(Prologue: Lucas)

I am not cool.

That's it, that's my introduction. I am not cool.

If anything, I suppose you could call me a loner. A lot of people are lonely, I think, even if some don't look it. I think that even my best friend, Ness, is lonely under his confident exterior.

I wasn't so much of a loner before Claus left.

"Lucas, I'm going away for a little while."

I was eight years old when it happened. He brought it up while I was painting, talking like it was nothing significant.

"Where are you going?" I asked, surprised. Even though we'd only arrived in Onett a couple of months ago, I already knew how bad the streets were at night. In my small world, I couldn't think of any reason why Claus would want to go out there alone.

But vivid determination shone through him. He swept back his flaming, orange hair.

"Somewhere important," he said, not meeting my eyes. Claus was my rock, my brother, the only person I trusted more than myself. In my eyes, he could do no wrong. So I made the worst mistake of my life.

I let him go.

"Stay safe," I murmured.

"I will," Claus said. He paused, nodded, then with one last hug, he was gone.

He never came back.

My father thinks Claus's disappearance was my fault, and I suppose he's not wrong. But Claus was a stubborn kid, and he'd have found a way to go regardless of me stopping him. That was over eight years ago, a long time in my past.

I don't blame myself anymore.

That doesn't mean it isn't hard. Nowadays, it's difficult to remember much about Claus without it hurting. He was sad sometimes, actually quite often, especially after Mother's death. I don't think Father saw that side of him, though, because Claus was always Father's favourite. He liked the outdoors, and was hugely popular. I had very few friends, even in Tazmily, and I liked art, writing, and music. Girl stuff, I'd been told.

Nowadays, Father and I live in a small, cramped house in Onett's First Residential District. It's not incredible, but we're lucky, I think. Father's a coal miner, and he doesn't earn much, which is why I help out by selling things, buying things, and trading on the streets. Ness has often tried to give me things to contribute, but I usually turn him down, because I like to do things my own way. This is my burden to carry.

I met Ness the day after Claus left. He's the best thing to ever happen to me. He knows when I'm down, and even when he doesn't know, he's able to cheer me up. He's always there for me, always warm towards me, always willing to hear the most minor of my problems. I think I'm getting better at opening up to him, too, though he still doesn't know about Claus. The one time Ness came to my house, I lied, telling him that Mother and Claus were out. I'm working on getting better, on being as honest as him, but still. Old habits die hard.

Not to make my life sound like a tragedy. A big, big pet peeve of mine is when people get all pitiful over me about it. I think that's part of the reason why I haven't told Ness about Mother and Claus. I haven't told him quite a lot of things, thinking about it, but there are some things, some things I can never say.

He wouldn't be able to see me the same way again.

If I had to blame someone for all of this, it would be the detestable Porky Minch, a powerful businessman and general nuisance. He has a bad habit of always popping up in my life, trying to sell things to me for extortionate prices, and blackmailing me with information about my brother. It was thanks to him that this Christmas break was so tough. It didn't helped that I missed Ness more than usual, and the only gifts I'd been able to get for him were some lame books, ones I was given for free in the marketplace. He gave me fancy new art equipment, expensive-looking brushes and paints.

They made me feel guilty.

But I suppose that's all over now. School is a different story, an unfamiliar life of luxury. This is what I save up for, what all my money goes towards, the life I want to live.

I'm ready for the new term.


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~~o00o~~

Chapter 2: Something Broken

(Lucas)

~~o00o~~

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Ness's revenge comes in the form of a snowball aimed right at my face.

"Hey!" I exclaim, brushing the cold white mass out of my hair. "That's not nice!"

"What can I say?" Ness gives a smug smile. "You play with fire, you get burnt."

Sighing, I roll a new snowball. "I see you've chosen your fate."

"You really shouldn't do that," Red says suddenly. "It's a hazard!"

Whump.

"Ha!" Toon Link squawks. "How's that for a hazard?"

"Toon Link! That was uncalled for," Villager scolds. "You okay, Red?"

