So … this is goofy, but I'm leaving it in. After Wolfy put this thought in my head, I decided to keep it. I couldn't get it out of my head, no matter how serious I wanted to make this fic.
Although going in, I knew this was a fic that screams "gay panic," so I couldn't make it too serious.
Also, the title is a little Dragon Quest XII reference. Anyways enjoy.
The Princess's Dragon Bride
Chapter 22: Circus of Smiles
Robin messed up. He had closed his eyes for one second, and suddenly a fleet of flying boats drifted through the night sky like an abrupt storm.
He had been put on night watch after Akira walked off to bed. After the girls had danced until the last of the festival's bards packed up and left for bed. The alcohol in his system had weighed down his eyelids until he couldn't keep them open anymore.
He wasn't sure how long he had slept, but the soft light of daybreak told him it had been far too long. And the massive fleet of ships told him it was far too late.
He rushed into the rooms and shoved his teammates out of their beds before scurrying off to wake up the princesses.
"Robin?" Lucina yawned as she opened the door with him, ready to knock on the door.
"They're here. Grab your stuff. We've got to go." With that, he shook a sleepy Leven who had stumbled out of his room awake. "Ready the horses."
Thankfully Leven didn't take much to fully jump-start his brain as he ran down the stairs. The rest of the team was quick to get dressed and gather their things. Soon they were tossing things into the wagon and darting off following the main road.
Just as they reached the outer side of town, Byleth spoke up, "We've got a bit of a problem." He pointed dead ahead, further down the road, to see soldiers dropping from ropes and turtle-like creatures with wings on their shells descending.
"Those are the Koopa Paratroopas," Corrin gasped, "They're my father's soldiers."
Lucina pointed, "And those other soldiers are wearing Ylissean colors."
"Damn it!" Robin slammed his fist into one of their crates. "We're surrounded."
Akira, however, peered around and tapped Robin on the shoulder. "Look over there."
He pointed at another wagon further down the road. At the front slept an enormous crocodile wearing what looked to be the garb of a circus ringleader. "A show cart? What could we possibly do with …" then Robin's eyes brightened in understanding. "Oh!"
Akira turned towards the others, "Cloud, Stop the wagon. We forgot something." With that taken care of, he flicked his wrist outwards, a thin wire shooting out from within his sleeve. "I'll be back." Then he flew out of the moving wagon, following the wire protruding from his wrist.
Robin then turned his attention to the ex-mercenaries, "Cloud go help Akira."
He didn't argue, instead handing Byleth the rains after coming to a stop. Robin himself ran a hand through his hair, changing its color completely with a bit of magic. Then with a flick of his wrists, his outfit changed along with it.
A short time later, Akira and Cloud returned with a separate wagon. Robin then stuck his hand inside the original wagon. Lucina and Corrin peered at him in confusion, "Are either of you good with horses?"
"We're both decent; I can handle them. I'm just not good at anything mounted," Lucina sighed.
"What's going on?" Corrin finally asked.
Robin smiled, "I'm going to put an invisibility charm on the wagon," he put up a hand to cut off Lucina as she opened her mouth.
"I can't do it for long, and it'll look suspicious if a cart gets past their blockade," he pointed towards the nearby forest. "It should run out around there. Hide in the trees, and we'll keep the kings busy. That should give you a big enough window to dissuade any suspicion."
They gave each other a long and clearly worried glance before giving him a nod. With the tip of his blade, Robin then carved a rune into the wood. Then with a spark, the wagon and the two princesses were gone.
Robin then turned to Akira. "So I'm almost scared to ask, but what exactly is this great distraction plan of yours?"
Leven raised his hand, and Akira nodded. "Alright, Leven, what's our story?"
Chrom and Bowser sat at the entrance to the town furthest from Ylissetol. Kamek was on the other side, using magic to trace the exact path of the princesses. Chrom could feel it in his bones. The thieves were here and would be going this way; he knew that much for sure.
Then just as expected, a wagon rolled up to the blockade driven by a young man in a brown sleeveless long coat, a short hooded cape draped over his shoulders. The hood was pulled up, concealing his face.
Chrom raised his hand, and the blockade stopped the wagon in its tracks. "Excuse me, can I ask where you're headed?"
"Pardon, sir," his voice was smooth, and music to Chrom's ears. That's already a red flag. "My troupe and I are just leaving the festival and heading to another town."
Bowser wasted no time. With smoke starting in the corners of his mouth, he called out, "Pull your hood down."
The man reached up and pulled down his hood, revealing dark brown, almost black hair. His eyes were amber, his skin sunkissed, and that damn smirk on his face made him all the more striking. Absolutely nothing but red flags, no man is that passively pretty.
Chrom shook his head to steady himself, "You said you and your troop are traveling. What kind of troupe?"
"That's right," the stranger smiled, "we're a dance troupe."
Chrom turned to look at the other king. It was a feasible story, but one couldn't be too cautious when rooting out thieves as crafty as the ones they were after.
Bowser barked out a laugh, "Is that so?" he leaned in a little, and the driver shied away from him just a bit. "Then you wouldn't mind proving it?"
The driver's face pinkened, "We don't have a band or bard on hand."
Isn't that convenient, Chrom crossed his arms.
Bowser only smirked, motioning to one of his troops, "That can be arranged."
Within moments a few of his soldiers returned with a strange-looking contraption, a large box with an assortment of buttons with four large circles, two on either side.
The driver looked back into his wagon, but suddenly a different young man popped his head out just before he could argue. His hair was a black frizzy mess. He had a pair of simple glasses. "Oh, we can prove it."
