Usually during breaks, Ike felt relaxed, as he was free from stressful schoolwork and assignments. This time however, he felt unbelievably stressed out. No, it was not because Hector told his class they were having a test after break. It was because, Roy was behaving strangely.
Every day, Roy would get up at six in the morning, take an aluminum baseball bat (It was in Ike's closet.), and cautiously patrol the backyard and street like a watchdog. He did the same thing before he went to bed with Ike. Ike was worried. Before Thanksgiving break, Roy was NOT behaving this way! Why was he suddenly so anxious and cautious? The rest of Ike's family wondered the same thing. They tried asking Roy what he was doing however, Roy always managed to slip away without an answer like jello.
Roy knew that his family suspected something. However, he could not tell the, what he was doing! He was trying to protect them! If either of them got involved, it would put them at a high risk of getting violently injured or worse— killed.
Roy loved Ike's family dearly, even though he was aware that he was not biologically related. They were the first people he met outside of the dreadful facility and the first ones to care about him. He hated to see something disastrous happen to them. Now, it was time for him to return the favor!
One morning, Roy and his family decided to go to a nearby supermarket after lunch. Tomorrow was Thanksgiving and the family decided to do some shopping for food at the last minute.
Roy had never seen a place so packed and large in his life. Wherever he looked around, he saw people. THOUSANDS of people. There were hundreds of aisles filled with food. Loud, repetitive beeping noises from funny-looking machines (To Roy.) echoed in the air.
"Stick together, everyone." Gawain warned. "You can get lost easily in the crowds."
"Now, if we get separated, we will meet at the entrance, got it?" Elena asked.
"Got it!" Ike and Mist said.
Roy nodded with an understanding smile and followed his family to the vegetable section.
Meanwhile, three men sent by Zephiel from the facility entered the supermarket. Many people passed by them without a single care, as they thought they were ordinary, everyday citizens of Smashville. The three saw Roy follow Ike and his family.
"I see him." the first man said to his partners. "Let's follow the family and wait for the experiment to get lost in the crowds. When the time is right, we'll grab 'em and take 'em back."
Trying not to cause any suspicion, the three men began to stalk Roy and his family. At the vegetable section, Roy stood by the cart next to Mist and watched his family pick several vegetables. He noticed three men behind them looking at vegetables. Roy ignored them at first and minded his own business.
"Are you sure this is enough, Mom and Dad?" Ike asked his parents as he dumped some potatoes and lettuce into the cart.
"Don't worry!" Elena answered. "It's enough! Trust us!"
Roy and his family then went to the meat section. As they calmly strolled there, Roy unexpectedly turned around and spotted the same three men trailing him. The redhead quickly turned away as his skin became as white as paper. He sensed something ominous surrounding them.
"Whoa! That steak is huge!" Ike exclaimed, pointing to a large piece of steak.
Mist giggled at her older brother. He loved meat. "I know! It's just as big as you!"
"It's not that big!" Ike replied.
Gawain and Elena were looking at the turkeys, trying to find the biggest one. The two parents knew that they needed a large portion of meat to satisfy three mouths.
Roy, who was hanging around the shopping cart, distrustfully watched the three men. Like at the vegetable section, they were looking at meat. Roy was slowly becoming anxious. He knew it all along! They were men from that place! They were going to take him back and possibly harm his family! What should he do? Tell Ike and the others? They might not believe him!
"He's getting suspicious." the first man whispered to his partners, taking a quick glance at Roy.
"Yes, he is." the second man whispered back.
"Should we pretend to leave and continue following him?" the third man suggested.
"Yes." the first man answered.
Surprisingly to Roy, the three men began to leave. The redhead raised an eyebrow; where we're they going? Was it a trap? Roy cautiously crept towards the aisle and peered down. He only saw a few people quickly passing by.
Roy sighed and relief and turned around. To his agony however, he noticed that Ike and the others were gone! They left without him!
Roy's heartbeat increased as the music of panic screeched in his ears. What should he do now?! Wait... Elena mentioned that if either of them gets lost, they will meet at the entrance! Trying to reassure himself, Roy hurried down the aisle and was about to turn when he spotted the three men in the distance.
Roy jumped in his shoes when one of the men pointed at him and his partners turned. With a soft cry, Roy hurried down the opposite direction. He bumped into a few strangers along the way; some of them gave the redhead a dirty look. Roy did not care. He just wanted to get away from the three men, find his family, and go home!
"No, they're not here...!" Roy panicky said to himself as he looked down every aisle. He turned around and gasped in fright. The men were gaining on him! Without wasting a single second, Roy quickly dashed down the aisle, towards the frozen food section.
As the redhead ran down the section, he looked behind his back for the chasing men. Unfortunately, like all humans, Roy did not have eyes on the back of his head.
Thud! Because he was not watching where he was going, Roy accidentally collided with Eliwood, who was walking down the aisle, looking for Ninian.
"A-Ah!" Eliwood exclaimed as fell to the ground.
"Owch..." Roy groaned.
"Sorry, Roy! I didn't see you!" Eliwood apologized, helping his student up.
