A new chapter. The only reason it is this long is because I did not write it, LOL. Many, many thanks to Legend of Conan for agreeing to write this chapter. Bro, I really appreciate it. Please review and let me know how you like it, because I loved it.
Starts off with a little backtrack...
Robyn's POV.
It was such a rarity for a building with this many people to be so silent. And somehow I felt sure it had to do with a certain mercenary. When I peered over to the wall where Ike stood, it also didn't surprise me to see Marth was part of the cause of so sudden a change in the atmosphere.
Every time that pair was close, no matter the place, you could hear a pin drop. I loathed the awful silence, and I hardly hated anything. Smashers would talk in faint whispers to give off the impression that they weren't listening, but I knew the truth…and so did Ike.
I tried my best to tune out their conversation by starting my own with Lucina. I was doing a decent job, but curiosity was taking hold of the young, blue-haired swordswoman. Occasionally Lucina would peer past my shoulder, nodding her head in response to something I said, trying to give off the impression she was listening to me. I knew better; I wasn't a fool.
"Lucina…" Ike's deep voice called over and Lucina quickly stalked over to the mercenary. I watched her exchange a few words with Ike and the Hero King before pulling out her Falchion. A bit of interest came over me when Lucina handed the sword to Marth. What had happened?
When Lucina returned, I didn't need to ask. Marth's empty sheath was clue enough to his reason for borrowing my friend's sword.
"The 'Hero King' has misplaced his sword," scoffed Lucina. "He's in a fight with Ike, so I'm letting him borrow mine for the match."
A slight chill ran up my spine. Marth losing his precious Falchion was so unlikely that I would have never joked about such a thing. What had happened? I forced my thoughts away from the mystery.
"Well that was very nice of you to let him use it, Lucina." I smiled encouragingly.
Lucina snorted at my remark. "I wasn't doing it for him..." She shook her head in aggravation. "Why would I ever do it for him?"
It pained me to hear this. "Because it's the nice thing to do?"
She puffed her cheeks. "Well, I was doing it for Ike, not him."
Even mentioning the help she'd given Marth was making Lucina angry, which was somewhat disheartening. Deep down, Lucina was really a kind soul, but words had had an impact on her that wasn't easily shaken.
I peered over at the mercenary again. He was making his way out of the room for his match, but our eyes locked briefly. My unease seemed to wash away in his ocean-blue eyes, but it was only momentary, as the thought of Lucina's interaction with Marth brought me back to a cool, harsh reality.
Several minutes later, watching on the brawls screens, it was clear the battle was in full swing. I was admittedly finding amusement when Ike and Cloud broke into casual conversation in the heat of battle. It was heartwarming to catch faint smiles emanating from Ike's expression.
Marth broke up their interaction quickly, scolding Ike on his wrongdoings, but the moderators for the battle drowned out the argument. It didn't matter, because if I was good at anything, it was reading people's expressions, and their eyes told a whole story on their own.
I could see distress in Marth's gaze. It would come off as aggression to anyone else, but I saw the desperation behind the knit eyebrows. Ike's face was red and the normally cool, blue eyes were glittering with a frightening intensity as he said something. The argument was more than heated and anyone would admit that.
"Man, can't Marth just leave Ike and Cloud alone?"
"Yeah well, Cloud and Ike shouldn't be talking up a storm in the middle of a duel!"
"Marth just needs to step up his game and stop complaining."
"Hey, you leave Marth alone!"
"Yeah, yeah, go defend Pretty Boy."
I glanced over in frustration at my peers. The lounge had broken out into several minor arguments. As I'd expected, Lucina, Toon Link, and several others were arguing with Zelda, Falco, Peach and many more about the events transpiring on screen.
"Guys!" I interrupted loudly.
They all looked over at me.
"Relax…" I gave them a long stare. "Just take a deep breath and relax."
Many of the more prideful smashers looked away, holding their chins high, while others showed a side of shame for the silly argument over a brawl.
I sighed, standing up from my seat. "Look, just try to remember that we're all family here, okay?"
Several nodded, while others ignored my plea. Turning away, I headed for the exit. And as I left I could already hear several fighters behind me breaking out into gossip again.
