If everything goes according to plan this will be the last chapter of 2024. So that's neat, I'd like to say I will end the year off with a bang but I won't, just another fun chapter from me. Heh. Have fun and have a happy new year.

The Prince's Future

Chapter 9: Alone Out At Night

Zelda smiled fondly into her tea. "And when it was all over, Link was there, and he smiled at me like he knew exactly who I was." she rubbed at her eyes despite her smile, "I can't explain how relieved I was."

Suddenly she was in Corrin's arms in a surprisingly tight hug. She shouldn't be surprised that Lucina's wife hugged just as tightly, if not more so than Luci herself. "Oh thank goodness, I was so worried he wouldn't."

Zelda smiled, a bit startled by the sudden closeness. "Honestly, if he hadn't I don't know what I would do." she patted Corrin's back in a soft plea for her to let go. "I'd be heartbroken, sure but, I think …" How could she phrase this properly?

"You think you'd feel the same about him either way, don't you." Lucina gave her this all knowing smile and Zelda found herself sputtering.

"Ah, well, that's uh…" she hid her face in her hands. Unable to think of a proper rebuke to that allegation. "So Marth tells me you have an amusing love story, care to share?" she drank from her tea hoping to hide the bright shade of pink on her face.

Corrin gave a teasing giggle, and elbowed Lucina as if asking her to ease up on her. "Well, my father brought me here in hopes I'd get married and move out of the Mushroom Kingdom."

Zelda was thankful that Corrin seemed the merciful type. "Really that sounds a little cruel, no?"

Corrin shook her head. "Long story short my dad has an agreement with a local princess to kidnap her so her court will stop asking about marrying her off," she took a sip from her tea, "but her council has this one guy they keep sending to get her back and well sometime the duels between those two get … dangerous."

"Ah."

"So I came here fully expecting to be married off to Marth, and while my dad didn't have the best impression of him," she leaned back snuggling into Lucina's side, "but he later admitted that he liked Chrom so, I was going to live here now."

"One day Pyra marched up to us and told us that I was going to marry Marth within the week." she blushed as she added, "I panicked and we ended up scheming to fake a kidnapping."

"Then as we were drafting the ransom letter." Lucina sighed, "an actual thief caught us, and we ended up making a deal with him, he said he and his crew could kidnap us and we took him up on his offer."

"I was the one getting kidnapped but Luci insisted she come with." Corrin teased, "I could have handled him, you know."

"He seemed slimy at the time." Lucina sighed as she ran her hands through Corrin's hair, "even after the adventure we went on, I still don't know how much I trust Joker, he still feels like he's hiding something."

"And here I was thinking you were protecting me from a devious flurt." Corrin smiled as she put her teacup down and laid on the couch, resting her head in Lucina's lap.

"That too," Lucina smiled, "besides I just wanted an excuse to stay with you."

Corrin turned to Zelda. "We got kidnapped and our dads went on this huge man hunt to try and get us back." she smiled "after a run in with real bandits, I had my Dragon blood break a seal I didn't know I had and it just got even worse for the group."

"It culminated with us on a high speed chase through a desert running from the same bandits with our dads hiding in the kingdom we just ran from."

Corrin sighed. "They caught me but that was because I was at the time a ten foot tall dragon." she closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, "they fixed my seal and told me I would marry Marth within the week, and I was not emotionally ready for that."

"But since I was left with the Phantom Thieves, they agreed to help me to get Corrin back." Lucina smiled fondly, "we ended up crashing Marth's wedding, I told my dad I wanted to marry Corrin and they just let us."

"I got my dragon stuff sorted out and now I live here happily married to my wife." Corrin smiled, snuggling into Lucina a little more.

"I'm now a Phantom Thief by proxy." Lucina smiled. "If you need anything stolen just let me know, I can pull some strings."

Zelda only smiled. "I'll consider it, if Link needs any help stealing something I'll let him know." honestly with how adept Link was at getting into chests and mapping out unknown buildings, he would make a formidable Phantom Thief himself.

She chuckled to herself. Marth wasn't lying when he said their love story was a crazy one.

Marth never really considered himself daring. Even now he was sure that he wasn't doing anything new, Lucina probably snuck out of the castle many times over. Then again she really didn't have any reason to, but if she wanted to he was almost certain that she would have.

