Note: There's a triggering moment in this chapter. There's a warning before the part.
His eyes stinging and pink and his nose clogged with snot, Roy groggily opened his eyes as reality pulled him out of his dreamless sleep. Sniffing and rubbing his dry eyes, he looked at the clock on his nightstand, which read 4:30 AM.
Roy clumsily sat up and looked out the window. It was still raining violently. Raindrops of all sizes rapidly plunged from the angered clouds to the earth, who was facing their wrath. The windows of the neighboring homes were dead black, indicating that everyone was still asleep.
Roy trembled slightly in pain as he remembered the screaming, livid argument he had with his father. Although it happened hours ago, to Roy it felt like it was only several, short moments. He still felt the stabs and bruises ache and sting in his heart, which turned and twisted violently in his burning chest. His stomach flip-flopped as he remembered the fuming details of the argument.
Swallowing nervously, Roy hugged himself as thoughts raced through his mind. He could not take the pain anymore. He was too tired to continue through the trail. However, no wonder how hard he wished, he could not forfeit the journey. He had to finish it, no matter what. It was required for a living thing like him.
But, he could always take a shortcut, which had no obstacles and fear. But, he might regret taking the shortcut later! However, the other alternative was to face his troubles and the dangerous obstacles that sat in the way. He might get caught in one of its traps, getting hurt in the progress!
After a short while, Roy made his choice. He decided to take the short cut.
When Roy carefully opened the door, the first thing he saw was Marth sitting against the wall asleep. Roy quietly stepped out of his room and looked at him. Marth was probably waiting for him to come out. Instead of waking the bluenette up however, Roy just smiled slightly and silently walked away.
Hoping not to wake them, Roy snuck into his parents' bedroom. He found them sleeping together in bed. Both of them embraced their partner protectively, vowing to stay together until the end. The only sound he heard were their gentle breathing.
Sure that Eliwood and Lyn were in deep sleep, Roy stealthily crept towards the drawers, carefully opened it in order to not wake them, and took a certain box and a weapon. Looking at his parents once more, he hurried out of the room, knowing that it would be the last time he would see them.
Marth was awoken by the sound of soft footsteps walking down the hallway. With a tired yawn, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the shadowy figure, trying to identify it. It was a bit hard to see through the darkness with sleepy, cerulean eyes.
"W-Who is this?" Marth asked quietly.
"Marth? It's me, Eliwood." Eliwood answered as he went towards the bluenette.
Marth got off the ground and stretched. His joints painfully cracked; Marth did not have a comfortable sleep. It was more comfortable to sleep in a sleeping bag than against the wall.
"Why are you here?" Eliwood asked.
"I was waiting f-for Woy..." Marth softly answered. He pointed to the door and stated, "He l-locked the door."
"Oh, I remember." Eliwood replied, suddenly feeling guilty. He looked away, hoping not to make eye contact with Marth.
"Mr. E-Eliwood?" Marth quietly spoke up with wide eyes. "What's wrong?"
"It's... It's the argument I had with Roy." Eliwood answered, not afraid to conceal his feelings. "I feel that I've been too harsh on him..."
"I k-kinda agree." Marth admitted. "
"I've been too hard on him..." Eliwood continued regretfully. "Instead of forcing him out of his depression quickly, I should've supported him along the way..."
"Depression? What do you mean?" Marth blinked.
"After when my wife passed away, Roy was diagnosed with depression, a mental state of hopelessness." Eliwood explained. "Although pills were prescribed for him, they did not help much, due to stress from school. Also, Roy's depression made an impact on his schoolwork, social life, and personality. He had a hard time making friends and motivating himself to do well. This resulted in him having a withdrawn, lonely personality."
"Why d-did you push him?" Marth asked.
"I just wanted my son back." Eliwood answered, tears filling his eyes. "I wanted to pull him out of his depression, so our life could be the same again! I also wanted to remarry, so Roy could have a mother. I felt that Lyn was a perfect match."
"I t-think you should've just encouraged h-him." Marth responded. "He t-t-told me that you changed a lot after when N-Ninian died."
"How?" Eliwood asked. This was something new.
Marth's shoulders pulled up in shyness. "Well, W-Woy told me dat y-you hardly paid attention to him and you o-only cared about others a-and your j-job. Also, he m-mentioned that you w-were pushing him too hard..."
Eliwood looked at the ground. "I knew it..." he said quietly."I was being selfish..."
"You're n-not shellfish!" Marth protested calmly. "Y-You were just trying to b-bring Woy back!"
"No, Marth. I was being selfish." Eliwood admitted sternly. "I need to admit it to Roy."
"Do y-you think Woy's going to understand?" Marth asked softly.
