"Ananias, may I have a word with you for a moment?"
"O-oh!" Ananias immediately straightened himself and bowed. "Yes, of course. I-I would be honored."
Marth reassuringly held his hand out. "Please, there's no need to be so formal. We are allies, are we not?"
"Well, um, yes. I suppose we are, but... forgive me for saying this, your highness, but you're the legendary Hero-King! We may technically be allies, but we're clearly not equals."
Marth sighed and shook his head. "I was afraid of this. Ananias, please listen. The stories that you've heard of me, they couldn't be further from the truth! I am no more special or important than you or anyone else for that matter."
Ananias frowned. "Um, no offense, your highness, but even if I were to disregard the fact that you are the legendary Hero-King himself, you're still technically a prince. Even without the legends or the stories, you still very clearly outrank me."
"Even so, are not all men equal when entering the battlefield?"
"Um, not really. I mean, a prince like you would obviously be much more important than a regular person like me. If the two of us were in danger and only one of us could survive to live another day, then the correct decision would be to save you, not me. And even if we weren't talking about princes, generals and great warriors are clearly much more important than your average soldier. Everyone on our side would be much better off with those types of guys coming back than getting back guys like me."
Marth sighed. "What to do? I wish to bridge the gap between us, but how can I when you think yourself so far beneath me?"
"Um, well, I guess if you ordered me to treat you like any other soldier, then I'd have no choice but to -"
"That's precisely the thing I don't want to do." Marth then pondered for a moment before asking, "Alright, Ananias. If you are truly so keen on following orders, then surely you wouldn't mind telling me more about yourself."
Ananias' eyes widened in surprise. "Tell you more about myself? Why would you want to know about that?"
"Is my merely requesting it not reason enough?"
Ananias apprehensively gritted his teeth upon realizing the predicament the prince had put him in. "Y-yes, I suppose that I don't have much of a choice, do I? What would you like to know more about, exactly?"
"Hmm. Well, how about you tell me more about your upbringing? I can't imagine it must've been easy, having a mother who looked so much like your other relatives."
"It wasn't. But honestly, you get used to that pretty quickly. It was the whole being-a-part-of-a-merchant-family that made things really difficult."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well, everyone born into the family was a girl and every single one of them had all the skills you could ever need to be a successful merchant or business person."
"And you? Did you inherit this talent?"
Ananias shook his head. "No, being a girl and being business savvy skipped a generation. And by a generation, I mean me. It skipped me, like, entirely. Every time I'd try to sell something, I'd end up tripping over my own words and every time I'd try to start a business of my own, it'd end up closing pretty quickly. Because, you know, you can't run a successful business if you can't sell it."
Marth nodded. "I see. And how did your family react to this?"
"They were... disappointed, to say the least. Though in all honesty, I took it a lot harder than they did. I just wanted to be like them, you know? But... no dice. I was an am a disappointment, at least when it comes to continuing the family tradition."
"I'm sorry to hear you say that, Ananias. Especially after fighting alongside you. You've proven to me quite the dependable man."
"Thank you, your highness, but you've proven to be just as dependable, if not more so. I will need to follow your example if I wish to keep up."
Marth smiled knowingly. "Do you really think so? Because if so, then you would be a disappointment following the lead of another disappointment."
Ananias' eyes widened in surprise. "I beg your pardon?"
"In many ways, I am also a disappointment," Marth explained. "Though one example that particularly stands out is how I conduct myself as a royal."
"I don't follow. The way I see it, you are an exemplary royal."
"My father would disagree. He would say that I am too soft to be a royal, and in many ways, it is hard for me to disagree. Why, I once cried over the very thought of killing a deer! You can imagine the scolding my father gave me when I did."
"B-but even so, you grew out of it, didn't you?"
"In some ways, yes. But in other ways, no. Even now, I believe my older sister, Elice, to be much better at conducting herself than I ever could."
"Princess Elice? As in, THE Princess Elice?"
Marth chuckled. "The only Elice I know. She was and still is an exemplary princess in my eyes. But it's strange. As much as I loved my sister, a part of me couldn't help but resent her, just a little bit."
Ananias nodded. "Yeah, I get the feeling. It's sort of like how I felt about my mother or my other relatives who looked like her. You admire and look up to them, but at the same time, you also resent yourself and them for somewhat being a reminder of what you want to be but never could."
"Yes. It is a troublesome mix of emotions, don't you think?"
"Too troublesome if you ask me. Half of the time, I don't even know how to describe it without sounding like I'm contradicting myself."
"Which is why it is always a relief to find someone who truly understands. And with you, I think I've found that someone."
"What?" Ananias' eyes narrowed upon realizing what Marth had just done. "Oh, I see. You wish for us to bond."
Marth smiled. "Correct. Though, hopefully, not just about this, but on other matters as well."
"And by bonding, you wish to eventually get me to treat you like an equal, is that it?"
"Is there really something so wrong about that?"
"Personally, no, but you do realize that if you die out there, then that kind of mucks up my timeline, right?"
Marth chuckled. "Believe me, Ananias. I have no intention of dying out there. I simply wish for you to not die out there for my sake or to not see yourself as any less important. Is that really so much to ask?"
Ananias sighed. "It's a tall order, considering who you are, but... knowing that the two of us have something in common, kind of breaks the ice a little bit, I'm not going to lie."
"That's all I could ever hope for. Though I would prefer it if you treated me more like a friend as well. I am not above casual conversation either, you know."
"Ugh. What exactly would we even talk about?"
"Well, what do men such as ourselves usually talk about?"
Ananias shrugged. "Beats me. I suppose Inigo would be talking about how to get another date with another girl right about now, but you honestly don't seem like the dating type."
"Neither do you, though judging by how some of the women swoon over you, you would probably have very little trouble in obtaining one."
"Speak for yourself. Even without people knowing who you are, you attract females like it's nobody's business."
Marth innocently blinked in confusion. "Huh? I do?"
Ananias groaned. "Let's just... change the subject."
Dual Special #1:
Ananias: "Real" Marth, I need your help!
Marth: Happy to provide some "real" assistance!
Dual Special #2:
Ananias: I could really use a hero right now!
Marth: I'm no hero, but I'll do my best!
Dual Special #3:
Marth: Let's work together, Ananias!
Ananias: This is just surreal.
Dual Special #4:
Marth: Together, we can achieve anything!
Ananias: If you say so!
Author's Note: The next Warriors supports will be:
9. Lianna
10. Chrom
