Shocked, Marth's face turned white as his cerulean eyes began to widen in bewilderment and confusion. Marth tightly clutched his azure hair and looked at his feet. No, this couldn't be! This could not be true! But then again, Marth did look nearly identical to Prince Marth.
Ike could not accept Tiki's abrupt statement. His best friend, a reincarnation of a legendary prince?! This was hard to believe! For a long time, Ike simply viewed Marth as a close friend. Tiki could only look at the stunned Marth.
"Are you joking?" Marth uneasily asked, looking up at Tiki.
"No, I'm not joking." Tiki answered sternly.
"Is it because I coincidently look like Prince Marth?!" Marth asked again, unable to calm down. "Or is it because I have his name?"
"No. Those are not the reasons why you are the embodiment of Prince Marth's spirit." Tiki set a gentle hand on Marth's left hand. "Let me see your hand, please."
Marth nodded, allowing Tiki to take his hand. Tiki shut her eyes and began to mumble words. Her words were not understandable, as she was speaking in an old, ancient language used centuries ago. Marth and Ike could only look at each other, confused and not understanding what Tiki was doing. Link, who was still standing behind the two and watching the scene, looked down at his left hand with a sad, distressed sigh.
When Tiki finished chanting the mysterious, ancient language and opened her eyes, a glowing, fragmented piece of a gold triangle suddenly shone on Marth's left hand. Marth gasped loudly and gazed at the shape in amazement. Wait, this could not be! He could not have it!
At the same time, the Triforce of Courage glowed on the back of Link's left hand. Unlike his friends however, Link was unfazed, like of he was expecting this to happen.
Much to Ike's surprise, a tiny piece of a gold triangle weakly shimmered on the back of his left hand. "What the—" he gasped, looking at Marth's shining hand. "Marth, your hand! I mean, our hands!"
"I know!" Marth exclaimed. "Tiki, is it what we think it is?"
"Yes." Tiki replied, admiring the gold triangle shining on Marth's hand. "This proves that you are the incarnation of Prince Marth's spirit. During the battle over the Triforce, Prince Marth and the leader of Crimea shattered the entire Triforce start. As it fell, the Triforce of Power shattered into a large piece and a small piece. To his favor, Prince Marth managed to seize the larger piece and tried to use it against the Crimean leader, only to get chased away by the Hylians and Angels. The piece of the Triforce of Power isn't passed down by blood. It is only shown in the hands of Prince Marth's spirit."
"Wait, if the Crimean leader got the smallest piece of the Triforce of Power," Ike started, looking at the tiny glowing shard on his hand. "then what is this?! Is this the smaller piece of the Triforce? If so, why do I have it?!"
"That is the smaller piece of the shattered Triforce." Tiki clarified. "Why do you have it? The answer is simple. You are the embodiment of Prince Ike, the ruler who led Crimea."
Ike's cobalt eyes we're as wide as eggs. "Wait, Prince Ike? He was the ruler of the kingdom Crimea, right? H-How was he?"
Tiki looked down at the spring sadly. "In his youth, Prince Ike was an intelligent, protective ruler who would have been a fine, kind ruler. However, a tragic event in his late childhood shattered his personality."
"What happened?" Ike asked.
"His father, the previous ruler of Crimea, was assassinated." Tiki explained. "A crest from the Kingdom Altea was found on the deceased king's body. Upon discovering this, Prince Ike vowed to get revenge on Altea. He did anything that it takes to destroy a kingdom, even if it meant destroying the world."
"Geez, that's insane..." Ike looked down.
"I assume that both of you had dizzy spells and even fainted at least once, am I correct?" Tiki's question was answered by Ike's and Marth's nods. "The soul of Prince Marth and Prince Ike are trying to warn you. They are telling both of you to leave this world immediately."
"Why?" Ike asked.
Link quickly looked away and shut his eyes, trying to hold back tears.
"The Risen, Medeus's followers, will do anything to capture Marth." Tiki explained. "They want to revive their leader."
"Where can we go?" Marth asked.
"The safest place for both of you to stay is your birthplace." Tiki answered. "Or Hollow, as we call it."
"If it's for the best for Hyrule and us, then we'll leave as soon as possible!" Ike replied bravely.
Marth nodded in agreement.
As Ike and Marth rose and turned to leave, Tiki quickly stopped them.
