Happy new year, welcome back. I hope you're not too mad at me for leaving you on a cliffhanger for the rest of 2024. Anyway, on with the chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Editi: I'm going on a suprise trip, I'll miss next cycal upload. See you all next time.

The Prince's Future

Chapter 10: From the Future

Oracle was frantic, he had lost Marth in the maze of darkened streets and alleys. He was on the roof again, casting his gaze around the nearby area looking for something, anything to tell him where Marth could be.

He peered over the edge of a building and saw nothing but a rather startled cat peering up at him with large eyes. He straightened himself and lept to the nearest building.

He hadn't expected Marth to leave late into the night. It was unlike the prince, what could have gotten into him? Had Oracle not caught a glimpse of him in the secret passage through the woods he wouldn't have suspected a thing.

He peered off the edge of the next building when a sound caught his ear. Footsteps, rapid footsteps and many in number.

He followed it and there in the distance was a group chasing after a lone figure. He switched the art on the blade at his back and made after them.

And as if answering his earlier prayer the Prince darted down the nearby road, at the lead, running away from the group at his back. Thank goodness, he'd found him.

Marth heard something fall down from the nearby roof and something deep down told him to turn around. He shouldn't stop but his curiosity forced his legs to still. And when he turned around he saw a single figure with his back to Marth, standing between him and the people pursuing him.

He was a tall man, his long red cloak billowed behind him. Along with long silver blonde hair, the man wielded a large red blade, it wasn't the sword Marth knew but somehow he knew it was similar, crimson metal, far larger than should be practical, with a faint glow to it that proved it had magic coursing through it or around it.

He moved effortlessly and so fast Marth almost didn't see it. One second he was standing between his pursuers and the next he had a man doubled over the flat side of his blade.

The force of the impact had forced the other attackers to take a step back. And that's what they were, he realized. They had daggers drawn, had they caught up to him, Marth dreaded to think what would have happened. At best they would know who he was and they would hold him ransom, at worst they wouldn't recognize him and they would … he didn't want to entertain that thought.

Oracle readied his blade again and took a very familiar looking stance. Then the glyph decorating the large glass panel the blade held switched to a different symbol. That was all the warning they got before he charged at them with full force. The powerful strike knocked all of them down and upon righting themselves they all made a collective run for it.

Marth was left in a bit of awe and fear, Oracle was a force to be reckoned with, perhaps there was some truth to him being a shadow guard. The way he moved had proved that he had seen his fair share of battles.

Oracle returned his blade to his back and in that moment it vanished though some magic he didn't quite understand. Then Oracle turned around and they locked eyes.

There was concern there, worry and exhaustion, perhaps a hint of fear. But then they shifted in relief. His gentle face contrasted greatly to what Marth had just witnessed him do, the power he used.

Then Marth turned his gaze to the one thug who still lay on the ground. "Is he dead?"

"No." Oracle sighed, as he approached him. "Simply unconscious." Marth let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure if he had actually expected Oracle to have killed a man so easily but still.

Marth fidgeted with the old clasp of his cloak, adjusted it a little more, just to keep his hands busy. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you leave the castle and I was curious." he began to walk past the prince ever so slightly, "considering you're unarmed, I'd say it's a good thing I chose to find you."

Marth quicked his step to catch up to him and once he did it seemed Oracle was content to let him lead. "I didn't mean to be, I just…" honestly what had he been thinking? What kind of idiot leaves the house without a weapon, especially at night? "…forgot." he was so caught up in the adventure he had forgotten one of the important items.

"Regardless, did you have any other business at this hour?" he could hear the teasing tone in his voice, it wasn't something he was unused to hearing, it just seemed so … different.

Marth couldn't help the heat flooding his face at the taunt. In a meek little voice that must have told Oracle he was clearly embarrassed, he squeeked. "No no, I'm going home now." Worse was when he peeked up at Oracle from under his hood and caught the sight of a small smirk crossing his features.

Valkyrie poked her head through the heavy foliage of a large tree. She scanned the nearby surroundings and saw nothing. What a jumped down to the group sitting comfortably by a nearby small pond.

