered he was half naked, and Pheros' own attire didn't help the situation. Chrom's attention would have been drawn for only a second had Farber or Cervantes wandered in, but his more atavistic feelings caused him to unintentionally gaze at Pheros as she made her way to the table, wearing only a nightgown. It wasn't that her attire was immodest. It was more that Chrom had never seen her wear anything besides her red uniform. He was reminded that Pheros was a woman, and not just a tireless soldier.

For her part, Pheros didn't seem to notice Chrom. She didn't even seem awake as she accidentally bumped into the table while venturing to the kitchen. It was only then that she noticed Chrom sitting there. Chrom couldn't help but blush, but Pheros just yawned. "Oh, Chrom. What are you doing up?"

"S-Sorry! I forgot I wasn't wearing much."

Pheros rolled her eyes. "Oh please. The embarrassment of nudity is a privilege of the sheltered. I've been a soldier for a long time. I've seen plenty of men and women naked, and I mean full on naked."

"Err… alright."

"Mmm. Coffee, coffee, coffee." Pheros proceeded to make herself a cup, and Chrom's embarrassment slowly faded. In its place was a warm feeling. He realized he enjoyed spending time with Pheros, though he also remembered Ophelia's warning. "Anyways, what are you doing up?"

"I can't sleep. What about you?"

"I'm getting to be an old woman. I wake up in the middle of the night. So sue me." Pheros lit a candle on the table as she sat down, looking to Chrom as she did so. "Well look at that. You have your smallclothes on. You got all worked up over nothing."

"How old are you?"

"Fifty six. I honestly can't believe it's been over half my life since I served Walhart."

Chrom smiled. "You look younger than that."

"Flattery doesn't work on me… but thank you. I'd say it's healthy living, but it's really not. I just look young compared to you. Everyone does."

"You're telling me. Pheros… do I remind you of Jagen?"

"Hmm?"

"Never mind." Pheros took the time to enjoy her coffee, and Chrom found the silence wasn't awkward at all. Just being around Pheros was soothing to him, and he felt stress he didn't even realize he had melting away. "So… are you going back to bed?"

"I think I'll just get up for the day. Do some paperwork before we leave. I won't bother you, will I?"

"Not at all. Actually…" Chrom gave a sheepish smile. "I was wondering if we could talk?"

"About what? Our plans for when we leave the city?"

"Maybe. We could talk about anything really."

"How about what the hell you did earlier?"

"Oh."

Pheros spoke softly. "I'm not mad at you, Chrom."

"You're not?"

"Well… maybe a little… but I don't want you to get any worse. Chrom, you're stuck in this cycle of self loathing. You're so used to hating yourself that you don't want to accept the praise you get from other people. When people criticize you or blame you for something, you readily accept it, and it only furthers the cycle. Chrom… I hated you because I thought you were self righteous and one dimensional, but you're a very thoughtful and introspective man. I wish you felt better about yourself. I really do."

"I don't agree with you, Pheros. I deserve the hatred you had for me. I deserve to suffer. But… Ophelia is innocent. I need to be strong for her, and I do want to fight the Grimleal. I swore to keep fighting after Cordelia died, but-"

"So you want to be there for your grandniece, and you do want to fight the Grimleal, but you don't think yourself a hero?"

"I suppose."

"Well… Archangel can help you work it out."

"To be honest, Pheros, talking to you has really helped. I'm glad I have you by my side now."

Pheros brought her very light blue eyes to Chrom's own. Chrom smiled, but Pheros seemed to be struggling with guilt herself. "I can't believe this. Here we are speaking like we're allies." Pheros gently ran her finger along the scar she cut into Chrom's birthmark, and he shivered at the touch. "But it wasn't that long ago that I did this to you."

"I don't care about that anymore, Pheros."

"You don't? Chrom… you deserve honesty from me. I have grown to care about you, and I do want you to realize that you can still help the world, but at the end of the day, I'm just following orders. I believe that Archangel can help you, but I was ordered to bring you to her. Everything I do for you is part of that order. You should be wary of me."

