A/N: I made this one shot for fun. Okay, maybe I shouldn't say for fun since it's supposed to be a tragic one. o.O This does not mean I'm taking a hiatus on my other fanfic, "Say You Love Me," I just felt the tremendous inspiration to write this. "Even in Death" by Evanescence is my true inspiration for this one. Hopefully it comes off sad instead of cheesy. Please enjoy.
Edited because Arauru found some hilarious typos. xD
"Please answer me, Marth," a red-headed teenager knelt on the ground beside the blue-haired prince. Several people had discovered the fallen prince lying unconcious in the training room. Desparate, Roy shook the speechless prince vigorously, hoping he would reveal his blue eyes as he always did.
Beside him were Peach, Mewtwo, Luigi, Link, Mario, and Samus. Knowing it was his duty, Dr. Mario squeezed between the crowd to reach the cold prince. His face was stern and grave. The doctor knew this was serious. He pressed his plump fingers against the prince's neck for vital signs. No pulse.
Answers were revealed when Dr. Mario removed the armor plate. Dried blood stained his chest as the others crowding around him groaned in dismay. They knew he was a goner. The wound looked as if something burnt it so badly that it dug into his heart, causing it to explode into shredded gobs.
Tears sprung from Peach's eyes. She had not known Marth much, but he was someone she knew, and she was very sensitive when it came to tragedy. Mario's large hand tightened around Peach's hand for comfort. Samus gulped, trying to hide back the tears. She was tough, but she had not been prepared for this.
"Doctor Mario, is it possible for me to revive him?" Mewtwo asked coolly. He had no emotional attachment to humans, but insisted on helping since he felt it was necessary.
"No," Dr. Mario shook his head solemnly, "he's-ah long gone-ah," their eyes fell to the limp body of the prince's.
"These wounds do not appear as a suicide," Mewtwo inputted, looking at the gross-looking wound. Dr. Mario unsheated Marth's sword. To their horror, the sword had not been drenched with blood.
Link's face turned pale. His mind drifted to what his dear friend Zelda would have thought. Marth and Zelda had been dating for awhile, and even engaged to him a few months ago. If she discovered his corpse, how would she react? Fearful, Link backed a few steps away with a horrified look on his face.
"Zelda," he managed to stutter. The others looked at him.
"If I'm this depressed, how is Zelda going to take it?" Peach asked through her sniffles.
"We can't tell her this," Link shook his head, trying to rid the image of Zelda's heartbroken expression. He loved Zelda as his friend, and he couldn't bear to see her in pain.
"Hiding the truth is futile," Mewtwo remarked coldly.
"But it'll hurt her," Roy pointed out, trying hard to be strong though it was obvious he was close to tears. Marth was his best friend. They befriended each other right in the beginning of the tournament.
"She'll learn eventually," Mewtwo argued. They sometimes wondered how someone could be so cold at this certain time. But Samus took a stand and straightened her back boldly.
"Mewtwo is right," Samus closed her eyes, though no one could see through her helmet. Marth was a good friend of hers, too, and she felt that they needed to be strong about this ordeal. That was when Zelda entered.
"Hey guys, uhh, what's up?" Zelda meekly smiled. The others turned to her, their skin a pale complexion. Innocently, the princess cocked her head to the side. "Something wrong?" she asked, to only recieve the parting of the crowd. In the center revealed Marth sprawled onto the floor.
"M-Marth?" A hand hovered over her mouth to hide her gasp. Her sapphire eyes brimmed with tears. The moment he saw her eyes glisten, Link wanted to run away from the sight of her pain, but his legs felt heavy. He felt like he was stuck. The others felt helpless and watched as the princess stepped to where he lay.
"I'm really sorry, Zellie," Peach piped, holding out a clean handkerchief. The elf refused it and backed away.
"I-It can't be... He's not dead," she violently shook her head in denail.
"You have to get used to it, Zelda," Mewtwo spoke a little too harsh, "he's gone," upset, the princess fled the scene, leaving the others feeling even worse.
"Someone had murdered him," Mario pointed out, destroying the silence lingering in the atmosphere.
"But who?" Luigi asked, who was quiet most of the time.
"We're going to find out who," Roy stood up with an intense look in his eyes, "no one kills my best friend and gets away with it!" he turned so sharply as he left the scene.
"Poor Roy, he has it just as rough, too," Peach frowned then looked at the body. "We should prepare a funeral for him." Knowing it was best courtesy, they nodded, and Samus cradled his body in her arms.
"We shouldn't leave his body like this," Samus commented and the rest left the room.
Zelda was running through the hallway, tears blurring her vision. A couple of people glanced at the crying princess, assuming she had heard the news of Marth's death already. With courage, Young Link, who was traumatized by the sorrow in Zelda's appearance, stopped her.
