Chapter 37: The Prince and the Pauper
Persona 5 is a great game that has consumed my life, "I haven't seen the sun in five weeks guys." – SuperButterBuns (Persona 5 for Beginners, 38:12)
Marth didn't spend much time with the commoners, between saving the world, being a king, and being summoned into other worlds to fight in battles he had no emotional ties to; he didn't really have much time to settle down and talk with the people he spent so much time saving. So when he heard that he was paired with a commoner literally named after his position in life, he couldn't contain his excitement.
"So what do you do when your country isn't at war?" Marth asked intensely. He wanted to absorb as much information possible before the day ended.
"Uh, my town has never been at war." Villager answered, Marth was making the villager incredibly uncomfortable, the prince was practically leaning over the table.
"Never been to war?! What a paradise your kingdom must be, to never have had to experience the agonies of war."
"Kingdom? It's a small town at best, not much happens, it's a pretty peaceful place." Villager smiled.
"Who are your best warriors? Who do you put in your first line of defense against invaders?"
"Marth, I don't think you know how life works. My town has never, and will never be under attack. That's not the way it works." Marth leaned back in his chair with a completely shocked face, he put his hands on his head and mouthed 'what', "I'm starting to think that your life is pretty sad." Villager deadpanned.
"Wait, wait, wait, so explain to me what you do in your free time. If you don't train then what do you do all day?"
"We just take it easy. We fish, catch bugs, pick fruits, and relax. Well, when I'm not doing my mayor duties."
"You have political power? I never would've guessed with the way you hold yourself!" Marth exclaimed, Villager resisted the urge to pick up his axe at the prince's unintentional insult, "You have such a lucky life, I'm always doing something, it'd be nice to do nothing for once."
Villager's eyes moved towards his phone as he got a notification, glad for any distraction, it was a text from Isabelle saying that someone in the town had accidently started a fire on city hall, there were no firemen present and everyone was freaking out. Villager instantly tried to dart out but stopped when he saw Marth, the prince would tell Master Hand if he left; and with all the screaming he'd been hearing throughout the day he didn't think he'd give in the forgiving mood. Villager would have to come up with a plan to make sure he could leave scot free, maybe a bowling ball to Marth's head would work. But that would cause him trouble as well, he should do this non lethally.
"Hey Marth, how would you like to make your dream come true." Villager asked heading over to the door.
"Don't play games with me!" Marth excitedly jumped up. Villager opened the door and gestured for the prince to walk through, "He didn't lock the door?! His mistakes are the seed to our journey! I have nothing to lose, let's go!" Marth giddily ran out of the room with Villager frantically close behind him.
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Marth sat by the edge of a river with a fishing rod in his hand, patiently waiting to catch a fish. Villager had given him the rod a brief explanation on how to fish and ran off into a crowd of adoring fans immediately when they'd arrive. At least Marth assumed they were fans, Marth only heard screaming in the distance and was to focused on catching fish than waving to adoring crowds. But after about five minutes of absolutely nothing occurring Marth took his gaze off the water and looked at the small village. It was a quiet, quaint place, he believed the Villager when he said that this town never encountered any danger. Both the village and the townsfolk looked like they'd never seen the horrors of war. Marth put down the fishing rod and decided to explore the town instead of just sitting down waiting for selfish fish. Marth casually walked through the town, noticing a store he made his way over to see what the locals had in stock. He entered the store and noticed an upright tanuki behind the counter.
"Welcome, can I help you!" said the friendly tanuki.
"Yes, are you the owner of this store?" Marth asked, beginning to look at the wares.
"Yes indeed! I'm Tom Nook, how can I help you?" he said rounding the counter. Marth pulled out a gold coin and handed it to Tom.
"It's the only currency I had when I came here, what can I afford?" Marth asked. Tom Nook was so astonished that it took him a few seconds to register what the prince had just said.
"I, uh, take whatever you want." Tom said, slowly walking to the back of the store.