"But I'm not. I trust you."

"That trusting nature of yours isn't a strength."

"And yet I feel happier for having you in my life."

Pheros didn't know how to respond to that at first, and she eventually laughed. "S-Shut up." She said, almost in a playful tone.

"But it's true. You… you really listened when I told you about those visions I've been having. It made me feel closer to you. You didn't have to listen to me… but you did. Besides… when we fought all those years ago… did I scar you?"

Pheros pressed her hand against her nightgown and ran her fingers down her chest, implying that there was a scar on her abdomen. "Of course. Sometimes… at night… I can still feel the Falchion going through me. It's ironic. As a priestess I worshipped Naga and the champions that fought for humanity against the degenerating dragons. When I became a soldier, a descendant of those heroes used a divine blade of Naga to strike me down. Yet here we are. Talking like we're allies."

"We've both scarred each other, Pheros."

"See, right there. That's what I'm talking about. I attacked you out of anger and pettiness, but you were justified in fighting me. You were just trying to protect your people. We're not equal. I wronged you, and you aren't justified in thinking that what we did to each other is the same. You want to believe that you wronged me, but you didn't. I hated you for destroying Walhart's dream, but not for fighting against me. You want so badly to continue that cycle of self loathing."

"I'm not mad at you for what happened, Pheros."

"Do you know why? Is it because you hate yourself so much that you actually think you deserve what happened?"

Chrom just looked back into her eyes and smiled wider. "It's because you're my friend, and I forgive you."

Pheros froze. "We're friends?"

"Aren't we?"

"I've never had friends, Chrom. I've devoted my entire life to my career. I've had comrades in arms, but not friends."

"Well… I feel close to you, Pheros. For everything you did to me, I'm glad you're by my side now."

Pheros just sat there, and Chrom didn't know what she was thinking. For a moment it looked like she was going to return a smile of her own, but she seemed to fight it. Chrom and Pheros mutually looked down to see that at some point, without either of them realizing it, Chrom had taken Pheros' hand in his own. Pheros let out a nervous exhale as she slowly withdrew her hand, grabbing her coffee cup as an excuse to justify it. "M-Maybe we should talk about something else."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Maybe I should get started on that paperwork." Pheros actually seemed to blush. It was rare that Chrom saw anything but her normal stoic look. "And m-maybe we should get you some more clothes."

Pheros lead Chrom up to business floor and had him pick out clothing from the stripper's wardrobes. If it even needed to be said, Chrom couldn't find anything he even remotely wanted to wear. "You've got to be kidding."

"This is an adult business, Chrom, so we have outfits for adult businesses. What's the matter?" Pheros smirked as she held up a perverse take on a Grimleal soldier's uniform. "You don't think you'd look good in this?"

"That's wrong on so many different levels."

Pheros shrugged as she tossed it to him. "Just put on different outfits."

Chrom combined different outfits until he was covered up. The result was a chaotic hodgepodge of different colors and themes, but at least he could go outside now. He noticed Pheros staring at his clothing. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you have another comment."

"So this is what's become of the Exalt."

"Hilarious." Chrom said dryly. Pheros shook her head.

"I didn't mean to insult you. I was just thinking about our situation. Remember when I said how strange it was that we're allies now? It's also certainly strange the Exalt of Ylisse has to live like this."

"You're not insulting me?" Chrom responded in the same tone.

"Chrom… how do I phrase this… a consequence of the globalization the Grimleal has brought to the world is that a lot of people have come to this continent from foreign lands, and they brought their foreign languages with them. Languages don't just have different versions of the same words. Some languages have words that express ideas other languages need entire sentences for. Learning a new language can literally change the way you think. The way you comprehend ideas. Anyways, I've had to learn a little of these languages in order to work with different people in the various cities of the Grimleal, and I remember a word from one of these languages. It's 'déclassé'. Do you know what that means?"

