Chapter 13 and we're finally getting the plot moving, funny PDB took till Chapter 15 or 16. I'd say that's a personal improvement.
The Prince's Future
Chapter 13: Scars Of Future Past
A lone figure sat alongside the road under a tree. They didn't move as the sound of footsteps sounded behind them. Two pathetic fools waltzing closer, unaware of the danger they neared. "Who's this guy?"
"You're early." The figure didn't move, but a raspy voice responded in perfect Plegian. Although, something about it sounded off, their dialect sounded ancient.
"Here to stop us eh," one of the two drew a sword.
"Do not antagonize me, worm." The figure slowly stood, something about the way they moved was wrong and unnatural, like a puppet on strings.
He held up his hands showing he was unarmed and stepped towards them. Then they placed a hand on one of the men's shoulders. Then, effortlessly walking past him, their hand ran down to his middle.
The stench of burned flesh assaulted the other man as his comrade collapsed to the floor, a disgusting burn mark ran down the man's back. Trailing opposite of where the stranger touched as if he was burned through by some powerful magic.
Out of instinct the other drew his sword, backing away from the monster. They had never seen magic so effortlessly cast without a tome. And the stranger didn't have a tome, he had shown them this.
As if to prove a point the stranger held up his hands again. And it was then that he realized something terrifying. There were no runes or charms, and worse the stranger wasn't wearing gloves. That strange leathery texture, those where it's hands. Like the hands of the dead. "Do you understand?"
They locked eyes. A dark and disturbing crimson hue revealed how lifeless they were. This was a lifeless body, and yet it moved, and cast magic on its own. This went against everything he knew. He was told that resurrecting the dead was a practice, but it was said to be only possible by some of the strongest of the Grimleal priests. But they could only be cast with a mage close by, and none were dispatched on this operation.
"I don't have much magic left in this form, but perhaps." In one fluid motion, a palm was placed to his chest and in that instant he could feel agonizing pain. "I'll make use of you worthless worms."
Agony coursed through his arm as the cursed ink burned his skin. He bit back a scream as another Grimleal demanded answers that he had no mind to. In truth, he couldn't focus and the pain made him less likely to relinquish any more knowledge.
The ink burned, from the skin all the way down to the bone, perhaps deeper. Answers, they wanted answers! And they wouldn't accept "I don't know" even though that was all he could think to say.
He knew the Grimleal wanted to attack the Exalt and his Adviser. He had made sure that they got out of there as soon as he could. He had taken the attention away and allowed Robin to teleport them out of that wreckage.
Shulk had stayed behind, playing guard dog to an injured Exalt that had made it out of there long ago. He knew if they knew they had teleported they could track them further. But if they thought the Exalt was still there they would fight to get to him. He had wasted that time and by the time they realised he had duped them the magic from Robin's teleport would long be faded.
When he finally told them they had wasted precious time, that the Exalt had made it to Ylisse, that had caused them to up the pain. The magical ink was replaced with carving dark magic into his skin. Over and over and over again. Deepening the branding every time.
He had been rescued but the pain didn't stop. It only seemed to get worse, as if being away from his Grimleal tormenter made it worse. It grew unbearable, he started to lose track of his actions, feeling invisible strings pulling at his mind and body.
"Are you sure about this?" his companion asked, the ruby cross in their chest catching the light of the small campfire. They summoned his blade, the same crimson sword that he had used his entire life. "There is no going back from this."
He grunted a response and braced himself for the inevitable pain. He watched the blade shift changing shape ever so slightly, and with his approval the blade came down on his arm.
Oracle shot up, his eyes snapping open as his breath burned, his throat dry. "Oracle?"
The ex-seer turned to face the crown prince. His eyes shone with concern. "Ah forgive me, was I loud?" Marth had convinced him to rest in his room while he was working, insisting that staying in his sight would ease some of his paranoia.
"Don't apologize," those bright blue eyes overflowed with worry, "You sounded like you were having a terrible nightmare."
"Nightmare?" Oracle didn't mean to chuckle as he laid back down. "No, no, I was just remembering something." he curled the fingers on his mechanical hand, satisfied with the numbness of it.
Valkyrie and the others finally managed to get out of the forest and were running down the long road when Tempest called out. "Guys look!"
"Tempest, wait!" Forge called after her as she ran in front of the carriage, startling the horses. The traveling cavalry that followed seemed to rush up to them and surround the group, or at least they tried to.
Valkyrie rushed over to the carriage's door, before she was stopped too. She inhaled and remembered everything The Old Man taught her about hamming things up. "Please," memories rushed to the forefront of her mind and the tears began to prickle in her eyes. "We need help."
The door of the wagon opened and two men poked their heads out. The shorter of the two, a short guy with silver hair stepped out of the wagon. A broad shouldered man with blue hair tried to step out two but was stopped by the shorter one. "Is everything alright?"
"Please we're being chased, can we ride with you for a little bit?" She tried her best to sound scared and terrified.
"Give us a minute," he returned inside and a young blonde man poked his head out of the wagon and looked them over. Valkyrie couldn't help but feel like she'd seen him somewhere before. "Well?" the blue haired man asked the blonde.
"This isn't who I saw, I'm not sure who they are but they aren't the assassins." the blonde said and returned to the group. "Perhaps we should humor them?"
