Hands, smothered in blood and glass snatched Lucina's foot. She felt her center of balance slip forward, but her head backwards, as her body smashed against the asphalt backbone first. A strained gasp escaped her mouth. Black dots scattered in her tossed vision. She tried to ignore the stinging pain and shook her leg vigorously to make the hands let go.
Lights flickered in the narrow street, revealing the perpetrator in flashing recesses. Strangely, there was no sound until Lucina saw who was trying to pull on her. Upon seeing those familiar heavy cheeks drawn up into a forced smirk, Lucina felt needles gently caressing her body. Threatening to press into her, moving up to her lungs and puncturing the air out.
The bloodied baker exposed his teeth. He grabbed her body with one hand after another to pull in Lucina like a bulk of rope, closer and closer to him. Glass crunched and scraped against each other. Lucina felt the glass pierce and enter her forearms but she remained motionless. A shudder went down her back but was still unable to grip onto something to stop him.
Hot, meaty fingers made a tight grip around her neck and the baker smirked, yellow poison pellets and saliva dribbling off his miserable face, landing onto her forehead, cheeks, eyelids, hair. She clamped her mouth shut to prevent that.
"You filthy rat," He spat in her face.
Lucina shot up.
The clock ticked in her father's room. Black spots still danced in her eyes so Lucina concentrated on the snores in the apartment room. She cupped her face and timed her breathing with them. A cold sweat dripped from the back of her neck, to the bottom of her curled up back. Annoyed, she scratched her back briskly to get the feeling off.
Once she was able to see the outlines of her fingers, she stepped out of bed and stood in her father's doorway. He had his back turned to her, snoring steadily with relaxed, long legs reaching to the end of the bed. Lucina pulled the blanket over his shoulders. The clock read 4 a.m. so she left the room.
Likewise, Robin was sleeping in the kitchen, not snoring as loudly as her father but more relaxed, with his arms and legs hanging off of the small, poor excuse of a sofa. Most of the seams were frayed and bits of cotton was covering her best friend as he slept soundly. He used his coat as a blanket so Lucina helped straighten that out and watched him sleep.
"Thank you Chrom, I love your humble broth… So simple and ordinary…" Robin mumbled and smacked his lips.
Lucina smiled. After Robin left for work, she thought of telling her father about his opinions about the broth.
There was a knock on the front door, and then immediately the handle rattled, struggling to open. Unexpected knocks happen occasionally, even at this time, but this person was more persistent than the others. After the fifth attempt at knocking on the door, Lucina decided to move.
She stood noiselessly and approached her Falchion leaning against the wall in her room. She timed the rattles and grabbed the hilt, sliding the blade out in careful intervals so the visitor didn't hear it unsheathe. As she came up to the door, she noticed the knocks were coming from below her waist. Holding the Falchion in a backhanded grip, she stood in front of the door and peered through the spyhole.
As expected, she couldn't see the sudden visitor. One part of her wanted to open the door and cut him down. But the other part of her stopped to think he could have other allies behind him. Judging the height the visitor is knocking at, Lucina thought it could be the poisoned boy she and Robin saw yesterday, but she ruled that out.
The boy should be dead, she thought.
After what seemed like forever, the visitor finally faded away. The stubborn rattles and knocks left Lucina's ears ringing and her fingertips cold. She checked the three locks were in place, leaned the Falchion on the wall next to the sheath and laid down in her bed again. She lied on her side so she could see her father's back and a bit of Robin's head from the two rooms. Watching them sleep, their bodies rising up and down gently with their breathing, lulled Lucina back into brief sleep again.
Lucina dreamed of the whirring fan in the corner of the cafeteria. She stared at its dirty blades as she could hear Robin convincing the boy to let go of the poisoned dinner roll. When she turned back, they were gone. In her hands was a piece of blue paper.
