Ike felt his heart being violently stabbed a hundred times as he helplessly watched Lissa trying to heal Marth with her magic staff and Roy rummaging through his bag for any medicines.
A bright, vibrant, green light shined on Marth when Lissa performed a healing spell on the unconscious male. As light sparkled over his body, Marth twitched slightly and signed quietly. The simple, weak sound; the sudden, tiny movement; and his chest rising up and down were the only indications that Marth was still alive.
"Did the spell work?" Ike nervously asked Lissa when the healing light died down.
"This is strange..." Lissa softly began, eying Ike with confused, teal eyes. "The spell isn't working! It is like, his body is repelling the spell!"
"Do you know why?" Ike questioned, looking at Marth uneasily.
"I don't know..." Lissa helplessly answered. She began to wander around the room. "This has never happened to me before... I'm so sorry, Ike!"
"It's ok." Ike smiled at the cleric, reassuring her. "Tell the others what happened."
"Yes, right away." Lissa said as she quickly hurried out of the room.
Ike then turned his attention to Roy. "Did you find anything?"
"No, I can't find any medicines." Roy answered with a sad, hopeless look. "I do know a tonic that may treat Marth but..." A lost puppy, Roy's nervous voice trailed off his sentence.
"But what?" Ike was slowly losing his patience.
"The last time I saw it, it was sitting in my Dad's office." Roy finally concluded.
"Oh, I see..." Ike could only reply.
Roy sighed as he tried to think of a solution. "Maybe I can try to go back to Hollow and retrieve the medicine!"
"No, don't." Ike immediately replied. "Ghirahim and his Risen might be lurking in the forest. They know that one of us is going to attempt to enter Hollow."
"Still! Either way, Marth is going to die!" Roy retorted. "We have to try!"
"No, I won't allow this!" Ike argued back, his voice rising. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt, ok?!"
"...Ike? Roy? What's going on?" Marth suddenly yet weakly asked.
Hope rising in their hearts, Ike and Roy quickly turned to Marth's bedside. "Marth! You're awake!" Ike exclaimed. "This... This is good!"
"How are you feeling?" Roy asked.
"I feel... I still feel tired, dizzy, and weak..,' Marth softly mumbled before he erupted into a violent coughing fit.
Ike set a gentle hand on Marth's hand as Marth coughed hysterically. He rose an eyebrow as heat rushed into his palm. With a worried glance, Ike looked closer at Marth's physical state.
If Marth was not a close friend, but a stranger to Ike, Ike would quickly back away from him and cringe in fright. Marth's physical appearance was not a pretty sight; he was in a deathly state. If it weren't for its boiling temperature, Marth's skin would've been mistaken as snow. His hair was ruffled and tangled with dirt. Sweat slowly rolled down his forehead as he quietly panted for air. The only things that were still alive were his cerulean eyes. They hadn't lost their lively twinkle, which told Ike that he had the will to fight for his life.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Ike?" Marth suddenly asked. "You don't recognize me?" he joked, trying to filter the sadness in the air.
"No, I can recognize you." Ike replied with a reassuring smile. "I'm just glad that you're still alive."
Marth nodded slightly as his eyes slowly closed. His breathing became softer as his thoughts drifted to sleep, into the realm of unconsciousness. The realm, although sometimes exciting and erratic, was Marth's getaway from his life-or-death situation.
"He fell asleep..." Ike could only say, turning to Roy.
"That's good." Roy replied. "He needs rest to recover."
"Roy, you're right." Ike said sternly. "We need that medicine. Marth's life depends on it. I think it is worth the risk."
"Do you want me to go alone?" Roy asked.
Ike shook his head no. "No, it's not safe. Why don't you ask Fox and Falco to come with you?"
Roy nodded. "Sure! I'll ask them and we can get started on our trip right away!"
Roy took his bag and hurried out of Marth's room. Hurrying, he accidentally slammed the door open, causing a loud bang to shoot down the hallway. Marth flinched and jumped, as he was jolted from his peaceful sleep.
"R...Roy?" Marth asked as he blearily looked around his room from the younger redhead.
"Don't worry, he'll be back." Ike smiled at the sickly bluenette. "He's going to find a way to cure you."
"I see..." Marth replied, coughing softly.
"Get some rest, ok?" Ike's question was replied by Marth's small nod.
Marth lightly grasped the covers as Ike left his room. "Do you think Roy and the others will be ok?"
"Yeah! Just hold on, Marth!" Ike encouraged just as he walked out the doorway.
Marth smiled back at Ike as he carefully shut the door. Snuggling in his covers, Marth turned to his right side, his back facing the wall, and gazed at the candle's waving, warm flame. As the flame waved and twitched, it formed unusually shapes and shadows on the walls and ceiling, which strangely soothed Marth.
Resting the side of his head on the fluffy, white pillow, Marth was about to fall asleep when—
"Ike, can I talk to you about something?" Link's voice asked. It was slightly muffled by the firm, stone walls.
"Sure." Ike's voice coolly answered. "What is it?"
"It's about Marth."
A static of fright sent a shock wave through Marth's heart. This was about him? Link's voice had a stern, solemn ring to his tone, hinting that this was not good news. So, this conversation was about him, huh? Using the little strength he gathered, Marth carefully got out of his bed, clumsily went to the door, unsteadily sat down, and set the side of his head against the door, so he could listen to the conversation clearer.
"Does it have something to do with his illness?" Ike asked.
"A little bit." Link answered. "There's something that Tiki failed to mention when we went to Mount Prism." Link paused uneasily. Should he really tell Ike this horrible truth?