"Something our language can't express?"

"Not quite, but it's still an interesting word. It means to have fallen in social class and status. You can think of it as literally being de-classed. Chrom, I think this word applies to you very well."

"Are you sure this isn't an insult?"

"It's not just you, Chrom. Ophelia would have been a princess in a more peaceful time, but now she fights to survive. Gaius was always a thief, but he was recognized as a hero in the Shepherds. Now he had to work as an assassin. It also applies to Cervantes, Farber, and I. We used to be high ranking officials in the Valmese Empire, but now we're in an insurgency. Déclassé applies to all of us, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. We've all been given a chance to build a new world, Chrom." Pheros heard the rest of the group moving downstairs. "I know you think they've broken you, but it doesn't have to be that way. This is a chance to start over. Don't think of yourself as a broken man, but as a blank slate."

"Pheros…" Chrom slowly smiled. "Thank you."

"You're only accepting that because it isn't a simple compliment, but it's a start. I told you the Arch Surg can help you find meaning." Pheros returned a smile as the noises below grew louder. "It sounds like our allies are up. We should get going."

Pheros and Cervantes dressed themselves and rushed Ophelia and Gaius out of the safehouse, leaving Farber behind. Chrom had been awake the whole time and even he found himself being hurried out. The group moved through the streets of The Saltworks at a brisk pace, but they didn't go back to the southern gate. Pheros instead lead them through the center of the eastern district, avoiding the main streets. The group avoided many of the Pacification Unit patrols this way, but they were forced to weave through crowded alleys.

The Saltworks was like nothing Chrom had ever seen. Chrom hadn't really noticed much of the city while forcing his way through the city's main streets, but now the The Saltworks itself came to life in front of him. Street vendors set up shop along the sides of the alleys, and they peddled all kinds of things to Chrom and the others as they passed by. None of them took rejection personally. They simply turned to the people behind Chrom and tried again. The Grimleal's architecture was simple and brutalist, and yet that gave the city a unique feel from the older stone cities that had been standing for centuries. Chrom could see entire families squeezing into tenements. Parents hung their laundry from unbelievably small spaces, and children played various games along the steps, even running through the crowds with little thought for how annoying they were to adults. There were far more dark skinned people than Chrom was used to in the rather homogenous Ylissean continent, and hair and fashion styles beyond anything he could fathom could be seen everywhere. Chrom could hear at least sixteen different languages being spoken in just four city blocks. When street vendors weren't selling trinkets and souvenirs, they sold food. Many were immigrants, and they brought the cooking traditions of their homelands with them. Chrom couldn't recognize the majority of the food being made, but it certainly smelled wonderful. He couldn't help but find it exciting. It was alien, exhilarating, and mesmerizing all at once. As horrible as Grima was, and as much as Chrom hated Gangrel and Aversa, not everything the Grimleal had built was for the worse. Not all of the changes that had been brought to the world were harmful. "I have to say, this city is certainly interesting. I can't believe the Grimleal built something like this in just thirty years. How was this place founded?"

Pheros answered without stopping. "The salt mine this city was built around existed in Basilio and Flavia's time, but it was expanded significantly after it was purchased by a Grimleal joint stock corporation called Tridaris Mining and Manufacturing. They brought in a lot more miners, and they decided they'd make more money if they got the miners to stay here permanently. The miners didn't want to live in the middle of nowhere, so Tridaris had merchants set up nearby to cater to them. Pretty soon other corporations began coming here to get in on the profits. The miners grew, the merchants grew, the other corporations grew, and all of those groups had families they brought with them. The Saltworks was recognized as a city fifteen years ago, though some people have been living here for almost thirty years. It's now one of the largest cities in Western Ferox, rivaled only by The Boneworks, The Ironworks, and Port Ferox."

Ophelia frowned. "The Grimleal aren't very original with names are they?"

