Illusions and Lies (A Super Smash Brothers fan fiction)

CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR: LOVE TURNED TO HATE.

Warnings: This chapter contains mild blood and gore. Read at your own discretion. 

"Marth. We need to talk." 

Marth looked up from his battle plans and internally groaned at the sight of his sister. "I thought we weren't speaking?"

"We're not. I'm talking to you as a soldier. You need to send Corrin back to Chrom. He's not fit for active service yet." Lucina responded. Her sentences were much more clipped than usual, which was both upsetting and hilarious at the same time. 

"No." Marth leaned back in his chair, feeling a smile creep onto his face. "He's finally performing to the best of his ability. I mean, he's one of my greatest assets on the battlefield now that he actually uses his Gift more than in dire situations. I need him on the field today. We're starting the final push into the Headmaster's headquarters, so we need all the advantages we can get."

"He's literally going to work himself into the grave at this rate. It's too soon for him to be back on the battlefield and using his Gift this much with how vulnerable it leaves him." Lucina countered, seeming a lot more frustrated than she really should have been over this whole thing. 

"No, and that's my final decision." Marth replied dismissively. "Quite honestly, I don't care if it's 'too soon' for him. Sheik's death was unfortunate, yeah, but we're in the middle of a war. None of us have the luxury of grieving right now, and certainly not for as long as he has been."

Lucina's expression hardened. "Just because you moved on from someone you loved so quickly doesn't mean everybody else is supposed to." 

With that, she turned and walked out of the tent. 

Good riddance. 

Honestly, it was stupid of Lucina to even expect him to change his mind. She had petitioned him for the exact same thing three times before this, all before different battles, and each time got the same result. Zelda was right, Corrin deserved no sympathy. They were all soldiers. They were supposed to be able to put aside their emotions and do their jobs, because there was time for feeling later. 

Marth's smile grew as he wrote down 'Leader of the Charge- needs dragon form to create a hole in the enemy line + human form with dragon elements to take out as many as possible' next to Corrin's name in his plans.

././.

Unfortunately for Marth, things rarely went as planned on the battlefield. 

Everything had been going fine. His squad and the rest of the considerable amount of force backing them up had been executing his plan down to the letter, achieving the desired results and creating mass panic within the opposing force's ranks. 

And then some kind of reinforcement had arrived. Not in a big flurry of troops or anything- apparently it was just one man, and yet his appearance had vastly bolstered the morale of the white-clad troops. With that, the tide of the battle began to turn, forcing Marth and his forces to withdraw in order to regroup. 

Now he was here, standing on the hill with Lucina and Corrin to his left and right respectively, the others in his squad right behind him with the main force. 

Marth turned back to the troops and sighed, preparing himself to give a rallying speech before sending them down to their deaths. "I don't know who- or what- just came into play, but that doesn't matter. We're going to win this battle. Those cowards don't stand a chance against the full might of the Rebellion!" 

He punctuated the end of his short speech by lifting Falchion above his head, letting the light catch on the golden hilt. The soldiers cheered in unison, lifting their own swords above their heads as well.