Hello, one and all! I have returned once again to deliver to you another thrilling chapter of this story! Shall we begin?

I was initially going to save this concept for a later chapter. However, I had a hard time coming up with an idea I liked for this one. So instead, I decided to just accelerate my plans. Let's hope I made a good choice in doing that.

DuskAura: Glad you enjoyed the story. I hope you also enjoy what I put out in the future. Also, I've given a few of my future chapters some serious rethought so they won't turn out too similar. I hope you and everyone else finds them enjoyable.

ZachaRicO: One thing you should know about me is I try my best to not be predictable. I really enjoy adding small twists and surprises to my stories. I've actually got one or two more planned for this story, so stay tuned.

A bit of trivia for you: My initial plans for this story called for the infant Lucina to be Robin's third guest, so that Chrom and Sumia could still watch their daughter. But right before I began writing this story, I decided to abandon that concept. I felt it might make the older Lucina a bit uncomfortable to have to interact with her infant self. That's why I left it ambiguous.

And in answer to your comment about Robin and Inigo: No, they were not especially close in the game. After I read your comment, I decided to read their in-game Support Conversation on YouTube, and I wasn't impressed. It was mostly just Inigo complaining about his failure with women to Robin, nothing that would indicate a close bond.

Lastly, you think your second third is your weakest? Well, I suppose everyone's writing experience is different. I just so happen to think that the ideas I have for my second and third parts are stronger. Only time will tell if they really are. Not to indicate the first third doesn't have its moments, I just think they're not quite as strong. Same thing happened with my other stories.

Anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter and hope you like this one.

Guest: Glad you liked the story. Here's your update.

Alright, people, now that that's out of the way, let us commence with the reading, shall we?

Super Smash Bros. © Nintendo/Masahiro Sakurai

*Spectator Room*

*4:00 PM*

Shulk was currently standing outside the Spectator Room, hoping for some entertainment. He didn't have any more fights to do that day, and a lot of the others were busy. So when he saw that there was a match currently going on, he decided to watch it. He saw that the combatants were Lucina and Ganondorf. They were fighting on a stage called 'Mario Circuit'. There were two stages with that name, and the match was being held on the older of the two. Shulk had heard that Lucina and Ganondorf had some sort of altercation the previous day while everyone's family and friends were visiting the mansion. This must have been their way of settling it.

When Shulk entered, it looked as though the match was just starting. He wondered who would win. He hoped it would be Lucina, as she was a good friend to him. He also thought that Lucina looked pretty amazing when she was fighting out there.

As soon as Shulk sat down, he saw the match begin. Lucina and Ganondorf ran toward each other, ready to attack. Ganondorf jumped up and tried to land a downward kick on her, but missed. Instead, he just landed on the race track that the stage took place on. He was then run over by one of the vehicles on the race track. 'Karts' as Mario called them.

Lucina jumped down after him and attempted to land a blow, but Ganondorf was faster. He grabbed her by the neck, then threw her to the ground in a blaze of purple fire. While she was down, Ganondorf attacked her again with a sliding kick, knocking Lucina back. He then grabbed her and kneed her in the stomach once before she escaped his grasp.

Lucina then ran behind Ganondorf and attempted to attack him from behind, but was stopped a powerful punch right to her face, knocking her back a ways. Lucina charged at him again, but he merely put her down with another punch. Lucina got up and swung her sword at him, actually landing a few hits on him. But Ganondorf quickly recovered and sent another magical jump kick her way. This kick hit her with enough force to send her skyward. When she landed, she again tried swinging her sword at him, and hit him once. However, this had little effect on him and he quickly retaliated. Another punch hit her in the face and caused Lucina to hit the stage's invisible barrier, resulting in the match's first KO.

When Lucina reappeared on the stage, she instantly went for Ganondorf. She swung Falchion downward at him, but missed. Ganondorf then kicked her, knocking her back a few feet. Lucina quickly recovered and ran into the fight again. She jumped over Ganondorf and swung her sword at him a few times, landing some solid hits. The two fighters then jumped off the top part of the stage to avoid the incoming karts. Ganondorf then attempted to use another slide kick against her but fell short of his target and stopped right in front of Lucina. She used this opportunity to swing her sword downwards at him, knocking him into the karts that were driving overhead. Ganondorf got hit by some of the oncoming karts and was knocked upwards.

