Not going to lie, this one is going to be a bit silly, well, not completely but mostly. Fun Fact before we begin, this chapter was planned to have a different Cloud scene but after messing with the timeline again, I realized I would need more time. So I wrote a different scene and used it for a different reason. Hope you enjoy.

Edit for RariSweti: happy to be back, and I'm going to aim for regular uploads so look forward to that. And just you wait, I've got a lot planned for this fic.

The Prince's Future

Chapter 7: A Heart-to-Heart on Horseback

Marth stared at the document for hours, his mind rereading the same line for the seventh time within the past five minutes. He let out a groan and leaned back in his chair. His mind was a mess and he was clearly distracted.

He gleaned down at this document again. It could wait. With that he stood from his chair and walked out of his room.

He had been distracted for the entirety of the day. After the events of last night he found himself restless. He ended up sleeping from the crash after the adrenaline of being watched faded from his system, but that sleep was far from restful.

When he woke he went about the day automatically but when his mind was allowed to wander it would remind him of the man who looked like Shulk.

He claimed to be from the future, so his condition was what awaited Shulk then. He had gotten taller, not much taller than Marth but he had grown. His shoulders had broadened or maybe they simply looked broader? His hair had grown long, and Marth had to admit it looked nice that way.

However he didn't see the ruby cross Shulk always carried with him. His eyes were tired and carried with them a deep and resigned sadness. And then there was that arm. Sure, there was always a chance that it was a very finely detailed gauntlet but somehow he knew it was a metal prosthetic.

But what did that mean? What had Shulk endured that would have changed him this much?

There was also this relief that crossed his face when he saw Marth too, and that was concerning in its own right. Had he expected Marth not to be there? Had he expected him to be different? Or was it simply that he was relieved that Marth recognized him?

He shook his head, what was he to make of this situation? Could Oracle's word even be trusted? Yes, he knew subconsciously that Oracle wasn't of any threat to him, but did that mean he was being truthful?

Marth came to stop in the middle of a hallway, his mind a frantic mess of unease and paranoia.

Entertaining the idea that Oracle was an imposter, what would he have to gain from weaving this strange story? Was it to sew doubts with Plegia? That was always a possibility but then why take on the form of Shulk? Was it a coincidence? Or was Oracle aware of Marth and Shulk's close bond?

That was when a question slammed into the back of Marth's mind so loudly he physically jolted. Why hadn't Oracle shown him proof of his claims? Surely if he really was from the future then he could present something that already exists in this timeline … the ruby cross, a royal crest, hell even the capsule of liquid that Marth had given him before leaving. All of these things could have worked to sway his mind. And that last one was even easy to fake … so why hadn't he shone Marth anything?

Now that he thought about it a suspicious man appeared suddenly in the only area of the castle that still had yet to be properly sealed, it was the only weak spot in the castle's defense, or at least any that Marth knew of.

He claims to be a member of the castle staff from many years in the future. Conveniently Shulk himself isn't here. Oracle even appeared the day directly after Shulk had left, as if he had been waiting.

And without any proof and a vague story about an unknown threat coming after Marth and his family that would put Oracle in the prime position to stab Marth in the back himself. Sure, Marth got this feeling that he wouldn't, and he was usually a good judge of character … but there was no denying that he could be a spy.

"You okay there Mar-Mar?" Marth suddenly jumped when he realized Roy was at his side waving a hand in front of his face.

How long had he been there? "Ah, Roy, sorry you startled me."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed that." he stepped in front of Marth so to better meet his eye, "I called out to you earlier but you didn't answer, you seemed distracted."

Marth let out a sigh, "Forgive me, I didn't get much sleep last night."

Roy hummed in acknowledgement but the look he flashed Marth told him he knew he was stuck in his thoughts. "You need to destress again?"

Marth thought for a moment, and ultimately slumped his shoulders in defeat. "That would probably be nice but I don't think I could handle another hit like the last one quite yet."