"Truly?" Marth asked joyfully. Tom Nook nodded absent mindedly and left. The prince smiled and slowly began browsing the store, flicking some bobble heads, looking at a bunch of colorful mugs, tasty looking snacks, home decorations and many little trinkets. But deciding which item he wanted was quite the ordeal. He wanted something that was both practical but would still remind him of his trip here. He stepped into a clothing section and stopped when he saw a tiny top hot, he picked up the tiny hat and plopped it slanted on his head.
"A tiny hat to remember a tiny town." Marth smiled to himself. He walked out of the store with the huge smile still plastered on his face, he stopped and breathed in the fresh air but coughed at the smell of smoke, some villager must've burned their food. The prince decided to take a stroll through the small town, Marth crossed a bridge and noticed a small apple tree and plucked one of the fruits from the plant. He bit into it and sighed in content at the flavor.
"This town is absolutely wonderful!" but not a second later Marth yelled as he tripped and fell face first unto the ground, "For the love of Naga." he muttered. Marth sat up and saw a large rock that was protruding from the ground, most likely what made him pall in the first place. The prince thought the stone looked odd and decided to pull it out, he wrapped his hands around it and tried to pry it out of the ground, the prince groaned from the effort and gave up when he realized that it hadn't even budged.
"I have faced entire armies, I shall not be bested by a rock!" Marth pulled out his sword Falchion and used it as a crude shovel to shift the soft ground around the stone and soon was able to pull out the stone. Marth grabbed the stone and raised his arm in victory, he then decided to inspect the stone and noticed that it resembled the shell of a snail.
"Mr. Marth?" a small voice said behind the prince. Marth spun around and pointed his sword in panic.
"Raise thy weapon fiend!" he yelled. Isabelle screamed and ducked for cover, "Oh, It is not an assassin, how may I help you?"
"I-I'm Isabelle, I'm the mayor's secretary, I help at the smash mansion as well. I was sent by the mayor to find you."
"Ah yes, I remember you, you're the dog who threw a pie at Sheik." Marth laughed, Isabelle chuckled nervously, "And I do apologize, I suppose I did leave without telling anyone about my whereabouts. But if I may interrupt may you take a look at this stone, it seems to resemble an animal." Isabelle took the stone gingerly from the prince's hand. She quickly looked it over and handed it back to Marth.
"It's a fossil, a dead animal that after a really long time, became this." The secretary explained. Marth looked at the fossil with almost childlike fascination.
"I'd heard of fossils before but I never thought I'd get to see one, let alone discover one. To think that I am holding part of history in my hands, how exciting!" Marth exclaimed. The prince heard shuffling close to him and turned to see Villager lethargically making his way towards the duo, seemingly very focused on not collapsing.
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone for so long, I had some emergencies to deal with." He said, patting some ash of his shirt.
"Your little town is one of the loveliest things I've seen, thank you so much for bringing me here!" Marth shook Villager's hand. "I simply must find a way to thank you. Ah, I recall you use axes in battle. Let me give you this as a token of my appreciation." Marth pulled out an axe from the classic RPG magic pockets and handed Villager a glittering gold axe with glittering gems embedded into the hilt and side of the weapon. Villager's eyes widened to the point of bursting and a small smile formed on his face.
"Mr. Mayor," Isabelle said slowly, "Think about what you're doing and put the axe down, just give it to me." Isabelle cautiously reached for the axe but Villager held it away from her and started running towards some trees. "Mayor no!"
"Oh no, I was about to tell him that it is not a weapon for combat, weapons made of gold are not made for practical use, if he continues at this rate the axe will," a loud cracking noise interrupted Marth, the blade of the axe had completely snapped of the hilt of the weapon. Villager fell to his knees and began wailing like a child, "Break. I believe I shall head back to the mansion, you have a sobbing adult to care for after all." Marth tipped his tiny hat and made his way back towards the mansion. Isabelle watched the prince as he walked away, glanced back at her sobbing mayor, then decided she'd follow the prince. Maybe she could transfer jobs.
Is this hell'a late? Yes. Is there any real excuse for it? Somewhat. Did you enjoy it tis chapter? I sure hope so. Hope y'alll have a great day!