Lucina hated silence.
Sound meant the presence of life. From a horse whinnying to a small laugh in conversation. Even the shifting of someone during an awkward moment was something to cherish. But there she was, sitting on this blasted hover-rail with 10 others who were somehow magically quiet. It reminded her of the past. Of death and fear. She felt a gloved hand on her shoulder. Metaknight's glowing eyes staring her down.
"You're tense, child," Metaknight stated bluntly, "You may speak your mind to me, if you wish."
Lucina smiled, but shook her head. "You're very kind," she stated, "But I shall be fine." A small sniffle from down the cart caught her attention. Sat next to Marth, face red and wet with tears, sat his teammate, Corrin. Zelda and Samus sat next to her as well, giving out whispers of solace in the vast silence. Fox and Bowser were sat across from Lucina, as well as Peach, who demanded to be invited. Her parasol perched firmly inbetween herself and the Koopa King. "I suppose I was too rough." Lucina whispered.
"Hardly," Metaknight scoffed, "Everyone has a different reaction to defeat, it has nothing to do with you." Lucina looked at her feet, shifting uncomfortably. Metaknight sighed. "If you feel guilt over your victory, then state as much." Lucina opened her mouth as Metaknight pointed to Corrin. "To her, I mean."
Lucina frowned. "I suppose you're right. I've never been good at consulation."
"Funny. Neither have I."
Silence once again.
There they were, back on the same street, going towards the same restaurant they had visited on their first day at the mansion. The bustle of the town had increased to a fever pitch, much to Lucina's odd satisfaction. It felt … comfy. Peach moved the group across groups of fans who were slowly starting to catch on to the group's identity. Lucina was impressed by her quick movements in such a restrictive dress. She and Metaknight were the only ones who hadn't changed out of their iconic clothes, but it didn't seem to matter. Bowser tends to be rather conspicuous. She thought. As they entered the restaurant, the same purple clad man was waiting for them. Peach whispered into his ear, and he nodded, albeit with a look of confusion. He led the small group to a room in the back, with a large table set in the middle. As he left, Peach called out to him.
"Waluigi, we should have one or two more guests coming our way." She said in a sing-song tone, "Robin should be bringing a friend or two of his. You remember Robin?"
"A … a-white hair, likes purple a lot?"
"That's the one, knew you of all people would recognize him."
He nodded, smiling politely as he closed the door. There was a loud clicking sound, followed by an intense silence, only balanced by the white noise of the busy restaurant. The group slowly took their seats, Lucina choosing the seat between Samus and a now quiet Corrin. She looked at the white-haired girl, who gave her an small smile in response.
"So, we waited two hours to head into town, and Robin's still not here?" Peach asked, flipping through a stray menu.
"He had some business to attend to." Metaknight replied simply. "Family business."
Lucina groaned. Business indeed, if Severa's involved. She thought.
"Well," Peach said, pouting as she flipped another page aggressively, "If we're all going to be waiting, we might as well order food." There were some murmurs of agreement, and the room was filled with a hodge-podge of incidental conversation.
Lucina felt a nudge to her left side. Samus handed Lucina her communicator.
You alright?
It took Lucina more than a few seconds to type out her reply. I am fine. I was worried about Corrin, she seems like she is having a hard time.
Future reference, contractions won't kill you. Corrin's got a lot going on, you should talk to her about it.
I'm not great at talking.
You're pretty good at talking to other people.
Not about personal issues. I am rather awkward with that.
She could hear Samus audibly sigh. Just talk to her, make some excuse and I'll send her to you.
Lucina frowned, looking at her teammate. Samus raised an eyebrow and nudged her again. The princess closed her eyes, steeling herself for what she had to do. She stood up quickly, and the white noise in the room immediately halted. She looked at everyone around her, and blurted out the first thing in her mind. "I … uh … feel ill!" As she bolted out of the room, she could hear Samus in the background.
"Corrin, why don't you go check on -"
She closed the door behind her and walked stiffly through the restaurant. It wasn't until she exited the building and sat at an outside table that she breathed out in relief. "How embarrassing." She murmured. Lucina put her head in her hands, the chill of manufactured autumn causing her to shiver. She heard a soft pitter-patter of bare feet, the sound of metal on concrete, and then more silence. Lucina looked up into Corrin's face, her red orbs gazing into her. "I guess Samus was right." Lucina remarked.
"Samus and Zelda shouldn't have brought you into this." Corrin said flatly.
"Does this not concern me?" Lucina stated, surprised by the strength in her words. "Aren't you upset over our battle?"
It was Corrin's turn to look at the floor. "You fought well. Why would I be upset over a fair fight?"
Lucina smiled a little. She understood what Samus meant now. "My father," She began, "is one of the strongest men I know. When I was four, I challenged him in sparring. While my mother and Robin insisted I was too young, my father entertained my childish dreams." There was a short pause, as Lucina collected her thoughts. "I was beaten badly. He didn't hit me, but I couldn't hit him once. I challenged him week after week for a year, desperate to be strong for him. Father left for war after that year, and … he didn't come back."
Lucina felt wetness on her face. She also felt a hand grasp her hand in comfort.
"I'm so sorry," Corrin said, "I never knew."
Lucina shook her head. "You couldn't have known. I don't even know why I told you that story, you're the one who's hurting."
"Nonsense, you shouldn't hold that in for anyone's sake."
"I guess I just wanted you to know that I understand. And that there is no shame in defeat."
Corrin smiled grimly. "I had no problem with losing. Losing just happened to bring everything back into my mind." Lucina looked at her, confusion etched on her face. "I didn't read about your history, so I won't judge you." Corrin smiled before explaining.
