Warning:

Hello darkness, my friend.

AKA Dark themes

The rain came down harder on my unstable roof top. I looked up and saw it has been gathering and leaking it contents on my table. I set aside my tea and watched it drop slowly down. It landed with a soft thud and left its remains on the table.

I frowned. This is not the rain I desire. If this unholy toxin grasps me, then there wouldn't be any way to cleanse myself. But by the looks of it, it won't get any worse than this. A silent sigh escaped my lips and I got up from my chair and looked outside of the cracked window.

Just as I suspected. The sky was cut open to reveal its scarlet color. Ominous gray clouds leaked their yellow drops, killing everything with their soul-less tears. I stepped back from the window and walked towards my bookshelf. I'll have to go underground to prevent myself from dying by the radioactive drops. I picked two books from the selection and opened the cellar door that lead to my safe haven.

The door closed behind me, just as the darkness confronted me. I made my way down, blind in this pitch black room. Eventually I felt the wall on the bottom for the secret passage that kept me safe all these years. I eventually found it and slipped inside and turned on the light.

I smiled at the lightly colored room. The wallpaper was peeling off, but it still felt comforting and homey. There was a bed, bathroom, and a worn recliner. Pictures where littered everywhere, smiling with childish ignorance from the past. I picked one up and let out a silent whisper as my finger traced their smiling face...

I looked up to the heavens, blinded by its own corruption, and sent a silent prayer. With the weak voice I have, I'm whispering faith and hope for humanity's savior, humanity's hope, humanity's future. One day, i'll be able to meet them, my master, and die by their hands for the greater good. It's a fate I'm forced to accept and won't deny. I mouthed those words and smiled.

"Don't falter... Stand tall... Be ready..."

"Aiku! Look it! Look it! Its us!" Lucina held up a picture and smiled proudly. It's been two weeks since they were pulled out of from the line. So far, they were put inside a room where they were fed three times a day, took showers, and slept in comfortable beds. The two of them had gain wait and were brimming with health and vitality. Even Lucina's hair is not ratty anymore, but it's still pretty wild, but it adds on to her natural free spirited charm.

Ike looked at the picture and saw three colorful people. Ike quickly managed to pick out Lucina because she was the shortest and was in the middle holding hands with two boys. On her left was Ike and on her right was...

Lucina smiled brightly again "I a pretty good draw-er, yea?"

Ike smiled and ruffled her hair, "Yeah, pretty sure your big brother would love this too."

Lucina beamed and had a determined look on her face "When we leave, I gunna show big brother this! He be happy to see you and me!"

Ike's smile thinned, "Yeah..."

Lucina tilted her head at Ike's sudden drop of enthusiam. She opened her mouth to ask what's wrong, but a knock on the door interrupted them. Lucina ran behind Ike and he glared at the door. "Pardon for the interruption, but the occupants in this room have received two new guests that will be staying with you until further notice." an R.O.B spoke.

The door opened slowly, revealing two blonde boys. The older looked in nervously while the younger hid behind him. The two boys were pushed inside from the back and the door locked behind them. The other clicked his teeth in irritation and looked at Ike. "Y-you're not gonna kill me, are you?" he asked warily.

Ike blinked at him, "Unless you touch her, other than that, I think you're safe from me."

The other eyed him questioningly and relazed a bit when he realized Ike was no threat. He gave a deep sigh and looked up at Ike, "What do you call yourselves?"

Lucina decided to chime in and answered happily, "Me is Lucina and that's Aiku!"

"Lucina and Aiku?..." the other tasted the names in his mouth.

"It's really Ike." Ike sheepishly forced a smile.

"Ah, gotcha. I'm called Link and this is my younger brother, Linktwo, but you should refer him to Toony."

Toony looked from behind his brother and at the two strangers. He gave a coy smile and stepped out from behind Link. Lucina walked over to Toony and smiled, "Hey Toony, let's draw together!"

He looked startled for a second and nodded, "o-okay..." Lucina took him by the arm suddenly and nearly dragged him to the other side of the room. Link watched amused while Ike looked serious. Link took a seat next to him and watched them color. "I don't think Toony has ever interacted with any other kid his height, especially a girl."

"..." Ike didn't respond.

Link frowned slightly, "So is Lucina your little sister? The both of ya don't really look alike, but you seem to be overprotective of her, like an older brother."

Lucina was showing Toony how to draw, "Yea, we're related. I look more like dad instead of mom." Ike lied.

Link nodded as if that were a reasonable answer. "Oh, so you are one of those people that were born outside of the facility?"

Ike nodded. "I guess you can say that." he looked over at Link, big mistake. Link leaned closer to Ike, excitement in his eyes. "Ooh, can you tell me what outside is like? I've never been outside before, but I've heard rumors. Is it a really bad place? How'd you survive? Have you ever seen the ocean?"

Ike scooted away from Link. "That's a weird question. I thought everybody here was born outside these walls."