"C-Cold…" Red shivers, as though he's never seen snow in his life.

With a vengeful grin, Villager gathers up a snowball, launching it at Toon Link, and the pair are soon engaged in a full-on snowball war. Taking advantage of my distraction, Ness gathers up another snowball, and there's an explosion of cold against my cheek.

I giggle, despite it. Something about snow brings out the childishness in us all.

...Except for Bowser. I grit my teeth as he storms over. I hate him, nearly as much as Porky. He's either psychopathic, or secretly evil. One of the two.

"WHY aren't you walking up to school?" Bowser demands.

"Nobody else has set off yet, Professor." Toon Link chucks another snowball at Villager, who performs an impressive spinning dodge.

"You lead, and the rest will FOLLOW," Bowser says, snarling. "Or will I have to make you?"

"Possibly," Toon Link says, scampering behind him. I try to move out of Bowser's line of fire, but unfortunately, Bowser turns to me.

"And YOU! Snow on your clothes? DISGRACEFUL!"

"I-I can explain!"

"Is that SO?" Bowser pounds his fist into a hand. "If that leaves a stain, there will be TROUBLE!"

"It's - it'll melt, it won't leave a stain-"

"REALLY?" Bowser narrows his eyes. "It looks very… WHITE."

Unsure what to say, I catch a glimpse of Toon Link gathering up a snowball. No!'Villager mouths, but he's too slow, as Bowser turns towards them, and-

Kaboom!

Silence rings out.

"Wow..."

"Who threw that?"

"They'll be for it now!"

Bowser's freezes in shock, until all of a sudden, he points at me, shaking with embarrassed fury.

"COME WITH ME!"

My eyes flare in outrage. Toon Link wasn't even anywhere near me - the snowball didn't come from my direction! How did it look like I'd been the one to throw it?

"Actually, Professor-" Red pipes up, but Bowser turns on him, growling.

"DO YOU WANT TO COME TOO?"

"No..." Red pales, shrinking back.

"GOOD!" Bowser grabs me by the scruff of my neck. "As for you, there'll be big trouble!"

As he starts to drag me up to school, I sigh. It's not the first time this has happened. I'm often blamed for things that others do. I'm supposed to be a quiet kid, not a troublemaker, but misunderstandings seem to get me in a lot of bad situations. That, or Bowser is out to get me.

But suddenly, a burst of white explodes against him! Bowser whirls around, furious, and a rush of pain darts across my neck - stars flash - and I scramble, and-

"WHO THREW THAT?"

"It was me," Ness says proudly.

"Ness," I croak, tearing at Bowser's grip. "You - idiot-"

Bowser stomps over, looking deadly. He grabs Ness by the neck, and we exchange a begrudging grin as he's hauled alongside me.

"Any more behaviour like that," Bowser snarls, glaring at the other students. "I'll break your legs, understand?"

Nobody replies, but everyone looks nervous. Bowser is the kind of person to always carry out a threat.

And so, Bowser makes the long walk past the forest and towards the school, gripping onto our collars all the way. The school itself is more of a castle, standing four storeys high, and at least six centuries old. A great dome shape protrudes out of the top, supporting an immense clocktower that ticks and chimes at great volumes, often when I'm least expecting it. Moss and ivy snake up the walls, creeping around turrets, sneaking into cracks, past dusty windows.

Bowser kicks open the front door. The school is full of hallways, strange classrooms, dormitories and lounges, all covered with the same dull crimson carpet. The whole thing is constructed out of massive stone bricks, and illuminated with the warm light of modern gas lamps, kept running by a wizened lamplighter named Charizard. The corridors are lined with strange paintings and posters, and in term time, they're alive with the latest gossip, or more often than not, the same old rumours - rumours of secret passages, rumours of ghosts, witches…

However, it's hard to appreciate the creepy, gothic aesthetic of it all while Bowser is dragging us along like wounded animals. We're brought into his office, a strange circular room, with walls covered in pictures of hellish demons.

It fits him very well.