Eliwood went towards the shut door, which led to Roy's room. "I hope so." He gently knocked on the door, hoping that Roy was not going to crankily shut him out. "R...Roy?"
There was no response. Eliwood knocked harder on the wooden surface. "Roy?" he spoke louder.
Silence.
"M-Maybe he's still asleep..." Marth spoke uneasily, sensing for the worse.
"Is the door still locked?" Eliwood asked, taking the doorknob and turning it. "No, it isn't."
Eliwood quietly opened the door and entered Roy's room, which was nearly as dark as the room itself. "Roy? I need to talk to you." he said, as he turned on the light.
As the light splashed the shady room with color, Eliwood looked at the bed for his son. Instead of seeing his son drowsily and grumpily waking up and rubbing his eyes, all he saw was a blanket untidily spread open on the bed with not sign of the younger redhead. Worry began to turn in Eliwood's stomach. Where was his son? Could he...?
"Roy?" Eliwood called louder, his voice shaking with nervousness. "Come out! Please!"
Marth sensed that something terrible happened to Roy. As Eliwood began to worriedly look for Roy on the second floor, Marth hurried down the stairs. He turned on the lights and panicky glanced around for any signs of the redhead.
"W-o-o-o-o-o-y!" Marth exclaimed loudly. He looked in the kitchen and saw no one. "Where are you?"
The lights in the master bedroom flashed on as Lyn hurried to Eliwood, awoken by the alarmed shouts for Eliwood. She gently set her hands in Eliwood's and asked, "What's wrong? Is it Roy?"
Trying to stay calm, yet panicking wildly in their, Eliwood set his shaky hands on Lyn's shoulders. "We can't find Roy anywhere!"
Lyn gasped. "What should we do! Call the police?"
"I don't think so." Eliwood answered unsurely. "Maybe we should ask the neighbors if they saw him!"
"But everyone is asleep! They couldn't have seen him!"
While Eliwood and Lyn were discussing what to do next and how they were going to find Roy, they did not notice Marth walking up the stairs. Listening to the grown-ups' tense conversation, Marth wondered why did Roy runaway. What happened? Was he that upset? Also, where could he be now? He can't be at the pizza joint or the arcade now! These places were closed.
"I can't think." Marth thought to himself. "Mr. Eliwood and Mrs. Lyn are talking too loud. Maybe it's quieter in their bedroom."
Marth decided to go into the master bedroom. As he entered the room, he noticed that the drawer containing the handgun, bullets, and picture was slightly open. His heart pounding in alarm, Marth unsteadily opened it. Please be in here... Please be in here... Please be in here...!
"No..." Marth thought to himself in panic. Both the gun and the box of bullets were gone!
Without thinking twice, Marth sped pass Eliwood and Lyn, who were still debating on what to do, hurried down the stairs, quickly put on his jacket, and rushed out the door, accidentally leaving it open in his hurry. Although he was a naive, ignorant young man with a brain that consisted little of how the world worked, he knew that a handgun could hurt people, including Roy himself.
With Roy in his thoughts, Marth hurried down the wet streets, sensing where Roy could be. He did not care if the freezing rain poured down on his body. The only thing he cared about was saving Roy.
(A/N: Trigger warning!)
When Roy was little, his parents would take him to the beach when his father was off from work. The sandy land would have lots of people walking along the shores with their loved ones, making sandcastles, and collecting a few stones and seashells that washed up. The sky would be a perfect, clear blue and the sun would be out, chasing away the gloominess.
However, everything was completely gone now.
The sky was now a lifeless, dark black with anguished clouds covering the sun and pouring their despair onto the drenched land. There were hardly any people, as they were wise enough to stay inside, where it is warm, cozy, and dry. The only person who was on the lonely, dark beach was Roy.
Roy was sitting on the soaked, gritty sand. As the rain drenched his soaked, shivering body, he nervously gazed at the handgun that sat in his shaking hands. He was unsure if he should so this... Although some said death itself was one of the most relieving experiences in life, it could also be one of the most horrifying moments in life.
Roy was beginning to have second thoughts. Maybe he should not do this! He could bear with his new family and adapt to it! Also, Pit was his only friend! Like him, Pit had a little trouble fitting in! Not only that, Marth needed him as a guidance! He never showed him how to draw!
But, what if his new family did not accept him? What if his father never changed at all? He always wanted him to be better! Pit would not be lonely without him; he had Link! He choice him and his brothers over Roy for the movies! Marth did not always need him! Although he dreaded the green-haired male, Roy figured that Marth could always ask for Wolt for help on drawing.
Figuring that he finally made his precious decision, Roy anxiously took a single, small yet fetal bullet from its box and put it in the gun. After loading it, he set the deadly weapon's barrel against the side on his head.
