Okay, second special!

This was actually prepared a couple days before I was actually supposed to upload it. Eh, sleep problems suck.

Never had Lucina thought preparing for a sleepover would be a big deal.

Of course, then again, she never thought that she would be having a sleepover with a Dragon Prince, a soon-to-be Pheraen Marquess, the Hero of Time, an Ex-SOLDIER, angels, the wielder of a sword called the Monado, the Radiant Hero of Legend, her father and his tactician, and the Hero-King.

Naturally, it was the annual Swordwielder's Sleepover, and she was NOT AT ALL nervous about being the only female among them. Or so she thought...

Now she was in Zelda's room, watching in awe as the princess mixed and matched several outfits, all for this special occasion.

"Lucina, why don't you try this one on? I think it'll look spectacular on you!", the Hylian princess exclaimed, holding up a nightgown. It had a rather simple design, being the typical long-sleeved dress, with a dark blue that faded into a calm purple.

After changing into the dress, she turned around a couple of times, then asked "How does it look?"

"I think it looks wonderful Luci! You'll have the others swooning over you soon enough!"

"Um... Zelda, that wasn't the point. It's not like I want to woo them over, I only want to impress the others," she amended. "Well, especially the Hero-King and Father…" she carefully muttered under her breath.

"In that case, you'll certainly look impressive in that outfit!"

"O-oh… Alright then…"

"And don't be shy around them. They're still your friends, even if it's a mostly boy sleepover."

"Don't you think that it is a little unusual though? Me, a princess, sleeping in a room with a bunch of men?"

"Girl, I would go if I could, but I don't swing a sword like you do."

"..."

"Also, please keep Link in check for me. Last time he had a sleepover with them… Let's just say that he came back to me in a very odd and confused state."

Lucina nodded her head, then proceeded to walk back to the Sword Wing carefully, feeling slightly different in her new attire, yet still somewhat excited. She had never been to a sleepover before, and neither did her father, Robin and Corrin, being that the last time that the sword fighters had a sleepover was in the Brawl Tournament.

Private Messaging (with Lucina)

Chrom: Luci, where are you?

Lucina: I'm coming father, just give me a couple more minutes.

Chrom: Please hurry. Roy is going to kill me with mischief.

Lucina: ?

Lucina: The Young Lion is already there?

Chrom: Yes. Marth is still in his room, as is Ike, Robin, and Corrin. Shulk is helping with the preparations, Link is cooking, and Cloud is…

Chrom: He appears to be polishing that gargantuan sword of his.

Lucina: Ah, alright then. I'm coming in now, don't fret.

When Lucina walked in, she emantated an aura of dominace, fitting for her status as royalty. The room fell silent. Even Roy had stopped whatever it was that he was doing, and Pit froze as well.

"H-hello everyone..." Lucina stuttered, not used to being the center of attention in the garments she was wearing.

"Woah, Lucina, you look… Pretty enough to make Marth jealous!" Cloud joked, but was quickly elbowed by Chrom, who didn't want to deal with a pissed-off prince.

"Welcome to the jam!" Pit cried happily, rushing up to greet her. The moment he moved broke the ice in the room.

"So am I… early?" Lucina asked, noticing that even though it took her quite a while to arrive, some others were not there.

"Well, not really. Pittoo didn't want to come, Ganondorf is banned because last time he was here he tried stealing the Triforces again, and Kirby is having a little party with Ness, Lucas and Toon Link, and they're being supervised by Meta Knight. Young Link volunteered to go look after the Inklings, they all seem to really like him, and…"

"I see…" Attempting to feign interest in what Pit was saying, Lucina nodded, but her mind was at what this night may possibly bring.

Private Messaging (with Zelda)

Lucina: Marth is taking awfully long, should I be worried?

Zelda: Naw, he always wishes to look his best at any sort of grand occasion.

Lucina: Ike, Robin, and Corrin…

Zelda: Well, I know what the first one might be doing right now. Not sure about Robin or Corrin though.

Lucina: What do you mean by "I know what the first one might be doing right now"?

Zelda: It means that Ike is probably sleeping. He never usually attempts to be late on purpose.

Lucina: In that case… I don't think that a certain someone will appreciate that.

Lucina: It's kind of nerve wracking at this point. Should I… drop out?

Zelda: Of course not. You're going to be the first female to be at such a wonderful event!

Zelda: Also, when you're done… I want to know everything that happened :)

Lucina: -_-' Alright then…

Everyone turned when they heard familiar, light footsteps.

Marth had finally came out, presenting the others with an intensified, regal aura, capable of making most other fighters feel inferior, even Lucina.

