Chapter 2: Ylisse
"The plan is simple, Princess. We go in, no modern touches, we deliver the message, and hopefully we bring them back with us." Samus was looking through her closet for something appropriate for a medieval castle. "No violence, as little interaction as possible, which suits you." Samus grunted in frustration, closing her closet door. Zelda shifted uncomfortably on Samus's couch.
"I don't mind interaction, it's just … some cases are more difficult than others." Zelda started to stammer. "A-a-and you know I can handle myself. If you need a dress, I have plenty." She stood up to move to her room. Samus held out her hand.
"No dresses for me." Her voice shook slightly, but was forceful. "Absolutely not. Find me some armor or something, but no dresses." Zelda nodded, and silently backed out of the room, curtsying as she left. Samus sighed. It became more and more difficult to talk to her recently. Not like it was already hard to talk to people already. She sat down on her couch and looked in the mirror. Even with all the awkwardness, she still felt very lucky. She volunteered with the hopes that Zelda would suggest them working together. She was envious of the princess. Beautiful, powerful, and well-liked; Samus knew she was strong, and even though people had called her beautiful, she didn't really care about that. But to be well-liked? That was a good dream.
"Samus?" Zelda's meek voice was filtered by the thick wood door. "Ike found something that you might like, if you wanted to try it.", her voice got quieter with each word. Samus grinned a little. At least Zelda was adorable, in her weird way.
"So, this paladin armor is light, so you can move around the way you're used to." Ike explained through the curtain. Samus and Zelda were attempting to put on the armor. "Marth actually found it in his storage, so it might have a . . . royal flair." Samus grunted and struggled.
"Who the hell," another grunt, "was this armor", angry growl, "ZELDA! THE BREASTPLATE IS NOT GONNA FIT THE MORE YOU SQUEEZE!" Ike could hear Zelda grunting from her attempts.
"It's not my fault! I thought you future people had ways to . . . you know, support them and make them smaller!" Zelda pulled again, earning a sharp cry from Samus. "I mean, look at them! How is it supposed to fit?" Ike closed his eyes, trying not to let his imagination get away from him.
"That's not how it works! Ugh, Ike, who was this made for?" Samus tried her best to keep her voice calm. "Everything fits great except the really flat -"
"That would be my wife, Ms. Aran." Samus couldn't see the new voice, but it was clearly Marth, and he was annoyed. "And I'm sorry you do not approve of her. I can try to find something that will fit your stature." God, when he threw shade, he threw it relentlessly.
"Nothing against your wife, I'm just not her size is all." Samus hid her discomfort. "If you can find something else, it would be appreciated." Marth huffed, but managed a 'I'll see what I can find' before he stormed off. Ike also bowed to the curtain, and took his leave.
"Get me out of this thing." Samus pleaded to Zelda. Zelda silently nodded and started helping her remove her armor. "What an idiotic thing. How do you people live?!" Zelda smiled to herself.
"This is why I wear a dress."
"I found some chainmail, Samus. Hopefully that will suffice." Marth handed the folded metal garmet to Samus. "Put a robe over it, and you might pass as a normal citizen. Might." he smirked at the thought of Samus trying to blend in. Samus glared at the prince.
"It's heavy, but if it's what I need to do, fine." She made her exit silently. Zelda glanced at Marth, who was still amused at his own thoughts.
"Your lordship, if I may," Zelda began, "How do you plan to convince this 'Corrin' if you were worried about changing things in other timelines? Surely you're still a legend in other times." Marth looked over at the princess, bemused by her timidness.
"Your Majesty, I may seem serious, but you realize that you call all of us by our names, right?" Marth walked down the hallway, headed for the lounge. He beckoned Zelda to follow. "It's just Marth when we're all here, all equal in the Smash Mansion." He slid down the banister leading to the large central room. Zelda desperately tried to keep pace. Marth took a seat on one of the large couches, Zelda daintily sat down on a small armchair. "But to answer your question, apparently they are quite familiar with 'Outrealm Gates', which is similar to our 'Dimensional Gates'. Master Hand didn't think it was -" Marth waved his hand dismissively for emphasis, "- a clear threat if Ike and I met this 'Corrin'." He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Besides, that area is apparently a level 6 danger zone right now, so both of us would probably have to go anyways." Zelda raised an eyebrow.
"A level 6? We've never grabbed someone from a danger zone greater than 3! Is he that important?" Zelda put out her hand. "Don't answer that. Nobody's that important."