This was finally it.
Clutching his navy-blue eyes shut, Roy set his finger on the trigger.
He was finally free.
"W-o-o-o-y!" Just as when Roy was about to pull the trigger, he heard Marth calling his name from the distance. He set down the gun, looked behind him, and saw Marth hurrying through the thick, damp sand towards him. His cerulean eyes were not only full of fear, but also worry.
"Marth?!" Roy asked in jolt. "Why are you here?!"
Marth did not answer Roy's question. Instead, he quickly took off his wet jacket and put it on the smaller redhead. "Woy, you're s-so kold..." Marth said nervously as he zipped the jacket for Roy. "There..."
"Marth, I don't need it." Roy protested again. "Why are you—?"
Roy never got to finish his question, as Marth wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a tight yet warm embrace.
"Woy... Don't go..." Marth quietly sniffed. Tears began to fill his eyes.
"What did you say?" Roy could not hear due to the pattering sound of the rain.
"DON'T GO!" Marth suddenly exclaimed, as ears began to roll down his face.
"But Marth, I—!"
Marth hugged Roy tighter. "I don't w-want you to g-go!" he continued loudly. "If y-you die, then y-you'll leave me, your dad, W-Lyn, Pit, L-Link, everyone!"
Roy huffed loudly. "Nobody needs me, ok? It's better off if I'm dead, ok?"
"NOOO!" Marth argued. "That's not true!"
"Why?"
"It's because, I need you. Everyone y-you know n-needs you." Marth answered shakily.
Roy was bewildered at the sentence. He could not reply to Marth's answer.
"Woy? R-Remember when your m-mom died?" Marth continued. "Didn't you f-feel sad? D-Do you want all o-of us to feel like dat?"
"I... No, I don't." Roy answered, slightly bewildered. He did not think of that at all!
"...I'm sorry." Marth softly said.
"Wait, what are you sorry for?" Roy asked. He was now confused.
"I t-thought that I needed y-you more than anyone else!" Marth explained, burying his face into Roy's slim shoulder. "But, it t-turns out that you n-need me more!"
"M...Marth..." Roy said, as he set his head on Marth's larger shoulder and gently closed his eyes.
"There you guys are!"
Marth and Roy released each other from embrace and looked at the source of the voice. There, Eliwood hurried towards them, an umbrella in his hands. His face was a bit pale from panic.
When Eliwood stopped at the two, he sternly scolded, "Marth and Roy, never run off like that again, understand?! Something dangerous could happen!"
His navy-blue orbs then noticed the open box of bullets and the handgun next to Roy.
"Roy, don't tell me that you were—!" Eiwood started, terribly shocked at what his own son attempted.
"Dad, I... I... I...!" Roy shakily started, not knowing what to say.
Eliwood kneeled down and motioned Roy to come to him. "Roy, come here. Don't ask why, just come." he ordered, still feeling a bit uneasy.
Roy nodded and went to his father, who suddenly wrapped his arms around his son, pulled him towards his chest, and tightly embraced the smaller male. Suddenly finding himself in his father's arms, Roy flinched and went tense. When was the last time he was embraced from his own father? About a year, Roy supposed.
"Roy, I'm sorry for being selfish." Eliwood spoke to him. He felt Roy shivering slightly and hugged him harder to protect him from the cold. "Please understand, I just wanted you back. I just wanted the Roy Pherae I knew and loved back. But, I was so focused on trying to bring him back, I didn't notice that I was pressuring him. Please forgive me, Roy."
"Dad..." Roy could only reply softly. He began to relax in Eliwood's arms. "No, Dad I should be the one who's sorry. I was being a self-absorbed antisocial! You were only trying to help! I should've...accepted the changes in our family. I should've noticed that you were only trying to make me a better person!"
"Roy..." Eliwood responded quietly.
"Erm, I t-think both of you are... Uh, how should I-I shay this...?" Marth spoke up awkwardly.
"...Equally guilty." Eliwood answered for the bluenette with a small smile, before turning to Roy, who was still in his arms. "Roy, don't think about what I said about your birth."
"You mean, the time-traveling thing?" Roy asked with wide eyes. His throat began to twist as he remembered the argument. Roy blinked his small tears away.
"No matter what the circumstances, I unconditionally love you." Eliwood continued. "You are part of both your mother's and my blood."
Roy tried to hold in his tears. "D-D-Dad? Do you think t-t-that Mom hates me because I-I gave her cancer after w-when I was born?" he unsteadily asked.
"No, you didn't!" Eliwood squeezed his son gently. "We discovered that she had cancer after when you were born! It wasn't your fault!"
