Alright, on to the next big arch. This one I have no excuses for. I thought it was funny, so I kept it. I think I'm starting to hit that wall. I've been working on this fic, and I'm so close to finishing. I'm just so tired. Let's hope I can pull through the next few ten chapters. Wish me luck. Enjoy.

The Princess's Dragon Bride

Chapter 33: Maddam Athena

The atmosphere in the church was lighthearted. Lucina and Corrin were dancing, waltzing to a song only they could hear. Akira was stubbornly keeping Leven's coat on, claiming he was cold. Leven was chasing after him, trying to get it back. Byleth was asleep on one of the pews, using Robin's jacket as their blanket. Robin wasn't in any hurry to get it back. No, the ex-shepherd was occupying himself, staring at the image he captured.

There was love here. He could feel it. This wasn't some joke gone too far. There was full emotion in the look the two princesses shared as if nothing else mattered. Lucina really does take after her father.

His mind went to Chrom again. They had been traveling for days, and every time his other half came to his mind, he shut it down, refusing to linger on him, less the guilt eat at him. Today, now, was the first time he allowed himself to think about what just happened at the hot spring. He felt guilty about everything he had done to the Exalt.

Lucina, with all her fears and doubts, is standing by Corrin's side. He clutched the sides of the tome absentmindedly. I should have stayed with Chrom, my life be damned.

Had Ylisse not just survived a war, maybe I would have. He shook his head. I could have kept my head down. I could have played cool and still stayed by his side. He needed me, and I ran away.

The door of the church swung open, catching the attention of the rest of the group, except Byleth, who groggily rolled over in their makeshift bed.

"I'm back." Cloud walked over to the group. Robin noticed the ex-soldier lacked the heavy bag of coins he took when he left, but he chose not to bring it up. Cloud walked soundlessly over to Byleth.

"Get up," Cloud murmured as he yanked Robin's coat off of Byleth, who groggily rolled the other way and off the pew completely. That woke them up. "I pulled some strings, but we have to get there now."

Cloud began to lead the way as the rest of the group followed after him. Byleth, groggy as they were, stayed by Corrin and Lucina's side. Akira and Leven chose to linger in the back, still arguing about Leven's coat. Robin himself chose to keep pace with Cloud.

He chose to break the silence, "What exactly were you doing this whole time?"

"There's a powerful sorceress a few sectors down." Robin noticed the pink on his face as he added. "She owes me a favor, so I managed to score us an appointment with her."

"Then what was the gold for?"

"She doesn't talk to anyone who isn't a customer, and keeping my hands costs extra." Robin noticed Cloud's face flush again.

"What does that even mean?"

"Don't ask." He then cast a glance over his shoulder, and Robin peaked too, noticing the princesses' cheery demeanor and rosy cheeks. "What did I miss?"

Robin smirked and, as casually as he could, said, "Corrin and Lucina got married."

"What?"

Shulk rolled out of the way of Mythra's thrown blade. Then, with a quick flash of the Monado, he suddenly felt lighter. He charged forward, catching her off guard as he leapt upwards and brought the blade down on her.

Predictably, she backstepped, and with a wave of her hand, she called her blade back to her. Then, she unleashed a flurry of strikes.

Shulk wasn't able to dodge the first few but managed to leap out of her range to avoid the following strikes.

He cursed under his breath as she raised her sword upwards, and a bright light engulfed his vision for a second. He was fully aware of what was coming.

He tightened the grip on his Monado and waited until the last second to leap backward.

In one moment, a ray of light descended from the sky and scorched the grass where he stood.

And as the dust settled, he rushed outwards and brought the full weight of his Monado. This time, knocking her to the ground.

His eyes still glowing with liner light for only a moment before they returned to normal. "Mythra, are you trying to kill me?" Shulk looked a bit fearful as he helped her to her feet.

"You would've been fine." She dusted herself off.

"Sacred Arrow? Really?" He tried to hide the panic from his voice. "We're just sparing."

