The Mansion Enigma

Chapter Three

Zelda led me down the halls of the mansion to a stairwell just past the dining room. She stepped up it without a word, and I did not dare ask where she was taking me; she would certainly dismiss it as most of the others usually did when I asked a question. We arrived in a room of rich red that reminded me strongly of the decor at the castle I had once called home. The room seemed to be overflowing with bookshelves, packed with volumes of every shape, size, and color. Zelda picked one of them up and flipped through it absentmindedly. She stood there for a solid minute without another word, until I asked "Excuse me, but you needed me for something, did you not?".

"Of course," she muttered, not glancing up from the thick tome for even a second. "I just need to find it again." She flipped through the pages until she finally stopped, and promptly pushed it into my face.

"Here it is," she exclaimed. "Tell me, do you recognize this?" There was a picture on the page in faded black ink. It appeared to be of an orb with a cross centered on its lower left.

"No, I do not," I stated. A grin of pure ecstasy spread over Zelda's visage.

"Really!?", she cried out, her eyes shining in excitement. She frightened me, so I simply nodded. "That is brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! The newcomers before you, I suppose I just couldn't get to them fast enough. Thank you! This will be a huge help!" She laughed manicly and rushed off, deeper into the library. I hadn't the slightest idea what I had done to make her so ecstatic, so I followed her through the bookshelves. The elf-eared princess was kneeled at a desk, writing frantically in an old journal with an odd stick that hardly resembled a quill, but seemed to function in much the same way.

"I hope you do not mind me asking, but whatever did I do that was such a great help?", I asked. She jumped and let out a small cry in surprise.

"Marth, you scared me! Don't sneak up on me like that!", she berated.

"My apologies, but please answer my question."

She stood up, turned to me, and smiled. "You're an odd one; very persistent," she commented. "That will prove useful, in time. I simply was curious when…"

Suddenly, Red came running up to us. "Hello Marth, Zelda. Pit asked me to come get you. He said something about showing you dinner foods. Zelda, you're welcome to come as well."

"I would rather not. Marth, thank you." Zelda extended her hand to mine. I shook it, and she turned back to her desk. "I hope to speak to you again soon."

I followed Red back to the Dining Room, where Pit and Palutena were waiting. "Sorry to keep you waiting," I apologized. "I was simply assisting Zelda with… something. I am not entirely certain what; Red came for me while she was explaining."

Pit nodded. "Don't worry about it. Zelda's nice and all, but she's a bit..." He trailed off.

"Eccentric?", Palutena offered.

"Yeah. Eccentric. You don't need to worry 'bout her," Pit stated.

What they were saying about Zelda somewhat made sense, but I felt bad allowing them to dismiss her so easily. "She seemed fairly intelligent to me," I commented.

"She might be smart, but she's not entirely, er," Palutena seemed to be searching for words. "Sane, I suppose?"

I nodded. She had seemed a bit out of it. Regardless, I still mourned the fact that she was interrupted as she was about to explain her work to me.

"So," Pit continued. "Considering what you were like at breakfast, I figured Red, Palutena and I could help show you a few things."

"Um, certainly."

Red, Pit, and Palutena each grabbed a plate and piled it high with various odd foods. Nearly all of them were excellent, save for one beef dish that tasted quite similar to one the servants would often prepare at the castle. I also did not fully understand why Pit insisted upon dropping a cold dessert he called Ice Cream on the floor before eating it, but Palutena insisted that I should not ask. After I had eaten all I could, I decided to explore a bit on my own. The others offered to go with me, but I declined. I wanted to be alone for a moment to let the insanity of that day sink in.

I traveled back into the library, attempting to see what else was on the floor. Zelda had left, it seemed, as the desk she had knelt at was now occupied by a young man with bandages covering much of his armored body. I wandered through the bookshelves a bit more before coming across a door. I turned the handle and pushed it open to see a balcony overlooking the grounds. The sun was setting, and I could see much more of the area. There was a small lake directly ahead, with sprawling, decrepit ruins behind it, with a forest far to the left. However, with all the diversity, it seemed to simply stop in a black, rippling wall after a certain point. This place was vast, but it did end.

I leaned against the railing and sighed. So much had happened. I had fled, gotten nearly killed, and then whisked off here somehow. Had I made the correct choice in coming here? I did not know, but I hadn't had much of a choice. No, I had. If I had not run in search of a better life, I likely would not have come here. I would have either remained at the castle, or been killed while the army invaded, but at the castle. This place, it was perplexing, and I did not understand why we had to fight, but it was nice. While it was finite, it was less so than my old life. The expectations were fewer, not to there were people like Pit who would treat me like a regular person.