While not wearing his battle gear, his clothes were emblazoned with the Altean Royal Crest, similar to that on his cape.

"Hero-King… Are you really still going to sleep with that… tiara on? I took mine off a while ago," Lucina commented.

"No Lucina. And remember about the titles. Just call me Marth."

"My apologies Marth. Old habits die hard."

Glancing around the room, Marth looked confused for a minute, before asking, "Where's Ike?"

"Still in his room, I bet," Cloud interjected with a small, barely noticeable smirk.

Marth groaned before turning, and forcefully entering the mercenary's room, thanking whatever spirits he knew that Ike's door was unlocked.

Pit then turned and took a nervous look at the others. "So, anybody want to… play a game?"

Once everyone was gathered, they all started to finally enjoy themselves. (Marth took a little longer than the rest, of course, dragging a heavy person behind him isn't as easy as it seems.).

That night, most learned that 1. Link's cooking is actually pretty good, 2. Corrin isn't as indecisive as most people think, and 3. Chrom also got pretty scary when angry, probably because he was a descendant of Marth.

They spent most of the time telling stories from their homelands, accompanied by Link, Marth, and Ike's timeless story of a realm called Subspace. Then they played a couple simple games, on request of Pit. And thankfully, they had remembered to stop Link before he did or said anything stupid.

When it was time to go to bed, most quickly fell asleep, exhausted from the crying and laughter that the celebration brought them.

Where… where is this place? It all seems so familiar…

"Marth? Marth, there you are! You scared me!"

"Caeda? What are..?"

"We need to stop Gharnef from resurrecting Medeus! If we don't, all of Archanea will fall to ruin!" The falcon knight seemed afraid, more so than the prince himself.

Steeling his nerves with recognition to the situation, he turned and said, "Alright. Caeda, can you help me lead the Altean Knights? I'll strike down the Dark Pontifex while you and the others keep his forces busy. If I don't return, don't look for me. It's too dangerous. I have Falchion, so I alone will go."

"Marth? Wait… You can't possibly be thinking… I can't lose you too! You saw what he was capable of! He nearly convinced Tiki to kill us, remember?"

"Caeda… I'm sorry… But at this point, I cannot afford to lose!"

With that, Marth turned and ran towards the smoke, the flames. The ruins of the country he once thought of as home.

Not before long, he felt two pairs of hands grab at him.

"...Cloud? Link? What… What is the meaning of this?"

"Little prince… so foolish to think you could resist.." Cloud chuckled, but Marth heard something, some sort of undertone in his voice. He refused to believe what stood in front of him. That was when he noticed the strange, purple aura around his two 'friends'.

"We would much rather tear you limb from limb, but… our master says you serve a special purpose…" the seemingly-puppeted Link said.

"Who… Unhand me at once, fiend!"

"I think not."

With that, he felt them prodding at his back, forcing him to move. They arrived at a burnt out clearing, dark and dreary, when Marth heard another familiar voice.

"No… I won't let you hurt him! Not… Marth…"

"IKE?!"

"No… Please… make it stop! I won't… obey"

Struggling to break out of the grip of his captors, he thrashed and flailed. But it was no use, for their grip was like iron.

"Gharnef, don't hurt him! Please, if it's just me you want, let him go!"

The mage merely chuckled, as if seeing the prince in pain brought him joy. "So helpless, aren't you… I'm afraid this is merely the beginning. It would be wonderful to see you beg for mercy, though.

Just then, Ike's body fell limp and began to produce the same purple aura as the other two. After a couple more moments, he let out a disturbing, horrifying shriek, and began to slowly approach him.

"Ike…?"

The puppet's holy sword was raised, emitting a reddish glow, tip pointed straight at Marth.

Time seemed to slow down as the sword was swung, ready to strip the life of its victim.

"Gah!"

Marth woke, pale and sweaty. He attempted to get up but then realized it was near impossible with the arms holding him down.

Wait… arms?

Turning around slightly, he realized that Ike was… Hugging him? He knew that the bedrolls were close together, but he didn't realize that they were THAT close together. Although it did provide a sense of comfort and protection, he carefully attempted to move him without waking anyone. It was a failure, for when Ike was asleep, he had the mobility of a literal wall.

Sighing softly, he wiggled his way out, and then looked at the clock upon the wall. It read 2:30 AM, far too early to train his problems away.

That was when he heard something. It sounded like whimpering, and it was coming from the other side of the room.

