A/N: Hello, sorry I took so long. I'll probably take even longer on the next update, with midterms and all. But I'm not intending to give up on this story!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. And for the two of you who had questions, here are my answers. First, I know about Soren and I'm pretty sure he's going to play an important role in this story. But don't hold me to it, because I'm not certain. And as for what he is, I don't exactly know how to reveal it if a certain character isn't present. As for the second question, when I first started playing this game I hadn't played Radiant Dawn. I got the game last Saturday, though, so I guess I can say that from this point on I've played it.

Just in case I hadn't said it before, if there are any readers who have not played Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, and don't want to know how they end, then be warned. There are spoilers.

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Chapter 3

Link found himself sprawled on his back in the middle of the corridor that morning, a dazed stare on his face and stars dancing above him. He barely had any time to register what had happened. One minute, he was simply walking along, minding his own business; the next, two blurs had barreled into him and sent him crashing to the ground.

"Mr. Link! Mr. Link! Are you okay?"

"Huh?" The green-clad hero snapped out of his trance and sat up, rubbing his head. Nana, Toon Link, Lucas, and Ness were giving him concerned looks, while Popo and Pit stood farther back, acting guilty. "Oh, good morning, kids. May I ask what just happened?"

Nana let out a strangled scream. "It … it's that idiot I call my partner! I told him not to run in the hallways, but he wouldn't listen to me. Bad Popo! Look what you did to Mr. Link!"

"What?" Popo glared at Nana indignantly. "Well, excuse me, but I wasn't the only person who ran into Mr. Link!"

"It's true!" came the squeaky voice of Toon Link. "I'm sorry, older me, but I bumped into you, too."

"So I guess I wasn't just seeing blurs, huh?" Link asked, making a poor attempt at a joke. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine. But take care, all right? Because if I were someone unpleasant like Ganondorf …" He left the sentence hanging and to the kids' imaginations.

"Of course, that would be bad." Ness laughed. "I'm glad to see that Popo and Toon Link hadn't addled your brains!"

"We'll be more careful," Lucas said quietly.

"That'll be the day," Pit muttered.

"Pardon?" Link turned to the angel, puzzled.

"Oh, nothing!" Pit dismissed the question with a wave of his hand. "So, Link, you feel like having a little archery competition later? I'll show you up so bad!"

"Pit!" Nana was scandalized. "Show some respect to Mr. Link! He's a veteran brawler!"

"Do not let it worry you, Nana, I have no desire to be treated any differently from anyone else," Link assured her. "And I would be honored to take you up on your offer, Pit, but I must decline for now. I'm actually looking for Ike." The Hylian held up an official-looking envelope. "I was told to give this to him."

"I haven't seen him all day," Ness said. "Sorry."

"Same here," Toon Link added, frowning. "But I think Mr. Marth and Miss Zelda mentioned him earlier."

"Ike?" Pit flicked some lint off his shoulder. "I saw him. He was heading outside. Said that he needed to clear his head or something. Whatever."

Link sighed. "I'll just slip this under his door, then. Thanks for your help, everyone. And mind you, stay out of trouble, for your sakes!"

"Yeah, yeah," Popo said flippantly. "Come on, Pit! I'll race you to the other end of the hall!"

"Oh, you're on!" The angel and the male Ice Climber tore down the narrow lobby at breakneck speeds.

"Stop that right now!" Nana shrieked. "Mr. Link just told us to be careful!"

"W-we're so sorry, Mr. Link …"

"It's all right, Lucas, don't worry about it." Link clapped him on the shoulder. "I have to say, it's a good thing Pit and Popo have friends like you, always keeping them out of trouble."

Nana beamed. "O-oh! Well … as much as Popo can be infuriating, he's my best friend in the world, and I couldn't ever let him down."

"In that case, why don't we go after them?" Ness suggested, motioning down the corridor. "They're going to get in trouble. I can tell. And you don't have to be a psychic to know that!"

The four remaining young brawlers hurried off in the direction that Popo and Pit had gone. Link chuckled softly and headed in the opposite direction. His eyes fell upon the letter in his hands and the smile faded. He hadn't been quite honest with the kids about it. The fighters received mail quite often from their comrades back home, but the letters always stopped at Master Hand's office first, and then they were given to the intended recipient.

That was why Link didn't know what to think when the messenger approached him. A man with light blue hair and green armor, mounted on a white horse – Link had never seen him before, and he didn't seem to be a Super Smash Brothers official. His suspicions were confirmed when the man asked to speak to Ike and would not go into any further detail. Ike hadn't been present on the building's grounds at the time. Even if he were, Link felt uneasy about letting the man see Ike. Something didn't seem right. Finally giving up, the man had handed Link an official-looking envelope, saying that it was urgent that Ike received it. He had refused an audience with Master Hand, saying that he was in too much of a hurry to wait any longer and had simply rode off … just like that.

As it had led him to colliding with Toon Link and Popo, Link's inattentiveness soon caused him yet another accident – he bumped into someone else hurrying down the hallway. The other person fell backwards, landing on the hard marble floor with a sickening thud.

"Oh, I'm very sorry, I wasn't –" Link's apology trailed off into silence once he saw whom he had knocked down. A man with long golden blond hair; his skin was pale and the wings on his back were pure white. As far as Link was concerned, he was another strange.

