Unfortunately for Roy, a month quickly passed. Although he fully recovered from his injuries (He still had trouble pronouncing certain words), Marth still could not remember a single event or a person before he was discovered on the beach.

It was the beginning of June when Marth was finally discharged from the hospital. After changing out of his hospital gown into casual clothes; long jeans, sky-blue shirt, and a dark blue jacket, Marth excitedly followed Eliwood out of the hospital. He was glad to be out of the hospital and see the world outside.

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" Eliwood asked Marth as they walked down the parking lot.

Marth looked up at the clear, blue sky. There was not a single cloud in sky blocking the bright sunlight.

"Y-Yesh." Marth answered. "The bwue sky is w-really clear!"

As Marth looked up at the sky and admired its clear, perfect color, he did not notice a car pulling out of its parking space.

"Look out!" Eliwood cried, grabbing ahold of Marth.

Marth froze in his place like ice. With a frightened whimper, he threw his arms around Eliwood and hugged him tightly for protection. As he awaited something drastically dangerous to occur, Marth buried his white face into the elder's shoulder.

"Marth? It's ok." Eliwood started as he watched the car drive away. "The car is gone."

With a muffled, soft "Y-Yes.", Marth released Eliwood from his tight grip. The two carefully looked for any mobile cars before continuing their way down the lot.

"Be careful next time." Eliwood sternly explained. "If I didn't stop you, the car would've hit you!"

"Hit...m-m-me?" Marth replied. A small smile stretched across his mouth. "Dat means d-that I'll be in the hospital again!" He giggled childishly at his sentence.

Eliwood chuckled at the bluenette's joke and added, "The doctors will be surprised!"

Once when the two got into their car, they began to drive back to the Pheraes' home. During the ride, Marth curiously looked at every single car, building, and pedestrians that walked down the sidewalks and crossed the street. He was amazed by the sight of the city, especially by the people. There were so many of them! Marth pondered on their histories, such as their birthday, jobs, and family.

What was their life like? How were they like? Did they have siblings? Were they wealthy or poor? What did they like to do? These were the questions that echoed repeatedly in Marth's thoughts.

After thirty minutes, the two finally arrived at the Pheraes' house. It was located in a large, urban neighborhood. The house was nearly identical to its peers; it had two stories, a small backyard, a driveway, and a garage. The only difference was, it was painted cardinal red. The other houses had their own colors.

"We're here." Eliwood said as he and Marth got out of the car.

Marth curiously looked around the neighborhood before asking, "Who alsho l-lives hewe?"

Eliwood looked around the neighborhood. "Let's see..." He saw a green-haired lady across the street, near the corner of the neighborhood. She just got out of her clean, white car with a bag of groceries. "Oh, she's Mrs. Palutena!" Eliwood told Marth, pointing at the green-haired neighbor. "Hello Palutena!"

"Hello Eliwood!" Palutena replied with a gentle smile. She took notice of Marth. "Oh, who is he?"

"He's Marth." Eliwood answered. "I'm temporally taking custody of him."

Marth smiled timidly and his shoulders tensed in shyness. "H...He-Hew-Hello." He greeted, waving coyly.

Palutena smiled back at the bashful bluenette. "Aw, how sweet. I'll see you two later!" she said as she entered her house.

Eliwood and Marth watched Palutena shut the door close. "Sh...She's nice." Marth commented. "Who also lives here?"

"Well..." Eliwood pointed to the blue-gray house directly across the street from the Pheraes. "The Greils live over there." He explained. "But, they seem to be busy now."

Eliwood pointed to the olive-green house next to the Pheraes. A sign that read "For sale" was placed on its overgrown lawn. "Nobody lives there, for now... Let's talk about this later. Aren't you hungry?"

"A w-l-l-little..." Marth softly answered.

"I'll make some dinner." Eliwood said as he guided Marth into the house.

When the two entered the house, the first thing Marth noticed was Roy sitting on a couch, listening to music while blankly gazing at the TV, which was turned off.