Tempest was ankle deep in the water attempting to catch dinner with her bare hands, again. Sparkle was sitting under the tree, snacking on a few apples they had found growing nearby. And Forge, he was laying down on the nearby grass, his eyes fixed on the stars.

They had managed to get away from Driver and now they were taking a much needed rest. She plopped down by Sparkle and took one of the gathered apples. "I think we lost him."

Forge let out something between a whine and a sigh. "We are in so much trouble."

"I vote we blame you if things go badly." Sparkle said as she tossed her discarded apple core off into the thicket.

"I second." Forge said from the floor.

"Same." Tempest said as she returned to the group, partially soaked, she didn't carry any fish so it was evident her hunt had gone unsuccessful.

Valkyrie feigned getting shot. "Mutinany," she collapsed to the ground clutching her fake injury. "How could my own band do this to me?"

"Is it a lie though?" Sparkle just poked her with her staff, as Forge began searching through his belongings for something.

Valkyrie huffed. "Oh come on, you all wanted to know what happened to Oracle."

Sparkle just tapped her with her staff. "The dead don't speak."

"Uh they can." Valkyrie huffed.

"That makes you one of The Dark Mages puppets!" Tempest called pointing at Valkyrie in just a theatrical and over the top way. This is why they were friends.

"Curses! I've been found out." Valkyrie jumped to her feet and attempted to run away, but she was tackled by Tempest. The two tumbled into a nearby bush and laughed, but were suddenly made silent when something floated between them.

Tempest was faster than Valkyrie and managed to catch it in her hands, cradling it as they peered into her cupped hands, "What is this?"

Inside was a little bug, with a glowing backside. It was so small and fragile. "Forge?" Said resident smart guy was holding a parchment up to the sky, his goggles on as he fiddled with the dials on its side.

They rushed over to him and he pulled up his goggles to see what they needed. He peered into Tempest's cupped hands, the little creature crawled up her palm and flew away right in front of him.

They watched as it landed on Forge's parchment. He lowered his goggles carefully and studied it for a moment. "I've seen these before." he raised his goggles and watched it with amazement. "In a book I found in the library at the Bastion." he smiled as it flew away only for more to hover around the treeline. "They are called Lightning bugs, or more commonly known as Fireflies."

Sparkle stood and approached them to watch the bugs dance around. "So does that tell you anything about where we are?"

Forge returned his gaze to the parchment and then stared up at the sky again. "Sort of."

"Go on."

He gave them a concerned look. "They're supposed to be extinct."

"Then we have learned nothing." Sparkle sighed.

Forge shook his head, "I think I've figured it out." he held out the parchment so that they could all get a better look at it. Sparkle seemed to understand his silent request and suddenly a group of floating orbs danced around them, shining light on the parchment.

It was a mess of lines and dots, drawn on top of faded images of all kinds of beasts and legends. "A starmap?"

Forge continued. "These stars, they line up perfectly with those." he pointed skyward.

"So where are we?" Valkyrie asked.

Forge seemed hesitant to answer. "Ylisse," he stared down at the map, "if I was to make an exact guess, probably somewhere close to the border with Plegia."

Sparkle was the first to speak, she was somewhere between unimpressed and doubtful. "There is no way we're in Ylisse."

Valkyrie didn't blame her, she knew Ylisstol like the back of her hand, she had scouted the lands around her home her entire life. And there wasn't this much green. All these little creatures, all this clear and shining water. All this readily available food. Ylisse was a wasteland just like everything else. There was no way this was her home.

"Between the average Ether levels, the abundance of wildlife and the lack of outposts made by the Armies in White" Forge began, "I know it's hard to believe but I know these stars, I've studied them my whole life, this has to be Ylisse, so the only thing I can guess is … maybe, somehow, we've traveled through time, back to Ylisse when it was in it's prime before all the wars and chaos."

Valkyrie studied Forge's face for a long time, and she couldn't find any hint of deception in them. He was so sincere, and the likelihood of him being wrong was slim. She didn't understand how a place like this could turn into the wasteland she called home. A knot formed in her stomach at the idea of what Ylisstol would look like. It would without a doubt look nothing like home.