In the library, I was sorting through books, something that always gave me mild enjoyment. Times like these were good for recollecting. So I thought about Falchion, and the implausible idea of Marth losing such an item.
Did he perhaps…do so on purpose? I thought. It didn't make sense, but there was no other option. I knew Marth. He would have told the authorities if it had been stolen. He was too careful with his things to lose something of such value on accident. So it must have been on purpose. And I suddenly remembered that look of desperation in his eyes. I remembered the look, from months ago, when he had thought of Ike, all alone on New Years Eve. He was sorry for what he had done to Ike in Brawl and losing Falchion was some sort of ploy in order to gain a conversation with the mercenary. Without the loss of the sword, neither swordsman would have spoken with each other during the brawl and nothing would have changed. But Falchion's disappearance had led to the conversation. And I realized something. Marth was trying to apologize!
This made the interaction between him and Ike all the more understandable. I knew how stubborn Ike could be. An apology would do nothing. A conversation wouldn't lead to an opening for Marth to apologize. And the fury in Ike's eyes during the battle was all too clear. There was no forgiving the Hero King.
Abruptly I felt an underlying revelation bubbling up, but I didn't want to admit it. Still, it was undeniable. The cold hatred of Ike and his ignoring everyone except his few friends. Marth's popularity and adoring fans, inside and outside of Smash. And it was most obvious from the lack of conversation when the two where in the same room together. Everyone went quiet and conversations, if kept up, where continued in a whisper.
Ike and Marth are having a negative impact on the mansion as a whole. It pained me to realize this, especially when I realized Ike was majorly to blame… but there was no denying it.
I exited the library, searching for Ike. Toon Link was sitting on a bench near the lounge doorway, writing a letter to relatives, no doubt.
"Hey, Hon," I greeted him gently. "How're you doing?"
He looked up at me and smiled. "Good. Did you see that brawl between Ike and Marth today?"
My smile died. "Toon, they were on the same team. It wasn't a brawl between them, it was them against Cloud and Diddy Kong."
Toon Link shrugged and shook his head. "You didn't see the way they looked at each other."
I pursed my lips. "Well, do you know where Ike is?"
He raised one of his thick, black eyebrows. "Why?" He knew no one talked to Ike willingly. Not most people anyway.
"Because, dear, I have a question to ask him," I teased, grinning kindly at him.
"Over there, somewhere," he responded, pointing. "I just saw him."
"Thanks!" I walked off, Toon Link's words swirling in my head. 'You didn't see the way they looked at each other.' Well, I had seen it. And I knew that everyone else saw it, too. They knew Ike hated Marth and that was that. What was less obvious, even to me, was what Marth's opinion of Ike was. Even wanting to apologize didn't mean a clear emotion towards the mercenary he had known since Brawl.
When I found Ike, he was looking out a large window at a group of Smashers outside who were kicking a ball around. I snuck up next to him, making sure he didn't notice my presence. The Smashers he was watching were Cloud and Lucina along with several of the younger Smashers, Peach, Ryu, and Samus. It was nice to see the two sword bearers interacting with others, especially Cloud.
I wondered how Ike was taking in the sights. Robin was currently walking up to Lucina; he nervously tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to face him. I couldn't tell what they were saying as they started talking, but I saw Lucina was being civil… for once.
"Nice to see Lucina and Robin are getting along," I said quietly in a happy tone.
Ike leapt out of his skin. "R-Robyn!" He let out his breath and grunted. "I didn't see you there."
I tried to contain my laughter, but it still came out in small giggles. "I know, that's why I did it," I teased.
Ike frowned, but I sensed there was mild glee behind his blue gaze and I knew he appreciated the friendly gesture of teasing. It meant he trusted our friendship to be deeper than surface-level and to continue for longer than many he might have had before.
"Well, anyway… What do you make of that?" Ike pointed out the window dully, his eyebrows knit as if he were trying to understand what he was seeing.
"Oh, the outside? It's a beautiful day," I answered, trying to push Ike's buttons some more.
"Not that," he answered doggedly, unaware I had purposely misunderstood. He pointed again at Cloud and Lucina, "That."
"Hmmm. Maybe they went out to enjoy the beautiful day," I suggested cheerily.
He looked over to me in frank amazement and then back out the window.