Tiptoeing past the others, Marth walked over and found out that it was Lucina. She seemed to be sobbing under her sheets, muttering something along the words of "don't go, father". Gently shaking his descendant awake, the young exalt looked up to see familiar blue eyes staring at her.

"Marth?"

"It's alright Lucina. Chrom isn't going anywhere."

"You… you heard me?"

"I'm assuming it was a nightmare?"

"Well… yes."

"I figured." Just then Chrom rolled over to face them. "Lucina, did you have that… dream about the ruined world again?"

"Y-yes father..."

"Then don't worry. I won't let Grima lay a finger on either of you. Not you, not Robin, not anyone!"

"Th-thank you…"

Chrom then lifted his gaze up to meet Marth's. "What are you doing up so early, Prince Marth?"

Too tired to address the situation, yet not wanting to go back to sleep, he replied, "Bad dream."

"Like Lucina?"

"Sort of, but with her it was losing family, for me it was betrayal. Or at least, something similar."

Just then, a new voice interjected, "Well, that sucks."

Marth glanced around. It wasn't Robin or Shulk, they were on the other side of the room, Pit was too buried in blankets to hear anything, Roy was a heavy sleeper, Cloud and Ike were sleeping like logs…

"Down here Marth." The prince looked then realized that it was Corrin, who was close enough to have overheard their conversation, and had probably been awoken by the chattering.

"Oh, hey."

"Something about betrayal, is it? I… know how that feels..." After letting out a yawn, he continued, saying "I had a younger brother from the kingdom of Hoshido. His name was Takumi. When he was possessed, he kept saying something about betrayal. I was just confused, because in the end, I wasn't sure if it was him who betrayed me, or me that betrayed him…"

"Wow… that's strange. And a little sad too, I may add."

"Speak of it. Having eight siblings who all love you isn't as easy as it looks. I'ma go back… to sleep. G'night."

"Ah, good night."

Slowly creeping back over to Ike, he squirmed his way back into his original sleeping position, feeling comforted enough to try drifting off again.

"Nightmare, Marthy?"

"Ike…? I thought you were asleep."

"Actually, I was listening to you people talking the entire time."

"How did…?"

"Normally, you don't squirm and cry out in your sleep, do you? If you cry out my name every time you fall asleep, I probably wouldn't be that worried."

"What!?"

"There's a reason why I moved here from the other side of the room, Marth."

"You… did that for me?"

"Tell me now, what happened that you were crying, the Great Prince Marth, soon to be Hero-King of Altea, shedding tears?"

"It was…"

"Come on, even if you can't tell Chrom, Lucina, or everyone else in this room, you can certainly tell me, no?"

"A-alright. I dreamt of being at that… battle again. The dark sorcerer Gharnef was trying to resurrect Medeus, so after handing leadership of my knights over to a friend, I went and sought him out to stop him. Cloud and Link… and you were there too…"

"What do you mean? We were in Altea fighting alongside you?"

"N-no. If you were fighting alongside me, I could conquer any challenge!"

"Heh."

"It was like… none of you were in control of yourselves. Link and Cloud… attacked me, and brought me to 'master' Gharnef."

"You know, they would never actually do that in real life. Or at least, without getting their butts kicked by Zelda and Samus respectively," Ike pointed out.

"I… I know but, we can never guarantee it, can we?"

"Hey, but I'm still here. All you need to do is rack up their damage and I can finish them."

"But… In my dream… Gharnef was hurting you. I assume it was because you wouldn't comply with him. Knowing the sorcerer, he probably wanted to seduce you under his control like the other two, then make you kill me or betray me or something like that. Weed out their biggest problem, and the weed is probably me."

"Hey! Don't say things like that!"

"It was… horrible in the least. I saw you practically gripping on the edge of sanity before you lost it. It should've been me in your place…"

"Marth…" With that, Marth felt like he was being crushed. Not emotionally though, it was the fact that he had forgotten how ridiculously strong Ike was.

"C-can't b-breathe…"

"Oops. Sorry about that. But you've got me, Lucina, Pit, Roy, Chrom, Cloud, Robin, Corrin, Link, Shulk, literally all the princesses, Samus, and even Palutena on your side!"

"How exactly are you so sure of that?"

"Dude, are you telling me you didn't notice that Samus treats you differently, and doesn't yell at you much? Or that Palutena feels like she owes you for keeping Pit out of dangerous situations when she's around? Or that-"

"I think I get it…"

"Good, and in that case, I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Ike." The only response he got was a snore.

Snuggling deeper into the sweet embrace, Marth let sleep overtake him.

So again, please review if you enjoyed! - Asheris.