IMPORTANT NOTE FOR NEW (IF ANY) READERS

Greetings from the future. For anyone who hasn't read this story the first time around and wants to review it now, please listen.

I have decided to make this story my progression piece for my writing portfolio, since Chapters 1-6 were written in 2005, and the newer chapters will be 2007+. So, all criticisms for 1-6 will be appreciated, but won't be applied because I'm leaving it alone for my portfolio. (Trust me, it's taking every ounce of self-restraint I have to not go back and edit them). However, criticisms for 7+ will definitely be taken to heart, so please please please criticize! Please! Don't be afraid of hurting my feelings or anything, criticisms are extremely appreciated. I could really use them.

Thank you. I'll let you leave now. :)

A/N Double update! XD With the last chapter of the Twilight Zone up I decided to post this as well. This story was more based on a vague concept of someone trying to fit into daily life that's absolutely insane. I can't truly call this a swordsmen fiction, for a lot of characters are in it though Marth is the main focus as it's his point of view. Now don't get mad but I'm doing guesswork on his exile, though it will be scarcely mentioned after it happens. I guess… and this chapter I tried to make as funny as I could without going over the top, but when Roy arrives in the next chapter then things will kick off. Anyway criticism is most appreciated, as is non critical reviews, however I would prefer not to be flamed (who would?). So with that in mind I continue the chapter.

Note: For those to lazy to read my authors' note this is Marths' POV … err… yay!

Other Notes:

I – Thoughts

I – Sound

"I" – Speaking

'I' – Other

…- Scene Change

Disclaimer- I don't own SSBM or Fire Emblem (sniff)

Life after Exile

Chapter One – Of Exile and SSBM

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and in truth it was a truly beautiful day outside. However the shining sun only warmed up the courtroom making it extremely stifling and continuously beat down on the chair I was bound to. As for the birds they were an annoyance, I wished to throw a large rock at them, for it seemed they were mocking me. Perhaps I was paranoid, or maybe just anxious about my hearing, despite the peaceful scene outdoors, it was the exact opposite in here. The council argued of my fate, while the presenter fanned himself with my background papers and the executioner began to sharpen his axe while giving me excited glances as if nothing would please him more then to chop off my head. I'm sure it would, I had given him a pay cut while on the throne. The rich who had seated themselves in every chair in the room were constantly glaring and snapping at the poor who were trying to get into the courtroom to see the outcome of the trial. I let out a slight sigh as one of the wealthy men said,

"Don't worry Prince Marth, I'm sure they will not kill you." I sat up a bit more and gave a little tug at the ropes which bounded me to the chair.

"Then why did they bring the executioner?" I inquired raising an eyebrow at the burly man with the axe who was still grinning at me as I turned to the well-to-do speaker.

"Good measure my lord! These men like to think ahead! What if you tried to escape? They would have the man with an axe to take you down and return you." I doubted this theory; it seemed the man was comforting me just in case I did get restored to royalty that I might pay him money or bring up his social status.

"I'm sure." I muttered softly as the bang of the gamble silenced all. The presenter (who seemed half asleep) jumped with the noise and almost dropped the papers. He embarrassedly cleared his throat and gave the papers a quick tap on the desktop bring them back into order.

"Marth of Altea."

"Yes?' I asked as calm as I could at the mention of my name.

"Since Dolua has taken over Altea and will turn it into a dictatorship we have decided to force you into exile." There were some murmurs amongst the crowd. Some were elated, others were disappointed they did not get to see a killing. However I was ecstatic, after all exile was not really permanent, I could always return in disguise. Before I had any time to celebrate a clear voice rang out,

"Wait a minute!" The entire courtroom turned to the sound of the voice, there standing up with a defiant look was one of the peasants. "This concept just completely eludes me. You have forced him into exile, well done, very nice. Though I think you all are bubbling morons. Why exile him? You know that he'll live in a peaceful village until one day he is motivated to come back, and then he'll gain allies, destroy you, and is returned to power with overwhelming popularity. Just kill him and get him out of your way!" There was silence for several moments. The presenter coughed and shuffled his papers once more with a certain air of dignity.

"Guards, bring the peasant to the dungeons for speaking out of line." Promptly following orders the two guards seized the man and began to drag him, kicking and screaming, out of the room. Finally the shouts died down and there was silence once more.