Lucina jumped up after him and the two went at each other again. They both landed some solid blows on each other until Ganondorf grabbed her again and threw her to the ground. Once she recovered, the two danced around each other for a few seconds until Lucina landed a powerful sword swing. Ganondorf was thrown back and was almost hit by the karts again. However, he jumped down just in time, only to be grabbed by Lucina and thrown upwards again, right into the kart's path. Once they passed, Ganondorf fell to the ground where Lucina was waiting. A strong sword swing knocked Ganondorf into the invisible barrier, finally KO'ing him.

As soon as Ganondorf reappeared, he tried attacking her again with a powerful drop kick. However, he missed and was met with a sword stab from Lucina, knocking him to the ground. Once he got up, Ganondorf executed another slide kick, which hit Lucina, but put both of them in the path of the karts. Both combatants were hit by the small vehicles and were knocked upward.

Once they both landed, they continued their fight. Lucina send a sword swing Ganondorf's way, but this only knocked him back a small ways. Lucina was then hit in the face with one of Ganondorf's powerful punches. The attack nearly sent Lucina off the stage, but she recovered and got up. She then grabbed Ganondorf by the collar and kicked him in the stomach a few times before throwing him behind her. They were close enough to the edge that Lucina's throw caused Ganondorf to be KO'd.

As soon as he reappeared, Ganondorf immediately ran at Lucina again, but she kept him back with some precision sword swings. She then pushed him back even further with the same combination of sword swings. These swings knocked Ganondorf onto the race track once again. Lucina jumped up after him to attack, but Ganondorf intercepted her attack. He grabbed her, shocked her using dark electricity magic, and threw her into the stage's invisible barrier, KO'ing her.

As soon as she reappeared, Lucina went for Ganondorf again, but kept her distance as he tried once again to punch her. They danced around each other for some time until the karts passed overhead once again. These drew Lucina's attention away from Ganondorf, as she was still quite curious about these vehicles. Ganondorf took advantage of her distraction by sending a magic enhanced kick at her, knocking her back. However, Lucina quickly recovered from the attack and prepared one of her own.

Ganondorf quickly tried sending another powerful attack her way, but she dodged and followed up with a quick sword swing. This swing knocked Ganondorf onto the race track once again. Before he had a chance to recover, Lucina hit him again with two more sword swings, knocking him into the stage's invisible barrier, KO'ing him and ending the match.

"GAME!" Cried the announcer.

"The winner is: Lucina!" The announcer declared.

Inside the Spectator Room, Shulk was awed by the amazing match that he had just watched. He knew Lucina would win, he just knew it. He was amazed with the way she handled the Parallel Falchion. How she could be so fierce yet graceful at the same time. And how she looked so awe-inspiring when she fought with it. With these thoughts in mind, Shulk left the Spectator Room to go about his own business.

That night, at dinner, Shulk sat alone, eating his food in silence. He was lost in his own thoughts until someone came up to his table and sat down.

"Oh, hey, Lucina." Shulk greeted.

"Hello Shulk. I trust that the day has been treating you well." She replied.

"Pretty good. I saw your match with Ganondorf. Nice job."

"Thank you, Shulk. I do feel like I performed rather satisfactory in that fight." She replied before taking a sip of her drink.

"What do you have there, Lucina?" Shulk asked.

"This? Oh, it's just a very special tea brew from my homeland." She answered.

"You mind if I try a sip?"

"I suppose not. Here."

Lucina handed Shulk the cup and he started drinking from the cup. As soon as he took his final gulp, he immediately started coughing loudly.

"Shulk? Are you alright?" Lucina asked.

"D-don't worry. I'm f-fine." Shulk said while wheezing.

Lucina was not convinced, but didn't say anything else.

"What was in that tea, anyway?" Shulk asked.

"Well, as I said, it is a very special brew. There are numerous ingredients put into it. More than I could likely name. Why do you ask?"

"I think… *cough* I think there was something in that tea that doesn't quite agree with me."

"Are you certain you're alright, Shulk?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll be fine after I get some sleep. Speaking of, I best be heading in that direction. Night, Lucina."