Bowser sits in a grand, throne-like chair on one side of a table, cackling like a stereotypical villain. Ness and I sit dutifully opposite him, restricted to a small wooden bench. Even Ness looks a little nervous now - Bowser is known for his bad punishments, and the decor doesn't ease my mind. Though, compared to that Face thing we saw on the train…

I find myself shaking from the memory. Horrid eyes, a mess of hair, blood, teeth. It had felt powerful, in a way I couldn't quite understand. I wish I wasn't such a coward, and so ridiculously sensitive to this kind of thing - how babyish can I get? I dread to know what Ness is thinking of me now.

But, no. Ness wouldn't judge me. Ness gets scared as well. He takes my hand, and squeezes it, seeing my expression. It's okay. We'll be okay.

I breathe easier.

Bowser's saying something about never crossing him 'ever, ever again'. It's not very important.

"And you'll have detention with Headmaster Hand," he says gleefully.

Fine, whatever. Headmaster Hand is bizarre, but in a nice way, I guess. He'll be fairer than Bowser. Still, if he writes home… My heart sinks as I contemplate what Father will say, and what Ness's father will think of him. Both of us have fathers with high expectations - well, mine might not care about me one bit - but that's probably because I'm not good enough for his attention.

Father wants me to live up to Claus, which isn't going to happen. I am the family disappointment, after all. I think back to the interaction that I overheard in the bakery:

"Lucas, he's done nothing," he said, when he thought I couldn't hear. "He's always been living in Claus's shadow. If only he'd been the one to run off..."

It's never been a secret that he wishes I'd been the one to go missing.

Soon enough, Ness and I are sent out of Bowser's office to unpack our things. I tremble, still a little ashamed.

I hate getting in trouble.

When we reach our room, our bags are already there. Ness's bags, anyway, given I sold everything I owned over Christmas. Even that hadn't been enough to pay the school fee, but Headmaster Hand took pity on me, and he accepted an IOU. I guess there's always a little luck left in me. Ness told me on the first day of boarding school that we can share everything while we're, and even if I feel a little bad that I'll have to depend on him this term, I guess it's a fair arrangement. I'll take what I can get.

I'm brought back to earth when Ness picks up a note from Toon Link.

Sorry about the snowballing, I didn't mean to get you guys in trouble. I brought up your bags to make up for it. Hope it went well with Bowser.

~Toon Link.

I blush a little bit. It's a really thoughtful message, and it's even better that Ness's stuff's already up. Carrying things - not my strong point. Even though I am slightly more physically able than Ness, I'm still no bodybuilder.

"It's nice to finally have time to ourselves," Ness says, collapsing into bed with a sigh. "We're gonna get up to so many amazing things this year."

"Yeah, like exams and studying," I say flatly. "Incredible."

"I've done enough studying to last me a lifetime." Ness rubs his eyes. "I'm not sure I have the energy to do any more."

"What do you mean?" I frown.

"Father made study throughout the holidays," Ness says. "I had no time… I didn't even get a chance to read those books you got me! I promise I'll read them this term."

I feel a prickle of guilt. "Sorry about those. I didn't have much money to spend."

"Seriously? You're apologising?" Ness sits up, coming over at once. "My father wouldn't let anything but books in the house, Lucas! They look really interesting, honest."

Bless his pure heart. I beam at him, pleased.

Ness unpacks, and I help. I take out the gifts from Ness that I chose to bring with me - a nice, fluffy, blue blanket, the art equipment, a few other items, too.

"You kept some stuff then," Ness says, looking pleased.

"Only the things you gave me." I blush, realising exactly how that sounds.

"That's sweet," he comments, continuing to unpack.

Soon after, we get a knock and a call from Professor Rosalina to gather in the main hall for supper. We make quick work of the walk to avoid any potential conflict with our good friend Professor Bowser, and - woah! The main hall has been properly done up, with ribbons hanging down, tables lined with rows upon rows of food, chairs with cushions...