"Well if you didn't see them then we must have dismissed them before." the blue haired man pondered. "Yes, let's change fate this time." The blue haired man made a motion and the cavalry loosened their hold on them. "Come on in."
Much to Valkyrie's surprise they actually believed her. Neat. Much to her surprise the wagon or carriage was rather spacious. And thankfully there was enough room inside for all of them. Well at least with the shorter man sitting on the blue haired guy's lap.
"What exactly were you kids doing out here?" the silver haired man asked.
How could she spin their situation in their favor? "Well, we managed to make someone angry and he's kinda scary so… you know."
"Ah." that seemed to ease the tension in the carriage. And with the space empty of conversation, Valkyrie couldn't help but study the blue haired guy, she couldn't help but feel she knew him from somewhere. His face left an annoying itch in her brain. She knows she's seen his face before somewhere but where?
Zelda pulled the hood of her cloak closer in on herself. The day had grown cold and she had no idea why Corrin insisted on going out so close to sunset. Was it really something that couldn't wait until tomorrow? "Corrin, Where exactly are we going?"
The draconic princess giggled to herself. "Alright," she led Zelda to a seamstress's shop. "I've made a special order and wanted someone's opinion on it."
"I don't know, shouldn't you ask Lucina instead?"
"Of course I can't." Corrin pouted, "I want it to be a surprise."
"And that's why we had to wait until it was this late because?"
That made Corrin's cheeks pinken. "I couldn't find a better time." she threw her arms up in defeat. "I can't just not invite her to an outing without it looking suspicious, but I got lucky, a duke's daughter insisted on seeing her, she wants to win Marth's favor. So that gave me the window of time I needed." she flashed Zelda a mischievous smile, "I'd hate to throw Mar-Mar to the wolves but~ this would be the perfect opportunity."
"And what exactly is it we'd be doing?"
Corrin pulled her along to the tailor's store, the young woman working the shop turned their way and her eyes brightened. The seamstress looked around them as if looking for someone, she nodded and handed Corrin a rather nice looking bag. "Both outfits are ready."
"Good." Corrin opened the bag. "Can I try it on?"
"Of course." The seamstress motioned to the back room and Zelda took a seat knowing this is probably why Corrin insisted she come out here with her.
When she stepped out of the changing room Zelda found herself jumping awake, had she really zoned out that easily? The outfit was mostly white and platinum. It suited her, drawing attention to her eyes and face, because she was blushing. "Do you think Luci would like it?"
Zelda found herself smiling. "Oh she is going to love it, but don't freak out and just give her a moment, Oh, and don't forget to remind her to breathe."
Corrin began to fuss with her hair. And walked back into the changing room, although Zelda could hear her through the door. "I was also thinking of wearing my hair in a low ponytail, do you think it would look nice?"
"I do think it would look nice but…" she hummed thoughtfully, "I think for that outfit you should wear your hair down."
She finally stepped out of the changing room and placed the suit in the bag. "I'm also going to be in the Spring Festival."
Zelda nodded. "Maybe half up half down? it's hard to say," she turned to stare at Corrin for a long time. "Scratch that, I'll help style your hair for the events."
"Thank you." Corrin's smile brightened as they walked out of the store. "I'm not used to messing with my hair, I have no idea how to put it up properly."
"Oh don't worry, I have plenty of practice" her face pinkened as she thought of Link, he had learned a many array of styles and even taught her a few before she cut her hair. The two laughed as they walked down the road.
"And what exactly are you two doing out here?" the two girls almost jumped at the familiar voice.
"Luci~!" Corrin's cheeks pinkened instantly.
"I was looking for you for hours only for Pyra to tell me she caught you leaving the castle without telling me." Despite her words, Lucina's smile didn't show any signs of being angry. "What are you up to?"
Zelda braced herself, her mind wharling to think up a good lie. But Corrin seemed to take the lead, stepping closer to her wife and, with a coy smile and in the sweetest voice she had ever heard, Corrin said. "I went to pick up my Spring Festival outfit, and I wanted someone to come with me, and you were so~busy I thought, I'd surprise you with it."
Zelda watched as Lucina's face reddened as Corrin closed the distance between them. "W-well, I guess I c-can't be too angry with you."
"How about we go home so I can show you~" Corrin had her wrapped around her fingers so easily, Zelda almost felt bad for Lucina. The Princess nodded as the three of them walked back to the castle.
Forge adjusted the lens of his goggles and stared off into the far distance of the road. Sparkle to his left asked in a deadpan tone. "He's chasing us isn't he?"
"Yup." Forge only sighed. "Honestly his endurance and stamina is amazing, he hasn't slowed down or stopped once."
"Should we be scared?" Tempest sounded genuinely concerned, as she should be.
Forge adjusted the magnification to account for the distance, Driver was getting closer. "Oh, Absolutely."
AN/ I love writing disaster gays, they are so much fun. Anyways I know I didn't describe the suit that much but I'm planning on giving it a much more elaborate description when Lucina sees it herself. And the main plot is hitting next chapter. You just got a taste in this one. Fun fact the first scene was actually hard to write because I was unsure how much of the main villain I wanted to show off, mostly cuz I feel their identity is pretty obvious. But maybe it's just obvious to me, well guess you'll find out soon if you didn't get it already. Anyway, see you later~.
~ (2/20/2025)