Ace: Here is the 21st chapter. Also, Warriors of Smash will be a year old next week. Huzzah!

Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Bros.

Chapter 21: Shadow Ninja; The Question; Insanity

Isa

I was expecting Zelda to yell at me for getting lost when I rejoined the others. I was expecting Dark Pit to ask what took me so long. I was expecting Roy to ask whom Chrom was. I was expecting Ike to be suspicious of Chrom. I was expecting Link to fret over me.

I was NOT expecting Marth to run up to me and hug me so tightly that part of the circulation in my arms shut down after I entered the clearing.

"Sora! Are you alright? Did you get hurt? Why did you fight Duon alone? Why couldn't you have Link help you?" He asked rapidly.

"Can't... Breathe," I gasped.

Marth loosened his grip a little, but I was still in his embrace. "Sorry," he whispered, "but you had me worried. I was afraid that you had died or had been captured."

"I'm fine Marth," I reassured him. "Other than that cut on my hand..."

With lightening speed, Marth let go of me and grabbed my wrist. His eyes widened. "What happened?"

"Uh... Duon happened."

Zelda came over and looked over my wrist. "Were you being careless?"

"This is Isa we're talking about," Dark Pit muttered. "Of course she was being careless."

"I have to agree with you," I replied as Zelda healed me. "My reckless nearly got me killed."

"You admit that you're reckless?" Chrom asked, bewildered.

All heads turned to Chrom. The poor guy stepped back a bit. "Um... Hi?" He stuttered nervously.

"Who are you?" Link asked.

I suddenly stepped forward and began to speak rapidly. "His name is Chrom, and he is here to be a fighter for the Smash Tournament. He hails from the future, but he cannot tell us from what time period he's from and he is forbidden by time traveler law to tell us anything that happens to us because it will cause an endless cycle similar to Terminator or potentially change the future if we change our ways, and now the two of us are going to get firewood because we aren't really injured. We won't be long and we promise to be careful. Bye!" I grabbed Chrom's wrist and dashed off into the forest, much to the confusion of my companions.

When we were long out of earshot, I let go of Chrom's hand and turned around. "Tell me," I began, "am I correct?"

Chrom nodded. "Those were the exact words I was told before I came, with the exception of the part about us leaving. Would you mind if I ask how you know this?"

"From a video game, several movies, an educated guess, and an anime," I replied.

As I said this, Chrom nodded. "Okay. "

I bent down and picked up some wood. "Since we're here, let's get some firewood to make it look like we are doing something productive."

Chrom smirked. "So you didn't want to talk to me?"

"I do. I just don't want to come back empty-handed and have to explain that."

Chrom laughed. "All right then, Miss Isa."

"Can you please not call me 'Miss'? It makes me feel old."

Chrom nodded as he helped me pick up wood. "Sure."

After a few seconds, Chrom asked, "Why did Marth call you Sora?"

I finished picking up the wood surrounding me. "Because my full name is Sora Isabela Mariposa Sentōki and I let him get away with it."

Chrom suddenly dropped his sticks. He was quiet for a while, and when I bent down to check on him, his eyes were wide, and he was very pale.

"Chrom! Are you alright?"

"... Yeah."

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You're lying," I replied. "Something did happen."

"I can't really tell you why. You told me so," Chrom countered.

"Oh..." I hadn't thought about that, but I decided to respect his wishes.

"Isabela?" Chrom asked.

"Yes?"

"Is it true?" His lips quivered.

"What's true?"

"Is it true that you are the Shadow Ninja, notorious for killing thousands of monsters and twenty demons in the span of two days in one castle and for annihilating that entire colony of monsters in the underground around the same time?"

My sticks clattered to the ground. My breathing increased, and chills went down my spine. It had been two years since those events occurred, and yet I still get nightmares about them. No matter where I went, I was constantly reminded of this. I could understand the monster-hunting community reminding me because they want to learn my skills. Or when Mizuneko to remind me to not be so reckless. Or when my brothers so that they can remind me that I needed them. But that Chrom knew this...

"How- how do you know this?" I asked nervously.

"I was told stories about your adventure since I was six. I just wanted to know..."

"It's fine."

"You were merely 13 when this happened," Chrom muttered. "No one, especially someone your age, should be locked in a castle with monsters."

"That's what my teachers and parents say."

"Do you... Want to talk about it?" he asked.

"Maybe..."

"How about," Chrom responded, "I ask a few questions about a few things so you don't remember so much that you began to exhibit your insanity or nightmares, which is supposedly suppressed right now."

I nodded. "That sounds like a good deal."

"How did you wind up in the castle?"