"It's ok." Roy replied, turning around. His entire tensed up as his eyes widened in fright. At the end of the aisle, were the three men! What were they going to do? Threaten Eliwood and take him away?
"Shoot, he's with someone!" the first man whispered.
"Retreat!" the second man hissed loudly.
Eliwood and Roy watched the three men hurry away.
"Roy, are you ok?" Eliwood worried asked again, noticing how tense Roy was. "Did these men do anything to you?"
"N-No, they didn't." Roy shakily answered. "They were following me when I lost my family."
Eliwood smiled reassuringly at Roy. "Let's go find them now. Don't worry, everything's over!"
"Thank you, Mr. Pherae." Roy replied with a soft smile.
As the two redheads walked away to find Roy's family, unbeknownst to them, the three men were carefully peering at them from a corner.
"Hey, that guy must have some relationship with him!" the first man hissed.
"Mr. Pherae?" the second man whispered. "He might be a teacher... Hold on, didn't someone spot the experiment at a school called Ninterty High?"
"Yeah!" the third man answered. "That means, Mr. Pherae teaches at Ninterty! He has the experiment in one of his classes!"
"But when?" the second man questioned.
"Let's report back to the facility." the first man ordered. "Someone can hack into the school system and find out when does Mr. Pherae has 'em."
Ike and the rest of his family were waiting at the entrance of the supermarket when they spotted Roy and Eliwood.
"Guys!" Roy exclaimed, rushing towards Ike and tightly wrapping his arms around him.
"Roy, what's wrong?" Ike asked. He took notice of Eliwood, who calmly watched the scene. "Oh, hello Mr. Pherae!"
"Hello, Ike." Eliwood greeted.
"Are you one of Ike's teachers?" Gawain asked.
"Yes, I am his art academy teacher." Eliwood answered. He shook both of Gwain's and Elena's hands with a small smile.
"I'm Mist!" Mist greeted with a large smile.
"Mist? Hmmm... I think I've heard of you." Eliwood said. "My wife told me you have great acting skills!"
"Really?" Mist asked in awe and flatter. "Thanks!"
"Mr. Pherae? What happened to Roy?" Ike asked. Roy was still tightly embracing him.
Eliwood's expression fell to a worried look. "About that..." he started. "Roy was getting stalked by three adult men. I am a bit concerned. They looked like that wanted something from him."
"This is serious..." Gawain replied. "I think we should put our guards up and pay more thtattention to our surroundings."
"Yes, I agree." Elena added. "Just before Smashville is a peaceful city does not mean it is free of criminals."
Ike suddenly thought of something. Maybe the trigger to Roy's strange behaviors was the three men stalking him! Roy must have sensed they were going to snatch him away at any minute! No wonder why he cautiously watched the house like a guard dog!
"Roy, why didn't you tell us?" Ike suddenly asked Roy.
"Tell... What?" Roy asked, trying to sound innocent.
"That there were men stalking you." Ike replied. "If you told us, we could have done something to protect you!"
Roy began to feel a bit nervous. Shoot... Ike was going down the right path towards the redhead's secret past. Yet, Roy did not want his family to be involved. They were helpless against the men from that place. Again, he did not want anything to happen to them!
"Er, Ike?" Roy spoke up. "There were not any men following me. The reason why I began to... Erm... Guard the house is, I had this dream that the entire house got taken over by shadow monsters! It felt so real, I thought it was actually going to happen one day!" Roy's navy blue orbs met Ike's unsure cobalt-blue orbs, trying to convince Ike. "I felt that it was my responsibility to protect everyone!"
"Roy, dreams sometimes don't come true." Ike said, giving Roy a small hug. "Besides, as long as we are together, we can protect ourselves from anything!"
"This is true, Roy." Elena spoke up. "You can't do everything on your own. You need support."
Roy nodded in understanding. To be honest, he was glad that everyone fell for his made-up, untruthful answer. Good, now his family was not fully involved in his situation.
"I need to go now." Eliwood said. "I lost my wife in the crowds and I need to go look for you. See you at school, Ike, Roy, and Mist!"
"See you next time!" Ike said as his teacher left.
"Tell Mrs. Pherae I said hi!" Mist called.
Roy just nodded and smile.
As he entered the market, Eliwood turned around and smiled at Ike and his family. At that moment, he directly made eye contact with Roy. A sudden, mysterious feeling struck him like a bolt of lightning. Eliwood quickly turned around and continued his way. What was this? He experienced the same familiar feeling when he first met Roy. Yet, it felt stronger than ever!
"Hmmm..." Eliwood thought to himself. "I must have known Roy for a long time. However, I had never seen him before! This is strange. I know that he looks nearly identical to me but, I don't get the same feeling when I look at myself in the mirror!"
Author's Notes: Uh... More cliffhangers?
I decided to quickly upload chapter 20. Admittedly, this chapter does not seem to be interesting in my opinion. However, trust me; the next chapter is VERY important. It will affect the plotline of the story! I'll upload it tomorrow!
Story Questions:
Had you ever gotten lost in a supermarket?
What do you think is going to happen in the next chapter?