"Go on." Ike urged.
Marth lightly clutched his nightclothes as restlessness washed through his veins.
"After when all of the tribes fled to the mountains, Zelda's ancestor, a great, powerful sage known as Hylia, set a powerful curse on the two princes' spirits. If the incarnation of either Ike's or Marth's spirit enter the Surface, they are fated to die. This is to prevent the tragic war from repeating itself or the resurrection of the Earth Dragons."
"So, Marth's plight was fated all along?" Ike asked in shock.
Marth set a hand over his mouth as he gasped quietly.
"Yes." Link answered.
"Then, why did nothing happen to me yet?"
"Marth is more likely to fall for the curse first because, he died before Ike."
"Is there a way to break the curse?"
Trying to hold back his tears, Marth weakly crossed his fingers.
"There are two ways." Link began. "However, they are not easy."
"What do you mean?" Ike replied. Nervousness trembled in his voice.
"The first way to break the curse is to defeat Demise, since he was the mastermind behind the attempt conquest of the demons and dragons. However, there is one problem. We don't know where he is residing. The second way is to..." Link stopped, a bit scared to finish the sentence. This would definitely break Ike's heart.
"Is to? What is it?" Ike loudly asked. Marth could tell that Ike was getting anxious; losing his patience was a large, red sign.
"...Is to kill Marth." Link finally finished.
There was silence. Marth was who bewildered and jolted with Link's sudden lightning bolt, did not notice the tears streaming down his face.
"If you think about it, that wold be the easiest way to end the curse. However, Marth is your friend..."
"...You know what? I'm willing to do anything to end this so-called curse!" Ike said in determination. "I'm going to find out where Demise is and defeat him once and for all!"
"You can't defeat him." Link warned. "The only ones who can are the incarnations of the heroes who fought him thousands of years ago!"
"So?!" Ike protested. "We need to try! I don't want anyone in the future to suffer from this curse, ok?"
There was a pause.
Link sighed in agreement. "I understand now. Let's go to the library and see what we can find."
As he listened to Ike and Link walk away, Marth shakily got up and went back to his bed. The tears that streamed down his cheeks were now dry strains. His cerulean eyes were pink, just like his face.
"So, Ike and Link are trying to find a way to defeat Demise, and Roy is going to retrieve a tonic from Hollow?" Marth asked himself as he got into his bed. He trembled as a chill shot up his spine. With a shiver, Marth tightly clutched the covers. "Why are they doing this for me? I didn't do anything to redeem myself. I was just a target with a prize sitting in front of it."
As he thought to himself, Marth slowly drifted to sleep, knowing that the building blocks of fate were sitting in his friends' hands.
Meanwhile, Roy, Fox, and Falco gathered at the entrance of Hyrule, ready to travel back to Hollow. Each of them looked at the dark forest in the distance. Although it only looked like a puff of leaves and shadows mixed together in a blender, the trio knew that it was a large, complicated maze of towering trees and dangers.
"Fox, are you sure you know the way back to Hollow?" Roy asked, clutching his bag nervously.
"I'm sure." Fox answered confidently. "Falco and I have been up here several time, so we kinda know our way around here."
"Kinda?!" Roy exclaimed in shock.
"Hey, we are going to try out best to get back to Hollow, ok?!" Falco replied.
Roy huffed softly. "Well, I just don't want Marth to die or anything!"
Fox looked at Roy with a reassuring gleam in his emerald eyes. "Look, we are going to save him, no matter what."
"Really?"
"I promise." Fox said. His words did not sound like a lie to the redhead. Fox turned to the forest. "Now, we need to get started on our journey! If we just stand here, Marth's not going to get any better!"
Roy and Falco nodded sternly in agreement, and the trio began to head to the forest.
"You failed to capture the prince AGAIN?!" Demise lividly roared at Ghirahim, who was trembling slightly in fear along with several Risen, who surrounded him.
"My M-Master! It wasn't my fault!" Ghirahim nervously tried to reassure. "It was Wolf's fault! If only if he knocked the little prince out before he was slaughtered, he—!" Ghirahim flinched when Demise glared at him with glowing, flaming, red eyes that could scare the daylights out of the darkness itself.
"I don't want any more excuses!" Demise yelled at the smaller demon. "We need the Prince's Spirit in order to carry out our plans!"
"Calm down!" Ghirahim shouted, trying to calm his master down. "I forgot to mention, that the prince is not in good health. As he was fleeing from our allies, he was poisoned and forced himself to use up the entire power of his Triforce. Do you know what this means? He is weakened! We can capture him easily now!"
Demise paused for a moment before responding.
"Very well." he said. "But I expect your next attempt to be a success."
Author's Note: Don't worry Ike! Anything can change!
OT: Sorry for the late update. I kinda procrastinated.
Just a heads up, for me, finals is this week until Thursday. So after Thursday, I'm basically on summer break! Whoo hoo!
I know, the story's kinda getting a bit boring. I promise that the next chapter will be less of "kicking Marth's arse" and more of "Marth kicking arse"! This story isn't really my best one because I didn't really have it planned out. Lesson learned, however. I'm trying to finish it as soon as possible because, I wanted to get started on the next one.
Also, I opened a poll. It has something to do with a SSB webcomic I was planning to do. (Yeah, I hadn't been talking about it for a while due to real life.) It's just asking which fanfic should I base it on first. (That was worded strangely.) Yes, I did open a poll similar to this, and the fanfic Lone Flame got the most votes. I'm just doing it again to make a final decision.
As for the story questions, I don't really have any, so do me a favor and please leave a review if you want to.