With that, one of the dancers inside pulled one of the side curtains open, revealing four boys dressed in dancer outfits. Three of them were adorned in the traditional attire of Fodlen dancers, form-fitting outfits adorned with eye-catching ornaments and flowing cloths. The fourth boy was conspicuously dressed in a comparatively plain, though no less expressive, purple tunic with gold embroidery.
The driver climbed down from his seat and then tied and adjusted the curtains of the stage-like wagon.
"Sorry," The driver was clearly a bit shaken at first, but he gathered himself once Chrom met his gaze. "They're usually so quiet, but our lead dancer … is quite passionate about his skills" he adjusted his cape a bit, "I have yet to get used to it."
Bowser pressed a button on his machine, and loud music erupted from the contraption. Without missing a beat, the boys in the wagon began to dance in unison, or at least three of them were. The group was incredible. If Chrom hadn't stopped this caravan but a moment ago, he had assumed that he had paid to be in attendance. Then his attention drifted to the last boy, the only one dressed differently, was doing his own little dance.
Chrom turned his attention back to the driver, his eyebrow raised. He pointed his thumb at the lone outlier.
The driver only chuckled nervously, "He's new."
Chrom leaned forward, towering over the driver. His gaze was stern and his face serious as he searched this handsome man's eyes for answers.
"We picked him up in town," he said a bit shyly, "He was just so excited to tag along, I couldn't say no."
He managed to wiggle out of Chrom's looming presence and motioned wildly to the lad. "I mean, look at the kid! He's like a puppy."
Chrom couldn't help the corners of his mouth tilting upwards. His gut told him he knew that voice, those manic exaggerated gestures. The face and hair were off, but everything else about this man was all too familiar.
He towered over him again, "You know, you remind me of someone."
He expected him to panic; he was familiar with Robin's panic face.
This wasn't it. Instead, he grinned at him, his eyelids lowering in an almost sultry gaze. "Lucky guy," his eyes drifted, taking in Chrom completely, "if he has someone like you running after him."
Chrom's face burned, "Oh, uh."
He loosened the string of his caller, "Let me know if you can't find him and need some company."
Chrom's heart was pounding as he instantly averted the driver's gaze. Robin was never this forward. He watched the dancers in an attempt to calm himself. He gathered himself as another thought crossed his mind. "Why aren't you up there?"
The driver chuckled again, and Chrom dared peek at him from the corner of his eye. He looked like a wolf then, staring down a tiny hare. "Oh, I don't dance," in a softer voice, he added, "but I am rather flexible if you'd like a demonstration."
Chrom's heart was in his throat, and he struggled to look away. While every part of him told him Robin would never say that, a part of his mind added, in public.
He tried to focus desperately on anything but those memories. Everything Robin whispered into his ear whenever they were alone came to the forefront of his mind. Suddenly, he was that meek prince again, struggling to understand his own runaway thoughts. Robin always knew how to get me into checkmate...
Marth sidestepped another one of Shulk's backslashes. Turning on his heel, he delivered a rapid series of strikes to his still recovering foe.
Shulk managed to slide behind his blade to take the brunt of the attack. Unfortunately for him, the prince wasn't done with him.
As he lashed out with his blade, he took quick steps forwards, urging Shulk further and further to the arena's edge.
Shulk gripped his blade tightly and leaped forward, slashing downward in a wide circling arch. Marth stood his ground and readied himself.
As Shulk's blade connected with Marth's, the prince shoved forward, countering and returning the seer's own momentum.
That sent Shulk stumbling backward, leaving him wide open. Marth took his chance and placed all his strength into his blade.
All it took was a second. Shulk leapt backward and charged forward in that split blink of an eye as if he had seen Marth's move beforehand.
That blow left the Prince on his knees. The seer turned to see his prince, his eyes seemed to be glowing with light from the very core of his eyes for a split second, and just as he blinked, they returned to normal.
His face paled as Marth regained his breath. "Damn it." Shulk quickly rushed to his side to see if he wasn't bleeding. "I was almost sure I had you."
"Oh yes, you would have had me," he raised his hand, holding it out, and within his palm showed a small orb of light. It bathed the prince, and whatever damage he sustained was gone. "I may have cheated."
The prince only looked at him with an eyebrow raised as he righted himself.
His cheeks pinkened, "I may have peeked into the future to see that last hit coming." He helped the prince get to his feet. "Regardless, you've made great strides on the battlefield."
"It's not enough," Marth let out a half sigh, "I need to be stronger if I ever want to protect everything important to me."
Shulk smiled awkwardly, "Well if you want to try sparring with a far more difficult opponent, I can have that arranged."
Marth raised an eyebrow at the seer, "Speaking of which."
The prince turned his attention towards the entrance to the training hall to see the Koopa Kingdom's own seer smiling back at him. "Pyra, can you do us a favor?"
AN/ so that was a thing. The main reason this idea wouldn't leave my head was that, except Robin, all the other Phantom Thieves have dancer/dancing alts.
1. Cloud in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
2. Joker gets a spin-off dancing game called "Persona 5, Dancing in starlight."
3. Byleth was a bit of an exception since, as in the main game Fire Emblem Three Houses, they could only help raise a unites charm to win a dancing competition, but thanks to post-release DLC, they received a dancer's outfit of their own.
4. As for Hero, in their game Dragon Quest XI (and its super long subtitle that I don't remember), you can have them do this cute little dance in photo mode.
Anyways hope you enjoyed this chapter and on to the next one.