Ah, how annoying the stupid Internet browser can be. I had this done days ago, yet it wouldn't let me log in. How stupid was that?
Roy: Stupid?
Ardath: I think Roy has a point. Thanks to Melyy for the tips on being patient, eh?
Marth: Ardath has a point there. So did Melyy, though I have a feeling...
That it pissed me off more? yeah, more or less.
Link: Well, This is it folks. The last Chapter For All For One, One For All. The sequel is already being planned out and written, eh?
Ardath: Yep. We're going to included a preview in the next chapter from this, along with some of the measly credits, mainly all for Nintendo, eh?
And the thank yous. Can't forget those.
Marth: Right.
Everyone for the Last time: Onward to Chapter 10!
Chapter 10: Promise
Marth rolled Samus over gently and held his hand over the wound. With his other hand, he grabbed her slim soft left hand, the only hand she had.
"I'm sorry Marth." Samus coughed. Roy and Link looked down at her sadly. It had only been weeks earlier that she had sat all by herself, friends with barely anyone.
"Roy, Link, you are my brothers. Zelda and Peach and Katan my sisters. Marth, you are my love. I won't forget…"
"No, Samus, you can't die!" tears streamed down Marth's face. But it was too late. With a smile, Samus faded away, letting out a sigh, knowing her one true love loved her.
Marth kissed her gently, holding his face to her lifeless one. They had only shared so many kisses… He then stood up, drawing his sword. He limped towards Eula, his face hidden. He paused when a scrap of paper flew through the air, landing at Roy's feet.
Roy picked it up. Katan had written it.
Roy, we don't have much time. Get the smashers out of here. A monster has possessed my brother. Pichu, Ness, and I have found his power source. We're going to blow it. It's magical, so everyone will be sent back to his or her homes. I'm so sorry, Roy. I hope I'll see you again. Promise me we'll never be apart, if not for long. Promise me. I love you, Roy.
Katana Ren
Roy's eyes widened. "Katan!" he screamed, looking up. But it was too late. A bright light was filling the sky as he read the letter. It began to get wider, swallowing everything in its path. Marth, ignoring it, flung himself at Eula, who was watching the light, fear in his eyes. He turned too late as Marth stabbed Falchion into Eula's head.
"Katan! Katan!" Roy cried. The light came closer.
"Roy! Run!"
I can't… she's gone…A memory flashed through his head."I don't know what I would do with out you, Kat." Roy whispered, taking her hand again.
"Me neither, Roy." Katan allowed him to pull her back to the group. "Me neither."
The light swallowed Roy. It swallowed Marth as he grabbed Samus's lifeless hand, a bloody Falchion lying at his side. Link ran to the mansion and hugged his fellow Hyrulians, even Ganondorf as the light swallowed everything. It was the end of Nintendo. The different homes split apart, becoming new planets and spreading out. None of the smashers remained conscious.
Roy felt like he was floating. A ghost maybe. He looked and watched as a black dragon landed, shrinking in size. It turned to Katan. Ness and Pichu jumped off her. She sat up, huffing painfully. She crawled forward. Lying on the grass was a machine. In the center of it was Luan's dragonstone.
"Heh, I never thought he would do such a thing… And it was supposed to be for me…" Katan mumbled weakly. She sat by the machine, Pichu and Ness to either side of her.
"We're going to-" Katan raised her hand to her chest and sighed. "Samus is gone.""Samus?" Ness looked at her.
"Her life force, its gone. I can feel Marth's pain." Katan looked sad. She scribbled on a piece of paper, then murmured to it. "Find Roy." She said to it. The paper floated away like a dart. Katan waited a moment, tears dropping from her eyes. "Promise me, Roy. Promise."
"I promise." Roy said. "I promise."
Katan then pushed some buttons on the machine. It burst into white light. Ness and Pichu grabbed Katan's now tattered dress, fear showing in their eyes.
"We may not survive this. We're so close to it." Pichu squeaked. He seemed wise beyond his years.
"At least we'll suffer no more." Katan hung her head. "No more…"
"He's waking up!" Roy opened his aching eyes. Where was he? He wasn't in his room. No, wait. He was in his room, but the one in Pherae!
"What… How did I get here?" he looked around. Next to him was a man and his father, who looked frail.
"You fell from the sky." The man told Roy. He turned to Eliwood. "You know, even if he has blue eyes, they still remind me of Ninian.
Eliwood smiled. "Actually, I always thought he reminded me of you."
Roy blinked. Suddenly, the past caught up to him. Katan, Samus's death, Luan being controlled…
"Katan!" Roy tried to jump up. But Eliwood held him down.
"What did you say?" the man asked.
Roy began to cry. He was a warrior, he shouldn't be crying! But he cried all the same. "Katan… she's gone…"
The man shook his head. "And here I kept telling her to stay on the Dread Isles, until that brat couldn't stay here any longer."
