Fun fact before we start; about this chapter and the previous chapter where originally one big chapter but after moving stuff around and ironing out some stuff I realized it was WAY too big for my liking, so I cut it into two and honestly I like it better this way, the timeline doesn't feel so cluttered now. Anyways enjoy.

The Prince's Future

Chapter 8: Deals and Discussions

Shulk was thankful to finally be out of the wagon, the journey hadn't taken as long as he had expected. Thankfully, they had passed through the border gates without issue and even strolled up to the capital unharmed. Sure, there was no grand greeting, no red carpet but there wasn't any open hostility either.

They had even been allowed to take their wagon all the way onto castle grounds, from there the Exalt and company walked over to their assigned wing of the castle.

Shulk knew to an extent that they had been watched as they walked through the castle halls, so he wasn't surprised when they entered. Neither Chrom nor Robin had said a word. That was until they entered the room meant to act as their lodgings. He was surprised to find the rooms free of hexes and enchantments.

Robin however held up a single finger when Shulk had turned to speak. Carefully he pulled something from his pocket, then placed it against the door. It was a single sheet of paper with an intricate glyph. Then in a singular breath, the air in the room shifted.

Shulk let out a sigh of relief, "So you think they're spying on us?"

"Absolutely," Robin took a seat on the bed, "why wouldn't they?" he crossed his legs, and locked his gaze with Chrom's for a moment, "They don't trust us and we're in their territory." He crossed his arms, "We won't have much time, after the spell dissipates, so we shouldn't talk about any of this again, at least until we leave."

"Surely we can do this another time," Chrom sighed as he flopped over in the large bed. "We just landed."

Robin shook his head, "The more I do this spell the more obvious its effects will be, and then they will distrust us even more." He then turned his attention towards Shulk, "They can't learn that you can see the future, it'll put us at a disadvantage for any attacks."

Chrom rolled onto this side and rested his chin in his palm, "How are we to explain his presence? We can't call him Marth's retainer, that would raise more questions."

"Tell them I'm a page, or perhaps your squire." If they assumed he was of no interest then maybe that would give him a bit more breathing room, "That way when I'm not actively in your service I can take a listen to the rumors here, see if any of them talk about any plots against us."

In a more serious tone Chrom turned his attention to Shulk as well, "Have you seen anything yet?"

"No." he lied. He knew he couldn't tell them yet, especially not after they had just landed in Plegia, if they knew of the attack they probably would show some level of distrust at the meeting. In truth he found it strange that there weren't any attacks on their way here, which meant they would attack on their way home.

"Well that's a relief." Chrom sighed as he returned his face to the pillow.

Robin however didn't ease. He reached into his coat and handed Shulk a bag of gold coins. "Take this and look around the markets, ask around, listen in."

Shulk took the bag but he wasn't entirely sure why. Thankfully Robin was able to read his confused stare for an unasked question, "If I've learned anything from my days as a Phantom Thief it's this," he gave Shulk this all knowing smirk, "there is nothing wrong with keeping an ear open in a busy market square. People tend to be rather reckless with their secrets when they think no one is listening."

Shulk tucked the bag into his vest and returned his gaze to the Exalt and his advisor, there was an unease that came from knowing they would be attacked. But from what he knew Plegia wouldn't show their hand yet. So learning the why would be just as important as knowing the when. Perhaps if he learned enough he could reveal his vision disguised as an educated guess.

"The Night Market tends to be chattier, and especially so if they think we Ylissians don't have one." Robin stood up and removed his cloak, "But the Day Market could also give you a good read on how people are feeling about us here."

"Alright," Shulk turned his back to leave, "I think I'll take a nap for a bit before I do any of that." it might look too suspicious if he strutted out immediately after arriving. He'll take a look at the day markets to gather intel. But for right now, he wanted a proper bed to sleep in.

Zelda had slowly come to a wonderful discovery, that Ylissitol was just as lively as Hyrule. The market square in particular was by far the best place she had been so far. The shops by far had captured her imagination and she was thankful for the freedom of being able to explore them in full without worry. Lucina guided her way, and Corrin as it turned out was just as knowledgeable. As it turned out there wasn't a store or shop they didn't know about, for every place they stopped the two always had a story to add.