"Sir?" asked one of the rich men to the council.

"Yes?" replied the leading councilman as he folded his hands on the table.

"I just had a strange and an obviously original idea… why not kill Prince Marth? So then he can't come back and free Altea."

"What a brilliant idea, you are a smart man. Executioner!" The executioner eagerly looked at him. "You fired; we've decided to use our guards instead. Guards!" The two guards returned to the room. "Bring the ex-prince as far as you can from Altea, and kill him to your choosing and untie him from that chair while you're at it, I like the chair." My stomach felt like I had dropped a rock in it, I wanted to throw up for I was going to die! However that would mess up my outfit, if I was going to die might as well do it with dignity… as I debated with my self on whether to throw up or not the guards untied me from the chair and guided me out by the shoulders.

…

"So…" began one of the guards. We were trudging through a forest which was only in god knows where. "What do we do with im'?"

"I dunno." replied the other gruffly, "We ave' so many options…" I was slung over the shoulder one the current speaker, my hands tied together and my legs were bound mutually as well. He gave me a little jump and asked, "How do ya want us to go about it Prince?"

"I would rather you let me go." I replied hopefully. The guard snorted in laughter.

"Not happenin'. Hows about a sword in the gut?"

"No… that's not very appealing."

"Then what'd you want?" I thought a moment.

"A stoning."

"Ay, that's a way to go. Big er small stones?"

"Big if you please." We stopped as we reached the bank of a river.

"Hoy Jim! Help me find a big stone for Princey here." Jim (which I could only guess was the name of the other guard) nodded. The one who was holding me placed me gently onto the ground as if not to hurt me until it was time to brutally kill me. "Don't ya go anywhere now." he warned. "Or we'll go with the sword through yer gut idea." I nodded as the two began to look around.

"Heh, how'll long ya think he'll last after we stone im'?"

"I dunno, maybe a couple-a seconds."

"Ay give im' more credit then that. I guess a minute and two seconds."

"No one can live with a stone on their head for a minute Jim…"

"Why? Ave' you done it?"

"Well no, I'll make ya a bet… two shiny things if he lasts more than thirty seconds."

"Deal, ah 'ere is a stone…. get ready Prince I, ah where'd he go?!"

"There he is, in dat conveniently placed river!" It was true; as they spoke I had quietly slipped into the river and was now floating downstream.

"Ay! No! Well, how long ya think he'll last without bein' able to swim?"

"Thirty seconds…" the other replied as he shielded his eyes to watch me against the blaring sun. Well, no one said my plan was perfect. The river was at first calm as I was gently carried away to a new destination. I could keep my head above water despite the bonds and rather enjoyed watching the guards continue their bets until they were out of sight. Then, fate turned on me once more I hit rapids which tossed me back and forth and once more brought up the subject of whether I should throw up or not. No I decided in thought. I won't. So I was carried further downstream until finally I was able to grasp the edge of a rock on the shore with my tied hands. However since the waters current was so strong I found I couldn't get myself up onto land so I pathetically hung there for a few moments.

"Help!" I called out in vain though I knew perfectly well there was no one around to help. I sighed and tried to get comfortable on the rock, if I was lucky, maybe the bonds would break under pressure. After several moment of pain-staking silence there was finally the sound of someone coming through the brush which surrounded the river. I watched in shock as an elf came bounding through the trees wearing a tunic (skirt), white leggings, and a long green hat. His blond bangs peaked out from under it the fell onto his face showing off his bright azure eyes (my eyes were bluer than his.) and his long pointed ears were visibly noticeable. He looked around for a moment in passing and continued to walk. "Hey!" I called out desperately. He stopped and one of his ears twitched with the noise, and suddenly turned and started to approach the rock and soon he silently peeped over it at me. "I just escaped a death sentence." I quickly explained at the look the elf gave me which might as well said 'Why the hell are you hanging on a rock?' Accepting my answer with a slight nod of the head he untied my hands and before the current could sweep me off he pulled me onto the shore. "Thank you!" I cried out blissfully, not only to the elf but to whatever force had caused him to come bounding through the woods into the place I had happened to be. Regaining my composure I began to untie my legs and said,

"I truly am eternally grateful to you, what's your name?" I finally freed my legs and looked up expectantly at my savior for an answer of which I got none. The elf only made a pointing gesture at his throat. "Oh, you can't speak?" He nodded sorrowfully. "I'm sorry, if I had known I wouldn't have asked." Shakily I got to my feet holding onto a nearby tree and asked,

"Are there any nearby towns?" The elf shook his head. "Houses perhaps? I have to find somewhere…" Again he took a moment to think and soon an expression dawned on his face which clearly said, 'I have an idea!'