"That they are not."

Chrom looked around at the citizens of The Saltworks. "This place is wondrous."

Pheros turned to glare at him, though she still didn't stop moving. "You sound like you're impressed."

"I just can't believe they built a city larger than Ylisstol in the middle of nowhere like this. So many different cultures and languages. This is… amazing. Pheros, I know we have to stop Grima, but not everything the Grimleal has done is wrong."

"Remember, Chrom, these people are the enemy."

"What?!" Chrom looked down as a young girl wedged herself between his legs. Several other children followed her a few seconds later, and Chrom moved to the side to avoid them. "These people are innocent."

"There are no innocents in war. These people have parents, siblings, and children that serve in the Grimleal military. They pay taxes that go to the Grimleal government. They give gold to the Grimleal corporations. They are our enemy right now, but they can be saved."

"I can't believe that! These people have done nothing wrong."

"You're right, Chrom. Some things are better now, but the Grimleal can't be allowed to force humanity to the knee until Grima's Blight inevitably starves us to death. The Arch Surg will create a new society while allowing humanity to control its own destiny."

Gaius walked closer to Chrom. He spoke softly, though he really didn't care if Pheros actually heard him. "These Arch Surg types are impossible. Where does the woman begin, and where does the rhetoric end? Before the Arch Surg she was obsessed with Walhart, and before that she was preaching about Naga as a priestess. It's like she was spawned into existence just to be a mindless follower. If only we could attach something to her mouth to harness all that Pegasus dung. Infinite energy right there."

Pheros glared backwards, and Chrom shook his head. "Gaius…"

Cervantes and Pheros stopped by a small warehouse and gestured for the group to go inside. "This is it." Pheros motioned to the building. "This is how we'll leave the city. Did you know there was a Grimleal military parade yesterday?"

Chrom scowled as he remembered people cheering on the soldiers. "I did."

"Well it's supposed to be followed by a civilian parade today. We can't risk going through the city gates again. The Grimleal could have had portraits made from the eyewitness accounts of the Enforcers, and they might have those portraits in the security checkpoints. We're finished if they discover who you are, Chrom and Ophelia."

"So what's in here?" Ophelia wondered.

"A Red Syndicate plan for emergency situations. I can't promise it'll work, but I think it's the safest way out of the city. Inside this warehouse are costumes. We can blend in with the actors for the parade. We'll just find a group of them and follow them outside of a side gate. Guards won't suspect a thing. Then, while the parade is massing outside of the city, we slip back to the village outside of the southern gate and meet up with Algol."

Ophelia and Chrom both looked at each other. "You've got to be kidding me." Pheros shook her head at Chrom.

"Trust me. We wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't the safest way."

To everyone's chagrin, the costumes the Red Syndicate had provided for this eventuality were all Winter Festival themed. Though they would work for blending in with a parade, they would also cause the group to stand out. It was only October after all. Ophelia didn't have to change since her colorful outfit would work on its own, but Chrom and Gaius were made to adopt disguises. Gaius just put on a red shirt and pants, but Chrom was willing to commit to the Winter Festival theme. Embarrassing as it was, it still beat the stripper attire he had mashed together. Chrom ended up wearing a red tunic with golden trimming and buttons modeled after stars. A green ribbon also went across the top of his chest. He also wore brown pants and boots, and a red and white cape with a fluffy lining came down from his shoulders. His tunic notably had a green colored inside. To complete the outfit, Chrom was made to wear a red and white Winter Festival hat, and he carried a Sack o' Gifts. It was quite possibly the most ridiculous thing Chrom had ever worn in his life. The impromptu stripper outfit he'd traded for it was an incoherent mess, but at least it wasn't this breathtakingly, arse-grabbingly silly. Gaius fought the urge to break out laughing, and Ophelia giggled.

"Well, Chrom." She said while playfully elbowing him. "I guess you really are a gifted leader. Get it?"

"Did… did you just make a joke?"