Roy's eyes widened for a second, his face flushing ever so slightly. "That's okay." It was his turn to look pensive and when he met Marth's eye again he did so with an easy smile. "How about we go for a ride? I brought Blaze. He's in the stables"

Marth's eyes sparkled, he hadn't been horseback riding in a good long while. "That sounds wonderful." Maybe this was just what he needed to take his mind off everything. "Thank you, Roy."

Forge stared down at Valkyrie. "Is this really a good idea?" He adjusted the straps of his bag. "Aren't we giving him time to catch up?"

"After the maze we made in the thicket, nah." Valkyrie straightened herself to inspect her work. "This looks deep enough."

The pit was massive and ridiculously deep. How did she manage to dig this deep within such a short amount of time? He was almost sure that if she stood on his shoulders the pit still would tower over them by at least a head or two. "Will this even work?"

She gave him a self satisfied smirk before effortlessly getting out. "Have faith in your leader, Forge." Then before he could process her words she had managed to cover the hole with leaves. It was effortless and surprisingly seamless.

Believable however was a different beast. The ground was leafless excluding the huge patch covering the hole. Then she produced a thin paper and began to draw something on it.

"And for the last piece of the puzzle." She lazily tossed the paper at the pile, letting it drift like an autumn leaf and settled on top of the pile.

Then the paper glowed and when the light settled, a second Valkyrie appeared, curled up amidst the leaves, sleeping soundly. "I didn't know you knew how to do that."

"I have many tricks hidden in my sleeve," she said with a pleased grin.

Then Tempest charged into the area with a few fish in her hand. "Val!" she stopped and stared at their sleeping leader. Forge and the real Valkyrie watched on in amused horror. "I caught dinner."

She walked closer and before Forge could warn her, a hand gripped Tempest's shoulder so suddenly it startled both of them. "Don't." Thankfully Sparkle was there to stop her, she then pointed to their leader standing by Forge.

"Oh~" then just as cheerfully as before Tempest turned to the other two members of their group, "I caught a few fish."

"Maybe we should eat those … not here." Forge sighed, and the three nodded.

Roy watched as Zelda helped Lucina into her horse's saddle. The horse with the inky coat was amusingly a bit restless, shifting ever so slightly every time the princess tried to get on. He couldn't help but chuckle at the little noise she made as she finally managed to get onto its back. "And here I thought you'd given up on mounted combat."

Lucina let out a huff as her cheeks puffed up, a goofy pout-like face she always made when being teased, some things never change.

Meanwhile, he turned his head and saw Lucina's wife, Corrin, awkwardly leading her horse their way being guided by Marth, who was proudly and effortlessly leading his own mount.

When they finally managed to reach the others Lucina decided the horse's unruliness be damned because she insisted on riding closer to her wife. And with Corrin sandwiched between Luci and Zelda, Marth finally rode ahead to meet Roy at the head of the group.

"Sorry about the wait." he gave Roy a sincere smile that stunned him for a second. It was strange seeing him so composed and regal.

"And here I thought we would be sharing again," he teased.

Marth sat up a little taller, looking rather pleased with himself. "I had to do something while you were gone." he then gave Roy this playful smirk, "let me show you how good I've gotten," he pointed to the top of the hill. "First one there wins."

Roy sat up straight, and Blaze almost fully aware of what was to come whinnied in anticipation. "Alright, just don't be upset when I beat you again like last time."

"On three." Marth said as his horse began to paw at the dirt. "One, two-"

"Three!" and Roy spurred his horse into a full gallop.

"Cheater!" Marth called after him but the smile could be heard in his voice.

Roy hadn't expected Marth to pass him, he really hadn't, but one second the view ahead of him was clear and suddenly he was staring at Marth's flowing cape as his white horse bolted ahead of him.

It was like night and day. The Marth from his memories and the Marth from now. The prince from his childhood was always so timid around horses, but now he seemed to be so in tune with his horse that he had managed to keep up with him. And house Phaere was known for its mounted cavalry. In a weird way he was proud, and yet it still left something heavy inside him.