With that, Shulk stood up and left the mess hall. Lucina noticed that Shulk was breathing heavily on his way out the door. She felt like that wasn't a good sign, but against her better judgement, she decided to ignore this and go to bed herself.

That night, Shulk did not sleep very well. His stomach kept churning in a violent fashion, and his body was covered in a cold sweat. Halfway through the night, it became clear to him that he would not be getting much sleep, if any.

The next morning, Shulk's stomach was feeling worse than the day before. As soon as he got his breakfast, he immediately disregarded it. He felt as if he put a single thing into his stomach, he would instantly throw it back up. He just left his food sitting there in front of him as Lucina came and sat in front of him.

"Good day, Shulk. I hope that you are feeling better than you were yester… Shulk! You look even more ill than yesterday! What happened?!" She screamed.

Shulk had indeed grown paler than the day before and he looked as though he would pass out at any given moment. Despite this, he kept trying to push on.

"D-don't worry, Lucina. *pant* I might not feel my best right now, *pant* b-but I can still push on. *pant* I'm s-sure I'll feel fine after I get some exercise during my first match today. *pant* S-speaking of, I best be heading over there now. *pant* See ya, Lucina." Shulk said before getting up.

As Shulk slowly walked out of the mess hall, Lucina noticed that he hadn't taken a single bite out of his breakfast. This only made her concern for her friend grow. She quickly finished her own food and ran off for the Spectator Room.

Shulk was squaring up for a battle against R.O.B on a stage called Norfair. R.O.B stood on the left side of the stage, while Shulk stood on the right. Shulk was clearly in no shape to fight, as his stance was poor, he could barely lift the Monado, and he kept swaying from side to side. Even an artificial creature like R.O.B could tell that something was wrong with Shulk.

"Analysis: Shulk appears to be in a weakened state. Query: Are you ill, Shulk?" R.O.B asked.

"N-no worries. I'm fine." Was Shulk's response.

"Conclusion: There is a 98.46% probability that statement is incorrect. Recommendation: Seek medical help."

"Look, I'll be f-fine. Can we just get started already?"

"Statement: If that is your desire, then let the battle commence."

3

2

1

GO!

Shulk weakly tried making his way toward R.O.B to begin the fight. However, right off the bat, things went badly for Shulk. He stumbled and fell off of every platform on the way down to his robot opponent. He groaned and got up on his feet weakly as he tried to take a swing at R.O.B. He missed by a mile as R.O.B charged in and made an attack.

He grabbed Shulk and landed a devastating ground pound. He then threw Shulk upward and hit the Monado wielder with a few swings of his mechanical arms. Shulk fell to the ground and let out an extremely pained groan. He tried to get up but his muscles were in too much pain. His forehead felt like it was on fire and he felt like his stomach was about to explode. His breathing was also hitched and shallow, as if he wasn't getting much air at all.

Inside the Spectator Room, Lucina grew increasingly worried over Shulk's deteriorating state. She feared that soon, he would be pushed over the edge and finally collapse under his sickness. She wouldn't be waiting much longer.

Shulk had somehow managed to get back on his feet, but was struggling to stay up. His vision was beginning to blur and he could barely keep his eyes open. He sent a sloppy swing of the Monado toward R.O.B, but again missed. R.O.B replied by shooting short range lasers from his eyes. The attack knocked Shulk back and finally caused his to collapse.

Shulk began wheezing heavily and continued to do so for several seconds until he began to vomit uncontrollably. There was even a fair amount of blood in his vomit. Once he stopped throwing up, Shulk attempted to rise to his feet, but ultimately fell unconscious in a pool of his own vomit.

"Alert: Shulk has collapsed. 100% chance he is gravely ill. Statement: I forfeit this match so that he may be treated as soon as possible."

"No contest." The announcer cried as Shulk and R.O.B were brought back to the Transporter Room.

Lucina was horrified at what she had just seen. She ran out of the Spectator Room and was about to go to Shulk, but two Miis carrying a stretcher crossed her path first. She then entered the Transporter Room herself and saw the two Miis loading Shulk onto the stretcher.

"We need to get him to Dr. Mario, stat!" The first Mii said.

"Right! Let's get going!" Said the other one.