Pleased, Ness and I sit down. Toon Link comes over to us amidst the general chatter, apologising once again for the incident of the snowball.

He shakes his head. "What happened? What did Bowser do to your innocent souls?"

"Just a detention with Headmaster Hand, no big deal," Ness says.

"Bowser wouldn't usually miss an opportunity to punish people himself…" Toon Link looks puzzled. "Maybe Headmaster Hand has some special reason for seeing you two?"

"Maybe," I say, but I shut up when Headmaster Hand takes the podium to give a speech.

"Welcome, one and all, back to a new term at Onett Boarding School!" He genially looks around at us all. "I hope you're all ready for this difficult term of preparing for exams in the summer. I have faith that you'll try extremely hard…"

Bold faith, Headmaster. I'm the laziest person I know.

"Firstly, there is a new rule," Headmaster Hand says, his tone drying considerably. "Professor Bowser wishes for me to inform every student that throwing snowballs in the grounds, especially towards him, is now disallowed."

There's a small laugh, and Bowser roars, shaking his fists.

"Now, education..." he resumes, looking at us all over his lectern. "For me, has always meant an awful lot. It's not just shoving numbers and letters into kids, and expecting them to be regurgitated onto a page. It's about developing the skills needed for life. I know that this school is unusual for our time, as we allow both genders inside our walls. See, I am of the belief that in order for marriage to work, both genders need to experience and get used to each other's presence throughout early life, to build up a tolerance for one another. For the boys in the room, school is also about learning how to build successful businesses and make money. For the girls here, you must also be educated in this, since men make mistakes and need a helping hand now and then!"

There's another laugh at that. I don't understand the real difference between boys and girls. Mother always told me, before she died, that if I was born a girl or a boy, she'd love me just the same.

"Furthermore," Headmaster Hand continues, "It's important that we remain educated, given the rising conflicts between Onett and Tazmily..."

I squirm a little. Tazmily is where I was from, before moving here. It was a really pretty place, full of sunflowers, and full of Mother. Her grave is there. Ness senses my momentary sadness, I think. He knows well of my home village from my constant ramblings about it, and he moves a little closer to me. It's a small yet comforting gesture.

"...And a reminder about the Wilderness Survival Week that will be taking place in a fortnight," Headmaster Hand says. I smile a little bit at that. Wilderness Survival Week is a yearly event where we venture into the Great Forest, armed with absolutely nothing but the clothes on our backs. We partner up, staying out, figuring out how to survive in the wilderness. It's kind of hell, what with the dirt and hunger, and it may sound completely insane (on my first Wilderness Survival Week I was terrified) but it's outweighed by the fact that Ness and I get a week to ourselves.

"Pair?" I whisper to Ness.

"Well..." he begins, uncertain. "I was kind of thinking of going with Toon Link this year..." My stomach drops, but Ness laughs. "Your face! Of course we're a pair, you goof." I pout, blushing. He got me good.

"When Ness over there is finished with his private conversation..." Headmaster Hand says, looking severe, Ness pales, embarrassed, and I laugh. "...I would like to remind you about your summer exams, coming up in six weeks. Obviously, for younger years, these will just be progression exams, to see how you're doing. But for older year groups…" His gaze flickers to the back of the room, where we sit. "Doing well in these exams will be pivotal to your upcoming university applications."

I sit up a little straighter. I have my eyes firmly fixed on the science degree at Onett university. I've always loved science - it's like discovering the secrets of the universe.

Headmaster Hand doesn't say any more on the subject, however, and he eventually finishes with a jolly 'Enjoy your supper!', before sitting down to enjoy a plate of roast beef. Hungrily, Ness takes a fair portion of the sliced bread on the table, and he lathers it up with butter and honey. I rake my eyes across the table - sliced chicken catches my eye, and I take some, avoiding the bowl of my least favourite food of all time, mashed potato. The meals aren't usually this luxurious, but at the start of term, they like to make an effort. We'll be back to the old classic wet-toad-in-the-hole soon enough.