"It's a civil war. That little tanooki explained that her lack of presence may actually be beneficial to the whole situation." Marth had put a lot of weight on her, and Zelda blushed. But Corrin sounds so . . . masculine. She thought. Marth continued. "But it's still dangerous."
"Hell, it's always dangerous, but that's why we're all smashers." Samus had finally rejoined the two. Ike was close behind, fully geared up. Samus looked almost unrecognizable, if it were not for her bright blonde hair, still in a perfect ponytail. She had armor covering her legs and arms, and chainmail over a dark blue tunic. She had a halberd in her hand, but Zelda could still see her Plasma weapon on her belt. "Zelda, are you prepared to head out?" The princess nodded sheepishly. She materialized a bow and quiver of arrows. Marth gracefully lifted himself from his seated position.
"Ike, shall we depart as well?" Marth's royal mask was once again placed upon his face. Ike nodded.
"Yeah, dimensional gate A-3 is set for us." He handed a small golden card to Marth. "Zelda, Samus, I got you two your passes for gate A-5." He handed the two their own cards. These two were blue in color. "We have 15 minutes, so we should make our way over."
The dimensional portal zone looked empty at first glance. However, every 30 feet or so sat large black structures. Two of them glowed an unnatural silver. Samus handed Zelda a brown cloak, putting a similar cloak on her own person. Zelda wrapped herself in the cloak. The gates always gave her chills, as if all the warmth had been stolen from the world. She cast a glance at Samus. Even she looked a little paler. Marth and Ike headed over to the active portal closer to the door. Zelda and Samus passed the two, placing themselves in front of the churning ether. Zelda looked once more to the prince of Altea. Marth smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up.
"You ready, Zelda?" Zelda snapped her focus back to Samus and the portal. From the corner of her eye, she saw the two swordsman disappear into the silver light. Zelda nodded and looked her companion in the eyes. Samus smiled at her. "Alright, let's go get us two smashers." Samus and Zelda began their walk into the portal.
The portal felt sluggish to walk through. Peach had compared it to moving through honey or a pool of jello. Zelda had no idea what the second one meant, but thought honey was a good comparison.
Trips through the portal were always short, but they could be exhausting. Zelda could hear Samus laboring through next to her. "Damn garbage portal crap bull-" Zelda giggled. Samus was always so funny when she was grumpy. "Glad you're having fun, Princess." Samus placed just enough venom in her words to make it clear she was annoyed, but still having a decent time. Zelda smiled, even though she knew Samus couldn't see her. As she reached out her hand for what felt like the thousandth time, she grasped air. As she dragged herself through the portal, she saw Samus power through the ether. Samus took in the bright summer sun and sighed, relieved.
"I always hate these things." She stated, "But they always go faster when you're around." Zelda snorted involuntarily. What did Samus mean by that? Samus blushed, of course that would be taken out of context. "I meant literally!" She blurted out. Samus winced, that probably made it worse! Idiot idiot idio-
"Well, I assume my affinity with magic is probably very helpful for that sort of thing." Zelda sounded almost . . . proud? "I can always visualize the goal, so it must make it easier." Samus nodded dumbly, amazed at Zelda's amazing obliviousness. She shook herself from her own thoughts, and casually pulled out her navigator. Zelda almost slapped it out of her hand. "Samus, you can't! We have to avoid using technology while we're here!" She scolded. Samus put back the navigator, visibly pouting.
"Well, what do we do now, Zelda?" Samus could not hide her annoyance. However, she was surprised by Zelda's newfound confidence. Zelda pulled out a map, it looked beaten up and well used.
"According to this map," Zelda couldn't help herself, "the capital is a place called Ylisse. We should be able to find at least one of them this way." She looked around. "This gate is marked around 5 miles south of Ylisse, so we should be able to reach it before twilight." Samus looked over Zelda's shoulder. "Futuretech doesn't always beat good old preparation!" Zelda puffed with pride. She pointed a direction and started heading off.
"What Zelda is this, and why do I like her so much?" Samus whispered, just loud enough for herself to hear.
Ylisse sparkled under the late afternoon sun. Samus and Zelda had to shield their eyes from the splendor. As the two neared the gates, however, it was clear that not all was what met the eyes. Ylisse had clearly been the field for a great battle. Much of the walls suffered some sort of damage, and many of the interior walls still had rocks embedded from siege weapons. As the two entered the gate, they were caught up in the bustle of a city eager to rebuild and grow.