A man, wrapped in a cloak that reached his feet was standing at the bakery, gesturing Lucina to come closer. A heavy hood obscured his facial features. The one identifiable detail was the prosthetic hand in his right. Lucina could tell that from down the street, since his right hand was an unhealthy shade of white, and strangely thin. His demeanor was sinister but welcoming to some degree. As if death was inviting Lucina into a sweet, painless end. She felt compelled to walk toward him.
"We are alike, Lucina. As two sides of the same coin." The man said, his voice soft and collected. Somehow it was clear and eloquent from this distance.
One fan in the street came to life, blasting a disrupting gust of wind into Lucina, making the piece of paper she held crinkle. The man kept waving his prosthetic hand invitingly, like he was amused by Lucina's struggle. She staggered back, shielding her face, and noticed the paper had writing on it.
"Rat Poison Filled Dinner Rolls, For Free"
The paper flew off of her hand, and into the darkness behind her. Only her short breath filled the hallway as the fan died down, and the cloaked man was gone.
Morning followed in a blur. So when Lucina was walking down the streets with Robin again, she stopped to think if she did her duties. First, her hair was tucked up, she had the Falchion on her hip, she had her uniform and cloak on. At least she was presentable in the streets.
"Did I give my father his medication…?" She whispered.
Robin stopped walking. They were at the bridge that overlooked the levels of the Citadel. It was one of the few places that can showcase the massive structure of the walled city, like a storm drain that is populated with steam, cables, and flickering yellow lights to the very edge. Some houses were even built on the edge like it's essentially hanging off of the walls. The very bottom has a water plant that supposedly cleans and distributes the domestic water. Muddy steam always builds up from the plant so the levels here were built around it to avoid the humidity, hence the cylinder-like shape.
The damp odor left Lucina numb for a second. She managed to block off the smell unconsciously, so when she noticed she was at the bridge and squeezed her nose, Robin smiled.
"You did. You also watered your plants and had some broth. You said goodbye to Chrom and locked the door too. …Are you feeling okay?"
Lucina blinked. She couldn't remember, but she didn't doubt Robin's words. "I had a weird dream, well, two weird dreams."
"About what happened yesterday?" He guessed.
"Yes…" She said softly, "And your prince too, I think."
Her friend made a stifling cough. "Stop making it sound like he's my crush."
Lucina smiled for a brief moment, then suggested something that wiped off the blush in Robin's cheeks.
"Can we go to the bakery again?"
When they arrived to the corner, the street was almost silent save the whirring fans. A good portion of the glass and pastries still filled the street but the blood was mostly cleaned off. Many of the food shops in the cafeteria were closed, their metal shutters indicating there won't be any business today. Still, there were some people at the tables but most of them kept a distance from the bakery.
No one was walking down the street. Some people would turn into it, see the wreckage, and turn back to take a different path. It just wasn't worth the hassle of walking through glass. Some people must have seen what happened last night and just avoided the street entirely. At the very end, Lucina could see something different about the bakery, aside from the broken window panes and scattered pastries. Something black was overflowing from the shop.
"Come on. Let's take a different route." Robin pleaded. About halfway to the bakery, his footing slowed down and essentially Lucina lead the way, so he was quiet until now.
"I need to check something. You can stay here, if you'd like." Lucina patted his shoulder. He shrugged it off.
"I'm not going to—there's nothing here for us anymore. If anything, it's dangerous. Who knows if someone saw us from last night and wanted to ask some 'questions' when they see us snooping around here again."
Lucina bit her lips. The truth was, she was thumbing the Falchion's hilt again. It still felt like the baker was going to be there, covering his arms in a white floury mess and smirking as he sprinkled the rat poison into the dough. The riot itself felt as real as the dream she saw this morning: a nightmare scape that couldn't have happened. That horrible scene should not be real.
But the light that peered through the cracks in the ceiling and reflected off the glass particles gave off a different feel. Somewhat calming in a way that kept Lucina scanning the street. Then she saw it; a blue sliver sticking out like a raised hand from the pile of broken glass and mashed pastries.