"It's just… it sounded like something Henry would say if he were here."

Chrom looked over to Pheros and Cervantes. Pheros just put on a red dress with some green ribbons, though she kept her armor plating, but Cervantes also went all out with the Winter Festival theme. He put on a fluffy red and white suit complete with a red and white hat, black boots, a large black belt, and red mittens. He held the Geirskögul like a walking stick, disguising it by covering it with ribbons and bows. He looked as ridiculous as Chrom, but he also seemed to have fun with it. "Ho, ho, ho! Do I sell this look or what?"

Gaius shook his head, but he couldn't help but smile. "By gods. You were made for that role."

Cervantes nodded as he stroked his long, stark white beard. "Hell, I'm the one who makes this believable."

"I'm surrounded by children." Pheros groaned as she struggled with her dress. "Come on. We shouldn't be far from the side gate the actors will use to prepare for the parade. We just need to find a group of them to blend in with."

And so the Arch Surg officers put the plan into motion. Though the group caught a lot of side glances and jeers as they walked down the street, they eventually did manage to blend in with a crowd of performers preparing for the civilian parade. The actors certainly found their attire odd, but fortunately the nearby Grimleal Pacification Units didn't seem to care at all. Chrom breathed a sigh of relief. It actually seemed like the plan was going to work, at least until a crowd of children suddenly appeared to mob Cervantes. "It's the jolly old Spirit of Winter!" They would chant as they jumped up and down in excitement around Cervantes. The elderly general tried to look to the other performers for help, but they only stepped back.

"W-what the?!"

A little girl clinged to Cervantes' leg. "Yay! The Winter Festival is early this year! Did you bring presents, Spirit of Winter?!"

Cervantes looked to Pheros. She put on a very fake smile for the kids, but her tone made her thoughts on Cervantes' choice of outfit clear. "You realize you're dressed as the Spirit of Winter, right, Cervantes? You know, the figure from legend who gives out gifts to all the good little boys and girls? You're obviously not going to be able to get past children without drawing attention." Pheros looked over to see some Pacification Units looking at the commotion. "Do something. You're going to ruin our cover."

"Uh-" Cervantes looked to the children. "Ho, ho, ho! I suppose you boys and girls want presents?"

"YEAH!" They all shrieked.

"Ho, ho, ho! Well… I don't have any. Sorry, children. You'll just have to wait for winter."

The little girl frowned. "But you're the Spirit of Winter? You have to have presents!"

"Well… err… I do. Of course I do. It's just… you don't get any. You've all been naughty this year! Ho, ho, ho! Better luck next year!"

The children all looked as if they'd been punched in the gut, and some began to sniffle. Pheros glared at Cervantes. "I think a bunch of crying children will attract a lot of attention!"

"Err…" Cervantes glanced over to Chrom and his Sack o' Gifts. "Just kidding! Of course you all get presents. Just get them from my helper over there. Ho, ho, ho! Merry… Autumn, everyone!"

The children perked up and mobbed Chrom instead. The Exalt quickly stepped back and put the other performers behind him, preventing the children from surrounding him, but they still jumped up and down in excitement in front of him. "W-what?!"

The little girl wrapped herself around Chrom's leg, and she didn't react to his attempts to gently shake her off. "Can we have our presents now, mister?"

Chrom thought about giving the children the presents in his bag, but they were probably fake, and the children would certainly attract attention if they all started crying after opening empty boxes. More than that, Chrom didn't want to do that to them. "Well… have you all been good little boys and girls?"

The little girl thought about it. "I don't know. You tell us."

"We've all been good, right?" Another girl asked.

"I helped my parents with chores all year. I should get presents!" Another boy said.

Chrom shook his head as he looked over to the Pacification Units that were staring at him. "No one can tell you if you've been good. You have to decide for yourself."