"If you wanted me to go easy on you, you shouldn't have asked me to come out here." she pouted as the two took in the sight of the nearby field they had traveled to outside of Ylisstol.

He lightly clutched the gemstone hanging from his necklace, "Still."

Mythra turned to stare at him for a long time. "You can hold your own well." Then she smirked mischievously, "And yet."

He could feel his face heat up a bit, "You are far more experienced in combat than me. I would have liked someone with real experience to train him."

"You go too easy on him." and with that, Mythra switched. Leaving Pyra to witness the blonde meekly shift in place.

"We should probably get back to the castle. Marth's training will start soon." They started walking away from the scorch-marked clearing.

"Ah, right about that." Shulk began to fiddle with his necklace again. "The council has demanded Marth's ear today, so he'll have to postpone that for later."

She hummed in acknowledgment, "Well, I guess that means my day's free."

Shulk sighed, "I suppose I'm also free until later, still. I think I would rather spend that time not testing my luck against Mythra."

Pyra chuckled at that before a pensive look overtook her face. "Do you really think this Dragonstone stuff will work? As in, he could just walk in and ask for one?"

"If Naga will listen to anyone, it would be with her own branded." Shulk sighed. "Hey, Pyra?"

"Yes?"

"What are your thoughts about the engagement?"

"Where is this going?"

"Hypothetically," he gathered his nerves. "Let's say this whole situation isn't as clean cut as expected."

"Speak plainly, Shulk."

"What if Corrin had a different suiter?" He didn't meet her eye when he added, "What if Lady Lucina and Corrin were closer than friends?"

Pyra pondered this before stopping, eyes wide and face pale. "Oh no."

"Pyra?"

She covered her face. "Bowser is a bad influence."

"Explain?"

"Long story short, Bowser has a habit of kidnapping a princess who doesn't want to get married off yet. he tries to make the moves on her, sure, but it goes nowhere," she shook her head in disbelief, "If Corrin doesn't want to marry Marth, there's a chance she would have asked someone to kidnap her."

"That someone being the Phantom Thieves." Shulk frowned.

"But how would she have asked them? She only ever left the castle with me, unless the dressmaker was in on this."

"Remember, the thieves got the request from someone in the castle, and there was a secret exit through the woods by the gazebo we discovered." Shulk frowned. "With how much time Lucina spends in the training area, it's hard to imagine she didn't know about the passage."

"Then Lucina was in on it too, eh?" Pyra shook her head, "This is one big mess."

Shulk couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of relief wash over him. Pyra is right. Lucina would have agreed to be kidnapped to keep Corrin safe, and this confirms the attack on the Kings was a distraction.

He smiled. Then, this was nothing but a terrible string of coincidences. I can't imagine Lady Lucina hiring a hit on her brother, so the more likely situation was the kidnappers were probably told to make a big show. And one of them got a bit too careless.

He rubbed his thumb over the red stone that hung from his neck. I can't thank you enough.

Corrin's eyes sparkled as she looked skywards at the scores of hanging lanterns. The neon signs that hung from building walls were striking and attention-grabbing. There was something captivating about those bright signs outlined by the darkness of the overall sector. She had gotten worried when Cloud had mentioned that the sector was walled off and thus wouldn't get much natural light. She hadn't expected it to look so strangely beautiful.

Lucina kept a protective hold on her, keeping her close to the group as they weaved through the semi-busy groups. Long lines of patrons ran from almost every establishment, including the building Cloud led them into.

It was a lovely and ornate building. With intricate patterns decorated the inside walls with flowers and clouds. The designs were so ornate they made Corrin's head spin, trying to keep track of every line.

The woman who waited for them inside was tall. Her long green hair was tied up in an elegant way that, despite not holding up all of her hair, still gave her the image of elegance.

Decorating her hair was a delicate crown of pins shaped like feathers. It strangely reminded Corrin of the shining light of the sun, almost like a crown or halo.

She wore a long and flowing kimono similar to the one Corrin almost got earlier on their adventure, but hers was mostly black except for the lovely silver, almost pearlescent cloud designs that decorated it. She allowed the kimono to fall halfway down one of her shoulders. Her sleeves were also long and hung loosely around her wrists. It almost surprised Corrin how elegant the dress looked, with the long fabric pooling at her feet.

