Before we start this chapter, I want to thank/blame GintaxAlvissForever for giving me idea to include the two new characters that are about to appear here. Somehow their inclusion just feels right in this universe. Please understand.
Once dinner was over and Daraen left the house, Robin and Rosalina decided to spend some time watching television. It wasn't something they usually did, as both usually were either so tired they went to sleep sooner (Rosalina more so than Robin) or they simply preferred to each stay in their corner, but it was one of those nights where they felt like spending some time together frying their brain cells with late night, direct to television movies.
"Poor girl is trying her hardest," Rosalina commented on the main actress' acting. "But this movie is just so weak, she can't carry it herself."
"Yeah..." Robin shifted on the couch she laid on, trying to find a more comfortable position.
"...Robin."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry for getting mad at you back there."
"Wait, really?" she asked, sitting up immediately.
"I shouldn't have shouted at you like that," she admitted. "Not when it wasn't your fault that Marth got inside."
"So you do believe me when I say he had invaded my room?"
"I didn't at first, but your room was completely trashed... and Daraen was also acting incredibly wary of him," Rosalina said, her embarrassment growing the more she thought about the situation. "But I just don't understand what he wanted with our house, since he hasn't stolen anything. He acted like such a gentleman."
"He didn't seem to be after anything… I don't know what his deal was," Robin said, going back to laying on the couch. "He kept saying something about wanting to protect me because of some power I have. I think he's just crazy."
Rosalina bit her lower lip and remained oddly silent, her stare now completely fixed on the screen in front of them. Robin didn't seem to have noticed that, mostly because she too was feeling distract and just assumed Rosalina had nothing better to answer.
"By the way, are you feeling better?" Robin asked.
"I think I'll have fully recovered until tomorrow," she said, adjusting the blanket wrapped around her body. "Speaking of feeling better, I got you your medicine. Zelda had said this should ease your pain better."
"Oh, that's good, thanks," she smiled.
"Hey, Robin, your hair has grown quite a lot, hasn't it?" Rosalina commented. "Aren't you getting a haircut soon?"
"No, I like it this way."
"I think it needs a trim. You should ask Palutena to give you one, she's so talented."
"I'll only get one once you get a new hairstyle as well," Robin smirked. "I mean, why do you even cover one of your eyes with your hair? Just how old do you think you are to be wearing your hair like this, Rosa?"
"This coming from the woman who still wears pigtails," she retaliated.
"A lot of young women wear pigtails these days, okay?" her daughter objected. "Besides, I think they're cute!"
Rosalina let out a quiet chuckle and went back to concentrate on the movie.
Yeah, just another quiet night.
Palutena usually didn't give special preferences to her clients. It didn't matter how many times they returned or how faithful to her they were, she made sure she treated them equally. But there was always an exception to any rule and her friends were this exception. So when she saw Olivia timidly passing through the people waiting, carrying her daughter in her arms, Palutena opened the biggest smile and pulled a chair over for her.
"Oh, thank you so much, Palutena," Olivia said, her voice as quiet as ever. "Lucina's hair has already been getting so big and we barely had any time to cut it, so… I'm really sorry for the trouble!"
"The pleasure is all mine," Palutena said as she placed the agitated Lucina on the chair and put a towel around her shoulders. "Don't apologize, Olivia."
"But you're not even charging us anything..."
"You're just asking me to give her a trim," she then started searching for her scissors. "Besides, you have already washed her hair for me, I won't take more than fifteen minutes to cut her hair and dry."
"Well, thank you, anyway," the dancer gave a shy smile. "I promise I will repay you later."
"Don't mention it."
Palutena began to snip away little Lucina's blue hair, having to pause multiples times just to make her sit still on the chair. Olivia just rested her back on a nearby wall and watched Palutena do her work.
"So, how's Chrom doing?" Palutena casually asked.
"Fine, I suppose," she fidgeted her hands.
"Daddy's sad," Lucina said.
"Oh?"
"Lucina, hush!" Olivia sighed.
"That's pretty much the opposite of fine."