"Wait, before you two go, I need to give something to Marth!" she exclaimed.
Marth paused and turned to Tiki. "Yes, what is it?"
"I want you to have this!" Tiki reached into her dress pocket and took out a shiny, clear, aquamarine gem. It was a fragment from a crystal-clear sky. "Before he left for battle, Prince Marth gave me this gem as a gift! It was part of his crown!"
As Marth was given the blue gem, he examined the jewel before taking off his tiara. Marth's tiara nearly looked like a gold hairband. It was embroiled with tiny sapphire crystals. At the middle of the tiara, was an empty space for a missing jewel.
Blinking, Marth took the blue gem and placed it into the empty spot. The gem was a perfect fit. Marth set his tiara onto his head and blinked.
"Marth..." Tiki softly started. She suddenly embraced the bluenette. This time, it was was not as tight as the first embrace. "It's really you..."
With a small, warm smile, Marth embraced the manakete back.
Mounted on their pegasi, the travelers flew back to Hyrule. Unlike Roy and Pit, who felt accomplished and glad that their adventure was coming to an ending, their older friends Ike, Marth, and Link were a bit quiet and solemn.
Ike and Marth were a bit dazed and stunned. They could not believe that they were connected to Hyrule's past! So, that was why they were feeling dizzy and faint and a golden light emitted from their hands!
However, they also felt different, conflicting emotions. While Marth was willing to accept the truth, Ike was still in denial. He and Marth couldn't have fought against each other in another life! Ike couldn't imagine it! If he and Marth were fated to be enemies in a past life, why were they friends in this life?
Ike looked ahead and watched the sun slowly drift across the sky, towards the hills in the distance. His surrounds began to change its hues as the light slowly began to die out. He then looked at his friends. He smiled slightly at Roy and Pit, who were talking loudly. The two were lucky; they still had their innocence. However, his grin fell when he looked at Marth and Link. Marth, who was flying in front of him, was looking directly ahead him. He refused to talk to anyone. Link, who was flying next to Ike, looked down with a sad look.
"Hey Link, are you ok?" Ike asked the upset Hylian.
"I'm fine." Link forced a tiny smile before it fell. "It's just that, I'm somewhat upset."
"Is it the story of the past?" Ike questioned.
"No." Link began to explain. "It's the fact that you, Marth, and the others have to return to Hollow, your birthplace. To be honest, I've never had friends like all of you. Pit and Toon were technically the only friends I had during childhood."
"What about Lucina and Owain?" Ike asked again. "Aren't they your friends?"
"Lucina and Owain..." Link sighed. "They and their parents were a bit mysterious. They suddenly arrived at Hyrule one day. I assume they came from another world."
"Maybe Hollow?" Ike suggested.
Link shook his head. "I don't know. I never asked them. Ike, when you and your friends leave, I'll miss you dearly."
Ike nodded slowly. "Me too. To be honest, I don't want to go back to Hollow. I like it here better."
"Why?" Link asked.
"It's because, this world feels more like home." Ike explained. "It's where we originated from. I don't like Hollow. There's something I don't like about it... Maybe it's not as lively as Hyrule, the Surface?"
"Yes." Link agreed.
Unbeknownst to Ike and Link, Marth was listening to their conversation. A heart-retching feeling began to swell in his heart. Like Ike, he also wanted to stay in Hyrule. However, due to being the incarnation of Prince Marth's soul, he was in danger of being captured by the Risen. In order to prevent the destruction of this world, he needed to return to Hollow with his friends.
Yet, his friends dearly wanted to stay in Hyrule with Link, who did not want his new-found friends to leave. Marth was conflicted by his emotions. Should he riskily stay in Hyrule for the satisfaction of his friends, or leave for the sake of the future?
Author's Notes: Mar-Mar...
Finally, here's the 9th chapter. Personally, I think that this story is a little more than halfway done. Oh yeah, I also got a review telling me that Ganondorf has the Triforce of Power, not Ike and Marth. I don't mean to sound rude, but this is an AU fanfic. You can play around with canon facts and whatnot.
Just a question to ask you guys: Do you think I start on another fanfic? I think it's interesting, since I've trying to finish this story as soon as possible so I can start on another. I'm still considering this.
Story Questions:
Where do you think Chrom and his family originated from?
Do you think Marth is going to stay in Hyrule or return to Hollow?