"This is lovely," Ness says, grinning as stuffs his face. Ness likes to call himself fat sometimes, but he's not even anywhere close. I just say he's better at being a pillow.

I eat slowly, lost amidst the ambient chatter of the main hall. I find myself staring around at the paintings on the wall. I'd quite like to have a painting of mine on up here one day, I decide. Even if my father disapproves. Painting's the other thing alongside science that I really enjoy. In all honesty, I don't care for much, other than art, science, and my friends.

I've daydream a lot about these things. It's a habit of mine, I think, but it's helpful. It comes from being calm and logical. I'm the polar opposite to Ness's rash and hasty self. Though, he's a daydreamer too, and often, we'll sit in silence, just daydreaming together. It's awesome.

"...Lucas?" Villager says.

"Huh?" I'm pulled out of my reverie.

"...We were just talking about our least favourite professors, and Ness said you had a story about Wario…"

Oh, yeah. That. I don't like telling that story.

"Well, it was two years ago…" I grimace. "I got detention in his class, and the punishment was that my Father had to pay him a hundred shillings. It was awful."

"Wow." Villager whistles softly. "What a dick."

It's strange, actually. It's like all the professors we have are either extremely good or completely awful. Professor Rosalina is my favourite. She treats me and Ness like her own children, she'll help us study, and she'll always check how we are when passing by in a corridor. Professor Ryu, the history teacher, is probably the next best. He's calm and fair, even if weird, and he owns a strange number of books on the history of illegal magic. History can be an interesting subject, too, but I often grow sad in the lessons, thinking of all the tragedy that happened in the past. I'm a pacifist at heart.

On the polar opposite side of things, there's Bowser. He's the English Literature Professor. He's essentially the worst thing to happen to this school, mean-spirited, shouty, and he doesn't even know his subject. Then Wario, teaching Business Studies, isn't quite as bad, but he's still not good news. Professor Shulk, who teaches Art, talks a lot, and is seemingly perpetually cheerful. He's great, though, because he turns a blind eye when Ness and I sneak into the art classrooms instead of doing sports with Wii Fit Trainer.

There are other professors, of course, but they teach subjects that I don't study, like Geography. In typical best friend fashion, Ness and I take the same subjects, Mathematics, English Literature, Sport and Science are compulsory, but for our option subjects, we picked Art, (we're two of the only four boys in the whole class) History, and Business Studies (Ness's father made him pick Business, and I got a strong impression my father wanted me to take it too.)

I'd say this is a good school on the whole. The subject choice is much broader than at other schools, and anything is better than the horrors of the public school near the river in the city centre. That makes me sound elitist, but that school is awful. Ness's sister goes there, and there is no freedom, only complete silence, beatings, and chainings from the ceiling. I'm fortunate to be here.

Supper ends soon enough, and we're free to do what we like for a while, before curfew at ten. We decide to hit the games room, which is essentially a room with a pool table and a couple of couches. We usually spend most of our time there.

"Who's for a game of pool?" Red asks. Red loves pool. It's his favourite 'sport', which unfortunately means he's stupidly good at it too. We start playing.

"Did any of you see that face on the train?" Ness asks casually.

I'd almost forgotten about that stupid face. There's a high chance I'll be seeing it again in my nightmares tonight.

Red, Toon Link and Villager seem puzzled. "Face?"

"Well, you know when it went all dark and cold?" Ness says. "Lucas and I were looking out the window, and then this horrible face popped up out of nowhere. It was awful, really. It seemed like it got on the roof of the train, because then there was this banging noise from up above. It stopped when all the professors came in."

"It got on the roof?" Red looks up, interested. "Did you see it get off of the roof at any point?"

Ness and I exchange a look.

"Well, no…"

"Ooh, and what's to say it didn't find a way into the train! Spooky!" Toon Link laughs.

Ness and I exchange another, more frightened look.

"I hope not..." I say, my voice tiny. There's a deadly silence.

"...And maybe, now it's arrived at the school, and perhaps, it's haunting the corridors…" Toon Link raises his hands, grinning. "It could be anywhere, haunting you, waiting for you to close your eyes..."