They then ran for the mansion's medical wing as fast as they could with Shulk in tow. Lucina could only hope that Dr. Mario could help her friend. She decided to leave them in peace so she wouldn't be a distraction to Dr. Mario while he worked on Shulk.

Some time later, Lucina made her way to the medical wing to if Dr. Mario had finished with Shulk. What she saw concerned her greatly. Dr. Mario was speaking with Master Hand while Shulk lied on a medical table, still unconscious.

"I'm-a sorry, Master Hand, there's-a not much else I can do-a for him." The doctor stated.

"How can there be nothing you can think of? There must be something. I cannot have one of my Smashers die here." Master Hand replied.

"I've-a torn through-a my research, but I don't-a have the necessary tools to-a help him. I'll keep-a trying, but it doesn't look-a good for him." Dr. Mario replied.

Lucina gasped in horror upon hearing this exchange. This in turn caused both Dr. Mario and Master Hand to look at Lucina.

"Well, I'll be on my way. Keep me updated on his condition." Master Hand said before floating off.

"Hello, Lucina. Do you need-a something? Are you-a hurt?" Dr. Mario asked.

"No, I'm fine. I came to see if Shulk has recovered. Is he well?" Lucina asked, despite knowing the answer.

"I'm afraid-a not. Whatever it was that-a happened to him, it's-a making him weaker by the minute."

"Do you know what it was that happened to him?"

"I believe I do. Based on-a my tests, I believe he's been-a poisoned."

"POISONED?!" Lucina screamed.

"Yes. I'm afraid-a so." Dr. Mario replied.

"Who could have done such an awful thing?"

"I'm not-a sure. But I do know what it was that-a poisoned him."

"What was it?"

"It was a typical food ingredient known as-a anise seeds. Harmless to-a most, but-a for Shulk, deadly. It is-a reacting negatively to-a his-a body, draining it and-a causing his-a body to shut-a down. Also, it… Lucina, are you-a alright?" Dr. Mario asked.

"I…I can't believe it. Anise seeds. That's a main ingredient in the tea I gave to Shulk the other night. I'm the one who poisoned him! Oh gods, what have I done?!" Lucina screamed as she buried her face in her hands.

"It's-a ok, Lucina. You didn't-a know." Dr. Mario tried to reassure.

"How could this have happened?" Lucina lamented.

"Well, despite-a the fact that many of us look-a the same, we all come-a from different-a worlds. Because of-a that, all of our anatomies are-a different. What could be healthy for-a one person from-a one world could be-a fatal to another person from another world." The doctor explained.

"But that doesn't make sense. I've seen Shulk eat foods from other worlds without getting sick like this. We've all eaten foods from other worlds without getting sick."

"True, but that was-a because of careful planning from-a Master Hand. Before bringing-a food from other worlds to-a the Smash Mansion, he-a checks to see if it will-a be poisonous in any way to-a any of-a the Smashers. If it is, he doesn't bring it here. However, it appears that this-a one slipped under his-a radar."

Lucina was still distraught over all of this. The one poison combination that Master Hand had overlooked, and she just had to trigger it inside of her closest friend at the Smash Mansion. She wondered if there was anything she could possibly do for Shulk. She looked around at all the medical equipment around the medical wing. She then decided to ask Dr. Mario a question.

"I see many medical tools and instruments in here, doctor. It is all much more advanced than in my world. Tell me doctor, why are you still unable to do anything for Shulk with all of this?"

"Well, as I-a said, his anatomy is-a different from yours or mine. If it were-a the same, perhaps I could-a do something. But as is, I cannot. The seeds have-a directly poisoned the ether levels in his-a body."

"Ether? What is that?"

"It is-a the building block of life on-a the land on Bionis. All living creatures there need it to draw energy from and-a survive. If it-a drops too much, they die. And-a the seeds are poisoning the ether itself, therefore poisoning his-a body."

"How do you know all this?"

"Master Hand required me to-a learn about the biology's of-a everyone here so I could-a properly treat them if-a the need arose. Unfortunately, while I am able to diagnose Shulk's problem, I cannot properly treat it. I don't have any medical tools from Bionis so there is-a nothing I can do. All I can do for now is-a slow down the poison, but I cannot-a stop it. I'm-a sorry." Dr. Mario said as he left the room.