She avoided stepping on large pieces of glass by hopping over them lightly, and despite his disagreement, Robin followed closely behind. Lucina cringed as one piece of glass scraped against another in a deafening whine, leaned forward and grabbed the blue paper, slowly pulling it out of the pile of glass.
The sign that triggered the riot was stepped on and dampened, but the beautiful print was still legible. Parts of the paper was smooth and didn't feel stringy or rough. Even the blueness of the paper was distributed evenly like the sky peering through the cracks. Whoever that placed this last night has some extra change and a wide social circle to afford paper this high quality.
"You wanted to get the sign?" Robin sighed incredulously. "Actually, I'd want it too, if it was in fact written by the prince."
Lucina looked up at him. "Do you still think your prince wrote this?"
As Robin went to counter her "your prince" comment again, his eyes fixed to what lied before him. Lucina took notice in his alarmed state and turned around carefully as if to not disturb what was behind her, which was the bakery.
In the midst of the broken shelves and glass strewn across the floor, was a figure slouched on a stool. Lucina stared at the round body, not wanting to make any guesses in her mind and instead, just stared. Black garbage bags filled the shop. Some didn't smell like a bakery's garbage and the sheer amount of the pile was too much from one small shop. This is what Lucina saw from the other end of the street: people throwing their garbage into the wrecked shop as a final act of hatred.
The lights were dead but the cracks in the ceiling revealed the figure was wearing a long skirt and a nice blouse, or it was nice before. In her laced fingers was a single ring on her left hand. She sat, breathing heavily, seething through her teeth, as her shoulders rose up and down in clenched, angry movement.
Lucina felt Robin place a forewarning hand on her shoulder. She kept her hand on her Falchion as the she stood up, trying to not make as much sound, but that was impossible from the pile of the glass pieces underneath their shoes.
The screaming started. The two of them winced as the woman stomped her feet into the ground, not directing her anger to one thing in particular but maybe to the entire situation she is surrounded in. Her eyes appeared cloudy and out of focus. Her cries sounded incoherent at first, but as she went on, eventually breaking down into sobs, she was actually talking to someone.
"What did he do, he didn't deserve this, I don't deserve this, I was finally happy, I was going to have a baby with him, and start a family, and live humbly…"
The baker's wife curled her back, pressing her hands into her mouth and screamed. The louder she screamed, the harder she pressed her hands in to suppress the sound, but her pleas stung Lucina's eardrums. Eventually, she curled up too much that the stool she sat on lost balance and fell to the floor. The stool skidded away from her, crunching the glass and wood pieces.
For a brief moment, she let go of her face and tried to stand up. The pieces of glass must be covered inside the shop as the street is, so falling onto the floor should be dangerous. But that didn't stop her sobbing as her cries continued, echoing through the small shop.
Lucina searched for Robin with her hand, unable to take her eyes off from the baker's wife. He took her hand and they left without another word.
The two walked in sore silence. The blue paper weighed down in Lucina's hand as they neared the stairs that lead to her station. Robin didn't say a word or looked back once since they left the baker's wife, but as they came up to the stairs, Lucina noticed that his shoulders were shaking.
"Robin," She started.
As she went to rub his back for comfort, Robin stepped forward, away from her, gripping the bars next to the stairs with white knuckles.
"I'm sorry."
Robin ignored her apology. "I told you there was nothing there for us anymore."
"I wanted to get the sign." Lucina squeezed her answer out.
"It could have been anyone, I'm sure you're not the only one who saw the baker make those rat poison rolls, it could have been someone posing as the prince to get people excited that he came back." Robin raised his voice. He still had his back turned to her.
"Would an imposter have such fancy writing and this kind of quality paper?" She countered, bringing the blue paper up to him. "I think it actually was your prince that placed this—"
"Even if it was the prince, I…" He interrupted, but trailed off.
Lucina waited patiently. She had an idea what her friend wanted to say, and it was extremely difficult for him to admit it. Steam squealed from one of the dripping pipes so she stepped closer to Robin as he still tried to find his words.