"Roy, we're back." Eliwood said, earning a small, careless nod from Roy. Eliwood signed quietly and turned to Marth. "Marth, make yourself at home, ok?"

"Ok..." Marth replied.

As Eliwood entered the kitchen and began to cook dinner, Marth went to the couch and sat next to Roy, who did not bother to notice him. He was stuck in his lonely, imaginary world.

"Hey, Woy!. Marth greeted softly with a small grin.

Roy sighed loudly through his nostrils, and faced the opposite direction, pretending that he did not hear Marth.

Marth gave a gentle nudge on Roy's shoulder. "Woy?"

"Leave me alone..." Roy mumbled in annoyance. He wanted to be left alone!

"Woy? What'sh w-w-wrong?" Marth asked worriedly.

"I'm ok." Roy simply answered. "Just leave me alone, ok?"

"But, I wanna b-b-be r-w-with you!" Marth protested with begging puppy eyes.

"Leave me alone, dammit." Roy repeated, his voice rising.

"But I wanna shpend time wid you!" Marth argued again.

All of a sudden, Roy slapped Marth in the face. He was tired of listening to Marth's childlike yet irritating begging. With a weak cry, Marth rubbed his stinging face as tears filled his wide cerulean eyes.

Luckily, Eliwood heard the slap from the kitchen. "What happened?" he asked sternly. He noticed the swollen slap mark on Marth's face; he knew who committed the violent act. "Roy...?" he spoke coldly.

"Look, he was getting on my nerves!" Roy protested.

"Please spend a little time with Marth." Eliwood ordered. "He spent days alone in the hospital. And no, the doctors and nurses don't count."

"Fine..." Roy sighed loudly.

"Thank you." Eliwood thanked before going back to the kitchen.

Roy looked at Marth, who was wiping tears out of his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket.

"Look, I'm sorry for hitting you." Roy apologized. "Do you forgive me?"

"Y... Yes." Marth answered with a tiny smile, like if Roy never struck him with the palm of his hand.

"Do you want to watch TV?" Roy asked, grabbing the remote.

"Shure." Marth answered. He was curious.

With the remote, Roy turned on the TV and flipped to a random channel. It showed a tense soccer game. Although it was exciting to Roy, Marth found it a bit boring. He did not understand soccer at all.

Roy was just silently watching the TV. Marth founded it awkward, as he wanted to talk to the smaller redhead. He wanted to know more about him!

"W-Well... I weally like your h-hair." Marth quietly spoke up.

"My red hair?" Roy replied, eying Marth's azure hair. "Well, thanks."

"You're w-w-really welcome!" Marth replied, smiling innocently.

"To be honest, I rather have your blue hair." Roy continued. "It looks really cool. Besides, people don't make fun of you if you have blue hair."

"Why?" Marth innocently asked.

"I dunno." Roy sighed. "Everyone thinks that blue hair looks cool. Every day in school, these guys call me names because of my hair."

"W-Like what?"

"Period head, tomato brain, blood face, yeah. All of these wonderful names." Roy sarcastically remarked.

Marth gasped. "Dat's so mean! Who c-c-calls you d-these names?"

"My two so-called friends Lilina and Wolt." Roy answered with a sad sign. "They were my friends, until they ganged up on me and treated me like Arcanine shit."

"Why d-did they do dat?"

"I don't know! I'll never understand people! One day, you're their best friend! The next thing you know, you're out of the damn picture and in the trash! I don't know what I did to them! I gave them all the crap I have!"

"Maybe it's deir problem!" Marth replied, trying to cheer Roy up. "They were being jerks, sh-so you must be better than them! What m-makes y-you better d-than them?"

"Well, I had lots of AP classes." Roy began. "Actually wait, I'm only had one. Art history. It's one of the hardest classes in school. Wolt's in Studio art, but I don't consider it a hard class. Friggin' asshole thinks he's the best artist on the campus. Just because you can quickly draw freehanded doesn't mean you're Andy Wailord. Fucking narcissist."

"Watch your language, Roy!" Eliwood strictly called from the kitchen, causing Roy to sigh loudly.