Lucina was now alone with Shulk's unconscious body. She took a seat and stared at Shulk with a sad expression on her face.

"Shulk, I am so, so sorry for what I have done to you. I never meant for this to happen. I hope that you can forgive me for what I've done. I can only hope that you will recover so that I may give you a proper apology."

Lucina then noticed something sticking out of the pocket of Shulk's coat. Curiously, she pulled it out to see what it was. It was Shulk's room key. Then it hit her. Perhaps the answer could be found amongst Shulk's belongings. Dr. Mario said he had no medical tools from Bionis, but maybe Shulk did. Lucina then put on a look of pure determination as she rose to her feet.

"And you will recover. I am the one that caused you to be in this position in the first place. Therefore, it is my responsibility to fix it. I swear to you, Shulk, I will find the solution that Dr. Mario cannot."

With that, Lucina left the room to begin her search for this solution.

She began her quest right outside of Shulk's room. She used the room key she had taken from Shulk to enter his room. She hoped he wouldn't mind her going through his personal belongings without his permission.

'No matter. He'll forgive me when I tell him that I did it to save his life.' She reasoned to herself.

Lucina went over to Shulk's bed and pulled out his suitcase. If there was a solution to be found, it would likely be found there. To her fortune, right at the top of the suitcase was a stack of papers, no doubt research notes written be Shulk himself. He had mentioned to Lucina at some point that he was a scientist and made notes like this frequently during his studies. To her misfortune, she could not read what was on the papers. It was written in Shulk's native language, which Lucina was unable to read. To her it merely looked like a bunch of scribbles.

She then set the papers aside and kept rummaging through Shulk's stuff. Beneath the papers lied several spare sets of clothes. These were of no help to her mission, so Lucina just tossed them aside. Next, she came across a series of small tools.

'These could prove useful.' She thought to herself.

However, upon closer inspection, Lucina began having second thoughts about that. These tools did not seem to be of a medical nature. They looked nothing like the tools she observed Dr. Mario using. Lucina cast these aside as well and kept looking. At the bottom of the suitcase was a large box. Upon opening it, Lucina saw several small crystals kept in containers. These crystals had a strange glow about them. There were also several glass cylinders with a strange liquid in them. This liquid was glowing in a similar fashion to the crystals.

"What could this possibly be? Could it be that 'ether' stuff Dr. Mario mentioned earlier? If it is, how can I possibly use it to heal Shulk? Do I just give it to him as is? Do I have to do something to it first?" She wondered aloud.

Lucina continued to go through Shulk's suitcase, becoming increasingly frustrated at her lack of results. She tore through his stuff over and over, hoping to find something useful. After nearly an hour of this, she screamed in frustration and slumped down.

"Gods, what can I possibly do now?" She sighed.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Lucina turned around and saw a Smasher by the name of Fox McCloud, standing in the doorway.

"Fox! I-I can explain!" Lucina stammered.

"An explanation of how and why you broke into my and Shulk's room and are currently tearing through his things, presumably without his permission? Now this I have to hear." Fox replied.

Lucina proceeded to tell Fox the whole story. From how she inadvertently poisoned Shulk, how he fell in a battle against R.O.B, and how she felt it was her responsibility to nurse Shulk back to health since she was the reason he got sick in the first place. Once her story ended, Fox stood there in contemplation.

"I see. I must say, it's very nice of you to go this far for him." Fox said.

"I appreciate your words, Fox. However, I regret that I have yet to be able to do anything for him yet. I am unable to decipher his notes and I don't know what I could possibly do with all those strange crystals and cylinders he keeps in that box."

"Have you tried loading them into that machine over there?"

Fox pointed to the corner of the room. Lucina followed his finger and saw a strange looking machine resting near the corner of the room right next to the Monado, which Master Hand had returned to Shulk's room following his battle with R.O.B. Lucina stared at it with confusion written all over her face.

"What is that strange contraption?" Lucina asked.

"It's some kind of furnace. At least that's what Shulk says. He uses it for small advantages during battle or sometimes just to keep his strength up." Fox explained.

"And do you know how to work it?"

"Kinda. I've had to help Shulk with it a number of times. He says it takes two people to fully operate it."