It was a welcome change, being able to walk and chat with friends. Link, bless his heart, was wonderful company but not much of a chatterbox, at least not in public.

As they rested at a nearby teahouse Lucina finally asked a question Zelda was worried she would ask, "So, we've shown you our favorite spots already, is there anything you'd want to look for?"

"Ah, well, yes." she fiddled with the closure of her pack, it was one Link had lent her, its capacity for storing things was amazing, she'd have to look into that enchantment later. "Would you know of any good weapon smiths?" She somehow pulled out a magnificent shield, the holy symbol still shining despite the damage done to the shield, "Preferably one who can fix enchantments."

Lucina's eyes widened as Zelda let her inspect the relic. "It's Link's favored shield and as you can see it's been through alot." she sighed, "He's avoided using it as he feels it's on it's last legs but…" she recalled the first night they had left Lookout Landing, getting attacked and in his desperation for a shield he had picked up the pot lid from the random cooking pot they were camping with, and used it. As expected it hadn't lasted long but it lasted them through the fight. They had purchased a few more along the way from traveling merchants but Link's ability to burn through them was almost impressive. "I'd rather not risk him improvising."

If she could, she would really like to have it fixed, and if she could fix that old enchantment on it, the better.

Lucina looked pensive and ever so slightly she leaned into her wife, they exchanged a glance as the princess murmured. "A talented weapons smith, one who knows alot about magic," she flashed Corrin a playful grin, "Do we know anyone like that?"

Corrin gave a little giggle. "Maybe."

Zelda smiled as the three finished their tea, Lucina leading the way through the vast narrow streets and alleys, until they found themselves at a little shop. It wasn't too imposing and the only thing that set it apart was the strange little painting of a teardrop shaped creature on the counter.

Corrin poked her head in and gave a short whistle, then suddenly a young man with shoulder length brown hair popped up from under the counter, he damn near gave Zelda a heart attack.

"Hey Leven," Corrin chirped, "we have another request for you."

The young man, Leven, met Zelda's gaze and it was like she was faced with Link again. He didn't say anything but his eyes spoke an unasked question, how could I help.

"Right," she fished out the shield from her pack again. "This is about to break, can you fix it?"

He took the shield in his hands, turned it over, inspected it and she could see the excitement building the longer he held it. He cast his gaze back up at her and somehow she just knew he was asking about the lingering enchantment. "Right that, well, I'm not too sure myself, Legends say it's unbreakable, crafted by an ancient dragon," she made a motion to the shield, "but as you can see."

She didn't need to finish her statement, he turned it over again, and after meeting her eyes once more she knew he had excitedly accepted the commission. She found herself asking. "How long do you think it'll take?"

Leven looked pensive, going over some vast log in his own mind perhaps. He ended up making an awkward hand motion and she knew this task was going to take him quite a while. She found herself smiling. "Take as much time as you need, I'm going to be here a while, and if you can fix it," and the image of Link's stupid smile made her cheeks flush, "it'll be worth the wait."

She fished into her bag, and pulled out another bag of rupees, this one contained a few more silver then one would have expected worth the job. But to Zelda nothing was worth it more than Link's excitement and safety. "I feel I can trust you with this task. Take all of it."

Roy had gone into town, Sora needed some things and Roy needed a break from the castle and more importantly away from the council. The last thing he needed was running into anyone from the meeting, they always had a way of ruining his day.

He came to a sudden stop as Sora stared off into one of the larger crowds. "Something wrong?"

Sora pointed off into the largest gathering of people. "Isn't that Prince Maarth?"

Roy followed his line of sight, and sure enough there he was. Roy knew that perfect blue hair, that effortlessly graceful aura. "What's he doing here? I would have thought him chained to his office desk."

"Let's ask him," then before Roy could stop his squire the endearing little squirt ran off, "Prince Marth, Hey!" waving his arm to attract attention.

