Mist and Samus made their way back through the Castle, deep in thought. Samus seemed more exhausted than Mist had ever seen her. The topic of their mission could wait.
"You should get some rest." Mist advised her, as they made their way back downstairs. Samus shook her head.
"We need to find Soren and get all this over with." She said. "As quickly as possible. Where do you think we should start?"
Mist bit her lip.
"Let me see." She said. "Soren disliked associating with a large portion of the army. If Ike doesn't know where he is, I'm not sure where…"
"Ike." Samus said. "Says we should be looking for a man named Stefan."
Mist blinked. "Stefan?" She repeated, a little confused. She remembered Stefan, of course. He had been one of the only swordmasters that had been, at one point in time, Ike's clear better. "They know each other?" She had had no idea.
"Very much so." Samus answered.
"But Stefan would be just as hard to find as Soren." She said. "No one knows anything about him. After the war he just… disappeared."
Samus nodded. They stepped through the door to the entrance hall and onto the top of the stairs. Immediately, everyone in the room turned to look at them.
Samus groaned. "Oh no…."
"SAMUS!"
The entire crowd at the foot of the stairs all made a beeline for them at once. They froze, eyes wide as the crowd swarmed them. Mist let out a cry as she was shuffled through the crowd, separated from Samus among the vast array of people. She let out a cry and threw her hands up in the air. She found herself pushed and shoved through the vast crowd of people. So many were intent on reaching Samus and offering their congratulations, that no one paid attention to Mist.
"Excuse me, darling."
A swirling black portal spawned beneath her feet. Mist jumped out of instinct, certain that some dark mage was about to attack. But instead she was simply elevated high, high above the rest of the crowd, and a staircase appeared before her. Shocked, she looked around, expecting to see some strange and unusual person standing right beside her. But there was no one. She cautiously stepped forward, down the staircase and to safety.
Zelda was standing sullenly at the end of the staircase.
"There you are." She said, her huffed, her arms crossed. She looked upset. "You've met Bayonetta, have you?"
"Bayonetta…?"
She turned around, and the mysterious black staircase receded into nothing. Mist stared.
"Well, anyway." Zelda said. "What did Peach want, anyway?"
Mist turned back around.
"Samus and Ike can't find their best man." Mist explained. "So we're going to have to look for him."
Zelda narrowed her eyes.
"Samus can't find him?" She asked, sharply. "It's her business to find people…"
"Yes, he's an old friend of Ike's." Mist said. "And not really anyone else. If he doesn't want to be found…"
She trailed off. Even when the subject of the task at hand was first brought up to her, she doubted that she would be easy to find Soren, but the more she thought about it the more she doubted she would even be able to help.
The crowd around them was still making their way to Samus, but those who had already offered her their congratulation were beginning to make their way back to the hall. Among them a tall, black haired woman stood out from the crowd. She was quite the sight: Skin tight black clothing covered every inch of her body, and her long slender legs looked sleek and powerful. To Mist's surprise she looked their way, winked, and turned away.
"I hate her." Zelda said immediately. "Let's leave." She reached out and grabbed Mist's hands, tugging her away, but before they could…
"Zelda!"
A tall, powerful looking man approached them, smiling, his arms outstretched. Behind him trotted a little girl. Blonde and pretty.
"Oh, Richter." Zelda said, surprised. "You came too?" Her eyes fell on the girl standing behind them. "That's not Annette, is it?"
The girl laughed.
"I'm a friend of theirs." She said. "I'm Maria Renard…"
"Maria?" Zelda said, surprised. "The Vampire Hunter?"
Maria grinned and struck a pose. "The Great Vampire Hunter Maria Renard!"
Richter placed his hand on her head. "But not the Greatest Vampire Hunter." He said casually, laughing. She scowled, glaring up at him. "Annette is resting." He said. "She's about to have our child, and the trip here kind of wore her out."
Maria glared up at him, scowling. Mist thought it best to placate her.
"I'm sure you're a great Vam-pyre hunter-" She began, but Zelda cut her off.