"To tell you the truth, I don't know what is going on with Chrom these days," she admitted and hugged her stomach. "He has been arriving more and more tired each day and never seems happy."
"Maybe it's the stress of work?" Palutena suggested. "Usually when I'm stressed, I take a while to go to bed early too."
"I don't know, but I wish he would talk to me about it more often..." Olivia said. "I know things haven't been going well at the studio where he works, but we've been managing to hold on just fine, yet he still has been working overtime regardless."
"Is that so?" she snipped at Lucina's hair some more.
"He's been so distant lately..."
"Olivia?"
"I don't think he has returned home last night… I slept over before he arrived… I woke up after he left, maybe..."
"Mommy?"
"I don't even know if he came back home last night..." her voice choked as her eyes started to get teary.
Palutena stopped everything she was doing to check on the pink haired woman and comfort her. Lucina also got worried and stopped fidgeting on her seat just so she could watch her mother break down.
It was no secret to anyone that both Robin and Shulk were starting to get bored from the lack of costumers. Sure, sales have been getting better, but those were mostly done online or over the phone, so it wasn't as if they were seeing a lot of people to begin with. Yet, despite everything, Robin would rather have to deal with boredom than have to indulge Peach's antics.
Which was exactly what she was doing right now.
"Peach, you won't bribe me into playing Smash with you with cake," Robin let out a tired sigh.
"What else can I do to convince you?"
"Nothing, there's nothing you can do to change my mind," she tentatively eyed the cake. "But, um, that cake actually looks really good."
"Of course it looks good, I've made it myself," she proudly stated.
"You like to cook?"
"A lot," she smiled, only to let out a sigh right after that. "You can have it if you want, it's not like I'll be able to eat all of it myself."
Robin called Shulk over so they could share, because if they were not going to attend any customers, they might as well eat a delicious strawberry cake. Luckly, Peach had already brought a few napkins and a plastic knife to cut the cake, so they didn't need to bother.
Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!
Robin let out a groan and took her cell phone out of her pocket. She raised an eyebrow once she saw it was Palutena calling her and picked it up.
"Hey, Palutena," she greeted. "How's it going?"
"Oh, hey, Robin," Palutena answered. "I would say not much, but there's something I need to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Have you been talking to Chrom these past couple of days?"
"I've met him last weekend. Why?"
"Was he acting weird when you saw him or anything like that?"
"He was feeling pretty down, but that's about it."
"Yeah, Olivia mentioned this to me," Palutena said in a pondering tone. "But do you know anything else?"
"Why?"
"Olivia was just crying a few minutes ago about how Chrom didn't return home and when I tried to call him on his phone he didn't answer."
"I see… I try to call him then."
"Okay, later."
"What's the matter, Robin?" Shulk asked he munched on his piece of cake.
"Chrom hasn't returned to his home yesterday and Olivia is worried sick," she said as she typed his phone number. "I really hope that the only reason he's not answering them it's because he didn't listen to his phone ringing."
"Who's Chrom?" Peach asked.
"A friend."
Robin patiently waited for the phone to pick up and let out a sigh of relief as she heard her friend's voice at the other side:
"Robin? What is it?"
Wow, what a way to greet someone.
"Just called you to see if you're doing okay," she said instead. "Olivia's been trying to call you, but you haven't been answering."
"Oh, she had? Sorry, I've been sleeping until now and probably haven't heard her."
"Where are you anyway?"
"At the studio, I've been working over time and probably fell asleep here."
"Well… just make sure you call Olivia, okay? She's worried sick about you."
"I will… I will..."
"...Take care."
"So, how's Chrom?" Shulk asked.
"He didn't sound really well."
Robin didn't have the guts to tell him just how empty his voice sounded, as if all the life and energy he had inside him had been sucked out. Sure, he told her he had been sleeping, but that didn't sound like the voice of someone who had just woken up. If anything, that story of him sleeping at the studio didn't convince her at all. Even if he took a nap form overworking, surely one of his co-workers would have woken him up and sent him home. Robin suddenly got all the more worried for him.