Roy rushed after him, his face pinkenning instantly. By the time he caught up with his squire, the prince had noticed him. "Sorry, we didn't expect to see you here," Roy gathered his composure, "So~ what are you doing here by yourself?"

Marth let out a sigh, "Lucina, Corrin, and Zelda all dragged me with them on their trip into town square and promptly ditched me at the first store they saw, I have completely lost them."

"I'm sure we can find them." Sora flashed one of his trademark dopey smiles. "Come on, they couldn't have gotten far."

"Thank you." Marth's smile was fond and gentle, "That's very kind."

That had been the plan anyways, but Sora being Sora, they ended up losing him in the crowd too.

Roy shook his head, "I honestly should have seen that coming." Marth cast him an amused look, "This happens a lot. He's got a lot more energy, honestly I have no idea where he gets it from."

Marth chuckled at that, "We should get out of the crowd before we get separated too." Roy took his hand then and Marth made a startled noise as Roy pulled him out of the dense crowd.

When they emerged he had absolutely no idea where they were, he could still see Ylisstol castle thankfully. He had no idea how the castle market could be so lively, even in Phaere the market square wasn't this packed.

Marth's voice cut through his thoughts, "Let's try asking around, someone must have seen Lucina, although, we should probably wait for your squire."

Roy shook his head, "We'll probably have better luck finding Luci." Sora's height was a detriment when it came to crowds. Heck, he's even studied wind magic with the sole purpose of flying over them, "Knowing Sora, he'll find his way to us," Sora always was able to pick people out of a crowd.

Marth nodded. "You'll have known him better than me," he turned sharply. "Let's start asking around, I'm sure someone must have seen Lucina."

When Roy thought about it, it made sense, Zelda was new to the kingdom so her face must have blended into the crowd, and while he's not sure how long Corrin has been around, Lucina, much like Marth himself was a local celebrity, no doubt there wasn't a shopkeep in town that didn't know the faces of the Royal Twins. "Lead the way."

Roy and Marth took turns asking around, they went from shop to shop, asking around and surprisingly they had managed to find a lead. In one of the smaller corners of the market it seemed that the three young women were seen entering a local tea house, however that was hours ago. Nevertheless, they had been spotted and thus Roy and Marth were hot on their heels.

Roy nodded as the vendor he had talked to had pointed down to an out of the way alley, apparently Lucina was prone to coming down that way. With a thankful coin handed to the merchant Roy turned to the stall behind him where Marth had asked the other vendor.

However, when he turned to face Marth he found him staring off at something in one of the nearby stalls. "Something caught your eye?"

Marth jumped, clearly he wasn't used to being called out, or maybe he had just gotten lost in his pining. "Sorry, did they tell you anything?"

Roy peeked around Marth to take a look at what had captured the Prince's attention. There wasn't much there, a few handmade bowls, some simple jewelry, a few handmade journals, some paintings. Honestly there was a lovely pendant he should probably pick up for his mother. However among all the random goods one thing stood out the most, as being particularly odd, a large and detailed tapestry. Roy didn't really understand what it was at first, a mess of detailed dots and lines, each one framing from random detailed images. That was until he saw one that looked particularly familiar. "A star map?"

Marth's face flushed a bit, "Yes," he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "This one is rather detailed and it even has a few constellations i'm not familiar with." he cast his gaze back at the massive tapestry, "It's a shame it's so huge, we can't lug this around with us while we look for the others."

Roy nodded, surely the shopkeep could hold onto it while they regrouped, although it would be a risky move for them. Without a direct deposit the shopkeep would have no reason to do so. "If we pay upfront, could you hold it?"

The merchant looked pensive before giving a cheeky shrug and a smirk. Marth reached into his cloak, searched around his belts, murmuring. "Ah right, the girls borrowed my main wallet, hopefully this will be enough." He produced a coin purse. However, when they learned the price he winced, and sighed, "Some other day perhaps."

He then turned to face Roy completely, "Did they tell you which way she went?"

Roy nodded. "Said she went that way. Apparently she's a regular around here."

Marth nodded. "Ah, I think I may know the place, come on." with that he walked off.

