Illusions and Lies (A Super Smash Brothers fan fiction)

CHAPTER FIFTY TWO: SON.

Vincent had not slept well since he had watched his son die in front of him. 

Every night, the image of his son bleeding out, his eyes desperate and scared, confronted him. He hadn't felt guilt like this since the days right after he'd ordered his son to be tortured for being an aberration. And even then, the guilt of that act hadn't really left him. He just tried not to think about it. 

He knew that he was not a good man. He had done horrible things to his own children, and had ordered countless people killed. He had watched his son die without even lifting a finger to stop it. Not that he could have actually done anything once Roy had cut Sheik's throat, but still. He could have at least... tried? Sure, it was up for debate what he could have done, but he still could have tried to make his son's death as peaceful as possible. 

Sheik hadn't deserved to die believing nobody had ever really cared about him, but Vincent hadn't even tried to correct Roy. Gods, he loathed himself for it. But the past was the past, no matter how painful. Nobody could turn back the hands of time. Not anymore.

After all, he'd killed the green-haired woman with that particular Gift. Her dying words still haunted him.

"Try as you might, you cannot outrun your past, nor your deeds. You're just a scared little boy who wants to rule the world because it hurt you once upon a time."

"Enough. Your words cannot shake me, Sothis."

The time-weaver just smirked defiantly, a surprising confidence in her entire demeanor for someone who was about to die.

He snapped her neck without a second thought.

Vincent's hands balled into fists on his lap. He had discarded his gloves, leaving his hands bare. Even so, he could practically see the layers of blood coating them from the years and years he'd spent killing people.

Thankfully for him, his attention was drawn from his thoughts as the sound of his daughter's voice carried through the door. A second voice- Roy's- chimed in a second later. 

"I really don't think you want to bother him right now." Roy said, sounding mildly irritated. 

"I don't think it'll matter either way." Zelda responded. 

Their voices were getting louder, so that meant they were coming to see him. Vincent took a deep breath to remove any lingering traces of the weakness that had previously threatened to overcome him and donned his mask, both literally and figuratively. After arriving in his room earlier, he had discarded it to breathe easier, since it had become more and more difficult to wear it ever since Sheik's murder. He wasn't quite sure what that was all about. 

No, that was a lie. He knew exactly why it was happening, and it had everything to do with the blood red eye painted on the otherwise gleaming white of the mask. 

Either way, Vincent had made a commitment. He would not show his face unless absolutely necessary, and while a visit from Zelda usually led to him removing the mask at some point, Roy was nowhere near that important to him. Honestly, Vincent despised him. But he was a useful means to an end, so he tolerated the bastard. 

He slipped it back on, taking care to make sure that his hair was properly hidden and the mask itself was secure. Only then did he stand and move over to the door, his arms crossed and a debate raging within his mind. Did he reach out and open it to surprise the two teens, or did he stand there and wait for them to do it first?

The two pairs of footsteps came right up to his door, then halted abruptly. 

"Oh, by the way. Before I go in there, I just wanted to mention that Marth has been talking a lot about finally making a move and properly going after you. He wants to bring it up to Chrom soon. It'll probably happen after Corrin gets forced back into service. That should happen soon, since Chrom is losing his patience." Zelda snickered as she spoke the dragon boy's name, clearly reveling in his grief. Vincent felt a brief pang of guilt at the thought; by killing Sheik, he'd utterly ruined that poor boy once and for all, if Roy and Zelda's reports were to be believed.