"Why don't you go visit him?" Peach suggested. "He's your friend, isn't he? If you're worried, then you should check on him."
"Go see him after your shift," Shulk said. "Something tells me he's not going home today."
As soon Robin's shift ended, she made haste to the studio where Chrom worked. As soon as she got at the alleyway where it was located, she just knew something was wrong, as the lights of the studio were out and not a single soul could be seen inside the building. Even if Chrom wasn't there, the studio wouldn't be abandoned just like that. Robin bit her lower lip at the sight in front of her, getting more and more worried as the seconds passed by.
"What..."
"Oh, Robin, nice seeing you here."
That voice…
Robin turned around and met with a pair of fashionably dressed women. The owner of that particular high voice had a silky sky blue hair tied up in a side ponytail, sweet purple eyes and fair, flawless skin, contrasting to her younger twin, who had a much darker skin tone and short white hair. Of all people, Robin didn't expect to find these two around, that's for sure.
"Lana, Cia," she said in surprise. "Hey, what are you doing here?"
"Is this really the way how you greet us?" Cia teased.
"It's not always I see you two around here," Robin shrugged her shoulders. "Aren't you responsible for monitoring another area?"
"We have taken charge of this one as well as of late," Lana explained. "What about you? What are YOU doing here, Robin?"
"Just came by to check on a friend of mine," she crossed her arms and looked at the empty studio. "He hasn't returned home yesterday and his wife is worried sick. I called him and he said he was at the studio, but..."
"The studio's closed and he had lied to you," Cia said. "You know what I think about him not answering his wife and disappearing like this?"
"Cia, no," Lana sighed.
"What? I'm just saying, for someone who hasn't been answering his wife's calls and lying to his friends where he's at," she chuckled. "That's some pretty suspicious activity, don't you think?"
"No, no he would never resort to that," Robin shook her head. "He's head over heels over her, and even if their marriage wasn't working, I'm sure he would sit down and talk to her about it. He's not the kind of person to go around cheating on her."
"You may never know."
"The strangest part is that it hasn't been long since I talked to him…" she mused. "He sounded pretty lifeless over the phone, but to lie like this..."
"Is it normal for the studio to be closed at this hour of the day?" Lana asked.
"No, it isn't, they usually work until late at night."
"Hmm… Cia, do you think this might be the work of those mysterious kidnappers?" Lana asked as she turned her attention to her twin.
"I'm not going to cut that possibility out, unless everyone there got a sudden day off," Cia pondered.
"W-wait a minute!" Robin said. "Kidnapping, really? That's your first hypothesis?"
"Did your friend happen to play Smash?"
"He used to play in the past, but not anymore."
Lana and Cia let out a collective sigh. That couldn't be good.
"I pray to the goddesses this might not be the case, but I think your friend might have been kidnapped, Robin," Lana said in a sad tone.
"But why would they do this to him?!"
Robin couldn't believe her ears. Chrom was kidnapped? Why, just why? She had talked to him a few hours ago, when did this even happen? No, no, Lana must be mistaken. She had to.
"Surely you must have heard about the alarming number of people that have been disappearing, yes?" Cia crossed her arms. "Lana and I have been doing some investigation on this, hoping we might come up with some useful information about these kidnappers. It is possible that your friend might have fallen victim to these kidnappers as well."
"They have been targeting mostly teenagers, but they have moved into taking young adults and even adults in their thirties as well, despite being less common," Lana explained. "What most of the victims have in common is that they were involved with Smash. Not all, but the great majority was."
"But Chrom doesn't play Smash anymore!"
"But he used to and that was enough for them," she clicked her tongue. "Ahhh… one more victim to add to the list. When will this be over?"
"The worse part is that we still weren't able to track down possible suspects behind these kidnappings," the dark skinned woman clenched her teeth. "Sneaky little fuckers..."
"Language, Cia."
"Oh, shut up, Lana."
"B-but what about the rest of the staff?"
"How many were there?"