Eliwood looked between the two. "Well, Roy, now that you're awake…" he looked to his son, who sniveled like a little boy. "I'd might as well introduce you. This is your uncle, Nils."
Nils nodded to Roy. "You are Katan's mentor?" Roy looked at Nils.
"Yes, Katan and the brat's. Let me guess, something happened, and it was Luan's fault." Nils snorted.
"Yes. He let hate and jealousy take over. Then someone used that to take over his body and… Kill some of our friends. And maybe even Katan. She destroyed Luan's dragonstone."
Nils winced. "Youch, that hurts."
Roy blinked, tears messing with his vision. "You know, when a dragonstone is broken, most of the time a dragon dies. The explosion following can destroy a planet. Sometimes when a dragon dies, their stone disappears. Few stones remain without the body.
Roy then remembered. Katan had dropped two stones. He reached into his armor, feeling for the stones. Sure enough, they were still there, warm to the touch. Roy pulled them out.
"Well I'll be…" Nils looked at the one Roy didn't know who's owner it was. He held Katan's stone. It had lost almost all its glow, and looked dull. The other continued to glow strong.
"Roy… This is yours." Nils reached out and gave him the stone back. Roy looked at it, as if his life depended on it. "Now who's is that?"
"Katan's. She dropped it." Roy gave it to him. Nils knotted his brow.
"Well, if she's still alive, she's not in good condition. I might be able to scry her from our world." Nils looked at Roy.
"No, I don't want to know. I dreamt… I had a vision of her last moments. She blew the stone, and one of her friends said they wouldn't survive the blast." Roy replied.
Eliwood smiled sadly. "Young love. How it can hurt…"
Nils looked at Eliwood. "Before I go… Can I visit Ninian one last time? At least for a while."
"Of course, Nils. You can stay as long as you'd like. Lyn was on her way here. She wanted to see you."
"Lady Lyn? I'd love to see her again. I was but a dragonet when I last saw her, it seems." Nils stood and stretched. "I've done all I can for Roy. But his heart will have to heal on its own."
Eliwood and Nils disappeared into the hallway. Roy stared at Katan's last gift. Her dragonstone. It glowed feebly.
Suddenly, shouts and cries rang through the air. "Roy!" he heard his father yell.
Roy dropped the stones into his pocket. He would never set those stones down anywhere. For his and Katan's sakes, even if she had died.
Roy met his father and Nils in the front hall. Marcus, Eliwood's trusty General Paladin, stood behind him, silver lance in hand. Soldiers lined the walls. Roy recognized Merlinus, Isadora, Marcus's wife, and Lowen. Roy made his way to Marcus's side.
"Milord." Marcus bowed.
"What's going on?" Roy asked, his voice flat and monotone.
Marcus looked at Roy, noticing the sadness that hung around the young lord. "There are guests outside."
Roy nodded and looked forward. The door opened to a familiar sight. Marth stood in the door, his cape billowing, blood stained and tattered. Roy cringed when he saw the haunted look on his face. He had actually witnessed the death of Samus. Roy felt for him.
"Lord Marth of Altea. Welcome. What brings you here?" Eliwood asked. Nils raised a curious eyebrow.
"I'm looking for Roy." Marth spoke, his voice strained. Roy stepped forward.
"Yes Marth?" Roy asked.
Marth remained silent. "Its true isn't it? Or was it some nightmare?"
Roy's heartbeat. "Its true. A nightmare come true."
Marth came forward until he stood in front of Roy. Roy never noticed how Marth was the same height as the Young General. Then he broke. Marth hugged Roy and began to cry.
"I'll never see her again…" Marth whispered. Eliwood waved the soldiers away. Isadora and Marcus remained, guiding Marth to another room where he could weep privately.
"That brat. Ruining everyone's life." Nils hissed. "He was never like that before he came here."
"Huh?" Eliwood asked.
"Luan. One of my apprentices. He and his sister Katan… They changed after coming through the gate. Luan used to be so gentle and caring, while Katan was the wild card, playing pranks on the older dragons. But its like they switched lives or something. Katan became quiet, Luan occasionally a wild card. But then he began to think like Nergal would have, been he a dragon."
Roy started at this. He was tired of hearing about Katan. He excused himself and joined Marth. Marth was sitting on the bed, something in his hands.
"What's that?" Roy asked, sitting next to the blue prince.
"My Christmas gift from Sam." Marth's voice was now hoarse from weeping. Roy looked closer.
It was a simple bracelet that had "Samus Aran" on it. It was orange and purple and didn't fit Marth's wrist. He grabbed Falchion and tied the little bracelet on the hilt so that he wouldn't loose it.
"At least I avenged her. I'm sure Katan won't forgive me. Shall we go visit her?"
"She's gone." Roy looked at his pommel of the Sword of Seals. "She's gone."
Marth shook his head. Roy felt tears running down his own face. She's gone…
3 Weeks Later…
The Dread Isles. Roy looked around. He saw nothing but a large plain that connected to a forest. In the heart of the forest were mountains. That was where the Dragon's Gate was.