"Zelda, please, are you alright?" Knowing she wasn't, he still asked her. Soon a couple more people, Mr. Game & Watch and Fox, joined in.
"We're sorry this happened to you," Fox reassured her and placed a compassionate paw on her shoulder. The sorrow and denial transformed into frustration and anger.
"D-don't feel sorry for me! Just, stay away from me! All of you!" She blurted and ran even further. Young Link was even more upset. He was just like Link; his friendship with her as a child was so great, and seeing her in pain and push him away was hard for him to deal with. Tears sprung in his own eyes as he ran the opposite direction. Mr. Game & Watch and Fox followed to comfort the sobbing little boy.
All eyes were on Zelda as she dashed to her room in the mansion. Many eyes reflected pity, knowing it would be hard for her to deal with the death of her fiance. Still, they were sad themselves that someone in the mansion had passed away. Even if they had not known much of him, but it was still sad news that spread to everyone.
By the time she reached her room, Zelda hurled herself onto her bed. Her very own tears drenched her fluffy pillow as she couldn't stop. The pain in her chest throbbed, remembering all the memories. His smile, his eyes, his laughter. No longer could his soft voice carress her again.
His diary lay on the side of her bed. No, she couldn't bear opening it. The thought of touching his belongings would burn her heart out. The journal barreled through the glass window, smashing it to bits and landed with a thud onto the ground outside. All she could do was weep pathetically on her bed.
Confusion warping her mind, she leaned forward with her arms outstretched on the bed sheets. Her blonde locks hung messily over her pale face, and her eyes became glossy.
"No... He's not dead," She whispered to herself, "he's alive. He's just an Altea right now. No way he's gone. He'll come back." She forced a smile on her face and tried to swallow the words she had spoke. Her hands gripped the side of her head, her finger nails digging into her scalp, causing it to bleed a little, but she didn't care.
"He'll come back to me," Zelda murmured dreamily, snatched a brush to smooth out her gold hair. "Wonder what everyone is doing, now?" She sighed with an optimistic smile.
Meanwhile, Peach, Samus, Jigglypuff, Mario, and everyone else were preparing for the funeral. Even Bowser and Ganondorf, who were normally jerks, hadn't said a single word to anyone. Also Kirby, all the little kids, and Pokemon weren't their cheerful selves.
Master Hand had gained notice from them about Marth's death and began to investigate immediately. Although the competition was about brutally fighting, he was completely disgusted to hear about his death. The contest rules were that you fight, but you do not under any circumstances murder anyone.
Peach was preparing everyone's funeral clothing. Normally, she was cheerful and chipper about fashion, but this time, she lined up the clothing with a tear-stained face and a frown. Samus, who usually despised wearing dresses or taking off her orange suit, had not rejected to the idea of Peach's ideal funeral dress for her.
Samus had laid the corpse into the coffin that Captain Falcon and Donkey Kong had built. Captain Falcon, who normally was flirtatious to Samus, didn't even go crazy when Samus wore a dress. She looked incredibly beautiful, her blonde ponytail smoothed and finally revealed, the black dress had a low cut top, and the veil hung over her face.
"It's okay, Samus," Captain Falcon put a comforting hand on her shoulder when he spotted the tears slipping down her cheek. She released her emotions at that moment, believing the veil was good enough to cover.
"Why him?" She cried and wiped her tear, knowing she couldn't fake it, "He was such a good person who dealt so much," she referred about his past in Altea. The burly man knew he couldn't comfort her in anyway, and stood there beside her as she covered her face with her hands.
The rest of them hurriedly decorated the room. Feeling as if Zelda needed to express her grief in a healthy mannor, they set up a booth so everyone who knew Marth truly could say how much they missed him. Thinking this would cheer her up, the Ice Climbers and Ness pinned pictures of Zelda and Marth where the flowers were hung.
Once the room was set up, the eight crowded with each other as if they could only trust amongst themselves.
"Someone in this-ah room had-ah murdered Marth-ah," Luigi stated obviously.
"I know," Peach said in a hush tone, "if we get everyone to talk truthfully on what they think of Marth, and if any of them show a hint of annoyance or anger towards him, we can get a lead on the culprit!"
"Wowzer, great-ah thinking, Princess," Mario complemented. For the first time in a while, Peach managed to form a tiny smile on her face. They dispersed when everyone sat in a seat as Peach, Link, Mario, and Luigi clambored onto the stage Yoshi, Falco, and Mewtwo helped make. Everyone was wearing the funeral outfits Peach had assigned to them.
"Peach, Zelda isn't here. Go get Zelda," Link hissed to the dumb-founded princess. She gasped in astonishment and scurried off to search for her friend.
While on her little trip, she bumped into the person she was looking for in the middle of the hallway. Taken back, Peach straightened herself and tried to force a smile on her face.
