A/N: This was originally going to be one long chapter, but I did not finish it in time. So instead, I'm going to post the first half today and the second half next week. They will both be from the same POV. I hope you enjoy! 3

Chapter 10

Link's POV

The dining room at lunch was abuzz. Today was the last day of the first month. Tonight, as Hans claimed, was the ball, but he hadn't
mentioned it again, which lead a few people to believe it was actually going to happen.

"I'm just so worried," said one girl, whose name was Peach, "Hans is so young to be running this. And so forgetful. He mixed up girl's and boy's bathrooms on beach day, Mist got food poisoning and couldn't attend shopping day, and he got the wrong color paint for the main hall so it had to be redone. I could go on for days. What are we going to do with him?"

"Don't worry, Peach," said Marth, "They were simple mistakes. Hans may be forgetful, but he's organized enough to keep things on track."

I noticed Mario glare in Marth's direction as Peach smiled at him.

The prince and princess had been friends ever since the chandelier incident a few days ago. It was almost disastrous and, hilariously enough, magical. No wonder Mario was so upset.

...

I was coming down the stairs from the third floor when I witnessed a strange event. Hans had a ladder against one side of the railing and he was standing on said railing, holding a pair of hedge trimmers with one hand and the ladder with the other. He was leaning WAY over the
edge, towards the chandelier.

"Hans, what are you doing?!" I shouted.

He jumped and leaned back. "Oh, hi Link." He gestured to the beautiful ceiling decoration. "I'm trying to cut down the chandelier."

"Why?!"

He looked me dead in the eye. "So that everyone will stop swinging from it."

I wasn't sure how to reply.

Hans busted out laughing. "I'm just kidding. I need it down for redecoration purposes. And Peach is down there to make sure it doesn't break when it falls."

On the first floor just below us, the princess was looking terribly anxious. She was standing next to some sort of special mat which I supposed was going to catch the chandelier. "Oh Hans," she said, "I just don't think this is a very good idea. What if you fall?"

My nerves were set back on edge as Hans leaned out again, saying, "Nonsense. I'm perfectly safe."

"I'll remember to have that engraved on your headstone," I sighed.

He either didn't hear me, or chose to ignore me.

I considered the situation as Hans went further and further, muttering, "Almost…..got it…so close…."

"What if you tied a rope around the top then pulled it closer?" I suggested.

Hans shook his head. "Nope. I tried that. I'm… too short."

"Oo!" said Peach, "I could do it. I'm probably tall enough." She quickly started up the staircase.

"Wait, no," I said, "I'll do it. I'm even taller. This sort of thing is a man's work."

She continued walking, stripping off her gloves and shoving them into my chest. "Don't worry yourself, Link. Redecorating is a women's job. If you're into that stereotyping stuff."

Hans leapt down from the railing and grabbed a coil of rope off the ground.

My suggestions of safety were ignored as they secured one side of the ladder against the railing and the other against the chandelier. Hans shoved the rope into my hands, then held the end of the ladder as Peach started climbing.

"Guys?" called a voice from below.

We all three peered over the edge at a very confused Marth. He pointed to the mat. "What is this for? And what in 's name are you doing?"

"Cutting down a chandelier," Hans replied, "Hold that mat in place will you?"

Marth's confused protests were also ignored.

Peach leaned out across the precariously placed ladder, snipping at the chain with the clippers that barely fit in her petite hands. She grunted in concentration, before the two sharp edges of the snips connected with the metal chain. "I got it!" Her cry of glee turned into a scream of fear when the ladder was dragged down and Peach fell.

Hans and I ran to the railing, but we both failed to catch her.

It was terrifying to watch her drop, knowing she would injure herself in some serious way.

The beautiful chandelier hit the mat, which stretched itself over the decoration, like it was swallowing it, and folded itself up into a suitcase
shape.

Peach came just after it and fell straight into Marth's arms. "Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded slowly.

The ladder crashed down next to them, but they did even flinch. Their eyes were locked.

...

Like I said, it was almost magical what happened to those two, but it had caused some clear animosity.

"Speaking of the little runt," said a gruff looking man, "have any of you seen him?" He was talking about Hans.

I shook my head. "Not since this morning. Try asking Pit or Daraen. They both share a room with him, they might know where he ran off to."

He grunted, then left the table as I eyed him cautiously. He was well over six feet tall with large muscles and a rough attitude. I wasn't sure how I felt about him; he seemed dangerous.