"Just tell me if I get presents!" The little girl on his leg whined. Chrom thought back to the children that cheered on Captain Grimleal during the military parade. He thought of all the children that knew nothing but the Grimleal. Hell, there were a lot of adults now that had been born after the Grimleal took over the world. They never knew anything else. Chrom became very serious, and his voice was determined as he spoke to the children.

"No one can tell you if you're good. When I was a young man, I thought myself a hero. I see now that I was just a teenager living out a power fantasy. I surrounded myself with my friends. I didn't listen to anyone else. I went where I wanted. I did what I wanted. Then… a mad man took my elder sister from me. I was filled with rage, hatred, and vengeance, and it would have consumed me were it not for those friends. They gave me guidance and believed in me. They did not preach answers or tell me what to do. They taught me to look past my instincts. Thanks to them, I defeated the mad man, and I continued to depend on them until they too were taken from me. Now I see that everyone has to figure out for themselves what righteousness is. There are many people that will try to take away your freedom, and many of you will gladly give it in exchange for security, but you all have free will. You have to decide for yourselves what is right. No one can give you the answers. Not the Spirit of Winter. Not Captain Grimleal. Not Gangrel, or Aversa, or the Fell Dragon. No government can give you the answers. No god. No book. No hero. No man or woman. Do not allow the Grimleal to tell you how things should be. Don't follow them… or me… or anyone else. You have to decide for yourself what is right." The children just blankly stared at Chrom, and eventually they began to back away. Chrom noticed that the Pacification Units had lost interest, and he nodded to Pheros. "Alright. I think this is our chance."

Gaius stepped forward. "Well. That was… something." Gaius looked saddened as he got closer to Chrom, and Chrom knew what was happening.

"This is it, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Gaius-"

"Don't bother, Blue. We both know we can't change each other's minds. I just wanted to say goodbye before you left." Gaius' voice choked up. He tried his best to seem apathetic and distant, but Chrom could see how pained he was. "Let's not make this take any longer than it has to. Goodbye, Chrom."

Ophelia looked back and forth between the two. "You're leaving?! How dare you?! Chrom needs your help, and you're just going to abandon him?!"

"Ophelia!" Chrom shot. Ophelia was genuinely surprised, and as she looked between the two men, she realized they had no anger towards each other. Gaius nodded and began to walk away, but Ophelia's words did get to Chrom. She gave him a confused look, and she frowned when he finally met her gaze.

"You're not going to say anything else?"

Chrom sighed. "Gaius! Wait!" For a moment Gaius looked annoyed as he turned back, but he returned a more sorrowful look when he realized Chrom wasn't going to argue. Chrom began to slowly step forward. The two men embraced when he finally reached Gaius, and they held each other for a few seconds before ending their hug with an affectionate pat on the back. "Good luck, Gaius." Chrom said in a shaky tone. Gaius gave his old friend one last smile, and it cheered Chrom up somewhat.

"You too, Blue. You too. Take care of Blondie, huh?"

"Of course."

Gaius patted Chrom on the shoulder, and the two shared one last moment before he turned to leave. Chrom forced himself to turn back to the others, and after a long, deep breath, he nodded to Pheros and Cervantes. "Alright. I'm ready."

Ophelia could only stare at her great uncle, somewhat stunned at the emotion he'd displayed, but also that the two could part ways because of a disagreement without any animosity. Even Pheros looked moved. "I'm sorry, Chrom. It means a lot that you're this dedicated to meeting Archangel."

"Let's just get out of here."

Hours after leaving Chrom, Gaius made his way to an outdoor table of a bar in the city's western district. A man in a distinctive salmon colored suit sat by himself, and he smiled as Gaius approached. Despite being hostile to the man before, Gaius smiled back. "Well hello there, stranger. I haven't seen you since you pretended not to know me back at Throb."

"Roy-Earle." Gaius sat beside him. "Chrom has left the city. It's time to begin our operations."

"Ease off the reins there, babydoll. What's the rush?" Roy-Earle took a deep breath of his cigar as he offered his glass to Gaius. "Brandy?"