Not Marth though, Marth was a workaholic who never left the confines of his home, and any time he went into town it was always accompanied by his sister. In fact his adventure to Mount Prism was the only time he'd left the house without his sister at his side, it was quite nice. However, he didn't have either Lucina or Shulk to accompany him this time.

He didn't know what to expect, so he grabbed his heaviest cloak, his lantern and a coin purse just in case. His mind was a frazzled mess, more nervous about getting caught leaving the castle than anything that could happen to him once he left castle grounds.

He rushed out to the training grounds and from there snuck out through the secret path through the woods. Surprisingly no one had ever considered sealing this passage yet. He really should tell Robin to enchant the passage here when he gets back.

As he walked through the dense and confusing maze of trees he couldn't help but feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He cast a quick glance behind him.

But he saw nothing.

It was probably just the lingering chill of the winter wind. He pulled his cloak ever closer, it must have slipped, as it always did.

He carried on, but couldn't quite shake the feeling of something watching him.

He shook his head and quickened his pace. It was just his anxiety. He'd never done this before and he was overly terrified, as usual.

It was just like those long nights where he would stave off sleep to get a few more documents signed, and then he would hear voices in the wind whistling through the trees. He would fear footsteps coming from the crackling fire, where the whistle coming from his kettle would sound like the screaming of agenized souls.

He was paranoid, tired and overworked.

Now that treacherous wind was whispering in his ears. And his own foot falls would sound like there were two sets of them. His mind would conjure the sounds of twigs snapping.

But he had already gotten this far, he was a slave to his paranoia no longer.

He made his way quickly through the trees and found himself just outside the city proper. Good now he could start his investigation.

He took in a deep breath and began to run properly, he knew the city by heart. He had been down these streets with Lucina many times, sure that was in the day and this was at night. But he would find his way.

The moment his foot hit the paved stone streets of the town he felt his nerves eased just a bit. He bolted out into the night life of the town. He would lose this feeling of being watched, all he needed to do was lose this pent up adrenaline.

Shulk pulled at the edges of his cloak a little closer. He knew that the nights of Plegia were cold but he hadn't expected this cold. It was less of a chilling wind like Ylisse but rather a cold here was far dryer and cut a little deeper. Perhaps he just wasn't used to it, or he had lingered in his blankets a little too long.

Shulk had planned to wake up by sunset and begin his investigation just as the day and night markets transitioned. But the exhaustion from the trip had drained him a lot more than he had expected. Clearly worrying about getting attacked had taken its toll, so when his head hit the pillow time ceased to matter. By the time he had gotten out of bed the night market was in full swing, perhaps that was for the best.

He had expected to get more stares but it seemed that the night market couldn't be bothered to scrutinize its patrons. No, the night market was too busy whispering about the foreign guest. He had a vague understanding of Plegian, it was a language he could more or less understand but speaking it would reveal his shortcomings.

However as he walked among the streets he caught a whisper of familiar words, they spoke of the Exalt, and the Grimleal church. He was amused because they were speaking Ylissean, perhaps they were travelers like himself?

He stopped at a nearby stall and listened. They whispered about the Exalt being invited by their new King, they whispered about how the Grimleal church had almost been in an uproar about it.

"Are you going to buy something or not?" Shulk's focus was broken and he was forced to make eye contact with the vendor. Most of her was covered, as he would expect of someone working in this cold.

"Ah, right." he cast his gaze at the vast array of items she sold. They were mostly jewels and ornaments.

The vendor leaned forward and Shulk was put off by how close she was. "You Ylissean?" that had caught him off guard but then again he should have figured he would be given side eyes.

He raised an eyebrow, more amused at the immediate assumption than her being correct. "Do I sound Ylissean?" he let his accent flow a little more naturally. "I'm from overseas, but yes, I guess I am working there for a bit."

She chuckled and shrugged. "All you foreigners sound the same, to me." she got a little closer to him and he felt a bit more uncomfortable at her friendliness. "But I'm guessing you're interested in the rumors about the Grimleal."

He pulled out the bag of gold coins Robin gave him, "I entertain gossip."

She motioned to her more expensive wears and he understood the implication and began evaluating them. If buying something meant getting more information in some form of exchange then so be it.