"Simon is here too." She said. "He walked with us here." She paused, as if considering her words. "He's still unmarried."
Richter's expression was unreadable. "Is that so?"
Maria looked up at him, blinking curiously. "Simon?" She repeated. "Isn't he your-"
"It was nice seeing you, Richter." Zelda interrupted. "But we have a little bit of a problem…"
"A problem?" Richter repeated. "Of what kind?"
"Well-" Zelda began, casting a look at Mist. Before she could, however, another couple passed by, and Zelda gave a small start.
"Byleth?"
The man and the woman he was with both turned around.
"Zelda." The man said courteously, bowing his head. "A pleasure."
The girl he was with, whose hair was an even whiter shade than Micaiah's, looked at them with an almost empty, uncaring gaze. It was the look of a hardened individual. Mist had seen eyes like that every day during the war. She was beautiful though, dressed in an immaculate uniform that complemented her physique from head to toe.
"Who is this girl?" Zelda asked, placing a hand on her hip. "I wasn't aware that you were married."
"I am not." Byleth clarified. His voice was distant, and somewhat odd. It seemed to have no real emotion behind it. He waved his hand, and the girl stepped forward. "This is my student." He said. The girl bowed her head.
"I am Edelgard Von Hresvelg." She said. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Edelgard?" Zelda repeated sharply. "The Heir to the Imperial Throne?"
Edelgard raised her head. "That is correct."
Zelda stared at her for a moment. Mist rather thought she could sense a trace of contempt, of deep seated loathing radiating from her, but she could not understand why.
"Come, Edelgard." Byleth said. "Your studies…"
Edelgard turned away.
"Yes, Professor."
They stepped away, almost in tandem. Zelda's eyes followed them, narrowed suspiciously. Maria was giving her a wide eyed look. She looked almost as if she was about to say something, but Mist decided it was best to get her back on track.
"We were leaving." She reminded Zelda gently. "Remember?"
Zelda's eyes darted back to hers.
"Yes, yes, of course…"
She coughed.
"We're looking for someone, Richter." She said. "Someone that we're not sure we can find."
"Looking for someone, huh?" Richter asked. He raised his hand to his face and scratched his chin. He looked deep in thought. "Why don't you ask Yuri?"
"Yuri?" Mist repeated, a little baffled. Zelda let out a little choking sound.
"Oh, why didn't I think of that?" She said, a little agitated. "Is she here?"
"Yeah, Annette and I saw her when we first arrived." Richter said. "I don't think she's here, though… She likes the outdoors, so she might be exploring the area."
"Yeah, that'll work." Zelda said, enthusiastically. "Come on, let's go find her now."
They made their way to the front door of the castle and pushed themselves out the large, double wide doors.
"Who is Yuri?" Mist asked curiously.
"A girl." Zelda answered, looking across the bridge curiously. "Who is very, very good at finding lost things and people. I'm sorry I didn't think of her immediately, but I didn't even know she was here… She keeps to herself, mostly…"
They set off across the bridge and towards the road. In the distance Mist could hear the sound of Diddy Kong's vehicle. It seemed they had made another track nearby.
"Was she at the party?" Mist asked.
"I didn't see her there." Zelda responded. "And a lot of people stepped out, or didn't come to begin with. No, I think we better ask around the village. Maybe we should ask Annette… She may know…"
"Annette is… Richter's wife?" Mist's head was swimming with all of these names and people. It was becoming almost impossible to keep track of all of them.
"That's right." Zelda said. "I'm not sure where they're staying though, so we may have to ask around…"
Mist had a bit of a shock when they found themselves stepping into the village. What had once been an open field in the forest seemed to have overnight spawned a bustling community. Beautiful little homes lined the landscape, each of them lavished with decorations and colors.
"Oh, Tom Nook is going to make a killing off of this wedding." Zelda sighed, shaking her head. "Ugh, we may have to ask Isabelle for a map or something…"
An older man with red hair sat in front of the house, sharpening a sword.
"Oh, Princess Zelda." He called as they passed. "Good to see you."