I bit my lip. "I was on a field trip to see the castle. The teacher was in a hurry to get us to another location, and when my friend Elendia and I were looking at a tiara, the monsters decided to attack Elendia, because she was the headmaster's daughter and he killed many of their brethren. But they locked me in instead, because we looked similar. When Elendia saw the doors close in front of me, she alerted the teacher, who proceeded to try to open the door. When she couldn't, she alerted everyone in the area. After three days of trying to open the door, they found me staring at the monster that locked me in. I had killed him and all of the other monsters there. On day one, most of the monsters tried to kill me, but I killed them before they could attack. The next day, I was trying to escape the lead demon, but I fell into the dungeon, where there was a colony of monsters down there. I evaded them for a while, but I defeated them by causing an explosion down there. I then rested for a few hours. On the last day, the demon evaded me for four hours, before I killed him in the entrance. I don't remember much after that. I really don't. They say that when they opened the doors, my scythe was covered with grime, dirt and other things; my eyes were wide; I looked sickly, and I looked like I had returned from the dead. They checked my pulse, and they took me out of there and admitted me into a local hospital. I was dehydrated, and cut in several locations. It took a while for me to heal, and to make sure that I would be normal, my memories were suppressed."

"How did your school not shut down?" Chrom asked.

I began to pick up my sticks again. "Turns out the teacher was from the area, and no one told my school that the castle was infested with monsters, despite the fact they researched the area several times and got the parents to approve the location. Since then, my school does more research, and that place got busted. And after that, I don't like field trips. I just stay behind and take classes that I normally can't take. The headmaster understands, and let's me do that so that the same thing won't happen again. That is another reason that Smash Manor took a while to enroll me. Headmaster Storm didn't want me to have experiences like that again."

Chrom looked horrified. "I'm sorry for asking."

"It's fine..."

"New topic?" Chrom picked up his sticks.

"Sure."

"Is Marth your boyfriend?"

I blushed a bit. "Um... We're not dating. Although I think he's cute and I do crush on him."

Chrom nodded. "I see."

"Nah. She and Marth are engaged, and they're talking about getting married once they graduate college," Link declared as he and Marth entered the clearing.

Before I could even land a swing at Link, Marth restrained me. "Sora! As much as I hate those comments, you don't need to kill him for that!"

Chrom looked a bit concerned, although I didn't understand why. Link frowned. "Hey Isa... I'm sorry. You didn't return for a while, so we came to look for you."

"Oh..." I stopped resisting. "Sorry."

"It's my fault," Link replied. "I should apologize." he bent down and picked up the sticks that had split thirty seconds ago.

"Let's go back," Marth and Chrom suggested at the same time.

"You two sound alike," Link muttered.

"Complete coincidence," I replied.

"That could happen," Marth pointed out. "It can happen in real life."

Chrom shot me a silent thank-you. With that, he followed Link while Marth and I were in step behind them.

"Are you okay? You're pale," Marth muttered as he pulled me closer.

"I'm okay..."

"Did Chrom insult you?"

"What? No! I just... Remembered something that had been sealed in my memories..."

"Okay."

I sighed. "Marth?... Are we dating?"

Marth was quiet for a while. "Well... I don't think that we are. Do you want to go on a date?"

"Say yes! Say yes!" Link shouted.

"SHUT UP!" was our response.

Link laughed. Marth sighed. "What do you say, Isa? Don't let Mr. Crazy Hyrule Hero influence you." Despite his smile, he looked scared, like he was afraid of my response.

"Hey!" Link then began to grumble while Chrom stifled a laugh. I had to smile. It was funny to see Link upset. But I needed to answer Marth's question...

I thought about it carefully. "If we get some privacy..."

Chrom heard this. "We'll go ahead." He grabbed Link's collar and dragged him off while we stayed behind.

"Isabela?" Marth sounded nervous.

I looked him in the eye. "Yes."

"Yes? What?"

I laid my head on Marth's chest. "I will go out with you. I mean, when we finish the quest, because we are super busy-"

Marth laughed. "I understand Isa. It's just that... I wanted to know-"

"Aww!" Link was there, taking some photos.

I buried my face in Marth's shirt. "Why does this happen?"

"He slipped out of my grasp!" Chrom shouted.

Link sprinted off. I pulled away from Marth. "By the time we return, Link would have distributed the photos to everyone."

"Yep."

"Is he normally like this?" I asked Marth.

"Unfortunately, yes," Marth sighed.

"Let's go see the damage that's done," I said.

Several hours after explaining to everyone that I was merely going out on a date with Marth and that we weren't engaged, I woke up. It wasn't because of nightmares. It was this crazy notion that had been gnawing my mind for several hours.

A little exploring wouldn't hurt, it kept saying.

Originally, I had ignored it. But as time passed, it kept getting stronger. Eventually, I decided to explore the nearby area for a little bit. It wouldn't hurt that much, and I can return before the others woke up.

Yeah, if I only did what I had promised myself.

Ace: Uh... Semi-cliffhanger? It's been a while since I did a cliffhanger, so I decided to make a cliffhanger here...

So Isa and Marth are planning to date after this adventure. I wonder how it will go...

And yes, I was mean to Isa. I just wanted to add a new dimension to her, which is basically the fact at she detests field trips.

And after a while, I'm going to release a chapter that's from Chrom's POV to show you what was actually going through his mind during different parts of the story.

Ace