"Still, if I hadn't been born, both of you wouldn't have known!" Roy included, his voice shaking like a tiny earthquake. Tears began to trickle down his face, as he was unable to hold it back.
"Sooner or later, we will eventually learn." Eliwood calmly answered. "It's something we can't evade. Do you understand?"
Roy nodded. "Mmmm hmmm."
"Even though I'm married to Lyn, that does not mean that forgot about your mother." Eliwood concluded. "I will always love her, even if she isn't here with me."
Roy nodded again, his tears blurring his vision.
"You are your mother's irreplaceable gift to me." Eliwood answered, giving Roy a truthful, loving, warm smile. "I would never forgive myself if I ever lose you."
"D...Dad..." Roy could only weakly say. Tears began to roll down his face. Unable to hide his true feelings, Roy buried his face into Eliwood's shoulder and began to sob hysterically. "D-a-a-a-a-a-a-d!"
"Woy, d-don't cry!" Marth exclaimed softly. He scooted towards the two redheads. Eliwood allowed Marth to join the embrace. "Pwease..."
"Shhh, it's ok." Eliwood whispered soothingly into his crying son's ears. "Daddy's here now. Shh..."
"...Daddy..." Roy sobbed into Eliwood's shoulder.
Eliwood hugged both Roy and Marth tighter and began to stroke Roy's cardinal hair.
By the time Roy finally calmed down, ten minutes had passed. It was near five in the morning, and the sun was beginning to rise towards the sky. The gold, bright light struck the clouds, chasing the darkness away and created a blast of colors in the sky. Seemingly cheered by the colors, the clouds began to drift away along with its misery the rain.
Roy sniffed loudly and wiped the tears out of his eyes as both Eliwood and Marth released him from their embrace.
"Do you feel better, Roy?" Eliwood asked with a hopeful smile.
Roy nodded with a tired smile and shivered a bit. "Y...Yes."
Eliwood gave Roy a small pat on the back and looked at Marth. "Let's get you two back inside. It's a bit cold here."
(A/N: End of trigger)
Once when they finally arrived back home, Roy and Marth were immediately changed into dry, warm clothes and wrapped in fuzzy, comforting blankets. While the two teens were watching TV, Lyn approached them with two cups of hot tea.
"Well, we don't hot chocolate." she told them as she set the cups on the coffee table. "Tea is what we have left."
"It's okay! T-T-Thank you!" Marth thanked with a huge smile as he took a cup and sipped its warm contents. Swallowing the tasteless liquid, he stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Bleh, no taste..."
Roy unsurely took the second cup and shyly said, "Thank you...M... I'm not sure if I should say it..."
"Go on! Say it!" Marth encouraged with a large grin.
Swallowing his nervousness, Roy looked at Lyn directly in the eyes and said, "Thank you, M...Mom."
Lyn smiled lovingly at her stepson and playfully ruffled his hair. "You're welcome, Roy."
Meanwhile, a suspicious, black car was parked near Ike's home behind the tall shrubs that separated his front yard from his neighbor's. Seated in the vehicle were two mean dressed in black. Their eyes glared at the front door, as they were patiently waiting for someone to come out.
"He should be living here." one of the men said.
The other man nodded and continued to gaze at the door.
Finally, the person they were waiting for opened the door. Not aware about the strangers sneakily peering at him from the corner, Ike stepped out of the house and went to the driveway. There, was the daily paper.
As he bent down and picked up the roll of newspaper, Ike noticed a black car at the corner of his yard. Sensing something ominous, he carefully crept closer to the car, so he could see its passengers. This could not be good... He never saw this car in his neighborhood. Maybe his next-door neighbor brought a new car?
"Shit!" Ike thought to himself in alarm when he recognized the men. "They're here to get me!"
Without wasting single second and asking questions, Ike hurried back into his home, slamed the door shut, and quickly locked the door. He was now restless, as they now know where he lived.
"Ike? What happened?" Mist asked as she went down the stairs. There, she found Ike curled in a protective ball in front of the door, cowering fearfully and trembling wildly. "What's wrong?"
Looking at his younger sister, Ike frightfully said, "They're here to get me... They know where I am..."
Author's Notes: Cliffhanger? *gets hit in face with tennis balls*
Well, I forgot to mention that there's a triggering moment in the last chapter, so I quickly squeezed it in. For those who skipped the part due to it being too traumatizing, Roy just attempted suicide and Marth save him. Then Eliwood comforts him. I think this scene isn't too mature, so I'll leave it at T for now.
Just to let you know, school started for me, so updates are going to be slow! Also, I'm taking three advanced placement classes, so I might be too busy with work!
Story Questions:
Do you think Roy's going to have a stronger bond with his family?
Why do you think the men want Ike?