"Kindly watch where you're going," the winged man spat, struggling to his feet.

"I am sorry for my carelessness, it will not happen again," Link said coolly. "But, if you do not mind my asking, who might you be? I have not seen you around in these parts."

"It is not of your concern. And if you do not mind, I have to speak with Ike. It is urgent."

Link massaged his throbbing head. Two strangers in one day, both looking for Ike – since when did Ike become so popular? "Look –"

"Reyson? Is that really you?"

Two heads turned in the direction of the voice to see Ike standing not too far behind them. The blue-haired mercenary was staring at the pale man, whom he had called Reyson, in disbelief – almost as if Ike couldn't believe he was there.

"Ah!" The scowl on Reyson's face disappeared almost instantly. "So you are here, Ike."

"It's been a while," Ike said, momentarily looking happier than any of the other brawlers had ever seen him be. "But, Reyson, what brings you here?"

"You don't want me here?" The heron's smile turned into a frown.

"You know that's not true, Reyson. It's just unexpected, is all. Is something wrong?"

"Ahem." Link cleared his throat, feeling slightly uncomfortable listening in to Ike and Reyson's conversation. "Ike, a man dressed in green armor came around earlier and told me to give this to you." He pressed the envelope into Ike's hands and headed off. "Well, I'll let you two catch up. I'll see you later."

"Hm, this is … odd, to say the least. So, Reyson, you were saying?" Ike turned back to the White Prince.

"It's the medallion," he answered, his voice suddenly serious. "For the last few days, it's been glowing again."

"What? But … how?" Ike was at a loss for words. "We defeated Ashnard and restored peace to Tellius. So what could be the problem now?"

"I am not sure … but … something isn't quite right. I can feel it. There's an unusual amount of chaos present in Tellius, both Leanne and I've felt it recently."

"And you don't know what's happening?" Ike asked.

"No." Reyson closed his eyes, a solemn look on his face. "If only we know what was the source of all this chaos. Ike …" Reyson's green orbs were staring intently into Ike's blue ones. "You stopped Ashnard during the Mad King's War. If anyone can prevent another calamity, it's you. It has to be you."

"Of course." Ike nodded, his expression mirroring that of Reyson's. "I'll do what I can." He then realized that he was still holding onto the letter Link had given him. "Oh, nearly forgot about this. It's … from Elincia. What on Tellius is going on?"

"I wish I knew." Reyson shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Ike quickly read through the letter, and he nearly dropped the parchment once he was through. "No, it can't be true."

"What? What happened?"

"It's Mad King Ashnard." Ike's voice was mixed with disbelief and anger. "He's alive. He's still alive."

"Alive?" Reyson repeated, just as shocked as Ike. "But … how can he be alive? What happened in that final battle anyway?"

"After I struck him, he flew into a column and was buried by rubble," Ike replied, his eyes still clouded with confusion. "I wasn't there when they were clearing away the bodies of the Daein soldiers, though. Reyson, wait for me. I'll have to let Master Hand know that I'm leaving."

Reyson nodded and transformed into his laguz form, flying out of the darkened corridor so he could wait for Ike outside. The blue-haired swordsman went the other way, running as fast as he could. The tournament could wait. Tellius had to come first. And if Ashnard was alive and causing problems … ugh, he didn't even want to think about it. The Mad King was one of the strongest foes he had ever faced, perhaps even on par with the mysterious Black Knight. If Ashnard's goal remained the same – freeing the dark god from Lehran's Medallion – he would have to act even faster.

"Ike! What's the-a hurry-a?" Mario called to him when Ike ran past.

"Can't talk, have to run," he responded, not taking the time to look back at Mario. "I'll explain later." He rounded a corner and nearly ran into Captain Falcon and Snake. "Sorry," he said, and continued on his way.

Much to his relief, there were no more near-accidents and he managed to make it to Master Hand's office without any more problems. The sight that greeted him there, however, was a rather unexpected one – Lucas, Nana, Ness, Pit, Popo, and Toon Link huddled outside the office; Nana, Ness, and Toon Link looking almost exasperated; Lucas, who was nervous as usual; Popo goading Pit on; Pit arguing heatedly with a very familiar raven-haired person …

"Soren!" The name flew out of his mouth before Ike had even realized it. "Soren, what are you doing here?"

The sage slowly turned around, and Ike could see a hint of relief in the tactician's eyes. "Ah, Ike, I'm glad you're here."

"What are you doing here, Soren? What's going on? Reyson came by to tell me that the medallion's being acting up again, and Elincia sent a letter saying that Ashnard has survived."

"I see you understand what has been happening in Tellius." Soren wore his usual calm expression of indifference, but his voice was harder than normal. "But I'm afraid there's more to the situation than only that."

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A/N: A few more things to explain. For this story, assume that Ike and Reyson have A support. If anyone thinks that Reyson is a bit OOC here, hopefully having an A support with Ike will be explanatory enough. Also, I know that the herons said that they were going to Gallia after the war. But let's suppose that the herons stopped by Serenes Forest first, and this story takes place before they left for Gallia.

Sorry this chapter didn't have much of the other brawlers. But since this problem is starting from Ike's world, the others wouldn't know what's going on.