"Oh Zelda! There you are," Peach sighed nicely.
"Hey Peach," Zelda smiled as well. Odd, Zelda seemed a little more cheerful. Dismissing this strange thought, Peach grabbed her hand and dragged her.
"Where we going?" Zelda asked curiously. Peach hadn't answered and was too intent on getting her there.
Everyone in the room was quite silent as Mario gave out a speech about how heroic and a good person Marth was. By the time Peach had reached them, Mario was done and stepped down the booth. All eyes, again, were on Zelda who was puzzled.
"Zellie," Peach's voice chimed as she held her friend's shoulders, "I know how hurt you are, so we decided to set up a funeral for him, you know, so you can bid farewell." The Hylian was dead slient. No one noticed her fists tightening except for Link.
"Zelda, please," Link pleaded, his eyes reflecting great sympathy and melancholy.
"He's not dead," Zelda's eyes clouded. Most of the people could not hear what she had muttered.
"HE'S NOT DEAD!" The Hylian screamed, shoved Peach away and charged for the door. She didn't need to open the door, because the moment she turned, the double doors were blasted away by her Din's fire.
"Listen to me, Zelda," Link cried after her, some tears released from his tear ducts, "it's not healthy to deny it!"
"I'm not denying anything," Zelda snapped and ran off even further into the distance. Some of the Smashers tried to catch up to her, but to no avail. Seeing the entrance of the mansion's door crumbled, they assumed she ran off into the dark. Of course they were worried for her, but chasing after her was no use. She was long gone.
Only Peach was determined to search for her friend. Luigi, who was curious as well joined the search with Peach. Roy and Mario soon followed as well.
"Zelda!" They all called, practically in unison. Luigi wandered through the pitch darkness until he felt something hit his foot, causing him to trip and land on his abnormally large nose.
"Ow!" He yelped and got up on his knees. He turned around, smoothing his hand around the ground to see what was there. His hand touched the cold cover of something. Groping it, he felt it was familiar.
"It feels like -ah book!" Luigi gasped and picked it up. Imagining if it were like a book, he opened it. The similarities it held was so much like a book. Closing it, he ran to his friends that stood empty-handed. As if he struck gold, he waved it in front of him.
"Look what I-ah found!" They glared at him.
"Luigi, this is no time for books!" Peach barked, making him feel a little lousy. Roy took it out of his hands when they reached inside the mansion where there were lights.
"Wait a minute, Luigi," Roy exclaimed, "this is Marth's diary!" Their eyes widened.
"What's it-ah doing here?" Mario cocked his head to the side.
"You think there's some clues in there?" Peach suggested. A bright bulb appeared over their heads as Roy flipped the tattered diart open.
Meanwhile, Zelda found herself alone, gazing upon the reflection of a pond made by the gentle moonlight. The night was chilly, but she didn't bother coming back. She shielded herself from the breeze by folding her arms. Poor Zelda was pitiful and lonely. She sneezed then wrinkled her nose.
"You're still here," Zelda choked back her tears, "we'll be together soon." She looked at the pool and spotted someone else's figure behind her. His shadow loomed over her. Her eyes lit up in excitement when she saw him.
"I knew you'd return to me," she smiled and allowed him to sit next to her.
"Zelda, you know I love you," the Altean prince cooed, sending pleasant chills down her spine. He stretched his cape and englufed it around the cold princess. Contently, she shed tears of joy.
"Everyone thinks you're gone, Marth," Zelda complained softly without a response. All of a sudden the atmosphere became cold. She turned to find that her beloved fiance disappeared into thin air.
"Marth?" She called, but he was long gone.
Master Hand was floating back and forth, pondering on how to solve the case. Dr. Mario, Link, Mario, Peach, Luigi, Roy, Samus, and Mewtwo accompanied the hovering hand as he started popping up many questions.
"Who would want to commit such a horrendous crime?" Master Hand asked.
"Recall some of the matches that Marth won that might have upset the other contestants," Samus suggested.
"So far, he had battled Pichu and... Ganondorf," Link's eyes widened at the name of Ganondorf's.
"He killed him, didn't he!?" Roy growled and unsheathed his sword ferociously.
"Roy, we don't know for sure," Samus tried to calm him down. The hot-tempered teenager gripped the handle so hard that if any moment, it would shatter into pieces.
"I just can't stand letting the culprit get away with this!" He squinted furiously and finally brought himself to release the handle.
"There are recorders in the room, correct?" Mewtwo pointed at the black recorder pointing down on them tediously. They looked at him and then the machine.
"I... I did set one up in the room," Master Hand gasped, feeling rather stupid that he hadn't thought of it.
"There! We're a step closer to finding the truth," Peach straightened her back and grinned, but her eyes said something differently. She placed a worried fist over her heart. What would become of Zelda?
