Illusions and Lies (A Super Smash Brothers fan fiction)

CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT: NO BROTHER OF MINE.

Throughout the entire conversation that Lucina had with Chrom, Samus was distinctly uncomfortable. There was a look on her face that she never expected to see on the smaller girl. For this reason, it was hard to describe, but it unsettled Samus all the same.

"Thank you, Father. It was nice to get some clarification for once." Lucina smiled sweetly- too sweetly, as if she was trying to hide her true emotions under her usual cheerful attitude- and turned to Samus. "Now. I believe my brother is wallowing in his own self-pity back at his apartment. Ready to go?"

Samus hesitated, a chill running down her spine at the tone of Lucina's voice. "Yeah. Sure."

Chrom didn't so much as spare the two a second glance. He just turned back to the maps he had been studying, completely unbothered that everything his daughter had just told him.

That bastard.

While the two girls walked down the sidewalk, people tended to get out of their way once they saw the expression on Lucina's face. Sure, it made their trip over to Marth's apartment a lot easier, but Samus really wished that Lucina would say something. Her silence, coupled with her expression, was highly out of character for her. Then again, she had been manipulated and lied to by someone she cared about for months, and she had visibly changed during that time now that Samus was thinking about it. So maybe it wasn't such a surprise.

Once they reached Marth's apartment, Lucina knocked twice on the door. "Marth, it's me. Lucina. Will you open the door? I have to talk to you."

"Go away." was the muffled reply. "Whatever Father wants with me this time, I won't go."

"It's not about that. Now open the door."

"No."

"Damn it, Marth!" Lucina snapped. "Open the door, you coward!"

Samus blinked in surprise, the anger in the blue-haired girl's voice catching her completely off-guard. It wasn't unusual to hear her swear, but in this context, it was borderline heartbreaking. 

The door opened, revealing an exhausted-looking Marth. His hair was a mess and there were deep shadows under his eyes. And, of course, there was the matter of his eyes themselves- they were dull and nearly lifeless, almost like he was nothing but a walking corpse at this point.

"What the hell do you want, Lucina?" Marth snapped, seemingly not noticing Samus for the time being. That was quite a feat, considering how tall she was. But Samus didn't mind. She'd rather stay out of the brewing fight that was about to happen.

"To talk. Can I come inside?" Lucina answered calmly, though there was definitely still anger in her voice.

Marth shrugged and stepped aside. "Sure. I guess."

Lucina stepped inside, vanishing from Samus's sight as she did so. The tall blonde moved to follow her, Marth surprisingly staying quiet considering that it had seemed like he hadn't even registered that she was there earlier.

Once all three of them were inside, Lucina and Marth entered the most intense staredown Samus had ever witnessed. And she had seen a lot of epic staredowns in her day. Hell, she worked with several of the "alpha male" types, and it seemed like they stared each other down on a daily basis. It was exhausting. But this? It far outmatched any of those by miles.

Honestly, it made her feel a lot like an outsider. She got the sense that she wasn't supposed to be watching this, but Lucina had asked her to be here. Casually, Samus glanced around the apartment and crossed her arms over her chest. Marth had a nice place. It was neat and everything looked suspiciously dust-free, though that was probably because all of his moping gave him a lot of free time. The walls were painted a weird off-white color that stood out starkly against the black furniture, which was probably Marth's doing rather than Caeda's. The blue-haired girl had always struck Samus as being more fashion-savvy, but that was useless now.