Pit plopped down in the chair next to me and I slowly realized a new predicament. Tip was on my right and Pit was on my left. I could almost feel the tension rising. All I could do was cross my fingers and hope the two of them could hold it together until after lunch.

Things remained calm for the first few minutes. Everyone continued eating and the talking had decreased.

The twin angels didn't seem to have any words for each other, until Tip decided that he needed the ketchup bottle that was on the far side of Pit. He leaned across us both, with a sarcastic, "Excuse me."

"Watch yourself!" I said, as his black wings batted against my face.

One of his hands 'accidentally' knocked Pit's plate off the table, into his lap, and the other snatched up the bottle.

Pit leapt to his feet. "That was really unnecessary!" He took a piece of sandwich from his lap and threw it at his twin's head.

"Argh!" The dark angel grabbed the ketchup bottle, but, unable to see correctly, poured the condiment all over my head.

I seized his shirt, reared back my fist, and socked him across the jaw.

Pit tackled me to the ground, shouting, "No one hits my friend!"

I couldn't see; the ketchup was running into my eyes and it burned. Fists were connecting with my chest.

People were yelling.

I grabbed one of the angel's arms and twisted it back. I swung a leg out to the side, then flipped Pit onto his back. He cried out in panic and tried to squirm away from my grasp. I locked one of my arms against his neck.

A pair of strong hands grabbed at me and pulled me off the angel boy.

I turned sharply, with the blood roaring in my ears, and punched Ike square in the nose. Instead of stumbling back, like Tip had, he held his ground and punched me right back. He was stronger than I had anticipated and I hit the ground.

The entire room was in an uproar. Food fights and fists fights were sending the place into chaos.

Ike pulled me back to my feet, but instead of hitting me again, like I expected by this point, he just walked away.

Pit spun me around and started shouting something I couldn't quite understand.

The doors to the dining hall slammed open, but the chaos did not stop. Only Pit and I turned to see who was standing in the doorway.

Never, in the month I had stayed here, did I see Hans look so angry. His eyes were practically flashing red. "EVERYONE STOP!" he bellowed.

There was dead silence in the room.

I looked like an idiot, arguing with a sauce covered angel, with ketchup and blood running down my face.

The silver haired boy stomped into the room, glaring at everyone he passed. Gone was the silly little boy, his clear eyes alive with seriousness rather than mischievousness and his step was hard and sound.

No one moved. No one breathed.

Hans stopped front of me and Pit slowly raised his hand to point at me.

"Put your finger down," Hans snapped, "There will be no pointed fingers in this room unless you point to yourself. I can understand if you're all getting antsy because the brawls are coming up soon and you want to beat someone up, but damn it I don't care!"

Pit stepped away from me and locked eyes with his shoes.

"This is my house and it is a house of respect. We are going to treat each other respectfully, we are going to speak respectfully, and we are going to fight respectfully. If any of you fail to grasp the concept of that, you don't belong here and the exit's just out the hall here." He looked around the room, but no one would hold his gaze.

When his eyes met mine I half-shrugged and he shook his head. "Clean this mess up" he told one of the serving bots, "Everyone should be having fun tonight and I don't want this on their minds." He turned on his heel and left the room.

A few bots came out of a back room with mops and rags.

A woman with long green hair left just behind Hans.

I considered following her, but a hand tapped my shoulder. Chrom, who I had become well acquainted with over the month, handed me a napkin.

"Thank you," I said, wiping the ketchup from my eyes.

"No problem. Are you alright? Ike seemed to have gotten you pretty good."

I gently touched my bruised jaw. "I'll be alright, I've taken worse beatings. Besides, Ike is one of my roommates. I can just beat him whenever he turns in tonight."

I noticed a girl standing next to Chrom.

He saw me stare at her. "Oh Link. Have you met my daughter Lucina?"

The girl gave Chrom a reproachful glance.

Lucina. Her name sounded familiar for sure. She was around my age with long blue-black hair and her father's sharp blue eyes. She wore a stern expression... and she was beautiful.

"Hello," she said, extending a hand, "I don't believe we've met. Lucina."

The fact that she was Chrom's daughter befuddled me, but not more than her eyes.

I shook her hand through my daze. "Link," I heard myself say.

How had we lived in the same house for a full month without meeting?

Chrom seemed to be speaking to me, but I was struggling to pay attention. "Oh...yes, yes," I said, vaguely.

Lucina put a hand on her father's shoulder, saying, "I'm going to shower. Goodbye father."

"I will see you later, Lucina."

As she passed me, she said, "Goodbye Link. I hope to see you again soon."