He finally managed to reach the crest of the hill where Marth and his horse stood waiting, staring off into the valley below. He didn't move from there as Roy trotted up beside him. Roy followed his line of sight and took in the view. It was a lovely overview of a nearby lake. The view hit it just right where it reflected the entire array of color of the shifting skies. The lake even managed to catch the last rays of the sun as if it started to disappear over the nearby mountain range. It was a breathtaking sight.

He cast a glance at Marth then, and couldn't help but smile at the way the sun bounced off his hair, bringing out the lighter shade of blue. There was also this look on his face that seemed so content, and yet there was this underlying sadness. Then Marth cast him a sideways glance and their gazes met.

"I'll admit it," he said with a smirk crossing his delicate features. "We come here every time we need to clear our heads," he stroked the neck of his horse soothingly, "He and I know the shortest roots."

"So what you're saying is…" he reached out playfully punching Marth's shoulder, "that you're the cheater?" That earned him a chuckle.

"I guess so." Marth smiled contentedly, and that shifted the thing inside Roy.

"It's like night and day." Marth turned to face him with a confused look on his face, "It's like you're two different people." Roy elaborated.

"Ah," Marth returned his gaze forward but instead he cast his eyes upward, as if searching the orange hue for the stars to ask them for guidance. "It's a mask, it makes court easier."

"Right," Roy sighed, "thanks for the save back there, in the meeting I mean, I didn't meant to lose my temper, I just-"

"Peace Roy." Marth sighed, "I know, it's unlike you to get so angry, or at least it used to be unlike you."

"It still is," he sighed, "I don't want to get angry but after all the stuff with my dad …" it had all started when his father had fallen ill, the court was smothering and pushing and pulling him this way and that. "I had to learn to put my foot down, sometimes a lot more aggressively than I would like."

"Don't I know it." Marth laughed but there was something dry and frustrated about it. "I feel if I show any emotion they take it as a show of weakness."

"Shame." Marth turned to face him but Roy couldn't meet his eye as he spoke. "The world could use that bright smile of yours."

The moment that passed was tense and when Roy found his strength he turned to face Marth, and only found a grateful smile in return. "Thank you, Roy." his smile brightened, "that means a lot."

He felt sheepish then, and turned his gaze away. "We should probably go check on the girls, we did leave them behind."

Marth laughed again but this time it was genuine. "Yeah, we should probably do that."

Cloud had had a really rough few days. He knew the Velvet Rest was decently popular, and sure they were down a single member. But he hadn't expected the gap to be so damn noticeable. It felt as if he had been running three different people's shifts on top of his own.

He pushed open the door to what used to be the master bedroom. This is where he and the other Phantom Thieves had been living in between missions. Without Robin, the rooms were finally split evenly, and yet it only felt as if the house had gotten smaller.

The room was separated into three sections, each separated by a makeshift wall of cabinets and strung up curtains. With Robin gone the main room was made a pinch smaller, each side taking a little more space for themselves. And thus when arguments broke out, they tended to flare up alot more than expected. Arguments like the one going on now.

Akira was pacing the small space in front of the fireplace, "I'm almost certain that room was listed as booked and yet there was no one there." he grumbled a little more before turning sharply towards Byleth who was reading a book in their tiny sitting area by the window.

They didn't look up from the book in their hands, "And I'm telling you it was booked, I don't know where he ran off to but the guy paid good money so I didn't think he would just ditch it." They finally closed it and raised their heads to watch Akira properly. "What was I supposed to do, not take his money?"

Akira sighed loudly. "Look, as the guy running housekeeping I need to know these things," he pinched the bridge of his nose clearly aggravated. "Who normally works behind the desk?"

"Robin," that left the room silent, "he usually runs the bar too, so…" and there it was. Akira and Cloud had both been alternating bar duty and it had started to run them both ragged, mostly because Akira refused to let Byleth take over the kitchens.