"Counting Chrom, three..." she looked at the studio again, her face growing even paler as the truth that Chrom was missing continued to sink in. "Do you think they might also have been taken?"
"Maybe yes, maybe not," Cia said. "What it matters is that your friend's wife needs to fill a missing report to the police. I doubt they can do anything about his situation right now, but it's still important to do it."
"We'll try what we can to find Chrom, Robin," Lana said in sympathy. "You know you can count on us."
"Count on you?" she let out a bitter laugh. "Lana, you and Cia work for the mafia. How can I count on you on something like this?"
"Well spoken, Robin."
The three turned to where the voice came from and Robin let out an annoyed groan as she saw Marth walking towards them.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I came by to check on Chrom after I saw that he has been missing," he explained. "I would have arrived earlier, but I got lost in the way."
"How do you know Chrom?" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"We are related," Marth said, curtly. "I'm a distant cousin of his."
"Right..."
"Anyway, I do not think you should be associating with people like these," Marth pointed at the twins by her side.
"Oh, actually, I've met Lana and Cia before they became part of the mafia," Robin explained. "Trust me, our relationship has nothing to do with their work."
"I know our work may be dangerous and rough, but trust me when I say we want nothing but the best for people," the fair skinned twin smiled sweetly. "Well, we try to stay ethical most of the times. Sometimes we need to get our hands dirty, but we don't involve innocent people."
"Most of the times," Cia muttered under her breath.
"I do not care if you have the best intentions, mafia is still mafia," the young man twisted his mouth. "It is a dirty business and to deny it by saying that you're using for good intentions doesn't justify all the horrible things you need to do in order to achieve that."
"Oh, what bluster, what bravado," Cia snickered as she lifted Marth's chin with her finger. "But I guess it's easy to act brave like that when you're wearing a mask as cute as yours."
Marth slapped her hand away from his face. Even when he was wearing a mask, Robin could tell he was not pleased by Cia's touching at all.
"Anyway, like it or not, we've been doing a better job at investigating this case than the police," Cia said. "Being as incompetent and lazy as they are, you might discover the culprits when half of the city already have disappeared."
"Not all policemen are lazy," Marth protested.
"And yet, you are not afraid to put a label on us," she smirked. "Dignified."
"Why don't we wrap this conversation up and move along," Lana said suddenly, as if trying to calm the tension between them down. "We promise we will look into Chrom's disappearance, alright? We just ask for patience. Just give us a physical description of him first."
As Robin described Chrom to Lana, Marth and Cia just continued exchanging glares, even though Marth's eyes were completely cover. That silent stare battle seemed to have gone by unnoticed by both Robin and Lana, who were too concentrated on the task in hand to realize that Marth was ready to jump at Cia's throat from how annoyed he was with her glare of disdain.
"Well, here's hoping," Robin gave an awkward smile. "It was nice meeting you guys again. We should hang out more."
"I know right?" Lana chirped. "Anyway, take care, Robin. You too, weird masked boy."
"See you around, Robin," Cia smirked.
They went on their separate ways, Robin and Marth going one side (much to Robin's annoyance), while the twins went the other way. As much as she wanted him to leave her alone, it seemed like she wouldn't get what she wished. However, he did mind her space walked a few feet away from her, so there was that.
The sun had set not long ago and the city was bursting with light from the lamps on the streets and households. A lot of young people could be seen on the streets, be it from coming back from work and deciding to relax with friend, or just returning home. Night time was by far one of the busiest hours in Sakurai City. As long as Robin returned home through areas with more movement, there was nothing to fear.
She did find odd how Marth looked everywhere around him as if he was searching for something, though. What was this guy's deal? Was he feeling lost?
"This place looks so chaotic," Marth commented. "Bursting with life..."
"Yeah, it's always been kind of chaotic around these areas," Robin said.
"It is very fascinating."
"You say this like you don't live in this city."
"I… usually avoid being in crowds, that's all."
"I know how you feel."