Link shook his head. "Nah, people were born here and raised inside the facility. It was like that until five years ago I think? That we began getting people from outside. Our caretakers told us outside is a cruel world and that we wouldn't be able to live for very long out there and the people who live out there are monsters. So they kept a different house for those people while we live here in facility. It's weird though because you don't look like a monster."

Ike looked surprised at Link's information. "W-well, outside used to be beautiful five years ago. I had a wonderful family and Lucina could barely walk back then."

Link furrowed his brows, "I?"

"Ah, you know what I meant." Ike said flustered, "Anyways, before the Angels came, our family was planning a trip to the ocean to visit family down there..." Ike frowned.

Link realized he struck a nerve, "Sorry. I shouldn't have asked about that."

Ike shook his head, "Hey, don't worry about it. You didn't know anyways."

Link nodded slightly and adverted his attention to an upcoming Toony. Lucina followed behind him and kept the same bright smile. Toony held out a poorly drawn picture. "I-I drew this for you." he looked away when he gave his brother the picture.

Link looked at it and smiled, "Thanks lil bro, I love it."

Toony looked up at Link and smiled. "Aiku! I drawn Poca! Remember Poca the cat?" Lucina held up the picture of the cat.

Ike grinned, "Oh yeah, that fat thing. I still can't believe he ate all the turkey on Thanksgiving Day."
Lucina laughed, "Oh yea! I forgot he did that!"

Link and Toony looked confused. "What's a Poca and Thanksgiving Day?"

"Man, we have a lot of explaining to do." Ike sighed and Lucina nodded.

Ike explained the concept to Link and Toony. He then told him about other holidays and how to celebrate them. They had a little trouble grasping it since it sounded kind of useless to have a whole day revolving around pinching someone who isn't wearing green. Lucina tried to make them understand by acting out the holidays with huge arm motions and different voices. She wasn't a very good actress and the boys tried hard not to laugh at her. They soon began to grasp the concept, but not all fully.

"If we have candy, they a could of know Halloween better 'cause it not scary like its sound." Lucina sighed, "Also I want candy."

"Yeah, the last time we had candy was five years ago." Ike sighed.

"Isn't candy small and round?" Link asked.

"Well, some can be while there are ones large and angular." Ike frowned, "Why?"

Link reached into his pocket and pulled out small round tablets, "The Angels usually call this 'candy' and give it to us. They're kind of good." Link gave one of the tablets to Ike so he could examine it.

Ike brought it close to his face and examined the round tablet. It was small and a reddish pink color. It looked more like medicine then candy. This didn't stop Ike from trying it. He popped it into his mouth and started chewing it. He quickly spat it out, "It's really bitter!"

Link stuck popped one into his mouth, "I dunno. I like it though."

Toony gave a piece to Lucina who looked very wary. "Mine and Link's are different. His is red and mine's blue cause it's made for kids like us!"

Lucina tried it and smiled. "It tastes really good!"

Ike watched them enjoy their candy. When Toony offered one of his, he politely turned it down. That 'candy' ruined his love of candy. Lucina let out a huge yawn. "phuee! I sleepy..."

"Me too." Toony yawned.

"I'm getting kind of tired too." Link said, "What about you, Ike?"

"Sleep's okay..." truth was that Ike wasn't really sleepy, but he knew Lucina would try to stay up with him and wake up grumpy the next day.

There were two twin sized beds in the room, both on the opposite wall of each other. Ike and Lucina shared the bed on the left while Link and Toony shared a bed on the right. "Good night Ike, Link and Toony!" Lucina yawned.

"Goodnight Lucina, Ike, and Link." Toony yawned afterwords.

"Good night." Ike and Link responded back to back.

Ike was surprised that Lucina was already fast asleep, so were Link and Toony. He didn't really think much about it at first and attempted to sleep. He held Lucina close to him and nestled his face into Lucina's tangled hair. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't go to sleep. He groaned in defeat and and stared at the blank wall a head of him. Maybe if he could just stare at nothing, then maybe he would get tired and sleep...

The door creaked open and light entered the room. Ike froze. What do they want? He heard the sound of squeaky wheels on the far end of the room where Link and Toony were sleeping. It stopped and then here was the sound of fabric being ruffled around. Ike was tempted to turn around and see what was happening, but did not dare too.

Another pair of squeaky wheels came in and head over to Ike and Lucina. He quickly shut eyes and tried to focus on everything happening around them. He felt Lucina moving away from him, but he couldn't do anything about it. Cold metallic arms reached underneath him and he was lain down on his back on a cold, flat metal surface.

He tried his hardest not to move and look like he was asleep, but his heart was racing and it was increasingly difficult to keep a serene look on his face. The flat surface lurched forward and everything began to move so quick. A conspicuous feeling clawed its way into his stomach and he felt as if he needed to throw up.

Suddenly everything stopped. A door closed somewhere and everything was quiet. Should he open his eyes? What happens if someone was in there and realize he was awake? What would they do to him? He began to feel paranoid as he imagined waking up to pair of soulless eyes. It driven him mad.