"I think I chose right," I muttered to the wind. The wind brought a slight chill with it, and I suddenly wondered if this place had seasons. It had been fairly temperate that day, but the leaves were green. Perhaps it was Spring here? And then would it be Summer, or was it always Spring. And what of the weather? Would there be rain? So many questions, yet the others would find them silly. Why was that? Did newcomers simply not arrive often, or was it another reason entirely? This place seemed to have mysteries. I hoped I could perhaps find Rosalina again; she had answered my questions without complaint. Or perhaps I could speak to Zelda again and hear what she had been stopped from saying earlier.

"Funny. You think much, yet you have not happened the most logical answer," stated a voice. I jumped in fright. A blue humanoid canine-esque creature had materialized next to me.

"How did you read my mind?", I asked.

"The Aura is with me," he answered with a smirk. However, his mouth did not move while he spoke. Was it telepathy? "You stand directly outside of a library. Perhaps you should seek answers out there."

"Alright. Who are you?"

"Lucario. I shall see you in time." Lucario leapt from the balcony, landing precisely on the ground. Though it was a long way to fall, he ran along the ground as if nothing at all had happened. I pushed the doorway open to attempt to search the library. What was I to look for, exactly? A book on this place? Rosalina's comments about her not knowing the secrets of this place made me think that such a book was unlikely to exist.

I wandered through the shelves for what felt like hours, but there were no books that held a clue on the mysteries surrounding me. Most of the books seemed to be novels, but one of the few non-fiction volumes jumped out to me. It told of swords and techniques for them. The book made them seem effective, so I grabbed it and vowed to attempt them in the morning.

I made my way back to the leftmost door marked with a sword, which I recalled hazily to be the one I was assigned. To my surprise, Ike was seated upon the other bed, holding a thick book with one hand and a candle in the other. He looked up as I entered the room. "Do you think there's something wrong with this place?", he asked spontaneously.

I seated myself upon the bed I had awoken in. "Certainly, but I do not know how find information. I spoke to a lady named Rosalina earlier, and she seemed to know a great deal, but she even admitted that there were many things she did not know."

"I mean, do you think whoever brought us here had some sort of agenda," he elaborated. "some sort of reason for choosing us. And why are we supposed to fight? It seems pointless. If we're already practically dead, what's the point in inflicting more pain?"

I was taken aback by how similar his questions were to mine. "I have no clue. No one else, save for Rosalina perhaps, wants to answer any questions. There must be something to this place, though."

"Maybe everyone else already knows, but they don't want to talk about it?", suggested Ike.

"That seems possible. I just dislike not knowing. Please tell me this; you clearly know who I am, but who were you before you came here."

"My father was a mercenary. I hoped to be like him," he stated. "I wanted to be a hero, of some sort. But here, everything's so safe there's really no one to help. But, I suppose, a future here would be better than no future at all." Ike suddenly blew out his candle, and I heard a small clunk, likely him placing it and the book on the nightstand. "You've gotten what you wanted, though. I suppose you are happy," he added somewhat bitterly.

"I do not know," I admitted. "I enjoy this freedom, and the people here are more pleasant, but I have a bad feeling about all of this."

He did not respond. I set my sword beside my bed and pulled the covers over my head. Everything only seemed sadder the more I thought of it. I would never see my sister again, nor either of my parents. And the other two; Ike had lost his father and his future. Roy, he had family as well. He had lost much as well. All the others here; what had they lost when they came here? Pit and Palutena had already known each other, but who else did they know that were now lost to them? Link seemed skilled at swordplay. Had he been training to be a guard like Roy? What future had he lost? All the numerous others must have lost their friends, family and futures. My mind drifted into oblivion as it vaguely occurred to me that perhaps they were able to learn to forget in time.

AN- So much Marth monologues. I fear we will be seeing those quite a lot. :) Don't worry; I want to use a few different POVs at some point. Tell me who you'd like to see. Also, Ike being actually somewhat nice! He doesn't hate Marth as much as it looks like he does, trust me.

Also, big thanks to ChocolateStars for your follow and review! Also to Penmaster13's review. You guys rock! But Penmaster13, please tell me if you're alright! Your profile page went blank and you changed your name a lot; did your account get hacked? I'm worried. Thank you for reading! -Twilight Joltik

Next Chapter- Mending bonds.