Robin wanted to continue making small talk, to distract her mind, but it just wasn't possible. Chrom was missing, possibly due to being kidnapped, and there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. Gods, Olivia must have been suffering so much at the moment. She needed to talk to her later about what Lana and Cia had told her, but so far, she just wanted to go back home and worry in peace, away from all that chaos.
Marth himself didn't feel very talkative as well. Unknown to Robin, he was as worried about Chrom's situation as she was, if not more. Thank the gods he was wearing that mask, he didn't need Robin to see the pathetic state his eyes were as he continued to imagine all the worst possibilities of might have happened to him. Still, he walked by her side just because he feared something terrible might also happen to her soon.
"Okay, listen," Robin said as she realized Marth would not leave her alone. "Soon I will be arriving at my neighborhood, so if you want to go on your own way from here..."
"I told you I am here to protect you, didn't I?" Marth said, surprisingly sternly (even for him). "I will return home once I know you are safe at your house."
"Why are you so obsessed with me?" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"I believe I have already explained everything before."
"Yeah, but I have no powe-" she stopped talking as she heard the bleeping sound coming from the cell phone at her backpack. "Hold on."
She took her phone out and checked her e-mail. Robin furrowed her eyebrows as she saw the message "SAVE THE PRINCESS" in her inbox.
"Spam again?" she clicked her tongue. "I don't have the patience for that!"
"What is it?" he asked as he took a look at the screen.
"Some idiot wants me to play their game and keeps spamming me e-mails until I download and play it."
"Well then, maybe you should play it just to leave them alone."
"If it's going to be like last time, I guess it's not going to take too much if my time..." she muttered as she opened the e-mail and downloaded the game.
The game had the same retro graphics from before, but Robin was actually surprised that the playable character this time was different. She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but it kind of reminded of her, from the white hair in twin tails to the purple clothes she was wearing. But then again, it was just an 8-bit sprite, so she could be imagining things…
There were about two houses on opposite sides of the upper part of the screen, as well as a fence that made it impossible for her to reach them without a key. Aside from those, there wasn't much Robin could do there. She didn't need to do much though, as the sprite of the same blonde princess wearing the same blue dress from before appeared in front of one of the house's door. Before she could even wonder what was that all about, two blue bats appeared out of nowhere and took the princess away, all the way to a tall tower at another section of the map.
Robin clicked her tongue as the game seemed to have ended there.
"Another waste of time," she muttered.
"Hm… That character looked an awful lot like you," Marth commented.
"You think that too?" Robin asked. "I thought I was the only one who thought that."
"How very strange..."
Robin didn't know why, but now more than never she wanted to get back home. She picked up her pace and quickly made her way through the streets, with Marth following her suit. Maybe it was because Chrom's disappearance was still affecting her until now, but still she wanted to make sure Rosalina was doing alright. She tried calling her cell phone as she walked. Again, just making sure Rosa was fine, nothing else.
Unfortunately, Rosalina was not picking up. Robin kept trying to call her, switching between her cell phone number and their house number, but Rosalina simply was not answering at all. At this hour of the night, she should be at home. She would have picked up. To say that Robin was not outright panicking would be an understatement.
Once Robin reached her house, she could feel her entire face lose color as she saw that the door was opened.
"Rosa!"
"Robin, hold on!" Marth tried to call for her, only for it to be completely ignored by her.
Robin rushed inside the house, her mind racing so fast she forgot to turn on the rest of the lights, the single turned on lamp near the door being the only thing illuminating the entrance.
It was only when she noticed the unconscious body laying on the floor right in front of her that Robin could feel her heart wanting to jump out through her throat.
"W-what is..." she got close to the body and examined it.
It was just a random man.
"...going on…?"
Robin noticed a shadow looming over her. Shaking beyond belief, she looked up, only to find a tall, intimidating woman looking down on her with hostile icy blue eyes.
"Robin, watch out!" Marth cried out.
Before Robin could even do anything, she felt a sharp blow to her head, knocking her unconscious in less than a second.
This chapter was just a little longer than usual because I really, really wanted to end the chapter there. Despite all his talk about protecting her, Marth is apparently a terrible bodyguard.