That was when his eyes caught sight of a stunning gold brooch, the main eyecatcher however was the stunning lapis lazuli. Shulk wasn't sure if it was silver flakes that had fallen on it or some unknown geographic miracle but there were silver flakes shimmering on the stone's surface. He felt as if he was staring into the night sky. He pointed it out, and when he was allowed to hold it he couldn't help but smile.

He couldn't help but remember the prince awkwardly shifting his heavier cloaks trying to keep them from slipping off his shoulders. "This one, it's perfect."

The vendor looked him up and down. "I don't know if blue is exactly your color…"

His face flushed instantly. "Oh, no, it's not for me." he couldn't help the fond smile that crossed his face. "It's a gift."

She flashed him this all knowing smile and reached for a quill just behind her. "I can cast a little love hex on it for a little extra gold."

That had his face burning. "No, no, this is fine." he subconsciously pulled it closer to his chest. It wasn't like that!

The stall keeper seemed satisfied with his reaction and held out her palm, he handed her the gold for the broach and a pinch extra. Then she started moving her quill on a small sheet of parchment absentmindedly as she began to chat in a soft whisper. "Word has it that the Grimleal church isn't happy about the Exalt being here."

He figured as much.

"Reason being that the Grimleal church as it stands is losing sway with the people," he cast his gaze down at the glyph she was working on. "The Exalt has been pushing for peace between the two countries and between his adamant insistence that the Princess's kidnapping wasn't Plegia and his chief advisor being Plegian born, well it's gone a long way."

He was a bit confused. "How exactly does that relate to the church?"

"While the Grimleal faith is pretty vague, going off some really old scriptures written by the Fell Dragon themselves, the Grimleal church speaks of the bringer of destruction" she folded the paper neatly and he was amazed at how quickly the ink had dried. "The people have hope for a peaceful future so the idea of the bringer of doom is starting to lose its appeal."

"So the Church wants to strike the spark of war between the two then?" he tucked the broach neatly wrapped into his bag.

"That's it in a nutshell," she returned the quill to the pot of ink at her side, "I mean there are some people saying they plan to resurrect the Fell Dragon if the igniting war thing falls through."

"I'll keep that in mind," so he wasn't misreading that vision, it was Plegia. Granted it was a subset of Plegia, that being the Grimleal church, but still. He then returned his gaze back to the folded paper in his hand. "What's this?"

"Have a charm." she cheered, and he gave her a thank you and left. When he opened the paper, he saw an adorable drawing of a rabbit, wearing a cloak and cross, and vest. Was that supposed to be him? … it was pretty cute … maybe he'll show it to Marth and Lucina when he gets back.

Marth had made his way through the vast city many times. He definitely wasn't lost. He just got a little turned around, that's all. Eventually he found his way to a rather small looking inn. It was a two story building that looked like it was a simple repurposing of a fine family home.

The door outside had a lovely hanging sign that along with a simple drawing of a butterfly had in elegant script, The Velvet Rest. He'd found it.

He pushed open the door and was greeted with a tired looking young man with frizzy black hair and glasses sitting behind the welcome desk. Marth couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen this man somewhere before.

He snapped upright, clearly startled to be receiving customers or he'd just been caught half way asleep behind the desk. "Welcome to the Velvet Rest," he motioned behind him. "We're fully booked and unfortunately the kitchen's closed so…"

Marth reached into his cloak and placed the calling card on the table. He had expected a confused look but the owlish gaze that met his, told him that he knew what this was. So this man has contact with the Phantom Thieves, noted.

The man behind the counter stood up slowly. "Come with me." He reached behind him and placed a handmade sign on the counter, reading Counter's closed.

He led him to a rather large dining room, clearly it held a lot of tables. Clearly this functioned as a restaurant when in working hours. Perhaps this was a tavern if the huge bar to his side was anything to go by.

The man motioned to a table that had yet to have its chairs put away, Marth took the offered seat and the man sat across from him. "So, what is your association with the Phantom Thieves?"

Marth stared at the innkeeper as he inspected the calling card. "Yup, that's ours." he heard the man murmur to himself before meeting Marth's gaze. "Where did you get this?"

"A man has appeared to me and has made some interesting claims," he studied the man in front of him, the way he twirled the card between his fingers gave Marth the impression he was quite adept at using them. "I found this on the floor of the last place I saw him."