…

"Where are we going?" I asked as the silent elf pulled me through the forest. I knew perfectly well he couldn't answer but I was impatient. When younger I would always annoy my father with questions like this, for example: "Father, where are we going to get a giant mace this time of night?" This was a different situation of course so I decided not to persist further and allowed myself to be pulled along. Finally the elf stopped and I could vaguely see the outline of a mansion in the distance.

"Is that where we're headed?" I asked pointing at the outline. He softly nodded and got ready to start again when a voice called out,

"Link! There you are!" I turned just in time to see a younger elf, which looked exactly like the one who had saved me step out from behind the trees. This one seemed younger though, about ten or perhaps eleven. The elf I was traveling with turned at the sound of his voice. "Zelda was looking for you; she said something about you running off to- hey! Who're you?" he asked cutting off his own sentence and pointing at me.

"My name's Marth." Hastily trying to change the subject I asked, "Are you his brother?" while pointing to the older elf beside me. The child shook his head.

"Nope! I'm him from seven years ago! He's Link and I'm Young Link. Though I suppose I could be Link and he could just be Big Link… or maybe-"

"I understand." I interrupted quickly. "If you're his younger self then how can you talk and he can't?"

"Well you see he lost his ability to talk recently in traumatic accident involving a snail and a pizza… it was very sad really. Since I'm his younger self I still have the ability to talk until I turn his age and suffer the same effects of the same accident so I'm talking as much as I can now! Hee hee hee, do you like puppies? I like puppies…" I blinked at the abrupt subject change.

"Err yeah. I like puppies."

"Yay! Anyways, my older self was showing you to the Smashers' mansion right?" I nodded slowly, almost afraid of another sudden outburst. "So you're going to come live there too?"

"I don't know what you mean…"

"Well, Peach will explain it before you're interviewed. We haven't filled all the positions yet… we need more Smashers, but we have hardly had anyone offering to take the job, and we can't start the fighting until they do. There are two more positions to be filled, if you take it there's only one!"

"Fighting? I'm afraid my sword was taken away…"

"It's no problem! You can use the Biggorons' Sword!" The child suddenly pulled out a giant sword from no where almost scaring the heck out of me. Seeing my lack of enthusiasm and utter fear about using it he said, "No? Ah well, you'll figure out something." Sadly he threw the sword over his shoulder into the woods. Several frightened screeches could be heard and the sharpened sword impaled a nearby tree. I glanced quickly at the sword and back at the child.

…

"Welcome Marth! This-" Young Link made a grand gesture at the huge mansion which stood before me "Is the Smasher Mansion! You know… you've been standing a good deal away from me since we began to walk here…"

"No! Of course not!" I cried with my hands out before me in defense. "Why would I do that?" However the child was right, I stood a considerable distance away from Young Link ever since he pulled out that giant sword. The last thing I needed to pile on my troubles was my eye being poked out with his sword. Young Link grinned as he accepted my answer.

"Okay!" he replied as he pulled open the door. "Come on in." So I walked with his older self into the mansion.

The mansion was pretty, not as fancy as the castle I used to live at, but it was nice. There were plenty of rooms, and so many doors I would be completely lost if Link and Young Link weren't showing me the way around. Suddenly we stopped in a large living area, where a Princess was sitting on the couch. She was wearing a long puffy pink dress with blond hair flowing out behind her. When she looked up her bright blue eyes shined happily (does everyone here have blue eyes?!).

"Hello!" she greeted gleefully "Are you here to try out for the job?"

"I suppose." I muttered softly.

"Alright, Master Hand should be back soon. I'm Peach, the official greeter guide person!"

"Yay!" I said with the slightest tone of sarcasm in my voice which she missed.