"Prince Marth is a hero to me. Hearing stories about him and the Family kept me hopeful that there might be a better future for us." Robin began, but his voice still soft. Lucina nodded.
"He's the only person to have ever wanted to change the Citadel, and had that power… if you believe the stories. And, generally, you don't want to admit that your admirer has flaws and can make mistakes."
Her father and commander came into Lucina's mind. Thinking of either of them making a mistake was difficult to imagine, because she admired them and looked up to them for guidance. They aren't perfect, but they seem more perfect than her.
Robin raised his head. "What if he did?"
"Did what?"
"If he knew that baker had a family. If Prince Marth knew that he was married and was going to have a baby soon. He'd definitely teach his child to make those poisoned rolls, so Prince Marth decided to start the riot before the child was born. To put an end to that longing impact in the community."
Lucina looked straight into Robin's eyes. "I really doubt he thought it through that much. That bakery has been there for years, and he didn't marry and have a baby yesterday. Your prince wants to destroy the system, not seek moral justice."
She saw Robin taking in what she said. He made small nods, then dropped his shoulders, cupped his face, and sighed heavily.
"Okay. I understand your point." He agreed. "But then, why did you want that note?"
The blue paper appeared more white under the flickering orange lights. The flowing handwriting was determined and confident. What did the prince want to accomplish aside from starting a riot at a small corner of the Citadel, if he presumably wants to tear everything down?
"In my dream, he told me we were two sides of the same coin. And that riot happened as we saw that dying boy yesterday. I just can't shake the feeling that your prince and this extremist group is trying to resurface and reach out to… us."
Lucina didn't have the courage to say "me". She wanted Robin to laugh it off, now saying that she was the one who was overthinking it, but his response was unexpected.
"I'll help you."
"What?" Lucina looked up, scrunching her eyebrows together.
"Haha, What's that face for? I admit, I have a more biased view on Prince Marth but I have a lot of resources. You have your note and a more objective point of view, so we'll make a great team."
"With what?"
"Finding the prince. Isn't that what you want?" Robin tilted his head.
Seeing her friend point out this new revelation, and down into the blue note, Lucina felt a sense of anticipation building inside her. But ultimately, there was that twinge of fear. Even if Robin and her do find out what his motivations were, in the end, if the prince and the Family does resurface, she would be among the first to face him.
As promised, Ganondorf greeted Lucina at the entrance but she was transferred to another Royal Battalion station for the day. She entrusted the blue note to Robin for now, since Ganondorf didn't require any equipment from her except herself and the Falchion, and since she didn't want her commander interrogating her about it. Ganondorf may have more information that she'd want but getting it out of him without having him question her reasoning was difficult. As of now, her reason is purely "interest", which didn't seem convincing at the least. So despite her inner struggles, Ganondorf smiled wide and gave her the address of another station.
Five other guards were transferred with her to the Royal Battalion station in the Midst, an area underneath her station in the Outer Rim. Unlike the Outer Rim, the floors underneath it were void of sunlight. It wasn't as dark as the levels beneath that such as the Core and the Drain, but Lucina has never been in the lower levels. Besides, in the Drain, the bottom level of the Citadel, was just the massive water plant and sewage system, befitting of its given name.
Her companions were just as boring as the ones from yesterday, still teasing her of her small frame and large sword. But none of them talked about the riot or the prince for that matter during their thirty minute walk to the station.
The station was located some ways off the cylinder structure she and Robin passed by this morning. Sturdy but rusty metal bars protected the structure from falling into the abyss, but to Lucina, it felt like a prison.
During her work, the one memorable event was meeting the station commander. A non-human species, which was rare, and he was well-dressed like the rest. The jagged golden sword underneath his cape glistened proudly. Aside from that and the menacing mask and body armor, he was stubby and small. Lucina guessed that was the reason that he preferred to perch in the higher spots of the station, such as now, from the chandelier adorned with candles hanging from the ceiling.
"Welcome, guards." He greeted them, a surprisingly low voice from a small frame. "I am Commander Meta Knight of the Four Wings. Have you met the other Wings yet?"