"No thanks. I don't really like strong alcohol." Gaius' hands were filled with a metal flask and a chopped stock of sugarcane he had purchased at a market. He offered Roy-Earle the flask. "Want some of mine?"

"Uh… heh, what is it?"

"Why don't you find out?"

Roy-Earle took a quick sip, and he immediately recoiled. "Gods! That's so sweet! I can't even taste the alcohol."

"I didn't say it was alcoholic. It's sugarcane juice."

"Excuse me?"

"They have machines that squeeze the liquid right out of sugarcane. You can drink it as a beverage. Now I can wash down my sugar with more sugar!" Gaius chewed on his sugarcane, sucking out the sweet parts of the plant before spitting out the fiber. He then took back his flask and drank yet more sugar. "Ah, nothing like sugar right from the stalk."

Roy-Earle just stared at him. "You know, everyday you should thank Naga you still have any teeth left."

"Alright, let's get back to business. Where are our associates?"

Roy-Earle raised his glass and swirled his brandy around before drinking the rest. "Malcy-boy. Boss man's calling you!"

Gaius was startled as a fist slammed into the table beside him, and he looked over to see Malc leaning into it. "I can hear just fucking fine." Malc brought his brown eyes to Gaius, but the thief just smiled in response. "By the way, you're welcome for saving Chrom's life! Grimmies almost shot him in the back."

"You want a medal just for doing your job, Malcy-boy?"

"Don't call me boy!"

"Oh don't take it so personally. Everyone's a boy to him and I." A woman's voice said. "We've been in this game a lot longer than you two."

The three men turned to see a middle aged woman with red eyes and red hair kept in a ponytail. Gaius smiled wider and raised his arms. "If it isn't Anna! My favorite merchant!"

Anna rested her index finger on her chin, the trademark pose of her family. Though the Anna that had joined the Shepherds died when they fell, she was hardly the only red headed, money loving merchant. This was the Anna that had met the Shepherds earlier, but didn't join them. She smiled at Gaius, but he could tell there was a silent fury behind her eyes. "So this Chrom. He's gone, right?"

Gaius nodded. "Left the city. You won't run into him."

"He better not run into me, for his sake."

"Still angry with him?"

"He got my sister killed, hon. How can I get over that?"

Gaius didn't feel that way about Chrom anymore, but for thirty years he'd hated him. He knew exactly how Anna felt. "I can't say I blame you. Anyways, now that the gang's all here, it's time to get to work."

"You have another batshit crazy scheme to make money?" Malc growled.

"We don't pay you to think, Malc, so why don't you just sit down and listen?"

Malc did take a seat at the table, but he continued to glare at Gaius. "There's more to life than money, you know."

"Don't tell me how to do my job, boy. I built the Red Syndicate with my own hands. What the hell have you ever built?!"

Anna smiled to Malc. "Money is everything, love. Money say jump, you say how high."

"Besides, this is just a normal supply order from the Arch Surg. Shouldn't be that hard."

Malc gritted his teeth. "You know, one day I'll have an enterprise of my own. I won't always be a hired gun. I'll do my own work!"

"Heh, you're a funny guy, Malc."

"What do you mean I'm funny?"

Gaius just shrugged. "You know, you're funny."

"What do you mean, you mean the way I talk? What?"

Gaius' smiled faded, and Anna frowned. "Malc. Calm down."

Roy-Earle nodded towards the table. "Come on, Malc. Let it go."

"No, no. He's a big boy. He knows what he said."

Gaius nervously leaned away from Malc. "I don't know. You're just funny."

"You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up maybe, but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?"

"Just… you know. How you say things. You're funny. That's all."

"No I don't know. What's so funny about me? Huh? HOW THE FUCK AM I FUNNY?!"

Gaius tensed up as Malc leered over him. Anna and Roy-Earle became silent, fearing the worst, but Gaius suddenly started to laugh as he playfully shoved Malc back. "Man, get the hell out of here!"