"Let us try it then." Lucina proclaimed.

"What, now?" Fox asked.

"Yes. It might be able to come up with something that could save Shulk. Just tell me what Shulk usually does with it." Lucina said.

"Well, he usually just stands on that side of the furnace and turns those little levers and knobs. He just has me pour the liquid from one of those cylinders into the machine."

"Which ones am I supposed to use?"

"I'm not sure, Shulk's the only one who truly knows how it works. But I suppose the two of us could try."

With that, Fox grabbed one of the ether cylinders and put it into the furnace. Lucina stared awkwardly at the levers and knobs. She slowly reached for one of the levers and pulled on it. The machine made a strange cranking noise at this action, startling Lucina. She then twisted one of the knobs, resulting in a similar sound. She then tried one more of the knobs, causing the machine to start shaking and rattling intensely.

"Oh dear. Is it supposed to do that?" Lucina asked.

"I've never seen it do that before. I think you may have pulled on a bad lever." Fox replied.

The machine continued to shake violently. Lucina tried turning some of the other switches on the furnace, but this only made it worse. She and Fox slowly backed away from it, both afraid it was going to explode on them. However, it eventually stopped shaking as a small compartment opened up near the bottom of the machine. From this little compartment out popped…

"A gem? That's it?" Lucina asked.

"Yeah, that's all the furnace does. As for what the gem's for, your guess is as good as mine. This is usually the part where Shulk says my part is done. Anyways, I have to go now. Good luck, Lucina." Fox said before walking off.

Lucina picked up the small gem and stared at it curiously. What could this little thing possibly do? How did the machine make it from a liquid? What did Shulk use it for? Lucina then eyed the Monado laying next to the furnace. She noticed there was a small opening near the hilt of the sword that looked just large enough to fit the gem.

"I wonder…" She said.

Lucina gently picked up the powerful red sword, being careful not to activate it, and slowly slid the gem into the opening. Sure enough, it was a perfect fit. That's when it hit her. Shulk fused the gems with his weaponry. Convinced that this would be what could cure Shulk, she rushed for the medical wing, Monado in hand.

When Lucina finally reached the medical wing, she went straight into the room where Shulk was kept. Fortunately, Dr. Mario was not around, so she didn't fear being discovered.

"Shulk, I pray that what I have done will be sufficient enough to save you." Lucina said to the unconscious body.

She then slowly slipped the Monado next to Shulk and wrapped his hand around it. To her shock nothing seemed to happen. She then reasoned that perhaps the Monado needed to be activated for the gem's power to start working. She slowly reached out and touched the Monado, hoping to activate it. When it didn't turn on, she lightly fiddled with it some more until it finally activated. Lucina immediately retracted her hands so she wouldn't feel any of the Monado's effects on her. To her surprise, the activated Monado seemed to draw something resembling a reaction from the unconscious Shulk. This filled Lucina with hope that perhaps what she had done was working. Lucina then decided to leave before Dr. Mario returned and spotted her.

"Be well, Shulk. I hope my efforts have not been in vain." Lucina said before departing.

The next day, after she had finished her scheduled fights, Lucina returned to the medical wing to see if Shulk was making any progress. When she arrived, Dr. Mario was once again looking over Shulk.

"Ah, good-a day, Lucina. Come-a back to check on-a Shulk?" the doctor asked.

"I have. How goes his recovery?" She asked.

"Well, surprisingly, The poison has-a stopped spreading. In fact, his-a body seems to have started building up a defense to-a the poison."

"Well, that is wonderful news indeed. Hopefully soon he will awaken and all will be as it was."

"Indeed. Whatever it is you-a did, it may have-a saved his life. So, good-a job, Lucina."

"W-what do you mean? I did nothing to Shulk. I haven't a clue what you're talking about."

"Come on. Don't-a lie to me. I saw security camera footage of-a you coming in with his-a weapon. But again, whatever you-a did, you saved-a him."

Lucina couldn't believe how careless she had been. She should have known her actions were being recorded. And how could she be so careless as to leave the Monado with him? That was a clear sign that someone had come and visited Shulk while the doctor was away. Still, it was good that her friend was recovering.