I grinned sheepishly. If anyone else tried pestering the mercenary like this they'd likely end up in the infirmary.
"And now they're talking with them…" he mumbled.
"They all wanted to enjoy the beautiful day together, I assume."
Ike grumbled, which made me giggle.
"So what are you saying?" I asked finally.
He looked over to me. "They're…talking…with others…nicely." He spoke haltingly, as if he was embarrassed that he felt this way.
"Lots of people do that. Maybe, I don't know, we could follow suit?" I looked at a non-specific corner of the room to try and give the impression that I was in deep thought.
"I'm not going to interact with those other people," he stated bluntly and rather harshly, something I could tell he regretted immediately after.
"I think you're right," I said. "They probably don't want to be interrupted. So, since they're busy…" I grabbed Ike's arm and grinned. "I get the whole afternoon with you."
I was really taking a gamble by touching Ike. He didn't like to touch or be touched. to my complete surprise, after a few seconds of staring into each other's eyes…he smiled.
"Well…that would be nice, Robyn."
I felt my face warm slightly. Focus… focus Robyn…
"Actually," he continued, looking confused as to how to word his next sentence. "…I wanted to take you to get ice cream earlier, but…brawls were already scheduled…"
Focus! Focus Robyn! "Is that so?" I stated rather matter-of-factly. Play hard to get, Robyn. "I didn't know you had a sweet tooth, Ike," I teased
He grew a tad red, which made me nervous. I definitely didn't want to scare him off. "Well, everyone does, I think." His nervous smile made my heart melt.
I giggled. "In that case, Ike…." I tugged on his arm again. "Let's get going."
We both sat quietly in the small ice-cream shop. Despite my pleas, Ike wanted to pay for us. Which made me secretly happy.
I'd gotten a strawberry and vanilla flavored ice cream with little bits of chocolate sprinkled on top, while Ike simply got French vanilla. It was strange to me how unrefined he could be. Yet that was Ike: Blunt, simple, no-frosting-on-top, absolutely Ike.
Still, out of all the people here at Smash, he was the hardest to read. I did know that every action he let out was usually a contradiction of how he really felt. He had a kind heart, mostly, but his harsh tone and intimidating glare made everyone think otherwise… including himself. Still, I knew better.
The quiet, hardened exterior was like an impenetrable shell guarding the true emotions he may or may not have felt inside. This was something I was certain of, if only because I'd been Ike's outlet thus far. For a person who hardly expressed his feelings, he was certainly the most passionate when they did seep through. Whether it was anger or…loyalty.
Then I thought of Marth, a man who was somewhat Ike's opposite when it came to expression. The thing about all of us smashers was we often kept up a ruse of our true selves as a way of impressing others. This was a hubris found in both Marth and Ike. In a strange way, though the outward expressions weren't the same, the two weren't all that different. I knew it was my job to reveal this somehow.
"Ike?"
He looked up from his ice-cream. "Yeah?" His full attention was on me, making me mildly nervous.
"Could we talk about a somewhat touchy subject?"
Ike nodded, taking a deep breath before lending his ear to me.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened today during the fight?"
He looked at me for a moment and then said solidly, "You didn't see it. Marth wanted to make things difficult for me, then we lost… simple as that."
He definitely made it sound simple the way he said it. But I knew it wasn't. And, reading his tone, I could see he didn't want to talk about it either. It might make it more complicated fast. But I wasn't ready to give up yet.
"You and Cloud started talking in the middle of the fight," I answered, trying to advocate for the prince who wasn't present.
"But if he'd done the same, no one would even bat an eye," he returned flatly.
"Okay, fair enough."
I paused, staring intensely into his face. This mercenary was usually unmoving. No one could break down his defenses. But I was not 'no one'.
After a time of silence, he got uncomfortable, averting his eyes from mine. His left leg grew restless, and he started shifting around in his seat. Whenever we spoke, I often used this tactic of 'stare down' to get a true understanding of his emotions. Through this, I knew something else was amiss.
"Ike is there anything else that happened?"
Before he could say anything, knowing he was just about to dismiss my question, I raised my hand to pause him. "And do not lie to me, Ike."
He froze, peering down at his lap. Finally he gave a small grunt. "Marth, might have apologized to me after the fight…"
"Because of the brawl or…?" I asked.