"I was adopted into a very large family. I would do anything for my brothers and sisters, and I feel like they would do the same for me." Another pause. "Recently, I learned that my family might … not be that. I found another family, one that knew me from birth. One that believed that I had been stolen from them." Corrin blinked, keeping her eyes closed longer than usual. "Both families rule nations, of course they do. And it isn't surprising that these two nations hate each other." Her breath rattled. "And because I'm so powerless, I can't do anything to stop them from consuming each other in a giant war. Because I'm too weak, I can't keep my families from killing each other." Lucina squeezed Corrin's hand reassuredly. "Because I hesitated on that gods-damned bridge, I …" Lucina felt tears on her hand as Corrin began crying. She heard a pair of footsteps behind her, and slowly turned to see a purple robe with gold embroidery.
"Everything alright, Lucina?" Robin asked. "There's been so much crying, I feel like I'm in one of your mother's favorite books."
"Daddy!" Oh gods, not now. Lucina thought, peering at the hand still grasping her own. "If Lucy's crying, she has a perfectly … good … reason." Lucina could hear Severa's words trail off, and as she turned to face her friend, she could see indignant mahogany eyes framed by snow-white hair. "Dad, you can go inside, I'll stay with Lucy and her friend." Severa said with clenched teeth. Robin raised an eyebrow, whispering something into Severa's ear, and walked into the restaurant. Severa sat down silently, staring into Lucina's eyes. "So, are you going to introduce me to your new friend?" She said with a sickly-sweet tone.
"Ah- Yes," Lucina stammered, "This is Corrin. Corrin, this is my best friend, Severa." Corrin looked up glumly, before her eyes brightened up.
"Selena?" She asked meekly. Severa looked at Corrin as she grabbed her hands now. "Is that really you?"
"Severa is my name, and I would appreciate if you could tell me why you were getting all touchy with my best friend!"
"You look just like Selena!" Corrin insisted. "It's just so … oh … forget it." Corrin said, deflated. Severa turned red from embarrassment.
"Wait! I didn't mean to make you upset!" Severa shouted rapidly. "W-w-why don't you tell me what you told Lucy, three heads are better than one!" Lucina smiled wryly as Corrin sniffed audibly.
"Thank you, Selena." Corrin said. "You're very kind."
"Yeah, yeah." Severa muttered. "And it's Severa."
" … I see you guys got food without me."
Robin was standing at the end of the table, now covered in a plethora of different foods.
"You can only blame yourself, Robin," Fox replied, "You snooze you lose."
Bowser chimed in, "Down low too slow!"
Fox high-fived the Koopa. "Nice."
"That one doesn't even make sense." Robin insisted. Fox shrugged, earning a giggle from Zelda. The tactician rolled his eyes. "Well, it doesn't matter. You're all here." He looked at three empty chairs. "Well, mostly here." Robin pulled out a small scroll. "I guess it's time to tell you all why I brought you all here." As he unfurled the scroll, there was a snicker from Fox.
"Robin, what is that supposed to be?"
The tactician looked at the scroll. On it was a rough sketch that Robin made of the Dragoon. "It's a … thing. That I'm going to explain now! … I thought it looked pretty good."
"You do know that you can take pictures with your phone, right?" Samus asked. Robin squinted at her in confusion. "Never mind. What did you want to talk about?"
Robin nodded. On to business. "Alright, this thing is called the Dragoon. It's one reward for winning the tournament. Apparently it can move at incredible speeds, and can potentially open up gates to other worlds."
"Just like the ones in the Smash Mansion." Bowser commented.
"So what? If the Smash Mansion has it, then why would it be a big deal?" Fox remarked.
"Because it's controlled here." Robin explained. "And in my world, it takes having the right key for the right world, which makes things difficult. With this and the right amount of power, you can bypass any and all measures to control that." Robin grabbed a piece of Calamari and scarfed it up. "Having the ability to go anywhere you want, whenever you want … seems like a pretty great prize."
" … You said potentially. What do you mean by that?" Samus pointed out.
Robin smiled slightly. "Yes, I mentioned that. The Dragoon requires a lot of power to reach it's full potential. Most of us couldn't power it."
"My Halberd couldn't power the Dragoon to such a limit." Metaknight remarked, causing most of the room to jump. "Believe me, I tried."
"So powering it would take an immense amount of power or resources." Fox stated. "And you're worried about, what? Somebody abusing this?" Robin looked uncomfortable, shifting from foot to foot.
"You're talking about Ganondorf, aren't you, Robin?" Zelda asked. The room grew quiet.
" … I might be."
Bowser raised his brow. "I thought you trusted him?" He asked.
"I do!" Robin argued, " … But I know you guys don't, and there are a lot of people amongst the higher-ups who don't either. They're afraid that he'll use the Dragoon for sinister purposes."
"That doesn't sound like Ganondorf at all." Zelda said flatly. Robin shot the princess a look, then continued.
"I'm still trying to figure out the best play for this, but I need you guys to be on the same page as me."
The door opened, and Lucina, Corrin and Severa quickly entered the room like they were late for a lecture. Robin pulled out some parchment and a pen.
"Let's get down to business, then."
First things first, thank you guys so much for all of your patience. I know it took a long time, but you readers are really the only reason I didn't give up on this story. This chapter was one of the hardest for me to write, and I hope it doesn't show.
As always, I love any and all comments, critiques, or suggestions. I'll answer some questions and stuff next chapter, which I'm in the process of editing. I can't promise a timetable until I start getting in the groove again, but I hope you guys keep on reading!
Until next chapter!