"Lord Eliwood?" Zelda inquired, stopping in her tracks. "A pleasure to see you… what brings you here?"
"My boy Roy invited me along." He said, nodding. Zelda stiffened.
"Roy?" She repeated. "He came with you?"
The door to the house opened. A boy with bright red haired stepped out.
"I did." Roy said, grinning, as he stepped up beside his father. To Mist's eye he looked about fourteen or fifteen, Zelda's age. But something about him made her think that there was more to him than met the eye. "You're as lovely as ever, Princess."
"Hm." Zelda said. "Why aren't you two at the party? Everyone else was there…"
Two more figures stepped out of the home. Mist had to stop herself from doing a double take: The large, blue haired man greatly resembled Ike. So much so that she almost had to stop herself from calling out his name.
"Hector!" Zelda gasped. "What… what are you doing here?"
Hector clapped his hand on Roy's shoulder. "Spend time with my soon to be new son in law and his family." He boomed. "We're discussing what to do if a close friend is off fighting dragons…"
"Enough of that, Hector." Eliwood said, a little exasperatedly. "I was ill."
"Son in law?" Zelda repeated. "You mean-"
The tiny girl behind him stepped forward.
"Yes." She said. "I, Lilina of Ostia, must suffer the torment of being the wife of Roy, son of Eliwood for the good of the continent."
Roy turned to look at her. They stared at each other for a moment, and then broke down laughing. Hector smiled at them before turning to look at Zelda.
"Would you like to come inside?" He asked. "Lyndis is here as well…"
"I think not." Zelda answered. "A grave matter needs attending too… Have any of you seen Yuri Kozuhata today?"
"Yuri?" Roy rubbed his cheek, deep in thought. "What do you need her for?"
"We need to track down a missing person." Zelda said. "And we thought she might be able to help."
Roy nodded.
"Yeah, she's good at that." He said. "I haven't seen her. Maybe Lyndis has… she knows her better…."
He turned back around and stepped inside. They heard some words being exchanged, and he came back out, shaking his head.
"No." He said, glumly. "Not since they arrived. She says she liked it here, though. There aren't a lot of spirits."
"Spirits?" Mist repeated.
"Thank you." Zelda said, taking Mist's arm. "We'll ask someone else."
They bid their goodbyes and made their way further into the village. They passed by a large, beautiful wooden sign that read simply SMASHVILLE.
"I can't believe Roy is getting married." Zelda said, a little bit stiffly. "I feel so bad for Lilina… He'll be talking to other girls before, during, and after the wedding."
…
A/N
I feel like I need to explain myself for this one, since continuity is becoming so snarled. Fire Emblem fans may have already noticed that continuity can be all over the place. Characters that have nothing to do with each other know each other through Smash, but there is no chronological possibility of any of these characters ever meeting. In this chapter alone you have Hector being there, despite being by dead partway through FE6, and Lyndis is mentioned despite not being there at all.
I can also tell you that Castlevania is also seemingly incoherent, with Simon and Richter coexisting. In the games Richter is Simon's direct descendent by several generations. The logic I'm using is that being Chosen by 'The Hand' means that you exist outside of Time and Space and thusly, can appear and materialize wherever you like. In this instance, Ike has returned to Tellius to marry Samus, and everyone else has appeared to celebrate their union.
So yeah, I thought I needed to take some time to explain that, considering how ridiculously convoluted this thing has gotten. We're like, thirteen chapters in and still introducing new characters? Including ones that aren't in Smash, like Maria Renard? It's been so long since my last update I legit had to read everything I had posted to double check who had been introduced so far.
Another aspect I really need to address is the addition of Yuri Kozuhata. Yuri is, for those who may not be aware, the assist trophy with the camera in Smash Ultimate. The really, really cute one. With the recent confirmation that Fatal Frame V is getting re-released, I realized that I really wanted her to be in the story. I loved the character, and am really excited at getting the chance to write her into the story. Please buy Fatal Frame 5 and let the developers know that we need more Yuri Kozuhata in our lives.