There was a general murmur of "no". Lucina has heard of the four elite Royal Battalion commanders called the "Four Wings" but Meta Knight was the first she met. He was the first commander she's met beside Ganondorf for that matter also.
One guard whispered to another about the commander's small size. At that precise moment, Meta Knight spread his cape and swooped down to the guard, landing with soft impact. The guard yelped and stumbled back.
Lucina observed the two limbs sprouting from Meta Knight's back with amazement. Dark, featherless, and almost translucent from the candle light, the wings were like nothing she had seen before. The ones she has seen are chickens in cages frantically flapping their feathers. If she had wings like that soaring through the air as she pleased, that would feel wonderful and also grab a lot of unwanted attention.
"Did you have a question?" Meta Knight warned. His yellow eyes gleamed from behind the silver face mask. The dark wings arched forward as if they were going to devour the man if he said the wrong answer.
"No, sir." The guard gulped.
"That's what I thought. Follow me." The commander turned, his wings unfurling back into a cloth again.
The guards behind him also sighed a breath of relief and followed the commander. Lucina, being too entranced by the wings, pinched her own cape and stared at it but shook off her fantasy thoughts and kept walking with the group.
At the end of the day, Lucina was glad that Meta Knight acknowledged her sword skills despite her Falchion not fitting her frame. He was strict, especially hard on the ones that made fun of his body size so Lucina had to suppress a scoff at the poor guard sweating up a storm and swinging his weapon around.
As the guards left the practice arena, Lucina was stopped by Meta Knight. His echoing voice made Lucina jump.
"Lucius." He called.
"Yes, commander."
"Did you choose your weapon, or was that sword a family heirloom?" Meta Knight eyed the Falchion inquisitively.
"My father passed this down to me. He taught me the basics."
"Wonderful." Meta Knight nodded. "But I still think it's a bit too heavy for your build; I can offer you a rapier until you are ready. What do you think?"
Lucina blinked and instinctively gripped the Falchion's hilt. The commander chuckled from her response.
"I don't mean to take your sword. You can keep that at home and I can lend you another, is what I'm trying to say."
The truth is, Lucina has tried using a smaller one-handed sword back at her station in the Outer Rim. It did feel lighter and merged well with her body but it just didn't feel right. The Falchion made her feel closer to home when she was outside the apartment room.
"I appreciate your offer, sir, but I'll stick with my sword." Lucina replied.
"Well said."
Underneath the silver mask, Lucina thought she saw Meta Knight smile.
As she was getting ready to end her shift, Lucina noticed her companions had left without her. Maybe they saw her and the commander exchange pleasant conversations and was envious and left. She rolled her eyes. She already vowed not to make unnecessary friendly conversation with the other guards anyway.
Lucina was dismissed by Meta Knight, who nodded and walked down the dark hallway. His footsteps echoed in the empty station and Lucina half expected the commander to spread his wings again to perch on the chandelier, but she turned back and closed the auto-lock doors behind her.
Retracing her steps back to the Outer Rim, Lucina remembered that Robin promised to wait for her at the steps of her station. He said he was willing to wait for her at the entrance, but Lucina didn't want him to venture far into the Midst so he complied. As a general rule, the farther down the levels, the more dangerous the Citadel is in terms of living conditions and incidents. Although that differed with certain areas, usually, the darker the alleyway, the more places someone with malicious intent can hide.
At the steps to her station, a pipe worker was sitting on the top of a ladder and wrenching the screaming pipes shut. His buddy was supporting the ladder and pointing out the holes in the old pipes. The floor was relatively quiet as businesses closed for the night.
But Robin wasn't there.
The blood drained from Lucina's face. They were always precise with the time and spot to meet. Even if one of them fell ill or something was in the way of their arrival, they would meet within five minutes. Once Lucina had enough money, she thought of buying a transceiver for Robin, her father, and herself to stay in contact, but they've been good at meeting so she was patient with her paycheck.
Stop it, wait five minutes, she thought.