"Amazing." Samus breathed, "These people are so pumped to keep going, I wonder what could have happened." Zelda looked around and couldn't help but smile. As the two walked through the city, they eventually reached a courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard sat a large statue of two men. One man had a large sword in his hand, pointed towards the south. The other man seemed to wear a large robe, and held a book in his hand. He faced the north. Zelda looked for an inscription, but could not find one.
"It's a recent build," Samus observed, "Maybe they were heroes from whatever war was fought?" Zelda squinted at the hooded stature.
"The swordsman looks so noble, and this man looks so . . . unrefined and unheroic." Zelda found herself saying, a little louder than she intended.
"Watch your words," Zelda heard a feminine voice from behind her. She and Samus looked at the origin of the reprimand. Two women, arms filled with bags containing goods, were glaring daggers at the princess. "That man saved this kingdom several times, he is the definition of a hero!" The girl who had spoken was well built, her short cropped grayish hair fitting her face perfectly. The other girl had snow white hair in pigtails, and seemed to look at Zelda with much more disdain than the girl who had spoken. Samus knew that Zelda could probably talk herself out of it, but knew intervention may be a better choice.
"Forgive my companion, she did not know. . ." Samus began, but she was interrupted by a 'hmph!' by the white haired girl. She took a deep breath, and continued, "Judging by your reactions, you knew this man." The white haired girl turned, hiding her face from the two. Samus could hear her shaky breaths. Samus knew what that meant. After all, she had lost parents too.
The white haired girl 'hmph'ed again, and started down the road towards the castle. The other girl hurried to keep up, calling out "Severa, Severa! Wait up!". Now Samus knew her name. She reached out her hand to Zelda's shoulder, who looked at Samus. Tears were in her eyes.
"S-S-Samus, I looked into her emotions." Zelda had difficulty finishing her sentence. "What could she have seen? How can someone feel so sad and still have strength? I couldn't be as strong as any of these people . . ." She took a shaky breath, collecting herself. "We must go to the castle, I know the people we're looking for are there. And I must meet the heroes that can give these people this hope..." She began to make her way to the castle, almost breaking into a jog. Samus kept up easily, and as they walked, she noticed that the castle gates were open, and that people seemed to enter the gardens in front with no security at all.
"What kind of place is this?" Samus and Zelda entered the castle gardens, and in front of them were a long flight of stairs leading to the main doors of the castle. Unlike the gardens, it was clear that people knew better than to disturb the castle itself. The stairs were left alone, with only two guards stationed at the top.
"What business do you two have with the Exalt?" The guards were young, but certainly not green. Even Zelda could tell that these men had fought their fair share of wars.
"We have a message for Princess Lucina and Robin of Ylisse." Zelda was commanding and clear. "I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule and this is my bodyguard Samus Aran!" Samus had to put all her effort to not shoot Zelda a look. The guards looked at each other, equal parts concerned and confused.
"We will speak with the captain of the guard, please wait." One man entered through the large oak doors. An awkward silence seemed to fester and grow. After what felt like forever, the man came back, and nodded his head in affirmation. "You may enter, leave your weapons with us, though. It's just a precaution." Samus handed over her halberd and a knife. Zelda handed over a ceremonial sword she carried with her just in case. This seemed to satisfy the guards. They opened the doors for the two women. As they entered, they were taken aback by the beauty of the castle. The walls and floors seemed to glow with some unearthy light, as if it had been blessed by the gods themselves.
"By the gods, it is beautiful..." Zelda murmured. Samus couldn't help but agree. At the end of the room stood five men and women. Samus recognized one man as the swordsman portrayed in the statue. Along with him was a woman with light brown hair and light armor. She also had a small crown upon her head. The queen, Samus assumed. Another woman, this one with crimson hair, the same armor as the queen, and a spear in her hand. She seemed more than capable as a warrior, but she was also radiant. There was a large man with dark brown hair. He had heavy armor, and seemed to be perpetually serious. As for the last woman, she was younger than the others, and had the same blue hair and sword as the man who stood next to her. Related?
"Samus, she's one of us!" Zelda whispered, pointing at the blue haired girl excitedly. At the point, the party of five had focused their attention on their two new guests. The blue haired swordsman stepped forward.
"Welcome to Ylisse, Princess Zelda and company! My name is Chrom, the prince of Ylisse." He bowed to the two "This is my wife, Queen Sumia of Ylisse. Before we begin our meeting, may I ask where you are from really?" Zelda stopped short, before she gave her response.