"However, it's-a not over for Shulk yet, I'm afraid." Dr. Mario continued.

Lucina looked at the doctor in confusion. How could it not be done? The poison had been taken care of. What more was there?

"While the worst part is-a over, his condition is-a far from stable. His body is-a still low on ether, and unless he gets-a more, he's-a not going anywhere anytime soon. And even-a worse, I'm-a not sure how to get-a my hands on-a more." The doctor explained.

This left Lucina somewhat frustrated. She thought that she had finally saved her friend, but it turned out he was still in need of more care. How could she possibly help Shulk now? She didn't know how to get more ether any more than Dr. Mario did. What could she possibly do?

Later that day, she returned to her room for a quick nap. She was still somewhat upset that Shulk had yet to fully recover, but what else could she do. Just as she climbed into her bed, she saw a room key on her dresser. And it wasn't hers. On it was written 'Room 2504'. Then she remembered: This was Shulk's room key. She had neglected to return it to him the previous night after bringing him the Monado. She leapt out of her bed and ran across the hall to Shulk's room, all traces of being tired gone.

She went back to Shulk's suitcase, which she hadn't reorganized since tearing it apart the previous day. She went back to the box that had all the crystals and cylinders. Lucina grabbed one of the containers that was full of crystals. Once she had this, she went back to where her friend was recovering.

Dr. Mario was once again absent from the room at the present moment. Lucina wasn't sure where he was, but she cared little right now. Her primary concern was speeding up Shulk's recovery. Once she returned to his bedside, Lucina took out the crystal container. However, she then hit a little snag. What was she supposed to do with the crystals? She knew nothing about what this stuff truly was or how it could be used on Shulk. What was she supposed to do? Did she put the crystals in his mouth like candy? Was it supposed to be mixed into something? She racked her brain trying to think of something. Perhaps something Shulk had said earlier might give her some kind of clue. She thought back to right after they first met, when they exchanged life stories. Lucina tried to remember if Shulk said anything about ether during his tale. Suddenly, a memory came to her.

Shulk had said he once came across a girl suffering from a lack of ether, and they had revived her by shooting ether particles into the air and letting them get absorbed into her body. Perhaps that was what she needed to do. Let it get absorbed into his body. Lucina gently pulled one of the crystals out of the container and placed it on Shulk's body. However, nothing happened. This only confused Lucina more. She did what Shulk said he did to someone in the same condition he was currently in. Why wasn't the ether getting absorbed into his body? Maybe she had to do something else to the ether. Shulk did say that it was ether particles that were absorbed, not just ether. Maybe Lucina had to turn it into particles.

She grabbed the lone crystal that was on Shulk's body and placed it on a medical table right next to Shulk's bed. Lucina then drew her sword, the Parallel Falchion, and brought it down on the crystal. The blade crushed the crystal, turning it into a fine dust. Lucina then scooped up the dust and sprinkled it all over Shulk's body. Sure enough, the ether finally began getting absorbed into Shulk's body. This even caused Shulk to slightly stir.

Lucina was thrilled that her hard work was finally paying off. She quickly dumped the rest of the crystals onto the table and crushed them all with her sword. She then took the crushed remains and poured them all over Shulk. The particles were absorbed into Shulk's body slowly but surely. Lucina then ducked out of the room so Shulk could recover without any further interference from her. She only hoped that she had finally succeeded in nursing Shulk back to health.

The next day, at breakfast, Lucina sat alone in silence, wondering if her friend had finally recovered. She was currently lost in her own thoughts.

'Will Shulk finally awaken? If he does, will he be well, or will there still be lingering traces of the poison? If he does recover, will he be angry at me for poisoning him in the first place? Will there be any way for me to convince him it was an accident?'

"Is this seat taken?" Someone said, snapping Lucina out of her thoughts.

Lucina looked up at who was speaking, and it was none other than the blonde friend she had just been thinking about.

"Shulk! O-of course not. Please, have a seat." Lucina replied.

"Thanks." Shulk said as he sat down.

"How have you been recovering? Are you still ill?" Lucina asked.

"Well, I am still feeling a smidge weak, but Dr. Mario said that with a little rest, I'll be right as rain in no time."

"That is wonderful to hear, indeed. Did Dr. Mario mention anything else?"