The man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This explains things." he took off his glasses, as he continued to murmur to himself, "I didn't send this, so either Byleth or Cloud sent it since Leven's been in the shop all day." when he met Marth's gaze again he spoke plainly. "So this is real, I have a good idea of who sent it, and mysteriously they left hours ago, said they would be gone a while."

Marth eyed him suspiciously. "So you're a Phantom Thief."

The man didn't panic, hell he looked flattered. Then with what Marth would guess would be a charming smile he added. "Who can say, you wouldn't tell the guard on me would you?"

Marth pulled down his hood to reveal himself. "After what you did for my sister I suppose I can't hold it against you too much, but I haven't forgotten the wrongs you've done."

He let out a relieved sigh. "I didn't do anything to you, handsome." then he smiled, "but if you're Monarch's brother, you can't be that bad."

"Which one of you has a demon mask? They shot at me," Marth crossed his arms, "almost got me killed." Thankfully Shulk had been there to save him, although now that Marth thought about it he should have savored that moment a bit longer then he did.

"My dearest apologies," he gave Marth that same smile that almost had Marth's cheeks heating up, key word being almost. "How could I ever make it up to you, hand-" Then someone smacked him upside the head. Marth looked up to see a face he knew all too well. His sister's favored blacksmith stood over the boy in the glasses, an unamused and disappointed look etched into his features. The man rubbed the back of his head and faced the blacksmith. "Oh, you're home."

"Eleven?" Marth tilted his head, as the boy responded to turn and face him. Yup, that was him, he knew that face anywhere. "Don't tell me you're a Phantom Thief too."

Eleven only gave him an apologetic smile. Marth rubbed at his temples. "I mean it though," the innkeeper righted himself, "I'll look into it, see if I learn anything about this mystery man." he adjusted his glasses. "I'm curious about him myself. He said something to Cloud and Byleth and they don't run off for no reason."

Marth had to admit he didn't expect for the Phantom Thieves to be so … reasonable. "Thank you." he stood, "I should get going, it's already late and I have a meeting in the morning."

They waved him off and Marth left the inn, perhaps a bit more confused but ultimately relieved.

He walked down the mostly empty streets of castle town, his mind running through what he had learned. That being ultimately nothing of value. Sure he learned the identity of the Phantom Thieves but that didn't help him when it came to Oracle. In fact this brought up more questions, namely what had he said to those other two Phantom Thieves that would have them leaving town. Furthermore, why?

So engrossed in his thoughts he almost didn't catch the sound of a second pair of footsteps following him. Absentmindedly he made a random turn, and it followed. He made another turn when he realized he had strayed from his designated path, and it was still following him.

He turned around suddenly, and saw no one, but he heard the sound of quick shuffling. Conveniently there were a few alleys in sight.

He reached for his side, finding only his lantern and a coin purse strapped to it. That was when he realized in his frazzled and anxious escape of the castle he had forgotten a sword. Fear began to coil in the pit of his stomach, and when he pulled his cloak closed he realized that he hadn't pulled up his hood.

So whoever it was knew who he was, and because of the lamp at his side, they knew he wasn't armed. That was when that mild worry turned into screaming paranoia.

He pulled his hood up and made a mad dash down the long streets, and just as he had expected whoever it was had started after him.

Worse, judging by the sounds, it wasn't just the one pursuer. He couldn't quite make out the exact number but he knew one thing, he was outnumbered. Confrontation wasn't a very bad idea. He could outmaneuver them, right?

He could only hope so.

AN/ Yeah, short I know. But I'm ending the year with a cliffhanger. Umm alright, fun fact time.

1. The original outline didn't have us seeing any of the Plegia stuff. But after having a vision of that scene with Shulk buying Marth a little present I thought I really should bring up the Pegia stuff, seeing as how I built it up for a bit.

2. Originally I was going to have a different scene in this chapter but I moved that around in the outline ironing.

3. When I had started writing this chapter I was working on that Lucina Zelda scene and I ended up going in a completely different direction, I got really emotional and it got really sappy, but then I messed up and got it all deleted in a way that undo couldn't fix. So I wrote it again and decided to go for the light hearted tone originally planned.

Anyways hope you have a nice new year, and I'll see you all next year on the 13th as planned.

~ (12/11/2024)