But there somewhere in her chest a thought bubbled up. The stories The Old Man told her about Ylisse, about what it looked like in the day, about how lively The Dragon's Claw used to be. That wistful look in his eyes when he said he wished she could have seen it. Now, maybe she would get her chance.

Then somewhere not too far a tree fell over, and that had put all of them on edge, then Driver's voice rang out through the woods. "I know you're here, Brats!"

Tempest channeled her power and with a single strike at the pond's edge a bridge of soggy land pulled itself from the water. "We run?"

Valkyrie didn't even hesitate to run across it. "We run!"

Marth was about to explode, he and Oracle had been walking through the forest for at least two minutes in silence and the prince couldn't take it any more. He took a deep breath and let out his pent up emotion in one fluid sentence, he could feel his face starting to heat up. "Thank you for saving me."

Oracle only gave a half shrug. "It's what I do."

What a very Shulk thing to say. Marth huffed, his face refusing to cool off. "Aren't you going to ask what I was doing here?"

"Do you want to tell me?" Marth couldn't fight the guilt eating at him, was Oracle really not going to ask anything?

Marth could feel the pressure inside building, but he managed to force it down. "Not Really?"

"Then I won't pry." Marth fought down the immediate urge to scream. Oracle was really about to save him and handwave whatever foolish reasoning Marth had for putting his own life in danger. "It's clear the guilt is enough punishment."

"Guilt?" caught red handed. Marth was thankful that Oracle couldn't see how red his face was. Was he really that easy to read? Or was it just because this was Shulk? That eased some of the conflict in his chest, of course Shulk would be able to read him so easily. He let out a sigh, "I guess so."

Oracle only raised an eyebrow, "I won't force you if you don't want to." How very Shulk of him.

Marth took a deep breath, he needed to say it, it would eat him from the inside if he didn't. "I didn't trust you, not at first." he began to fuss with the edge of his cloak. "It was all so convenient, and you didn't show me anything to prove your claims. Then I found that calling card in my room and I just knew it had to be yours-"

"Ah," he heard Oracle curse before mumbling, "I thought I had put it in my pocket. Damn metal joints."

"I came to the Velvet Rest in hopes of looking into you, and then you saved me, and clearly you would have just let me go." Marth let out another long breath before steadying himself. "I'm sorry for doubting you."

He expected Oracle to be hurt, annoyed or anything else. He hadn't expected a soft chuckle, "I didn't expect you to believe me without proof."

Marth stopped and peered at Oracle for a long time, and the supposed time traveler returned his gaze, unflinching, unbothered, honest, earnest. "Show me."

Oracle reached into his cloak and pulled out a small object wrapped in blue cloth. He unwrapped the small treasure and carefully placed it in Marth's palm.

It was a ring, small and sincere, a simple gold band with a shimmering blue stone that seemed to give off its own glow when hit by the moonlight. He shifted it in and held it up to the moonlight. It was chipped around the gem but otherwise it was well cared for, it still shone brilliantly. But it was as he shifted it in the light that the moonlight bounced around it and revealed the crest inside, the Mark of the Exalt. He knew this ring, the simple gold band and deep blue stone.

"This is my ring." he looked up at Oracle with wide eyes. "How did you get this?"

"It was entrusted to me by My Exalt, The Future Exalt" his gaze met Marth's again and Marth understood the sincerity in every word. "Your future self."

"He must have trusted you a great deal." Marth could feel the heat in his face returning.

"I was his Royal Guard," There was a fondness when he spoke. "His shadow, his retainer, and advisor."

"I understand." Marth handed it back, "that's why you want to protect me." Oracle only nodded once. Marth couldn't deny that he found some comfort in that.

Marth turned to continue walking and realized that they had arrived at the secret passage by the gazebo. "Well I'm sure you can find yourself to your room from here." Oracle pulled his hood up, "I can't very well walk in with you so I will see you later."

Marth turned to face the ex-guard only to realize he was gone.

AN/ I'm going to be real that one was done a lot quicker then I expected it to be. Well not much to add, everything here went according to plan. Well I guess I did attempt writing the fight scene from Oracle's POV at first but it didn't give off the same vibe. So I rewrote it in Marth's scene and I like it better this way. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and I can't wait to see you in the next chapter.

~ (12/12/2024)