"Yes! So, who are you anyway?"

"I'm-" I paused, for I could not say 'Marth the Prince of Altea' anymore. So I simply finished with "Marth."

"Ah interesting name, I've heard it somewhere before…" I gave a nervous cough and let out a meek little,

"Yeah…"

"I wish you luck with Master Hand, he can be tough sometimes, why not go up to his office?" I could tell she was getting bored with the conversation. "Link you can take him can't you?" Before Link could even nod or shake his head Peach said. "Oh I'm sure you will!" Link gave her a defeated look and motioned for me to follow him up to the Hands office. As we began to ascend the stairs Peach called up, "Oh Marth!"

"Yes?"

"Sorry to hear about your exile." I blinked. Word travels fast…

"Thank you." I mumbled. Peach said nothing more so I took this as an opportunity to continue to follow Link up the stairs.

…

As I sat down on the chair in Master Hand's office I began to vaguely wonder what someone named 'Master Hand' would look like. A nobleman? A businessman? Master was obviously a term of power… but what could 'Hand' stand for? As I contemplated this, the door to the office opened with a smash and to my utter shock, an actual hand floated in.

"Damned children throwing sticks at me, doesn't being a giant floating hand mean anything in society anymore?!" At this point he seemed to notice I was here. "You must be here for the position of Smasher… have a seat. Oh you're sitting, well then we'll just skip that part." The hand floated behind the desk and I felt this was a good opportunity to ask,

"Are you really a giant hand?!" In response the hand twitched its fingers and thought about this.

"Yes." he said finally. "Yes I am…"

"But… how?!"

"Well… when a mother hand and a father hand-"

"That's enough." I interrupted. "Let's just proceed with the meeting." The hand placed it fingers on the desk and tapped one (almost breaking down the desk).

"Alright then, so what's your name?"

"Marth."

"What Nintendo world are you from?"

"Nintendo world? What's that?"

"Ah, you don't know yet? Fresh bait… I'll run a computer check on you…. hometown?"

"Altea." The hand turned beside him to a flat screen and began to pound buttons with letters on them.

"Ah, you're from Fire Emblem!" He announced impressively turning back to me.

"That's impossible; the Fire Emblem is a jewel. I can't come from a jewel."

"Well according to your computer, you can!"

"But how can you even see the screen?! You have no eyes!"

"I can see with my mind-" Before I could even argue the point further by saying he had no brain he quickly said, "You seem like you could be a good contender, but you have no clone…" Forgetting what I was about to say I asked,

"A clone?"

"A clone is someone who has the same powers as you, but uses them differently and they are sometimes your partner in battles. Each character has a clone, except Mr. Game and Watch that is. The little 2D man was very unique. We'll have to see if I could find someone with the same fighting style as you to be your clone, maybe even from the same world." He began to tap the buttons even more. "There are several people here… Lord Eliwood seems like a good match… but he's much too old… hold on, he has a son, let's check him out…" The name Eliwood wasn't at all familiar to me but I found myself curious to see who would be my counterpart so I walked around the desk to take a look at the screen. "Here he is!" Master Hand announced. A picture of a red-haired boy popped up onto the screen, perhaps he was a couple years younger than me, but before I could get a chance to see anymore red letters saying 'WARNING!!!' began to flash on the screen, which Master Hand seemed to ignore. "He seems to be good, we'll send for him tomorrow." Finally he took notice of the letters and said,

"Hmm… well he can't be that dangerous… but I'd rather not lose any of my men, we'll send Fed-Ex to get him tomorrow. That's what they deserve for mixing up my packages last time… anyway Marth, you're hired! This is the first time someone willingly came here! I'm very pleased, your clone will arrive tomorrow, whether he wants to or not! Now, I'll set up a room for you…" Again he tapped the letter buttons and handed me a room key. "Here, it's 29B. Ask one of the Smashers to show it to you and I'll see you tomorrow!" Before I could say anymore more I found myself being pushed out of the office with the room keys jingling excitedly.

A/N How was it? I'm sorry it wasn't that funny this chapter, just wait until Roy gets here. I hope this didn't just seem stupid, but I wanted a story to improve my writing style before I go back to school and well… this is it! Now I have to go read that book for my summer assignment… T-T R&R!!!