Anna and Roy-Earle chuckled, and Malc eventually smiled back. "Hey, Malc!" Roy-Earle laughed. "You really are a funny guy!" Malc drew his sawn off firearm and stuck it in Roy-Earle's face, but this only made the two men laugh harder. Gaius eventually calmed down, and he raised his arm to quiet down the rest of the Red Syndicate.

"Alright, alright. Enough of that crap." He said, still smiling. "We have money to make." Gaius pulled out the paperwork Pheros, Cervantes, and Farber had been working on the previous day. They obviously didn't know that Gaius himself would be receiving the papers. They had simply left the supply order at a secure pickup site, and Gaius had taken it while ambling through the city after Chrom left. "Able Sierra want a supply shipment from us. Anna, you're going to give it to them."

"And what is it that they want?"

"Guns. Lots of guns. They also filled out one of their special orders. Remember, Anna, Keith hates these special orders."

"Keith? The boy who likes Lucina a little too much?"

"Yeah. If he catches you with a special order he'll burn your carriage, and he won't reimburse you. Make sure another Arch Surg officer takes the shipment. Think you can handle this?"

Anna winked at Gaius while smiling. "Are you kidding? This is easy. I don't even have to make anything. I just source product and sell it to someone else at a higher price. It's a merchant's paradise."

Gaius nodded and turned to Malc. "You don't have anything to do. Go with Anna. Product the product."

Anna chuckled. "I can take care of myself, hon."

"That's what your sister thought."

At the mention of her, Anna's soft features twisted into a scowl, but Gaius simply turned to Roy-Earle. "I have a special task for you." He pulled out the cylinder and hammer he'd taken off of Wolcroft's New Model Ranger and gave them to Roy-Earle. "These are part of a new Grimleal firearm. A revolver with a mechanically indexing cylinder. I need you to try and find a gunsmith that can reverse engineer this firing mechanism. I want to be able to mass produce these guns."

Roy-Earle's eyes widened, and he gave a nervous laugh. "Heh, look, if the Grimleal finds out I don't pay taxes on the alcohol I sell in my establishments, they'll send me to a comfy, minimum security prison. If they catch me with stolen military grade technology, they'll send me to Imperial, maximum security, pound you in the rear prison!"

Gaius put his hand on Roy-Earle's shoulder. "Look, you're the best man I have for this. If we can reverse engineer these firearms, then the Red Syndicate will be able to mass produce weapons on par with what Grimleal special forces are given. Think of what we could do with that kind of firepower. I'll give you all the money you need. Can you do it?"

Roy-Earle took a long hit from his cigar. "Alright, alright."

Gaius nodded and pounded his hand on the table. "We all have our jobs, now move if you want to get paid. Dismissed. All of you."

Anna and Malc got up and left, but Roy-Earle took his time. "Gaius, what are you doing with that good looking friend of yours?"

"You let me worry about the Exalt."

"Look, I'm pretty good at reading men, and this one strikes me as… what's a good word… moral. Chrom's not going to be happy when he finds out what you really are, and he isn't going to want to be brought into our fold."

"Just drop it, Roy-Earle."

"I can tell you really care about him, but you're not thinking. Chrom thinks he's leading you. He thinks you're part of his story. When he lead the Shepherds, he was used to everything being about him. He commanded everyone. No one did anything independently of him. None of the Shepherds went out and created global criminal syndicates. When he finds out exactly what you've done over the past thirty years, he'll fear you. You won't be his friend anymore."

"Look, I can mold Chrom. I can make him see things our way. I just need time." Gaius paused. "Wait. What did you call me?"

"Gaius? Ain't that what Chrom called you?"

Gaius smiled, but he also approached Roy-Earle in a threatening manner. "Well, we all have birth names. Chrom calls me that because he doesn't know any better, but you will call me by my real name. Got it?"

"Of course… Nero."