Lucina counted the seconds in her mind impatiently. Counting too fast, she started over, but then counted too fast again and stopped. She eyed the workers, who were done with the pipes and laughed amongst themselves as they walked down the hallway and took a right. Lucina sunk into the bottom steps of the stairs and grabbed her head.
Could Robin just be late? No, he's always the early one. Did he mistake the meeting spot? No, he was the one who said to meet at these stairs at 10:30. Did he stop by to check up on my father? No, he doesn't have the keys, what am I thinking, I'm the one who opens the locks.
The general conversation stirred in Lucina's mind like thick soup. Boiling, stirring, scraping the sides of the pot, steam building from the broth. Thinking of food now made her stomach turn but she hasn't ate since this morning. Did he get hungry and went to grab a bite at the cafeteria? The clock in the upholstery shop told she waited for 45 minutes.
The bakery. Had Robin taken that route and got into trouble?
Lucina scrambled to her feet, gripped the Falchion and sprinted down the street. Air whistled through her ears as she dodged the people in the hallways, complaining her recklessness, and she kept running.
A repulsive smell made her come into a skidding halt. The cleaners were there now. Some were human but most were white machines with ocular lenses and arm-like limbs that clear the road with metal slates. There was a big pile of glass and some of the cleaners were starting to gather the pieces into plastic disposal bins.
The smell came from the bakery. Lucina forgot her breath and stumbled back as she saw a glimpse of the body. Her limbs sprawled across the floor but appeared as if she was grabbing the stool she was sitting on this morning. Her face was frozen in a distorted state from severe trauma. The cleaners were wiping the blood and hosing down the rest with water, but Lucina could see the cuts and bruises that killed her.
She couldn't step any further to check if Robin was among that pile. It was an outrageous thought but there still was a mass of garbage bags, blood, and excited buzz in the street so she couldn't deny the possibility.
Did Robin protect the baker's wife as she was attacked? Did the prince start this as well? What did the baker's wife do to deserve this? Why did someone have power over someone's death? What is wrong with this world?
A hand tapped on Lucina's back.
A boy around six to eight years old was smiling up to her. Despite Lucina's shocked state, the boy was still cheerful. He had spots of yellow scattered across his arms and legs but he appeared healthy, and shy, knitting his fingers together eagerly. He wore a new blue shirt and clean pants, as well as shoes that fit his nudging feet.
"Thank you for helping me." Was all he said as he turned around and walked away.
Lucina stared at the boy, too stunned to even register thoughts in her head. As he turned the corner, looking back at Lucina once more and then taking off, Lucina crumpled to the floor. The poisoned boy from yesterday. He wore clothes like he picked them up from the dump. His legs were shaking and he was clearly dying. Robin said if he was eating the rolls for more than two days, there was nothing they could do. There was nothing they could do.
"Why are you alive…?" She whispered.
Something warm dripped from the top of her head. The twinge of pain made Lucina wince as she found the soft, wet spot in her hair. A dark liquid smeared into the creases of her fingers, and as she finally noticed she was bleeding, her vision twisted and fell to the ground. The clatter of the Falchion hitting the floor quickly receded into nothing.
A sharp, stinging smell brought Lucina back into a conscious state. The sudden intake of breath made her gasp, then coughing out the smell of ammonia.
First, a piece of bandage blocked her view, but she saw a glimpse of the small white tube taken away from her nose: smelling salts. Someone knocked her out and woke her up, meaning she was relocated. Then Lucina noticed her hair was down and she was tied against a pole with sturdy rope. She was sitting but her legs weren't tied together. As expected, her Falchion was taken away from her. So they searched her, and now knows that she is a girl with a weapon.
Lucina cursed out loud, making the other person in the room laugh. She didn't expect the voice to be so young.
"So, are you a boy with long hair, a girl in disguise, or something in between?" A playful voice asked.