"Yes. He told me the full story."

Lucina let out a sad sigh as she looked right at Shulk.

"Shulk, I am so, so sorry for what I did to you. I had no idea that that would happen. I should have realized something was wrong sooner and kept any of this from happening. I should have…"

Shulk gently placed his hand on top of Lucina's, which got her to stop talking.

"It's alright, Lucina. Neither one of us could've known that those seeds would turn out to be poisonous to me. You didn't intentionally mean me any harm. Plus you were the one who ultimately saved me in the end. Without you, I might not be here right now. But that does make me wonder, why did you go so far just to help me recover?"

"Since I was the one who poisoned you in the first place, I felt it was my responsibility to see you back to health. I felt it was the only way to atone for what I did."

"Still, I'm impressed you managed to figure out everything that had to be done in order to keep me from dying. I'm touched that you care so much about me. So, thank you, Lucina."

Shulk then gave Lucina a warm smile as a token of appreciation. This, in turn, caused Lucina to grow a small smile as well. She truly was glad that Shulk was now feeling better and was appreciative of her efforts. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she had caused the death of the one person at the Smash Mansion, beside Robin, that she was probably closest to.

"You are most welcome, Shulk." She replied.

"However, there is still one thing I can't figure out." Shulk said.

"Oh?"

"What happened to my room? Everything in there is a right big mess. I know I didn't leave it like that before I got sick."

Lucina's eyes widened as she quickly rose to her feet.

"Well, I would very much like to continue this conversation, but I must be off. I have a very bust day planned. Farewell, Shulk." Lucina said before hastily walking away.

Meh. I had an idea, and I ran with it as best I could. See what I mean about my first third not being my best?

Even so, please refrain from posting unneeded flame comments for this chapter. No one wants that. Least of all, me.

There were a number of reasons this took so long. The biggest ones were:

My class schedule. I think I speak for about 90-95% of any given student body when I say that math (specifically algebra, in my case) is a pain. In. The. ASS! I had to spend a lot of my free time doing my math assignments and studying for that class. Even now, I can still barely understand it. Often times, it makes me want to curl into a corner and cry. Luckily for me, I believe that this is the last math class I need to take as per my core requirements. If I pass this class, then I never have to worry about any of that crap ever again.

My job. The only reason I still work at where I do is the money. That's really the only thing keeping me there. Even then, it doesn't pay much. The hours are often long, and I get tired of it very easily. Hopefully I'll find a new job soon.

Me being lazy. What else is there to say, really. What little free time I did have, I often spent doing things other than writing. As an example, I got Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for Christmas, so I spent a lot of time playing that, and only recently did I beat it.

Also, for those of you who may be confused with a few things in this chapter, here are a few explanations. The machine Lucina and Fox used is called an ether furnace. It's a device in the first Xenoblade Chronicles that the characters can use to make gems that can boost certain abilities. They can equip these gems to any of their weapons, Monado included. One of these gems can boost the character's defense to enemies that use poison attacks. Just imagine that this it the gem Lucina happened to make. If there are any more questions, leave them in a comment and I'll answer them in the next chapter. but again, no hurtful remarks, please.

Anyway, with luck, I'll have the next chapter up sooner than I did this one. Speaking of, in the next chapter, Shulk has a question he wants to ask Lucina. I hope you enjoy it.

Before I wrap this author's note up, I have one more announcement.

I'm going to let you guys in on something. Over the past several months, a good friend of mine has been working very hard on bringing his own anime-inspired internet show to life. And he's given me a role in the show voicing numerous characters. Voice acting sessions are due to begin next month, and we hope to have the first episode on YouTube by the end of the year. The show is simply going to be titled The Chosen Ones. I'll give you guys more details as the release draws closer and closer. The reason I tell you this is because this is going to be my way of promoting the show. If the show proves to be popular enough on YouTube, it might get picked up be a more profitable internet company, like Hulu, which will help it reach a broader audience. If you're into anime or anime-like shows, give this a watch once it comes out. It has one hell of a gripping story to it, and I'm certain you will love it. Once you finish watching it, tell your friends about it. Tell your friends to tell their friends. Spread the word, people. SPREAD THE WORD!

Well, until the next chapter, see you real soon!