Ike noticed that ever since the night of the newcomers' ceremony, Marth had seemed strangely troubled about something.

"痛い!" The mercenary nearly jumped out of his seat from the sudden outburst. Just as the other swordsmen sitting at the table, Ike's eyes wandered to mini puddles of black liquid splattered across the table to the white teacup laying on it's side and finally at the one with reddened fingers.

Mutterings of a foreign language spluttered from the Altean prince at a mile a minute. That is, before he felt three pairs of eyes on him and came his lips came to a halt.

"Uh...You okay?" Shulk asked with a slow blink.

With a smile, Marth turned to face the blonde and assured him that he was fine. He wiped up the mess with a napkin and fixed the cup so that it was upright.

"Ah," Marth paused for a moment to think, which Ike assumed was to find the correct words in English, "excuse me for a moment." And with that, the blue haired prince left the table and walked out of the dining hall. Before he was out of the doors, Marth had glanced back in his friends' direction then promptly took his leave.

"That was weird." Link nodded in agreement with Shulk.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Ike felt that the gaze backwards was not directed at him or the other two men at the table. The bluenette looked over his shoulder. There was another table of smashers, the princesses of the manor it seemed.

Peach toyed with her crown and placed it on top of Zelda's head who giggled behind a gloved hand. Rosalina sat silently with her Luma on her lap. Though quiet, she appeared to be happier listening than speaking. And Marth was chatting about something or other.

Wait.

Marth?

Ike squinted.

No, it wasn't Marth. It was one of the new girls. Lucina, if he remembered correctly, was her name. It was almost frightening how she and the prince were nearly identical. If Ike didn't know any better, he'd assume they were twins. She had to have some kind of relation to him. There was no way their similar looks were mere coincidence.

"Ah, man, not you too...what's with everyone today?"

Ike turned back to Shulk. "What?"

"I asked what you were staring at like five times but you never answered," the blonde eyed the girls' table, "but now I can see." A grin much like that of a Cheshire cat grew on his face. "You like one of them don't you?"

Ike repeated his question again but this time his face flushed.

"Don't worry man, your secret's safe with me. So which one, huh?" A wink and a nudge to the side was more than enough to have Ike just as flustered as his roomate was earlier. He made an excuse to leave which left Shulk hollering after him, begging for an answer.

"I figured it out."

Marth looked away from his mirror and turned towards the voice. "What do you mean?"

The mercenary shut the door behind him and crossed his arms. "Why you've been acting so strange lately." Those words made the other swordsman tense up a bit before facing his vanity again with one hand on his head.

"It's so weird," Marth mumbled out.

Silence filled the room for a moment before the prince spoke up again.

"It's like seeing a girl version of me." A laugh rang out in the room driving out any remaining silence. Again, the man turned around in his seat. "What's so funny?"

"Marth," Ike struggled to get out his words without laughing even more, "you already look like a girl."

The prince puffed out his cheeks. It was true that some of the other contestants mistook him as a female before but that was why he cut his hair and built up some muscle for the newest tournament. Apparently, it wasn't very effective.

"But your right, it is weird." Marth was always confused by Ike's ability to go from careless to serious in seconds. His eyes were shut in deep thought. He rubbed his chin. "She's gotta be related to you somehow."

It could've just been the lighting in the room, but Marth swore he saw a glint in his friend's eye. It sent uneasy chills down his spine. It felt like trouble.

"And I know exactly how were gonna find out."