"Yes. Very soon," I replied.

A half smile flickered briefly across her face as she turned away from me.

My eyes followed her for a long while, until she disappeared through the doors and Chrom cleared his throat. He was waiting for an answer to a question I didn't even hear.

"What?" I asked.

He chuckled lightly. "I said I will see you at the ball tonight, yes?"

"Oh, yes. Absolutely. I will see you then."

He patted my shoulder, then returned to his table to finish lunch.

I was in desperate need of some clean clothes. As I exited the dining room and started towards the stairs, I saw that Hans and the woman with long green hair were standing in the middle of the left staircase, having a conversation.

I didn't mind, because I usually took the right stairs, but I was interested to see what they were saying.

"And again, I do apologize for the boys' behaviors earlier," the woman said.

"It's quite alright, Lady Palutena," said Hans, who was looking much more bright eyed and cheery, "It's isn't a huge mess and I did think that a fight was going to break out sooner or later. Those two always seem to be at each other's throats anyway."

"That's just it," said Palutena, "Normally there is a little coldness between them, but they can usually get along so well. They haven't fought like this since they first met."

"Hm. How strange. Oh hello Link," said Hans. He didn't really seem to care.

"Hello," I replied, "I'm just heading up to shower and change."

He nodded. "Alright. Do excuse me, Lady Palutena. I must return to my room. There is work to be done yet. Bye Link." He turned and jumped at the second floor railing, then scrambled over, like some crazy, tiny gymnast.

I noticed that he entered the unmarked door rather than Room 3, which he shared with Pit and Daraen.

I offered Palutena a short bow, since she seemed to be some kind of royalty, then continued up the stairs to my room.

Shulk was on the other side of the door. His smile quickly slid away when he saw my face. "Good grief! What's happened to you?"

A cut across my nose had started to bleed again. I wiped it away. "I'm okay," I said, "Honestly. I just got in a food fight."

My roommate scoffed. "Did the food do that to your face, or are you lying to me?"

"The fight did involve a few fists," I admitted.

"I can imagine."

I shook my head, still dazed, and headed into the bathroom that was connected to my room.

…

Feeling clean and refreshed, I tied a robe around myself and entered my room to find some fresh clothes.

Ike was sitting on his bed, holding a piece of paper. "Hello," he said.

"Hello." I was curious to see what he held; it looked almost familiar.

He held it out to me. "It's yours. I didn't mean to be nosey. It was just lying out."

I immediately recognized the image and snatched it from the mercenary's fingers. "I would appreciate it if you didn't go through my things," I growled.

"I told you, I wasn't. It was halfway under your bed, so I thought I'd save it from getting lost."
I folded up the page and put it behind my back. "Don't look at my stuff," I said.

He sighed. "I'm sorry I've upset you. I thought it was just a picture. Isn't it?"

My heart was pounding angrily. How dare he?

Ike sighed again. "Did you draw it?"

"No."

He nodded. "It's a beautiful drawing. Why was it torn? Is that why you're so upset?"

My fingers tightened around the piece of paper.

"The person that's missing," Ike continued, "Is that why you're upset that I saw it?"

I looking away for a minute, then sighed. "Yes," I quietly answered. I took the paper from behind my back and unfolded it.

It was a drawing of me, Zelda, and Sheik. Zelda and I took up the right side of the page, holding hands and smiling away. On the left side was Sheik, dressed in normal clothes and without her mask. Someone had their arm around her middle and she was smiling brightly at them. Who was holding her and who she was smiling at was unknown to most viewers, as that part of the page had been torn.

I sighed heavily, memories flooding every part of my mind. It had been two years since the drawing was given to me, but it seemed like forever. That happy life was gone.

"Whose arm is that?" Ike asked.

I was getting tired of Ike's questions; I wished he'd be quiet, but I couldn't stop myself from answering, "The same man who drew this picture, although he was just a boy then."

"What was his name?"

My fingers curled back around the image. "I don't want to talk about him."

"I'm sorry. I only asked for his name-"

"It doesn't matter! It's over; he's gone!"

He winced as I threw the page forcefully onto the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said, "Is he dead?"

The question caught me off guard and my answer came tumbling out before I even knew what I was saying, "Yes."

He sighed, then slowly stood up. "Hans wants to meet the two of us in the ballroom."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Half the time I'm not even sure if what he's saying is real words."

"Alright. I'll be there in a minute," I said, as he slammed the door shut.

A/N: Next half of this chapter should be out next week. See you all then! Requests for POVs are still open. 333