"It would honestly be better for us to explain it privately, if possible." Chrom motioned to the large somber man.
"I have already prepared the diplomatic room in case it was needed." The large man was serious, but did have a layer of pride and eagerness hidden underneath. Chrom nodded.
"As expected of you, Frederick, you always prepare ahead." There was warmth in his voice. He turned to Zelda and Samus. "Follow me. Do you need anything? You must have traveled far." Zelda hadn't realized how hungry she was. She nodded shyly. "Well, we'll have something cooked up. Frederick! Can you call upon Lissa? She may need to be here as well."
"I'm not sure I'm qualified to tell Lissa where to go, Milord."
"You're her husband, Frederick. You're the only person who could convince her to go anywhere."
This seemed to please Frederick. "W-well, if you say so, milord, I'll ask for her at once!" He bustled out of the room like lightning. Samus noticed that the queen and the redhead had been conversing amongst themselves the whole time, and it looked like the redhead had been . . . crying? The blue haired swordswoman looked concerned, and kept patting the redhead's shoulders.
Another long table. Samus was getting tired of boardrooms. She and Zelda sat on one side, Chrom on the end, and the others at the opposite end. A bright-eyed girl with blonde pigtails had joined them now. Everyone looked at the two quizzically. The queen cleared her throat. "So... You're from different worlds and use gates to enter various places." She looked for confirmation. "So why did you enter our world?"
Zelda and Samus paused from their eating. Hot food was always the best medicine for a dimensional trip. "Well, every couple of years, a crazed hand likes to find great heroes and force them to compete against each other for prizes and 'glory'." Samus looked at Zelda. "Did I miss anything?" Zelda shook her head, her mouth full of stew. Chrom frowned.
"And you think that I would be okay with Lucina entering this tournament?" Chrom asked.
"Father, shouldn't you take my opinion into consideration?"
"Lucina, this just seems too fantastical! There is no Hyrule here, and these stories could just be stories!" Chrom looked at Samus, "No offense intended." Samus shrugged.
"None taken, I honestly would have preferred it if Marth had handled it." She took another bite of the stew. Lucina perked up.
"The hero of legends?! You speak of him so informally!" Lucina was shocked.
"Yeah, he has all this 'aura of regalinessness', but he's just a big softie." Zelda giggled softly at Samus's silliness. "Honestly, though, there's no real danger, and it's a good way to make good friends from interesting places." She shrugged, "But it is really strange, and I don't blame you for being suspicious." Lucina seemed lost in thought.
"Father, this is my decision." Lucina said with finality. "But I will need some time to think it over. Is that alright?" She looked at Zelda.
"Of course. Take as long as you need, there is the matter of the other person we are searching for, so you may have more time than you actually need." Zelda smiled warmly at Lucina. As she looked around the room, she noticed the solemn tone that had suddenly come over the group. Lucina looked at the floor, and the redheaded spearwoman had stiffened and her eyes had grown cloudy and unfocused. Zelda took a look out the window. "Lord Chrom, I noticed you have a lovely garden."
Chrom smiled, "It was something that my older sister loved more than anything." The blonde girl with pigtails – the name was Lissa, if Zelda remembered correctly – smiled and spoke up.
"The garden was the best way to remember Emm! At least, that's what I thought." Zelda looked at Lissa pleasantly.
"I would like to take a turn in it, if that is possible." Zelda pointedly looked at the redheaded spearwoman. Sumia caught the look. The queen looked at her counterpart.
"I think that's a lovely idea, your Majesty!", she looked at Chrom, "But there's still the business that you have presented to us, along with other -" She was cut off by the spearwoman, who stood up awkwardly.
"I'll go with you, your Highness.", she had said it louder than she had meant to, and rather forced. Sumia frowned.
"Cordelia, are you sure? You don't need to force yourself -" Cordelia nodded her head.
"You are very busy, and I'm the Captain of the Pegasus Knights. It would be rude and unsightly of me." She paused. "Also, it might be good for me." She backed away from the table. Zelda got up from her spot in the table, and followed Cordelia from the room. When the two left the room, Samus turned to the king and queen.
"Everyone's been acting strange every time Robin's been mentioned." Samus's voice became more grim. "I've seen it before." Chrom and Sumia looked at each other, Lissa's look of guilt permeated the atmosphere. Even Frederick looked more grim than usual.
"When did Robin die?"
Thank you all so much for reading! Any comments or critiques are much appreciated still. You all rock!