The Hylian princess knelt on the soft, brown Earth where the moonlight hit. Her face drooped over as her tears fell, forming muddy puddles. She clutched her heart as if she were having a heart attack.
"He's not dead," She mumbled to herself again, though less confidentally, "I just saw him yesterday..." The memories of yesterday inflamed her mind.
"Marth, MARTH!" She weeped, realizing she could not longer deny what happened. Her hand cupped over her mouth, trying to silence the large sobs she made.
"I forgive you, my dear," Marth's nostalgic voice echoed in her pointy elf ears. She turned to see no one in her view this time. Squinting from the blurry vision, she shook her head in agony.
"You lie!" She shreiked in the darkness, "You don't forgive me! I was a monster!" She collapsed onto the ground and tried to remain her composure. Hiding the truth was ridiculous.
Everyone in the mansion knew what happened to Marth, and were not going to let the case remain a mystery. They probably even knew someone must have murdered him through evidence. Tiredly, the princess trudged on home, her hand pressed against her aching heart.
"This is it," Master Hand said as he handed the puny tape (compared to his hand) to Dr. Mario. Dr. Mario took the tape with shaking hands. The moment of truth was to be revealed. All their hearts were pounding, except for Mewtwo's, since he was usually calm.
The television revealed the fuzzy quality of the recorded tape. Mario fast forwarded the clip with a remote. Suddenly, the TV exploded, fire roaring right in front of them. Everyone jumped in panic and let out a yelp or a shrill scream. After the fire had calmed down, they turned to see who it was standing behind them.
"Zelda," Link whispered, everyone finding the girl red-handed. They knew Zelda had caused it, since she brought her arm close to her side afterwards, her eyes dim and oppressed.
"W-why me?" Zelda broke into a sob after the destruction. Ensnared by everyone's attention, she swiftly retreated. All of them chased after the broken princess except for Mewtwo.
"They will all find out sooner or later," Mewtwo sighed and drifted away. "Zelda, what are you up to now?"
Locking the door shut, Zelda leaned her back against it, panting heavily. Sweat and tears overflowed her face as she no longer kept her sanity. Not being able to stand on her heavy legs, she collapsed, her knees and arms breaking her fall. She couldn't hide the truth anymore, no matter how hard it was for her.
She sprawled on the floor, her back now touching the fuzzyy ground. Every limb and organ of her body was aching from the guilt that overwhelmed her very soul. Furiously, she clutched the pieces of the floor. Several bangings on the door echoed throughout the room and her ears.
"Zellie, are you in there?" Peach called while thumping the door numerously.
"Go away," Zelda demanded and formed into a fetal position.
"We know what happened to Marth," Roy yelled, trying to contain his shock and anger.
"We just want to know why you did it," Peach inputted, hoping if she acted kind, then Zelda could trust her. The Hylian princess's ears drooped, triggering her memory of the fated night of his death.
"M-make it s-stop," Zelda whimpered as she brushed the tears once more. No matter how many times she cried, the tears would never stop falling. The memories overflooded her thoughts, and all she could smell and see were the oozing blood from his cold, lifeless body.
"Why, Zelda, why? I thought you loved him more than anything," Link cried. Everyone began pounding at the door. They could blast it open, but they wanted Zelda to comply to their demands.
"I-I did love him," she whimpered once more. There was no where else to go. The truth was now released in the open. Everyone would give her a painful reminder of what she had done. Life wouldn't be the same, not without Marth. Moments began to flood into her mind.
"Why did you do this to me!?"
"Zelda, I-I can explain,"
"Lies! You lie!"
"You're the only one for me,"
"You cheated on me all along! Your diary proves it!"
Losing her sanity, Zelda crawled to the drawer and began rummaging through it.
"Well you're not supposed to read my diary anyway!"
"I'm glad I did! All the times we spent together!"
A dagger sparkled in the drawer. Trembling, she grabbed the handle of the dagger. Marth usually kept his collection of weaponry somewhere in his drawer.
"I hate you now! Go away!"
She placed her hand on his heart to push him away to realize what had happened. The prince lay cold on the ground to her shock.
"Marth? Marth!?"
She called after him and spotted the fresh blood gushing out of his wound.
"No... NO!"
"Hyrule would no longer want me. I am a soiled princess," Zelda spoke to herself and then valiantly plunged the dagger into her heart. Blood spurted out of the wound as she coughed out blood violently.
Staggering onto the ground, she heard everyone's calls for mere seconds before the world turned dark on her.
"Marth, I'm sorry," Zelda softly said. "I'm coming for you, I'm coming home," she smiled. Her head knocked onth the ground as she slowly closed her eyes. No longer did she hear the desparate voices trying to reach her. No longer did she feel the ache in her heart anymore.