He was right in front of her. From her limited view, Lucina saw a boy, different from the one that thanked her. He had one hand on a baseball bat and was sitting in a chair. He had a red cap on, wearing a striped shirt and shorts like a normal boy, but something about him was undeniably intimidating. Perhaps because he was a young boy interrogating her.
When Lucina was silent, he stepped off of the chair.
"Sorry, that was kind of personal." He apologized. "Also your bandage is getting in your eyes so let me fix that."
As he pushed the bandage over Lucina's head, he had his baseball bat right above her eyes. A patch of blood was smeared over the middle indicating it was her blood.
"And I'm sorry I hit you a bit too hard when I knocked you out. I didn't mean to hurt you. Lucas worked hard on trying to stop your bleeding and putting some nice medicine on your head." He explained.
The Falchion was against the wall adjacent to her in the small interrogation room. On the small table, were the five hairpins. Her outer cloak and cape was folded and neatly placed next to the pins.
"Yes!" The boy snapped his fingers. "Those are your stuff. We had to search you since you look very strong, and ta-da! You had a big sword. I have no match with my bat against that sword so that's why it's sitting in the corner there."
Lucina knitted her mouth shut and looked down. The fluorescent light messed with her time perception but at least an hour should have passed. She tried to hold in the shivers, thinking of her father alone in the apartment room, waiting for her to come home. And Robin presumably still in the streets somewhere, wherever he may be, Lucina prayed it was a careless mistake that he wasn't there at the meeting spot.
A loud, disrupting noise struck between Lucina's feet. The baseball bat, upon closer inspection, had more than her blood on it. Some were blackened and smeared into the cracks, indicating this boy has been in this business for a while.
"Before we start, do you have any questions for me?" The boy said, his playful tone gone for the moment.
Lucina glared at him and kept her silence. A clock ticked from the other corner of the room. She could knock down a boy like him with her legs. But he did a good job of making her hesitate by hinting that he had other allies by pointing out that he wasn't the one who wrapped the bandages around her head. And the sheer elusiveness that a boy like him was an interrogator played a significant role in her hesitating to resist. He probably knows a lot of techniques into getting people bigger than him to talk.
"Let me enlighten you on your situation." The boy turned around, climbing up into the chair again.
"My name is Ness. You aren't in the Outer Rim, you are back into the Midst again. The time is…" The boy looked at the clock in the wall, swinging his legs from the chair, "Almost midnight. I'd like to get you out of here within the hour, if only you'd answer some easy questions."
Lucina caught one detail. "You followed me?"
Ness mockingly covered his mouth in fake surprise. "Oh, did I say 'back into the Midst'? Yes, we did see you go down into the Royal Battalion station with your other guards today."
"So you're the one who knocked on my door this morning." She stated.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ness honeyed his reply.
In her mind Lucina cursed again. If not him, then his allies surely has. That possibly makes another of his allies a kid also, judging from the height that sudden visitor knocked on her door early this morning. Now he knows her apartment room, her sword, her Royal Battalion station, and her identity.
"Oh, and your friend. He never made it to your meeting spot." He added.
Something with tension snapped off inside Lucina. Before she knew it, she stood up and jolted forward to knock Ness's chair down. Somehow, he stepped off with grace and landed on his two feet as the chair skidded to the other side of the room. Blood rushed through her head. The pounding intervals of pain strained her eyes as tears poured onto floor between her feet.
The baker's wife was a vivid image in her head. Screaming incoherently, not knowing where to aim her anger at, sobbing onto the floor. They didn't deserve this.
Ness became silent as Lucina collapsed to the floor again, hanging her head between her knees and sobbing quietly. Then, the door swung open, hitting the wall and slamming shut again. Another small being stormed through the room and grabbed Ness by his shirt.
"I told you to lay off on the friend thing!" He screeched.
"Did you? Sorry." Ness said lightly.
Lucina pulled her knees in tighter. Nothing was making sense. Up until yesterday, things were going okay for her. She has a father, he was sick but still laughed and was doing good with his medication. She had a best friend who cared for her and her father, as she cared for him. She started a new job which suited her strengths and has good paychecks. Then that riot happened, people died, and now she's here, interrogated by kids.