The gas lamps flicker. I shiver.

"Nah," Ness says, seeing my worried expression. "It probably fell off of the roof when the train started moving again. So, how about we stop making theories, and we play some pool?"

But Toon Link rubs his hands together. "I don't know, Ness... Maybe the loud noises of a pool game will summon the Face to this very location... Maybe it's already in the room..." He looks directly at me, and grins. "Right... behind you!"

"RAARGH!" Something grabs my shoulder, and I scream - panic flooding through me - I whirl around, and see Popo, his hand on my shoulder, laughing his head off. I try to calm my breathing. It's okay. It's okay.

"Sorry Lucas, it was too hard to resist," Popo says, guffawing.

Popo is mixed in my books. He can be nice, but he's kind of dodgy and he teases me, along with everyone else in the entire school. Nana, his twin sister, is really nice. She's in art class with me and Ness.

"Seriously, that's not funny!" Ness storms, hot-headed. "That face thing was scary, okay? You wouldn't have liked it either."

There's a pause.

"Wait, what? I thought you were having us on," Villager says, frowning. "You mean to tell us you really saw a phantom face?

"Well, it had a body," I rationalise, still recovering. "But, yeah."

"I missed most of the conversation, what's going on?" Popo asks.

"None of your business," Toon Link huffs. "Can't be bothered to recount it all."

I'm surprised by the sharpness in Toon Link's tone. It's unlike him to speak to people like that.

"Rude," Popo says, rolling his eyes. "I sure hope that doesn't come back to haunt you…"

"Toon Link, calm down," Villager says sternly. "We can't-"

"There might be a phantom face in the school! How do you expect me to be calm?"

"Don't worry, so long as it gets Bowser first," Villager attempts to joke, but there's a gentle unease over us now.

It's however broken by the entry of more people into the room. I sigh, seeing that it's Meta Knight and Olimar. They're two of the biggest bullies in the school. One time, they'd broken into my dorm, and covered everything in red paint from the art room. I don't know what they get out of it. I think they're just the sorts of people who enjoy causing as much suffering as possible.

"Alright?" Toon Link asks. I don't get how he can be cool with them. Popo's pretty buddy-buddy with them as well. Villager, I guess he's sort of neutral, though he's neutral with most people. He doesn't have any real enemies.

"What's up then, gang?" Meta Knight says, grinning, doing that annoying thing where popular people pretend to be your friend, and you're supposed to act grateful for it, or something.

"Not much," Ness says.

"Cool, cool," Meta Knight says, disinterested. "Who's winning the game?"

"We haven't started yet." Red puts his hands on his hips, offended. "There are no balls on the table, see."

I internally facepalm. Red's very good at accidentally being rude.

"Yeah, yeah, good point," Olimar says, smirking. There is a tense quiet, in which he probably contemplates beating us to a pulp.

"We better go to our dorm," Meta Knight decides suddenly.

"Yeah, yeah, we got business to attend to," Olimar says, and Meta Knight hits him.

"Shut it! The boss said to keep it a secret," he growls, before turning to look at us. "You saw nothing, or you end up in the medical ward for a month."

The threatening pair depart.

"Lovely," Toon Link says. "Some great foreshadowing there. I'm sure their boss won't cause us any trouble in the near future."

"I hate them most enormously," Red complains. "Up on their high horses... it's a shame they haven't the brains to do anything good! Don't they know that we'll be the ones in power some day?"

Everyone knows better than to gratify Red's ramblings with a response.

"Hey, did anyone see Zelda on the train?" Villager asks, trying to sound casual.

Everyone sighs. It's well-theorised that Villager has been crushing on her for ages, even though he tries to hide it. Truth be told, without being too mean, she doesn't seem like the type for him. She's hugely popular, and everyone knows about her and Link getting together. It's a hopeless case. I've never really seen what all the fuss is about girls, anyway. All the 'cool guys' seem to spend their lives chasing after them, and it never ends well. I mean, have they read Romeo and Juliet? To me, girls aren't even that attractive. Even boys are prettier. I'm weird, I know.