A light thud warned him he wasn't alone. He froze up again and listened hard. There was a snore coming from the right side of him. The snore didn't belong to Lucina and he began to worry. Where is she and who is snoring? Ike took a deep breath through his nose and decided to open his eyes.

Slowly, his eyes opened to the blank ceiling above. He turned his head over to his right and spotted Link fast asleep. He turned his head to the left and saw a desk and the door. There were no signs of Lucina and Toony. "Well, what do we have here?" a menacing growl spoke.

Ike looked above him and blacked out right before he saw the red eyes.

"ugh... my head..." Ike groaned as he reached for his head.

When he tried to do so, he realized his arms had been bound to a chair along with his legs and feet. He was completely immobilized. "What's happening?..." He noticed two large curtains in the front of the walls. Strange...

"You're finally awake." Ike's hair spiked up. He looked over at the large man with the red hair and his son with a star on his face. "I was ready to let Morton here pick your fates."

Ike looked up at him, "W-what do you mean?"

The large man grinned, "Who lives and dies of course!"

Ike's eyes widen shock. He can't be serious?...

"Observe, pull the curtains!" the man commanded. Morton pulled both curtains and revealed Toony and Lucina both in separate rooms. The two were still fast asleep with large menacing medical instruments above them. Ike's hand went balled up into a fist. "Let them go!" he shouted, "They're just kids!"

Bowser grinned. "I'll let one go. You just have to pick one that dies." He flicked his wrist at Morton and the boy nodded and left the room. "It's really simple. You're just picking a child to die a horrible death. If you have heart, then you'll only get bothered by taking someone's life to live. Or is it that you want to die?"

Ike shook his head. He didn't want to die. He still had to protect Lucina...

"Now to make this more interesting," Bowser grinned, "Bring the brother in Morton."

Morton pushed Link in a wheel chair. They boy was bounded and had a black cloth around his mouth. He looked pleadingly at Ike and tried to talk to him, but his words came out muffled from the cloth. He struggled and tried so hard getting his words out to Ike.

Ike froze up. Bowser grinned when he saw this. "Come on, boy. Who do you want to die? It's only going to stay with you forever."

Link rattled the wheel chair loudly while he screamed with a muffled voice, tears and snot streaming down his face. Morton was laughing manically and the man's was grinning at him with such a mirthful expression. "Come on, choose."

Ike couldn't focus. The sounds, the looks, the distractions. His head feels like it was about to explode. He shut his eyes tightly, his head still pounding from who knows what. He gritted his teeth in annoyance and despair. What should he do? What could he do? If he killed Toony, Link will kill him. If he killed Lucina, then why bother going on living? Either way it was a lose-lose situation.

The pounding grew even more louder and it started to mix with all of the voices, creating a dissonance. It was excruciatingly painful and he wanted to stop. Just let it all stop! He did not want to be the one who decides this cruel fate! He just wanted to live! All he wanted to do is live with Lucina without hurting anybody else!

The dissonance started scratching the inside of his head. Oh, how much he wished it stopped! He clenched his fists and his toes curled tightly. Link cried out to him. He couldn't answer his plead. Ike's sanity was slowly being depleted away. White noise made its way to his ears, sending him to another place where he is being continually stabbed an unknown object.

He couldn't keep this going. He can't keep this going anymore. His whole body trembled from either anger or anxiety. His head was kept low, his face masked by his shadow. "Choose boy before I choose for you." the man growled impatiently.

Ike remained unresponsive while Link still struggled to make himself known. Eventually Morton grew really irritated and punched Link square in the jaw. It didn't shut Link up, but it did loosen up the cloth around his mouth. He managed to shake it off and shout, "Ike! Kill me! Please, pick me to die! Ike! Please! Let them live! Just kill me!" he cried.

Ike remained unresponsive to the man's dislike. He walked over to Ike and glared down at the boy. "Are you that much of a coward? Was that bravery all a facade? I might as well kill all of your friends then! What use would they have for a coward like you!?"

To the man's surprise, the boy wasn't trembling anymore. The boy looked up at him and the look he gave the man sent shivers down his spine. The boy whispered quietly to the man which left the man wide eyed at first. "Boy, you are something else." he replied genuinely impressed.

"I've made my decision..." Ike closed his eyes in thought. He opened them up to reveal the sickening mirth in his eyes and let out a peaceful, angelic grin.

"Fate is not controlled, but can be manipulated. In the end, we're ll dead anyways. That's destiny."

AN: Ike has got some tough decisions going on up in here. Who would you kill? Lucina, Toony, or Link? On a more gruesome note, kill a child, your friend, or someone your own age? That's what Ike basically is dealing with.

Also, don't take candy from a stranger because it might be laced with something and you will wake up having to kill somebody or being the one killed.

Fun Fact: Poca is based off of my cat Polka which he indeed eat the turkey. RIP turkey.

Until next time~