Roy watched him leave and then turned back to stare at the tapestry. Marth had always been so secretive with his interests before, come to think of it, had Marth ever talked about his interests before at all? Even in their childhood, Marth was always the responsible one, he always had his nose in a book. Granted there wasn't much else Marth could do back then. Marth and him often spent their days playing board games and chatting, much of his exploring was done with Lucina, well at least whenever Marth's condition worsened. The years they spent before Marth's condition had reached its worst were the ones he remembers the best, the two were prone to playing together, granted under the supervision of a healer, usually Lady Lissa.

Then Marth had taken on the task of preparing to become Exalt, and after that he was always studying and reading. He had always seemed so guarded, aloof, proper. If Marth had worn a mask back then, what would have forced him to do such a thing at such a young age? Roy himself hadn't even considered the possibility of taking the title, back then his father seemed invincible and the day he learned his father was mortal was the most terrified he'd ever been.

He had learned to take the title, he had learned how to stand up for his mother. It was all too much for a bright eyed child. Had Marth been that scared too?

"How much for this?" He purchased the pendant for his mother, and after a long period of deliberation pointed to the tapestry, "and I'll take that too"

He was surprised by how little the price was for something so large, but then again, it was probably cumbersome to care for. Of course he had asked the shop-keeper to hold it while they went to regroup. Surprised, the shopkeeper offered anything else as a gift for his expensive purchase.

He glanced at everything on display and frowned, nothing else seemed appropriate for either of his parents, and far too fancy for Sora. That was until he spotted a small pair of obsidian earrings, decorated in silver. They were small and unassuming, but very carefully constructed.

He smiled and pointed them out, he had remembered something. Something from his early childhood, back in those days between the flare ups of Marth's condition. Something Zelda had said to both of them, something he was never bold enough to do, but something Marth was.

He took the gifts and walked back to Marth, who had been waiting at the entrance to a back alley. "What took you so long?"

Roy held up the pendant. "Thought Mom would like it." then with a teasing tone he added, "By the way, you still have your ears pierced?"

Marth's face flushed. "Yes, but why do you bring it up?" Roy handed him a box. He opened them and sighed with that all too amused smile on his face, it was nice to be able to read his expressions again. "You didn't have to, but thank you."

When they entered the alleyway they were surprised to see the shop of the blacksmith in question was closed, apparently they had just missed them. "Where could they have gone now?"

Oracle yawned from his perch on Marth's open window. The prince was out at present and thus Oracle had taken to watching his room. Sure, Marth had given him this menial task to keep him from following him into town. But at this point in time the older homs didn't blame the would-be-Exalt for keeping his distance. Besides there wasn't anything in the history books about anything important before the assassination attempt on the border.

He adjusted his hood to keep the sun out of his eyes, when he was suddenly sent sprawling into the prince's room. When he pulled the hood down he was met with an angry feathered marshmallow.

The owl tilted its head upon making eye contact and let something from its talons fall before flapping its little wings and flying off like it hadn't just assaulted him.

He dusted his clothes to rid himself of all the feathers when he noticed something. An ornately decorated red and black card with an intricate logo decorating one side. The pattern seemed familiar and sure enough on the other side was written a message in untraceable style, as if the letters were each made from stamps. A calling card.

It had requested a meeting with him at the Velvet Rest. he smiled and tucked it into his pocket, or at least he had attempted to. Damn metal hand, he really needed to work on those joints.

He then fixed his hood and lept out the window completely unaware that the note had slipped and now rested on the prince's floor.

Marth and Roy had gone on a wild goose chase looking for the girls and Marth had almost lost his patience. He leaned against the wall of a nearby bookstore and frowned. "How do they cover so much ground?"

Roy walked back. "Talked to the shopkeep across the road, they went in here and she hasn't seen them leave so this is our best bet."

Marth sighed and motioned for Roy to follow him. They stepped inside and Marth felt like he was going to pass out. He was already exhausted and there were two floors to this building. "You check that side and I check this one."

They split up and searched, or at least that had been the plan until Marth's eyes locked onto a promotional table. He eyed up the covers and after spotting a row of books all sharing the same cover he almost bolted towards it when there was a title he didn't recognize.

