Marth was sitting at a round table along with a few other people. He couldn't see very well, though-for some reason, his vision was obscured. He turned his head and saw a figure sitting next to him. His eyes and most of his face were covered by a black hooded cloak, but Marth could see that the figure had long red hair. Looking around, Marth could see that everyone else at the table was wearing similar cloaks that covered all but the lower part of their faces. Suddenly, the red-haired figure next to Marth opened his mouth and began to speak.

"We should pull out some effort in Magvel." He spoke in a cold voice that had an odd alluring, charismatic tone to it. "It is currently the most well-defended continent."

"What would you say the weakest is, then?" Another figure asked.

The red-haired man laughed. "You of all people should know, really. Elibe, of course. They have no leaders at all, only stand-ins. Their most prominent Lord, Roy, cannot even try to return, thanks to the convenient Teleporter malfunction."

"It's a good thing I took out Akeneia earlier, eh? One less to worry about." A familiar voice chuckled. To his great surprise, Marth's mouth opened and words came out, in a proud, arrogant voice that was not his own.

"I resent that." Marth seemed to say. "It was my continent too."

The red-haired figure beside Marth patted Marth's hand consolingly. He raised his head ever so slightly, and Marth could see a gleaming red eye peering out from behind thick red bangs.

"You shouldn't worry. Let it go. You have a better home now, amongst us. I would actually suggest that we begin to put great effort into Jugdral. Which was my homeland." The redhead's lips parted in a grin.

"Jugdral and Elibe. Of course, since their Lords have been suddenly removed. Now, then, you two-"

...

Marth's eyes snapped open. A dream... another dream. But unlike his dream about Agamemnon, Marth he couldn't remember it. Frustrated, Marth closed his eyes again, the better to concentrate. He saw lots of darkness... dark figures... a flash of red... nothing else.

Marth sighed and opened his eyes for good, staring at the comforting, familiar surroundings of his blue bedroom. He got up and put on his warmest blue fleece robe over his pajamas and glanced at the clock. Eight o'clock. He wondered if Celice was up.

As he walked to Celice and Roy's room, Marth smiled internally. He knew that Ike was secretly jealous of Celice. Ike was just so see-through. It was a bit yaoi-like, though, Marth thought glumly. Still, now he knew why Ike was being mean to Celice, and the next time Ike said something mean to him, Marth would know to steer his attention more towards Ike. Which still felt yaoi-like, but at this point, Marth couldn't really care less. Besides, it was natural for new friends to be more interesting than old ones.

Marth reached Celice and Roy's room and knocked tentatively on the door.

"Come in!" Celice called.

Marth opened the door and walked in. Celice was sitting at the desk in front of the computer. Roy was still in bed, his sheets kicked all over the place. A few tufts of red hair were poking out from underneath the blanket.

Marth grabbed some of the hair and pulled. "Mornin', sleepyhead."

A muffled "meh" came from inside the blanket. Marth smiled and peered over Celice's shoulder at his computer screen.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Video chatting. Well... about to video chat. Aless hasn't logged on yet."

"With Aless, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm counting on him, Finn, and Oifey to oversee Jugdral until I come back. It's a bit of a tall order, but they'll have to do their best."

"Who's Finn?" Marth asked, pulling up a chair.

"Basically Leaf's Oifey. He's like a father to him." A chat request flashed on Celice's computer, from BlackKnightofJugdral666.

"Ah. That's him, all right." Celice clicked on the icon and engaged Aless in a video chat. Marth had his first view of the famed Aless.

Aless was an excruciatingly handsome young man, to say the least. He had long blond hair in a perfect shade hanging to his shoulders, cold, piercing blue eyes, and a look on his face that seemed to say, I already know I'm better than you. I'm trying to figure out how much better I am than you. Marth had seen that expression-and hair and eyes, come to think of it-somewhere else. But where?

"Hey, Celice. Who's your friend?" Aless had a deep voice. It sounded a bit like Ike's, but with a regal, important tone to it.

"This is Marth. It's nice to see you, Aless, but I have a pretty big favor to ask of you."

"Shoot."

Celice took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Have you noticed anything weird about the people that you know? Some of the... weaker-willed people? They're acting almost... tainted?"

Aless frowned. "As an unfortunate matter of fact, I know exactly what you mean." Aless looked down. "You know my girlfriend, Leen?" Celice nodded.

"A dancer," Celice explained to Marth. Marth nodded to show he understood. "Go on," Celice told Aless.

"Well, she's... been acting different. Dirty dancing, I guess you could say. She's been dancing in sleazier places, and she doesn't seem to mind when people try to come onto her. In fact..." Aless looked revolted. "I think she likes it when those disgusting drunks hit on her."

Marth and Celice looked at each other and blushed. "Um..."

"Oh, don't get the wrong idea. And you know Nanna, my cousin? Leaf's girlfriend?"

"Yeah..."

Aless took a deep breath. "I think she's hitting on me."

"She's cheating on Leaf? Maybe that's why he seemed depressed!" Celice cried.

"That and the taint," Marth added. "And Aless... your cousin is hitting on you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Uh..." Marth raised his eyebrows. "You're, like, related?"

Aless snorted, folding his arms across his chest. "So?"

"Ugh! Celice! We need to agree to disagree on this!" Marth said.

"Apparently, incest is considered a heinous crime in the other continents," Celice said to Aless, as if he were truly suprised by it.

"Wow, really?" Aless replied. "Strange. Anyway, what's this favor you have to ask of me?"

"Oh, right. That. Look, since I'm not there to moderate or stop the taint from spreading, you need to help. You're a very strong-willed person, Aless, and the taint won't affect you for a while-if at all."

"What exactly is this taint thing?" Aless asked.

"This group of enemies is trying to take over the Video Game Universe by tainting three important Worlds-including Fire Emblem-with darkness, then swaying the Worlds to join them."

"Ah. And the taint won't affect me because...?"

"It affects weaker-willed people first," Marth said. "Leen, Yuria, Leaf, Patty..."

"Then this is serious. What can I do to help?"

"You need to watch over the whole continent. You need to make sure that the taint doesn't spread... that people don't fall deeper into darkness. You need to return them to the good side. You're an influential person, Aless. I'm sure that you can persuade the people to listen to you."

Aless exhaled sharply. "That's... that's a tall order."

"Good thing you're a tall person, then." Celice grinned. "A bad joke. But seriously... you need to at least try."

Aless sighed. "Will do." And he signed off.

"He's pretty cool, that Aless," Marth said. "I bet the women are all over him."

Celice smiled. "They are. He's very protective of Leen, though... this dirty dancing thing must be really hard on him."

Something suddenly nagged at the back of Marth's mind. "Oh yeah... Celice, I forgot to tell you. I had a really weird dream last night... but I can't remember it now."

"What do you remember, if anything?"

Marth thought for a moment. It seemed even more vague than before. "A lot of black... black cloaks. And red... a flash of red."

"Black and red?" Celice opened his mouth, then shut it.

"What?"

"It's nothing. Crazy idea. I'm just paranoid."

Famous last words, Licey. Sorry if this seems rushed. Anyway... tell me what you think!