One game of pool later, the curfew hits. Red, of course, beats everyone else, but I do at least pot three red balls, which I'm secretly pretty pleased with. Ness and I wave a cheerful goodnight to the others, and we take the right turn on the staircase to our dorm corridor. Popo must've wandered off at some point to find Nana. I feel bad that our group kind of excluded him, but to be fair, he has other friends. Though, I don't know... maybe I should talk to him more? But as Ness and I walk down our dorm corridor, my thoughts drift elsewhere, and I grow worried again.

"What do you think Olimar and Meta Knight meant? You don't think they've done something to our room, do you?" I need to work on keeping that edge of panic out of my voice.

"No, I don't think so…" Ness says, though he doesn't sound fully convinced. "It sounded quite official. And probably illegal. I wouldn't mind getting them busted for it, so long as they don't 'bust' in our faces in the process."

"Yeah… that'd be good. I wonder what it is though?" I say. "Maybe, maybe they have slaves or something?"

"That's unlikely," Ness says, laughing.

"What do you think then?" I shoot back.

"Hmm… maybe some illegal drug selling…" he says, unsure. "It could be anything, really."

We open the door to our dorm. It looks just as we left it earlier. It's a nice little room, with a painting of some sunflowers on the wall, which reminds me a lot of Tazmily. Mother used to make and sell sunflower oil before she died. We got by a lot better then, me, my mother, my father, and Claus. Father didn't mind my presence so much. Even though I probably see Mother through rose-tinted spectacles, I know she loved me and Claus a lot. I'm sort of glad she passed before Claus ditched us, actually. I'm not sure what the stress of his departure would have done to her. And as for how Mother died, we're still not sure. She was found dead in the sunflower fields. It's believed that it was sunstroke that did it, an awfully hot day, it could've caused a lot of complications.

So the police told us.

I think once again, about how Ness doesn't know, how he doesn't know anything about my family, or about my life outside of school. It makes me feel a little bit of guilt. He tells me all about his little tomboyish sister, Tracy, and his pressuring father, and his kindly mother, and, I don't know. Am I ashamed? Is that it?

I lay down on my bed, after stowing away the new art supplies in our chest of drawers. The beds we have here are nice, at least. There are some quilts and blankets provided, but I usually sleep under the blanket that Ness got me for my birthday. Sure, it's seven years old or so, but I clean it regularly, and it's pretty comfortable.

Ness quickly puts the four books I gave him into the bookcase, and we get changed in relative silence. We have a good system for that, Ness and I facing away from each other. No need for any awkwardness - besides, I'm not the most comfortable with my body. I'm noticeably skinny, my ribs jutting out like some sort of rack. I'm below average weight, and I have barely any muscle, which means that by definition, I'm plain unattractive. But after we're changed, we sit on Ness's bed. It's a strange thing we sometimes do; at the end of the day, we catch up, talk, and have some time to be best friends without everyone else getting in the way.

"So," Ness begins. "How was your winter break, really?"

It suddenly hits me that this might be a difficult conversation. I breathe deeply. I can trust Ness with anything. I try to keep myself together.

"It was hard," I admit. "More bills, more taxes. You know the drill. Father's pay was cut, and it was hard to get by." I try not to sound too miserable.

Ness looks guilty. "I'll try to talk to my father, to see if he can get the wages back up…"

"No, no need..." I rub my arm. "I spent a lot of time trading and selling. I made some money. I got by, it was fine."

"That's good." Ness smiles, though it's hesitant. "Did anything else happen?"

"...I was getting by until Porky paid me a visit."

"What did he do to you this time?" Ness's angry expression says it all. Porky's been messing around in both of our lives for a nice long time, and he's a nightmare.

"He tried to kidnap me when I was selling," I say casually. "I got away, it's fine. But then…" I shiver, realising that I might have to explain some things. Personal things.

"What, what happened?" Ness pushes.