A young man stood by her side, eagerly holding a clipboard. In contrast to the woman, he wore a mostly white button-up shirt. The cuffs of it were held in place by bracers. And strangely, he wore shorts as opposed to pants like she would have expected. He had fluffy brown hair and big blue eyes.

The young man tried to stand up straight, but it did little to make him seem more intimidating. "What is your business with Lady Pa-" she tapped him with her fan "with Madam Athina."

Cloud walked to the front of the group. "They're with me."

Madam Athena smiled before hiding it behind her paper fan, "So what exactly is this favor you want to cash in?"

Cloud motioned to both of the princesses. "We need some magical help. They can explain." With his piece said, he walked to the back of the group, where he took to staring down at his hands with an odd expression.

She and Lucina exchanged glances before Lucina decided to explain. "Corrin has a magical seal placed on her. It's been weakening, and we were hoping you could fix it. Cloud says you have that kind of power."

The boy was slack-jawed, clearly offended. Madam Athen herself, however, laughed. "Whatever it is, I can do it." The two princesses let out a sigh of relief.

"However," there was tension in the room again. "There's a certain event happening very soon that requires my attention, so if you want me to spare the time to help you, I'm going to need a favor from you as well."

Cloud made a noise. "Don't tell me..."

Lady Athena smiled brightly. "Let me borrow a few of you for this event, and your seal is as good as fixed. What do you say?" She held out her hand expectantly.

Lucina was quick to shake the Madam's hand without hearing what it was she needed to do. Robin and Cloud had tried to stop her, but they reacted too slowly. "We'll accept as long as we can get that seal fixed."

"We don't even know what we'll be doing." Robin sighed. Cloud covered his face.

Corrin blinked a few times, "What will we be doing?"

"Pit," she smiled, "take them to get everything ready." She then offered a hand to Corrin directly. "You're the one who needs the seal fixed, yes? Follow me."

"I'll get right to it, Lady P-Athena." It seemed he caught himself as he motioned to the others. "Follow me." Corrin couldn't help but chuckle. He reminded her of Rex somehow.

Corrin and Lucina exchanged glances. "Good luck."

"See you soon." She gave her wife a little wave and the most reassuring smile she could manage. She took the other woman's hand and followed her into the backroom.

Chrom was watching the sky endlessly, his mind occupied with unanswered questions, when a heavy sound alerted him to the Koopa King's presence. "We're closing in on them."

Chrom blinked and took in the sight in the distance. "How far are we?"

"They haven't moved out of the city since they arrived."

"Are we going to have to ask for permission to land or something?"

"It's not a kingdom," Bowser offered Chrom a bottle, and the Exalt took it without a second thought. "At least not a big one, or traditionally one at that."

"So, do we just walk in?" Chrom opened the bottle of whisky, grimacing as the scent met his nose.

"Only if we have business on the upper plates, apparently," Bowser downed his bottle almost completely. There was a small puff of fire for a moment. "I sent Kamek to talk to the big guy in charge. If our business is in the slums, he does not care."

"Charming." Chrom took a quick swig and coughed as if went down a bit rougher than he expected. "Is there any red tape for the … Slums?" Gods, that sounds tasteless.

"Kamek's trying to get in contact with the guy in charge down there now."

"Well, that's good." he sneered at the bottle again and, after a moment, took another swig. It went down smoothly this time. "And we are sure he-er they're down there. right?"

"Yup."

Good, maybe this time we'll catch them.

AN/ Fun fact: I have affectionately dubbed this arch the Waddle-Market Arch. Because it's funny. Just a quick disclaimer: this arch was conceived after the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake. My friend was streaming the game, and after a bit of back and forth, we thought up this idea, and I couldn't help it. There is a point to this, I swear. Anyway hope you enjoyed. Have a wonderful day. I'll see you on the Monday after next Monday.

~ (9/4/2023)