Nahte123456: Wow, what did Zelda even do to you? I never saw her as a horrible person, I always saw her as a wise leader who tries her best to do what she can to assist Link in his journey. About Samus having more screen time,I think you're going to get what you wish in the next chapter.
GintaxAlvissForever: Not really, because the characters might share roles, but due to different personalities, their actions might come off a little different. Like, Peach may act like a spoiled brat who insists on Robin playing Smash with her again in a rematch, but I don't think she would go to the extreme of invading her house. She also didn't have any reason to do so. Now Marth… he had his reasons to invade her room like that, despite not being the right thing to do.
I thought about making Daraen live in the same house, but I don't want them to come off as siblings too much. Like, they look alike and share a strong bond, but if he lived with her and they grew up together like that, I don't think he would be a viable love interest because he would be too much of a brother figure to her. At least they are almost neighbors, so there's that. Clear's role is already filled though… And again, thanks a lot for suggesting Lana and Cia as Virus and Trip! I never knew I needed them here so much.
Murkardolum: Palutena and Pit turned out to be okay, it would take more than an agitated Captain Falcon to get them caught like that. I hope this chapter clears things up for Rosalina a little better. Even she realized that was a terrible attitude she got. She was stressed, tired and recovering from an illness, so she wasn't thinking clearly. But yeah, it was still terrible that she doubted her own daughter. The thing about Peach is is that she really is seeking out to test her skills with who she considers better than her. So yeah, she doesn't think highly of Palutena, but it's not like Peach thinks she's that great either.
Not really, because I'm not setting up a lot of possible build ups for other romances. Like, it wouldn't make sense to make Palutena and Peach get together because they've barely interacted with each other. Remember that this is based on a boy's love visual novel, so all possible pairings between the love interests will involve the protagonist. But I do agree with you, it would be cool to make Falcon gay in this story… Hmm… Now that's something to consider.
Don't worry if the Marth ordeal confuses you. The answers about him being there are not supposed to be there yet.
Ender2142: It's spelled Daraen, but you got close enough. Unfortunately, I'm stretching here with the list of non-Smash characters appearing in this story, so I might leave the future children out. But you're right, Noire is hilarious. She's by far one of my favorite future children, right next to Cynthia and Nah. But Marth is by far my favorite future child. I'm glad Rosalina reminds you of your mom, because she was supposed to be very motherly type… even when she's mad. Shulk has the amazing power of really good intuition. Too bad his intuitions only work for bad events, he could seriously try to exploit this on gambling games.
SmashBrosFan96: I wouldn't say Captain Falcon is corrupted, at least not intentionally. He really just needs to listen something else that isn't his own judgment. Either Marth got into the house because Rosalina forgot to lock the door or he's really good at lock picking. Rosalina did ask where from Robin and Marth knew each other, she just didn't ask for details. Ooh, boy, that Smash Direct was something… Now I kind of wish I could include Corrin and Bayonetta here, but it probably won't be possible. That's too bad.
PozzyP: Zelda is indeed a pharmacist, she just things that Robin can't know. You don't really need to know much about the game or the anime to understand her role here, because it is mostly something I came up with, so all the heavy stuff wouldn't fall just on Rosalina. Speaking of her, things just got worse like you said. Except she's not ill anymore, she just disappeared.
Robin should have that checked out. I've heard that hearing voices in your head may not something normal people hear. But then again, it was just something I've heard of. I'm not going to say anything else on the matter. Marth wears the mask for aesthetic purposes. Nothing else. Believe me, I speak the truth.
mystic moogle: Glad you like dit! Daraen is just really protective over Robin, he's usually very sweet. Captain Falcon is Hell on Earth even if he doesn't realize it. I'm glad you laughed, because it was supposed to be intentional. Robin has a pretty voice that seems to get into people's head a lot. While good for sales over the phone, it is also turning out to become a nuisance for her. Let's see where this will take her.
Daeren is a good name, isn't it? It's not as gender neutral as I would like, but it still fits him here.
Anyway, that's it for this chapter. Hope to see you guys on the next one.