"Uh…"

"You don't have to say anything that you don't want-"

Am I really going to open up? At long last? Temptation to shove it all down rears up, and I'm not sure what to say.

No. I'm stronger than this. I can tell Ness anything. He takes my hand, sensing my obvious discomfort, and I take a deep breath.

"Ness, do you remember my brother?"

"Yeah, Claus, right?"

"He went missing eight years ago, and-" I shakily gasp for breath. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I thought he'd be found, but we never found him, and I don't know where he is, but I want him back, and I'm - I'm sorry-!"

Great. What a mess! Ness is sure to turn on me now - from his perspective, I've been lying to him for eight years about this. I don't know what even drove me to talk about Claus, all the words just fell out, it's ridiculous. I'm ridiculous, a mess, incoherent-

But Ness takes me in his arms, holding me close. What have I become? Opening up - why is it so hard?

"I'm sorry…" I mumble again.

"Lucas, don't be sorry. Please, it's okay," Ness whispers. "It's okay. We, we'll find him."

"No, we won't." I shake my head slightly. "He's gone - he's long gone, I'm sure of it. I should have told you - I don't - I can't -" I bury my face into him as he holds me closer.

"Lucas… you told me when you were ready, and that's okay," he says calmly. How can he be so calm? How does he even put up with me like this - how would anyone? I guess it's his big heart.

I sniffle, slightly more relaxed now, and the shame starts to kick in for my miniature breakdown, all that I've just unloaded on Ness. He doesn't deserve this. I should deal with my hurt myself.

"I'm sorry for breaking down on you like that - I didn't even finish explaining what happened..."

"It's okay. There's no rush." Ness comfortingly pats my back.

The tension eases in my shoulders at Ness's soothing words, and I shakily continue. "Porky told me he could sell me information on Claus, and Father agreed to pay. He signed the deal, it was a trick - he didn't know, he knew nothing. And now we're in bigger debt than ever."

"He did what?" Ness explodes. "That's a new low. That's evil! That awful man. That revolting, terrible man! Lucas, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He holds me protectively. "I swear, I won't let him hurt you ever again."

I stay silent. Porky is hard to combat. Porky gets his way. Porky always gets his way.

"It's been a long day," Ness says after a while. "A tough day."

He's right. I don't usually break down like this. But the Face, Bowser, Olimar, Meta Knight, I guess it had all built up. And this morning, Father not answering the door, not saying a word, not even a goodbye...

I breathe easier. It'll be fine.

"We should go to bed," I agree. "Sorry… again…"

But Ness isn't having any of it. "Lucas, please, don't apologise. You're there for me when I break down, and I'm here for you too. It's what best friends do." He smiles, looking goofy. "But yes. Let's go to bed."

I nod in agreement, closing the door. "Just in case of The Face coming back," I joke quietly. Although, it isn't much of a joke.

"Good thinking," Ness says, and I realise that it'll be fine. Face or no Face, I'm not alone. I consider how ridiculously cheesy that thought is, and decide I don't mind.

"Goodnight Ness, and thank you."

"Goodnight Lucas. Sweet dreams."

I clamber under the blanket as Ness goes over to his bed. It's warm and soft, and I almost feel like I'm floating... floating off up into the sky, where the clouds are fluffy, warm, and comforting. And it's alright.

It always is, in the end.


A/N

Well, that was a thing. This was a quieter and less action-y chapter. Writing from Lucas's perspective was different, he's a lot more logical, I believe. There's a lot of so and I think.

And we meet some more characters - Popo, Olimar, Meta Knight, Headmaster Hand. We even find out a bit about Porky, which is fun.

Some of this chapter was a little cheesy, but whatever, they're sweet (and pretty overly dependent on one another...)

Also, heteronormative society sucks. So does all the inequality. The 19th century just sucked, didn't it?

Once again, thanks for reading! There will be more about Villager and Red next chapter, I've decided. Toon Link has taken too much spotlight.

Other than that, see you next time!

~ReadyForTeddy