"Because of…how he'd treated me in Brawl."
I nodded in understanding, my hands clasped together. I had been right. Marth had apologized. But, reading Ike's countenance as we discussed the subject, I could tell the apology hadn't quite been accepted. As I'd known.
"Then what?" I prompted, raising an eyebrow. "It doesn't seem like your relationship has gotten any better."
Ike didn't answer as he looked away from me.
"Ike, couldn't you let go of your pride for just a moment?" My voice held a hint of pleading and he turned back to me with a flabbergasted expression.
"My pride?" His tone was harsh. He was definitely on the defensive.
"Yes, your pride. Marth came to you to apologize and you just brushed it off like it meant nothing."
"It did mean nothing. A fake apology isn't an apology whatsoever." He crossed his arms.
"And how did you know it was fake?" I asked.
"They're all fake; him and all those royal, pompous types," he growled. I could see the mercenary was getting pretty heated.
"Lucina is royalty," I reminded him.
Ike raised an eyebrow, looking away again, flustered. "She-she's different." Ike's fortress was weakening.
"Ike, I know what Marth and the others did to you was wrong, but two wrongs don't make a right," I pleaded.
"How is what I'm doing in any way wrong?" Ike argued angrily. "He apologized; I denied it. He wants to be friends with me; I don't. How is that wrong?" he exclaimed.
"You know what happened today during and after your fight?"
He shook his head.
"All the Smashers broke into arguments. Fighters like Zelda, Peach, Little Mac, Pit…they were arguing for both your sakes. The whole mansion knows about your fight. And everyone knows, even more, about your hatred for Marth. And it's causing strife between friends."
"That's on them, not me."
"Your anger against Marth doesn't just affect you!" I snapped, beginning to be angry as well. "You want Lucina and Cloud to remain cold and judgmental forever, just because you can't swallow your pride?"
"They're their own person, they make their own decisions." His anger had cooled as mine began and his tone was flat and even.
"And you're our friend," I said, taking a deep breath and trying to control myself. "We care about you, Ike… And whether you like it or not, you're also the role model for so many fighters."
Ike paused; he closed his eyes, thinking over those last words. "Then, they should find another role model."
Unexpected answer. "Don't you say that! Ike, let go of your contempt for the popular Smashers for just a moment and think of someone other than yourself!" My tone came out far more aggressive then I wanted. But this new tone from me caught his attention.
His gaze wasn't defensive though, as he looked at me. It was more soft then anything. Shame, this is what I read in the blue eyes.
"They see something in you, Ike… They see it." I felt my voice soften. "I see it…"
Then we remained silent, sinking back into our seats. I hated talking like this to him. I cared about him too much, but that was why I had to do it.
"Ike…" I faltered.
He looked back to me.
"I know it's hard. I'm not asking you to be Marth's friend, just please end this cycle of negativity. If not for anyone, or yourself…" I locked my eyes with his. "Do it for me."
Unexpectedly the ocean-blue eyes twinkled briefly and the fortress came down, for only a moment, as Ike nodded slowly, the first reassuring smile I'd ever seen from him staining is demeanor. "Well then, I'll… I'll try."
I sat back, restraining myself from smothering him. "Th-thank you, Ike."
For the next few minutes, we sat in silence. It was okay, as I needed to think over a few things. Already, I felt horrible for some of the words I'd said to Ike, about his pride. But I didn't make my discomfort obvious.
"Robyn?" His voice tore through my thoughts like a dagger through paper.
My head jerked up and I looked at him expectantly. "Mhmm?"
"Do you think we could do this again some time? You know, just you and me, spending time together?" His face was slightly red, but his voice was soft and sweet.
Butterflies, that's all I felt…my stomach was taken over by butterflies. I just knew my cheeks were as red as freshly picked strawberries.
It took me all this time to break Ike's walls down, and he just did it to me in mere moments. And I thought I was smart at getting through his fortress.
"Robyn, you okay?" Now he had a look of concern, an emotion I'd hardly seen.
"U-uhh, yes Ike… yes to both questions." I giggled.
He laughed out loud (another first). "Well, alright then. Good."
He smiled at me and I beamed back.
Please review, y'all. Thanks!