"Well, what color is R-Rw-W-Wolt's hair?" Marth asked as a naughty smile stretched across his face.

"Green." Roy answered. "Lime-green to be exact."

"D-Then Wolt's a lime head!" Marth remarked loudly.

Roy's lips curved into a grin as he began to laugh hysterically. "Lime head?! That's a good one, Marth!"

Marth giggled. "D-Th-Thanks, Woy!"

"I got a better one!" Roy managed to say, breathing quickly for air. "Barf head!"

Marth laughed hysterically at the insult. Eliwood, who was pouring some tomato soap into three bowls and listening to the two teens' conversation, smiled and shook his head sadly. Yes, they were not talking about something positive. However, it sounded like they were having a good time.

"Wh-What about Lilina?" Marth asked.

"Well, she has indigo hair..." Roy started, sounding unsure.

"That's weally hard..." Marth replied. He suddenly got an idea. "Maybe... Bwueberry head?"

Marth and Roy laughed uncontrollably before silencing awkwardly.

"This is getting old..." Roy said, before glancing at the TV. "Everything's getting boring..."

"Yeah..." Marth sighed. "What do we do now?"

"I know what to do now." Eliwood said, joining the conversation. "Eat your dinner."

"Dinner's weady?" Marth asked with wide, sparkling eyes.

"Yes." Eliwood answered. "Let's start dinner."

"Yaaay!" Marth cheered happily as Roy quietly turned off the TV and sighed sadly. Marth gave him a worried look. "Woy, what's wrong?"

Roy jumped and quickly forced a small smile. "I'm ok! C'mon, let's eat!"

Marth followed Roy to the dinner table. Although Roy seemed calm and happy, Marth sensed a feeling of sadness in his heart. What was it? Was Roy faking his joy? Maybe he was annoyed with Marth! But no! Roy was laughing a few moments ago!

Sitting on the dinner table were three bowls of tomato soup, three cups of water, and three plates with steamed vegetables and spaghetti. As soon as he hurriedly sat down, Marth began to quickly munch and slurp his dinner. Roy on the other hand, slowly sat down and began to play with his food.

"Marth, slow down!" Eliwood exclaimed after when he took a slip of water. "You might choke!"

His mouth filled with pasta and tomato sauce, Marth slowly swallowed and hiccuped softly. With a small smile, Eliwood got out of his seat, went to Marth, and gave him strong yet gentle pats on the back, which eventually earned a tiny burp from the bluenette.

"Better?" Eliwood asked.

"Mmmm hmmm." Marth replied quietly, his face blushing red.

"That's good." Eliwood said as he returned to his seat. He took notice of Roy, who was created a small mess of food on his plate. His navy-blue eyes were blankly staring at the slop. "Roy, why aren't you eating?" he asked his son.

"I'm not really hungry..." Roy mumbled in response.

"Please try to eat." Eliwood ordered. "Don't you want to be tall and strong when you grow up?"

"Fine..." Roy groaned with a frown. He picked up his fork and began to slowly eat his spaghetti.

Eliwood sighed softly in frustration and continued to eat his dinner in silence. As he nibbled on his vegetables, Marth looked across the table and noticed an empty seat.

Something, or someone was missing from the Pherae family. She was someone who supported the father of the family and cared for her offspring. Whenever the father was missing in action, it was her duty to protect her children.

That was it! A mother! That was what the Pherae family was missing! But the only question was... Marth looked at Roy and Eliwood, who were silently eating without making eye contact.

...Where was Mrs. Pherae?


Author's Notes: Don't kill me for the "spelling errors"! It was meant to be that way. (It's how Marth pronounces some words!)

Welp, I finally got off my lazy arse and uploaded this chapter! Again, just like what the upper sentence said, the "misspelled words" are actually how Marth pronounces some words. Also, I forgot to mention this, but there will be some mild cussing.

BTW, check out my poll if you hadn't already!

Story Questions:

Do you think it's ok to secretly make fun of people you don't like?

Where do you think is Roy's mother?

Who would you like to see in the story?