It was Byleth's turn to sigh, "Robin had everything sorted, he would run the desk in the mornings and Let Leven run it nights while he worked the bar, that would leave Cloud and I to alternate serving tables and running restocks. Cloud would do them while I would run my classes, that would leave you, with housekeeping and kitchen duties."

They leaned backwards in the rocking chair, "but with him gone, it's been the three of us working for five, mostly cuz Leven has been busy in his workshop lately." They let out a huff. "I've had to cut back on my classes just to make sure we can still break even."

Akira frowned and Cloud could have sworn he shrunk back a bit. Cloud let out a sigh. "He was also the one who did our taxes so … someone is going to have to figure that one out soon."

Akira let out a defeated sigh. "I'll go see if I can pull a few strings." and with that he left the room mumbling something about Robin before leaving.

With him gone Byleth cast their gaze his way, and Cloud finally decided to ask what's been on his mind. "So did you tell that one guy I wasn't home? He looked really confused to see me working yesterday."

Byleth tapped their chin in thought, "Oh yeah, I thought you said you had a thing to do."

He shook his head, "That's tomorrow."

"Ah," they stood up and pushed back the curtain leading to their shared room. "Well whatever, there was something off about him."

Cloud only shrugged as they entered the room after them. "He seemed genuine."

Byleth was already sitting on their bed, taking off their boots. "Should I tell him to meet with us later this week?"

"Sure," Cloud was more curious than cautious, no one out here knew about Shinra and less so about the Soldier Class system. So either this guy was from Midgar or he knew something.

He approached the bed and frowned when he noticed Byleth already laying down, he let out a huff, they were doing it again. "Scoot over, you're hogging the bed again."

Byleth only closed their eyes and spawned out completely. "No." they said, wearing this stupid self satisfied little smug grin.

Cloud kicked off his shoes and loomed over them. He wasn't going to fall off the bed tonight, he was tired and demanded sleep.

Rex had been running through the woods for hours, those damned brats had gotten good at hiding in the thicket. However, He cast his gaze down at the ground and inspected a single boot print in the dirt. They still have a lot to learn about hiding their tracks.

He followed them into a nearby clearing, it wasn't very big but it was enough. And sure enough he saw one of them laying in a bed of leaves. This was almost too easy. He waltzed on over and the second his foot hit the leaves he fell though.

He stared up at the sky, laying mostly on his upper back and shoulders, the rest of him was above him. He had tumbled into a pitfall, and as if to add insult to injury a leaf gently landed on his head, the magic glyph painted into it having gone dark.

"Very clever," he huffed. It was at moments like this that he was thankful for her chosen career. Because if she had chosen to be a hunter or anything a bit more lethal, people would be dead. Thankfully she leaned more towards trickery than danger.

AN/ Woo, looks like the brain rot had indeed died down. And now that October is over my brain can focus on non monster related stuff. Meaning I can finally get back to this fic. And it seems my word count quota per day is getting higher, let's hope this is a permanent change so I can get more chapters done. Fun fact for this chapter,

1, Originally Lucina was supposed to be on her white horse from her Rearmed Alt from FEH, but THAT is boring. Thankfully as I was working on this chapter Lucina just got a Ninja Alt where she is on the horse and I thought oh her and Corrin are both on their Ninja Alt horses and I thought that was perfect.

2, and originally I kept a very good work schedule, until I reached Roy's scene and suddenly my brain refused to help, thank goodness writer's block isn't forever.

3, As you can guess the scene order was very different in the outline but shifted things around just cuz.

4, That scene with Valkyrie wasn't originally in the outline but after looking at the outline with Future Rex my brain demanded a goofy scene with her setting it up.

Well with that said i'm excited for the next few chapters, honestly for no real reason, I'm just glad to be working on this fic again. Anyways hope you enjoyed it, and have a wonderful day.

~ (11/6/2024)