She could almost smell her father's broth. Lying down on her bed. Watching him sleep. Death seemed closer than she thought, and it seemed like a sweet release. Maybe the prince she saw in her dream was death itself.
"You." The other boy called, but Lucina ignored him.
"You, swordsman!" The boy called again, kicking Lucina's feet. "Your friend isn't dead! He went back to his potion shop or whatever."
"Spoken like a true counselor." Ness laughed.
"Shut the fudge up, that's why I trusted you for this."
"Also, how is this person going to trust you with that attitude? You need solid evidence that he's alive to assure that."
The other boy growled. He was a non-human species with green scales and sharp teeth, so when he growled, it was quite alarming. Tears were dried up in Lucina's eyes. She had to admit her heart skipped a beat when the other boy said Robin was alive, but that didn't explain his irrational disappearance.
"Toon, get me the potion guy again." The boy said.
He was talking into a smaller transceiver than the one Ganondorf had on his waist. How these kids got their hands on such an expensive device was a mystery, but then again, these two proved they're not ordinary kids either.
There was a beat of silence, then the device crackled, revealing a familiar voice. "L-Lucius, is that you…?"
Lucina struck her eyes open. "Robin? Where were you?"
"I'm sorry, I was—"
The boy shut off the transceiver and placed it on the table with force. "Okay. Your friend is alive. Now where did you put that blue note?"
Ness intervened, "First, you give them a bit of your information."
"Shut up, Ness. Well?" The boy asked again.
Lucina sniffed, and sat up straight. That voice was Robin. He hesitated to say "Lucina" but he did say "Lucius" to protect her identity. Whatever his reason for his disappearance may be, he's alive and back at his potion shop.
The other boy was right in trying to withhold information regarding Robin's safety. If Lucina didn't know if Robin was alive or not, she would be more vulnerable now into telling them information. In that case, Ness made a mistake.
"Tell me your name and your group's identity." She demanded.
Anger built up in the scale-y boy, making his scowl twitch. He turned to Ness and slapped his shoulder. Lucina observed the spiked shell on his back which made him appear like more of a turtle, than a lizard as she first thought he was. Also he wore a bandanna, or a bib, with a crudely drawn mouth with sharp teeth on it.
"See what you did, you dumb-butt? Now she thinks she has the upper hand. We had a perfect window!"
"Do you think this swordsman is a girl? Because of the long hair?" Ness teased.
"Get out." He snapped.
"Okay." Ness shrugged and took his baseball bat. As he left the room, he waved at Lucina and winked, making the turtle boy growl again.
He situated himself in front of her, crossing his arms and sitting down with his legs pointed towards her. Now that Ness was out of the room, his scowl was less intense.
"I guess it's fair that I tell you what we are since we'll meet again from time to time." He grumbled. "I'm Bowser Jr. and I'm the leader of the Guerrillas, as you may know."
Lucina stayed quiet.
"…Well, you live in the Outer Rim so maybe you haven't heard of us. We try to help people against the crimes that happen to them, mostly here in the Midst. I want to know your involvement was with the riot that happened yesterday in the bakery."
The Guerrillas. Lucina has been taught of various group names of delinquents in the Citadel from the Outer Rim to the Core, but that one didn't ring a bell. Helping people against crimes sounds like vigilante activities, which was different than a regular gang. And these kids, maybe twelve years old at best, are trying to protect people? They may be skilled at first glance but it still felt unrealistic.
"You said you wanted the blue note." Lucina recalled.
"I was getting to that." Bowser Jr. replied.
"So, you saw the riot yesterday and didn't intervene?" She attempted at provoking him, but the leader smiled.
"We have standards. Like the prince that placed the note you picked up. By the sounds of that you don't seem to be part of the Family, but you did pick up the note. If it's not with you right now, is it with your friend?"
Author's Note: The cover image is really glitchy to me. Anybody else having this problem? Anyway, thank you for reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing. I hope you like the story so far!