"Well, I'll just leave you with Matthew." Nils picked up his heavy bag. They trudged along a trail, not thinking too much for anything but the previously uninhabitable island. Marth trailed behind the two, Falchion resting at his side.
"There's the cottage. I guess we'll stop by. Then I'll have to be leaving you two. If I see Katan back home, I'll send her straight here." Nils huffed. The cottage was small, with whitewashed walls and a red roof. There was a boy in the garden, messing with the plants. He stood and stared at the three travelers.
"Dad! Dad, get out here, Nils is back with a couple of rich looking nobles!" the boy called. A blonde man stepped out of the house, a look of distaste on his face. He sneezed, then looked to the three.
"Well I'll be…" Matthew raised an eyebrow. "If it isn't Nils, Eliwood's boy, and Prince Marth."
Nils hailed to Matthew. "Well met, Matthew." Nils stopped. "Eliwood wanted these two out of the castle for a while. They're both a bit traumatized. I think you're the best person to help."
"Traumatized?" Matthew shook Nils hand.
Nils leaned in close. "Both lost their loves. Christmas Day. One might still be alive, but Marth's girl, they saw her death."
Matthew nodded. "Aye, I've lost two. I guess I can be the best. Chad needs a friend anyways. Odd that I lost them both while in this accursed place…"
The boy, Chad, stared at Marth and Roy, who were barely older than himself. "I'm Chad." He growled.
"Roy." Roy sighed.
"I'm Marth." Marth fiddled with Samus's bracelet.
"Well met, Roy, Marth." Matthew had turned to them. "Now that you're here, I'm going to train you in the ways of the Dread Isles. Now say bye to Nils here."
"Bye Uncle." Roy nodded solemnly to the light blue headed man.
"Bye Nils." Marth remained where he was.
"Bye, boys, and you'd better feel better when I come back." Nils warned. He then hoisted his bag on his back and was gone.
Matthew worked the boys hard that day so they didn't have time to think about the girls, though they would imagine their voices. At the end of the day, Roy and Marth stole away to the beach, where they sat to watch the sun set. It died in a battle of reds, oranges, yellows, and eventually, blues and purples. The stars appeared slowly in the darkening sky, as if afraid of the battle that had taken place with the colors only moments earlier.
"Katan used to go star gazing." Roy commented. He left out the part about Luan going with her. It was partly his fault, after all, that Samus was… Gone.
Marth smiled. "In a way, I feel that they're still alive. Samus, Katan, Luan, Game, Pichu, Ness, everyone. But we can't reach them. It's impossible with the technology this world has."
"Yeah. I wonder how everyone is doing. Link, Zelda, Peach, Fox, everyone. Heck, even Ganondorf and Bowser. I know I'm going to miss them all. I only got to smash Mario."
"Same here." Marth smiled. Those smiles were going to become rare now. He hadn't cracked a single joke at all since Samus's death. It was too hard for him.
"Well, I suppose we should get back before Matthew sends Chad out to find us." Roy stood, dusting the sand off himself.
"Yeah. Let's go." Marth stood, and the two boys walked back to the cottage. Behind them, a star shined brighter and raced across the sky, shaped as a five pointed star. One could imagine seeing a little pink blob hanging onto it.
Elsewhere…
"Sir Nix!" a man hurried to his leader, a tall man with a black eye patch over his eye. A large scar ran down his face and onto his neck from the patch. He had unruly blonde hair, bleached in the constant sun and heat. His one eye was pure black, but warmth could be seen beneath the hard exterior look.
"What is it Fallon?" the man asked.
"We've found someone. Four actually. Weird characters. Probably couldn't escape the pull and ended up here. Strange thing is, they don't have a ship."
"Right. Lead the way, Major." Nix followed Fallon to where a crowd had gathered. A girl stood over the other three, wielding a long sword. She had pure white hair and silver eyes, and wore clothes so tattered that they looked more like rags. Everything she wore was bleached white. Even two of the other creatures on the ground, still unconscious.
Nix approached the girl, who growled like an animal. "Don't worry little one, what is your name?" he asked, handing her a stick.
The girl blinked. "Na-name? Name?" She looked at the stick.
"Yes, what is your name." Nix looked at her as a frightened look crossed her face.
"Name? I… Don't recall… Nothing… Promise… Promise me…"
Hmm, I wonder... What's with that ending, eh? I'm sure you can all guess at the ending, lets just see if you're right. What about the pink blob? You can guess that, I know you all can. What's going to happen next, I wonder? There might be a gap between now and the sequel. So you're all going to have to wait till it comes! I'll post the preview this weekend! Keep an eye out for it!
Roy: Bye everyone! See you around!
Ardath: Bye bye!
Semaj: Erm, I'm back in time for the end. What a coinkodink
Link: So long, folks!
Marth: We'll see you around. We won't be here for the preview, mind you all.
Everyone: May your swords stay sharp!
Pichu: Read & Review!