He knew he should have been looking for his sister but there was a new volume out and he had been dying just waiting for it. He snatched one of the books from the table and rushed off towards the nearest sitting area.

His nose was so deep in the book he hadn't noticed someone approaching him. "Then Wake to Weep?" Roy's voice cut through his thoughts, and he peeked over the book to meet the other's gaze, he regretted it immediately because he could feel his face heating up.

"I …" he needed a good excuse, "... got distracted," but he couldn't think of one.

"Yeah," Roy teased, "I can see that."

Marth lifted the book just a little higher, hoping to hide his burning cheeks, "Aren't you supposed to be checking the other side of the store?"

Roy only grinned as he plopped himself down on the plush couch beside him, "I heard you make a noise and bolt so I thought you found them."

His face burned even hotter. "I was that loud?"

"Yeah." He peeked over at the book he was reading, "So what is this?"

"Ah well," how could he best summarize his new favorite series?

Regardless of finding the best words, he steeled himself and began talking. He was almost certain that Roy wasn't taking in anything he said, but the small furrow in his brow told Marth he was at least trying.

"I guess you wouldn't really get it if you haven't read it." he stared down at the book in his hands, "Zelda got me into it and I haven't been able to put it down."

"You're really into stars aren't you?" Roy teased. "Between this and that starmap, I'm starting to notice a theme."

Marth ran his thumb along the series logo, contemplatively. Now that Roy had spelled it out for him like that it did seem to be a recurring theme. "I guess all those years I spent in bed staring up at the sky, some part of me always daydreamed about going beyond it all…"

If he was being honest, there was probably a deeper reason why he gravitated towards stories about going beyond the sky, beyond the stars. "When I was little I genuinely daydreamed that one day I would just float away from my body, imagining worlds that lived beyond our own just helped ease that fear." Because then it wouldn't be dying, it would be leaving his body to see worlds beyond, it would be going on an adventure.

He shook his head, that was all wild fantasies of a sickly child. Now he had responsibilities. He still had those dreams, but where they were once born of a child's inability to understand their own mortality, now they remain as a dream of going off to see new and incredible things.

He shook his head to rid them of those thoughts. He folded the page he was on and stood. "Come on, if Zelda was here she probably did the same thing I did," Roy had given him this look, clearly still processing what Marth had told him. "She probably sat down in a reading area determined to read the newest entry."

Sure enough they found Zelda nose-deep reading the next volume. Surprisingly Lucina and Corrin sat snuggled up in a nearby chair reading the first entry in the series. Clearly Zelda had dragged them into the same rabbit hole. Good, now they had something to talk about over tea.

Once they had interrupted the girl's reading time they all grabbed their books of choice, purchased them and headed out where surprisingly Roy's squire, Sora if his memory was correct, stood waiting. However before they could say anything Roy dragged the other boy away, claiming they would meet them at the castle gate.

And once the four of them were alone Zelda and Marth began to hound the married couple about their opinion of the book series so far.

Oracle hadn't expected this kind of meeting. He had arrived at the Velvet Rest prepared to walk in and get pushed into a back room and the meeting would begin from there. However the second he opened that door he was dragged away by what must have been the twin sister of the man who he had encountered at the front desk.

He decided not to question it, she must have known the Phantom Thieves. Although he could have sworn there were only five confirmed members, he also didn't remember there being a woman amongst their ranks. Regardless he never knew them personally so he might as well take any claim at face value. He only had second hand stories to go off of, he only knew one Phantom Thief personally and they definitely enjoyed embellishing those old stories.

He was led down many twists and turns, from back alley to back alley. And before he knew it he had found himself weaving his way through a maze of underground passages. Then before long he found himself in a thriving night market in these shadowy stone halls.

They weaved their way through the suspicious passages of vendors holed up in small tents and shabby tables, until the passages converted and they reached something akin to a central hub. Separated from the larger floor, how curious, elevated by a few steps and separated by an out of place short fence, was something that felt more like a proper establishment.

Private booths lined the left and right walls, with rows of tables lining the middle. The far back wall could easily be separated into three sections. The makeshift front desk with a bartender on the left side, a large and ornate bulletin board lining the right, and between them was an ornate and intricate wall carving resembling a stone door.

He pursed his lips into a thin line, he knew those intricate carvings, he had been on the other side of it, from the inside leading out. Thankfully it seemed just as sealed today as it had all those years ago, well he supposes it should, as it hadn't been opened yet. And with any hope it will remain closed for years to come.

The woman leading him yanked his arm and he was brought back to the present as she led them into the establishment and into one of the private booths. Right, Oracle needed to remind himself why he was here in the den of thieves, here, in the Dragon's Claw.

She motioned for him to step inside and pulled the curtains that decorated the arch above them closed, effectively giving them full privacy. "So," there leaning against the back wall of the booth was the same blonde man who had served him the night before. "What do you want?"

Oracle took a good long look at the spiky haired blonde, and in the low light he could see the faint lingering glow of the man's eyes. "I'll be frank," he took a seat and the blonde made a motion to the woman. She rolled her eyes and walked out, either to give them privacy or to get him something, he wasn't sure. "This is about the kingdom you hail from."

Soldier raised an eyebrow, "I'm from a village," and Oracle locked his gaze, as if he could read the other's sincerity from his eyes alone.

Oracle gritted his teeth. "Then why do your eyes have that glow?" He clenched his metal hand out of habit. "The only other people I've seen with those eyes are those soldiers garbed in white."

"Ah," the man adjusted himself, as if now feeling a bit uncomfortable, "so this is about Shinra." he looked pensive. "It's not technically a kingdom but if you're talking about Shinra soldiers and the mako glow then, what about Midgar did you need to know?"

Midgar, yes that seemed right. He had recalled that being one of the places Lucina had mentioned on her journey, so that was where the armies came from. "I can not explain to you how I know this," not without looking crazy anyways, "but those soldiers in white, Shinra, as you called them, plan on invading Ylisse in the near future."

Soldier frowned. "Somehow I'm not surprised," he made eye contact with Oracle again. "And you want to stop them?"

"That is the plan," Oracle eased, "I can't leave within the month as some other things require my immediate attention but, if you are as strong as they say, your help would be invaluable."

"How much?" Soldier gives him this amused look and Oracle can't tell if he's serious or not.

"I…" he ran though the numbers in his head, he couldn't ask Marth for funds, and he sure as hell wouldn't steal from the treasury. "Here." he tossed his coin purse on the table, "consider it a downpayment-"

Soldier made a noise and motioned for him to stop talking, he took a handful of gold and tossed it back. "You're paying the tab too."

Oracle stared owlishly, was he serious? If all he had to do was pay a tab then that could be done. Sure he didn't have a job presently but he still had a few coins the Exalt had left him in his time. He was almost certain that he wouldn't see that coin purse again. Granted he supposes the Phantom Thieves tab must have been rather high if they had prolonged in paying it for a while.

As if on cue the woman returned, a few ales in hand and after she handed one to Soldier, she raised one at him. Oracle took it but wasn't quite sure what to do, he hadn't drank in quite a while, after the war he really didn't have much time to.

As he stared into the ale, he heard Soldier say. "You work on your things, and I'll meet up with you in Midgar whenever you decide to show up." before he took a large swig of his drink, "but i'm warning you, i've got friends there who've been waiting to stick it to Shinra so there might not be anything left by the time you get there."

Oracle smiled, allowing himself to feel eased by those words. "Well if you get it done before I meet you there then i'll treat you to another few rounds." They clinked their mugs in agreement.

With that bubble of hope he took a deep swig of the first ale he's had in a while. Here's hoping this will ease the burden that will befall you in the near future my Dear Exalt.

Marth yawned as he signed another document. The excursion with the girls had taken almost the entire day where he had expected it to take only an hour or two, now he was up to his neck in paperwork.

He leaned against his arm as he began to read through one particularly oddly worded document when his palm brushed against the earrings in his ear. He almost startled himself. Clearly he wasn't used to them being there but… he found himself running his fingers along their surface.

It truly had been a nice gift, he wasn't used to receiving gifts like this and it was, while a bit odd, a nice change of pace.

The whole reason he had gotten his ears pierced was due to an old painting of the Hero King, he wasn't sure who had noticed it first, probably Zelda, but a faint gold earring was faintly seen peeking out of the old king's blue hair. Roy had teased him to do that too, and Zelda added a fact about the men from the Sheika tribe doing it as a coming-of-age thing. Between the goading of the two of them and Lucina promising she would get hers pierced too, he ended up caving but unlike his sister he was a bit too shy to wear anything.

In his absent-minded daze he reached to grab his quill and knocked over the small stack of papers on his desk. He cursed faintly and got out of his seat to gather his paperwork.

It was as he was picking up the papers that he noticed a familiar colored card. Picking it up he recognized the symbol of the Phantom Thieves. His blood ran cold as he stared deeply at the image of a flaming mask and top hat.

Why was there a calling card in his room? His breathing began to quicken as he tried to ease his heartbeat. Logicly he knew there wasn't any reason for there to be one in his room. Lucina was the one who had correspondence with them, and this couldn't have been the one that was left for his father as those were tucked away in some scrapbook somewhere, as Corrin had insisted on keeping them.

He swallowed his fear and turned the card over. "Meet us at the Velvet Rest, from there we'll talk."

This definitely wasn't one of the older cards, it could be one addressed to Lucina but somehow he just knew this wasn't right, after all if it was meant for Lucina there would be no way they would have gotten it confused with his room. Lucina's room had already been infiltrated, it was right next to the secret passage. They would have had to go out of their way to put it into his room.

He glanced up at his window. There had been someone else in his room, Oracle had been stationed here and coincidentally he wasn't here at the moment. Then the calling card must have been for him. The Velvet Rest huh, alright, let's see why you have dealings with the Phantom Thieves Mr. Timetraveler.

Cloud chugged down the rest of his most recent drink, and left the stranger to pay their tab. Thankfully Byleth was there to half carry him out of the Dragon's Claw, and halfway to the inn he had managed to sober up.

"So what was all that about?" Byleth asked, they still didn't trust him enough to let him walk on his own.

Cloud wasn't quite sure how to feel about everything. "You remember Midgar?"

Byleth let out a huff along with a little annoyed groan, and Cloud was reminded of the few hours they were stuck playing hostess for a crime lord. Forcing him to remember the dejected look on Byleth's face at not getting chosen. Clearly they didn't want to play hostess but clearly not getting chosen had wounded their pride somehow.

Somehow that sentiment was incredibly amusing, he carried on nevertheless, "Well, I'm headed back there to wrap up some old business."

Byleth glanced his way and he could practically read what was running through their head through their eyes. Byleth wasn't the most expressive of the team, but those eyes always spelled everything out. They were amused and worried. Weird, that was a new look on them.

Although now that he thought about it, it would be a bit weird leaving them behind. Ever since they had gotten locked up together all those years back they had always watched each other's backs. Maybe he could con some more drinks out of that guy in the red cape if he dragged Byleth along with him.

"I'ma go do some eco-terrorist stuff, wanna come?"

Their face didn't change and yet Cloud could sense the amusement and excitement. "Sure."

Then it was settled. They'd leave first thing tomorrow. But for tonight he'll have to sleep off the booze. "I call dibs on the good blanket."

He could practically imagine that shit eating grin on their face. "I will kick you off the bed."

AN/ You will not believe how hard this chapter was to write, for no other reason than it being long. Sure I may have ended up splitting Marth and Oracle's sections into two parts BUt It just felt more natural this way.

Fun fact Byleth and Cloud, not sure how close they are in this fic, but I like to imagine they are rather close. Sadly I am writing them out of the story because they are, lovingly, overpowered.

When my beta read the previous Velvet Rest scene they couldn't help but note that, "The adult has left," and I just think that's amazing. I also forgot to bring this up in the last chapter but I do so love that Byleth could and would be able to cover Robin's old duties as the finance manager but they just don't want to.

Anyways, hope to see you next chapter.

~ (11/30/2024)