Holy shit, I actually managed to get past the threshold and finally get part 2 of chapter eighteen done! I do apologize for being gone for so long, I got caught up in working on other things, let alone took a summer class to help me graduate faster.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to every suggestion as I was straight to the point in this chapter however, when I come across it again during my editing process(which I'm doing in order), I might expand upon a few things.

Note that chapter two has officially been cleaned up now. That leaves more to go pfft. Anyways, I will put the date up when I edit a chapter and whatnot. Anyways, enjoy the rest of chapter 18(its not a hoax this time).

Also there's a poll on my profile which I'm trying to decide which option for a future story. So if you can, I'd really appreciate it if you chose one of the options.

Masked Marth sat in AP History, dwelling in his own train of thoughts. He couldn't help but continue pondering about the recent events that began intertwining with one another ever since the Homecoming disasters. What made things officially worse was the fact that everyone either seemed to move on as if nothing ever happened or continued diving into its events, picking out every single measly detail until its original meaning drained away. He had to admit, it was quite agitating hearing about the same subject over and over again from someone else's perspective. Masked Marth personally felt that the entire campus should just drop the subject completely.

The boy spaced out throughout the duration of class, managing to at least get bits and pieces about today's lesson as Snake lectured on about Popstar's hero and their triumph against Dark Matter. Shortly after, the bell rang as everyone got out of their seats and continued on as if nothing happened. Masked Marth got up from his desk as his mind continued being plagued to the brim with various thoughts.

"Damn… I really need to focus," he mentally informed himself.

Unfortunately for the masked teen, focus was quite difficult to grasp ever since things were thrown off balance. During AP Calculus, Masked Marth caught himself slipping out of reality's reach once more as it got to the point where Mr. Game and Watch took notice and grew concerned.

"Marth," he asked, "are you faring well by any chance?"

This of course, received a couple of snickers from the right end of the classroom which consisted of Marth himself while others shushed them in retaliation. Luckily the odds seemed to be in Masked Marth's favor as the Calculus teacher was extremely understanding about his situation.

"I suggest taking a trip to the bathroom and getting yourself washed up. If you're still feeling ill afterwards, going to the nurses' office would be my second suggestion," Mr. Game and Watch simply told him.

The masked individual nodded his head as he got up from his desk and left the classroom, leaving Link to be puzzled. From there, Masked Marth headed towards the nearest restroom as he entered inside to wash himself up. As he stepped inside, he glanced in every direction to make sure the coast is clear before removing the mask and placed it on top of the counter. He turned the faucet clockwise as the water began running as the indigo haired teen pressed his hands together to form a cup to grab some water before washing his face.

"You can stop the charade now."

The "boy" froze in his tracks as he swiftly turned around in panic. He began to wonder if he was alone inside the men's room after all or perhaps another being caught him in the act.

"Who's there?!" he stammered a bit.

The voice chuckled in utter amusement as it found his reactions to be quite pleasing. Slowly but surely his mirrored image began taking form as it smirked.

"Why are you so scared of me? You've got what you've wanted Marth… or should I say Lucina?"

Lucina noticed her reflection moving on its own as it taunted her. She knew something was rather peculiar by this, almost as if this whole ordeal was being led by something or someone.

"What exactly is it that you want?!" she questioned. Even though deep down, Lucina knew it was pointless to question the reflection there was still hope that perhaps, it might reveal something.

"Such a pitiful question to ask, don't you think? Besides, why are you are still masquerading as a man out of all things? You already got rid of the damn witch, what more do you want you selfish little girl?" it mocked.

"If you're trying to play some sort of mind game, I'll tell you one thing. It isn't working at all no matter how much you try to skew people's thoughts in favor of hurting them!"

With those words, Lucina dried her face as the reflection growled due to not being able to manipulate or toy with her emotions. Before it could snark some more, the teen quickly took off and left the bathroom just to run into Robin.

"Hey Lu- I mean Marth," he greeted. For a slight moment, he almost called him by his real name yet suddenly recalled that no one knew his real identity yet.

"Oh hey Robin! What brings you out here?"

"Just getting a drink of water, you know, things that teachers allow students to go out for," he replied. Masked Marth just nodded in complete understanding as he remembered the brief encounter with his own reflection. Figuring that perhaps the snow haired boy might know a thing or two about it, he decided to take his chances and inquire him.

"True… say, haven't you ever encountered some sort of eerie voice in the restroom before?"

"I'm not too sure actually however, I can voucher for that. It might explain the random outbursts I've heard last year in the girls' bathroom. Like all things, there must be some sort of source to this "voice" but the question is exactly what?"

Lunch time rolled around as Masked Marth went over to join Link. It turns out, Reflet, Pit and Shulk decided to provide them company as well today. The indigo haired boy couldn't help but notice that Pit seemed to be in high spirits yet deep down, he knew it was just a façade. After all, he did catch the angel wallowing in his own thoughts this morning.

"Hey guys," Pit cheerfully exclaimed, "I have both fantastic and awful news to tell today."

Everyone rose a brow out of bewilderment as Shulk and Reflet exchanged glances with one another as the Homs simply shrugged. Seeing how no one else was going to reply, the white haired girl decided to take incentive to continue the conversation.

"Well Pit, what's the good news?" she asked.

"Uh, the excellent news is that I've Aced the chemistry exam I've thought I was surely bound to fail," Pit beamed. This of course, resulted in the group congratulating him before Reflet presumed on.

"And the bad news is?"

Suddenly, the white angel's mood did a complete one-eighty as his once welcoming face transformed into a spiteful scowl. Pit tightly clenched his fists in complete anger as he slightly began gritting his teeth in agitation.

"The terrible news is that Lana's turned god damn emo and is now out of all people, is dating Pittoo!" he slightly snapped. This caused Reflet and Masked Marth to be taken back a bit while Link and Shulk remained completely unfazed by his sudden change in attitude.

"Wait… that's bad how?" Shulk piped in, wondering why Pit was exactly so offended about Lana's choice in men. After all, who was he to juristic who she can and cannot date.

"Well for one thing, I can't fuck sleep because… PITTOO KEEPS HAVING GOD DAMN, UNPROTECTED SEX BEHIND LADY PALUTENA'S BACK!" Not realizing he blurted out that final part, all the present students inside the cafeteria grew quiet as they peered over towards Dark Pit's direction. This in turn, also caused the popular table to snicker amongst themselves as they decided to see what drama will unfold today.

The dark angel hastily got up from his chair as his group of friends just stared. He was definitely pissed off at his older twin for revealing such nonsense, let alone telling everyone about his own damn business. Even worse, his peers began murmuring with one another as various conversations scattered across the cafeteria as they discussed Dark Pit's life after dark.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT PIT-STAIN!" he screeched.

All the sudden, the dark haired angel lunged for his twin as the two engaged in a brother's quarrel. Before Masked Marth and Link were able to see what was going on, their small group was bombarded by hordes of students as they gathered around the two angels as they watched them fight against one another.

Reflet slowly backed away as she decided to head out of the cafeteria for the time being as she decided to excuse herself to the library. Ever since that infamous Homecoming incident along with Cia's arrest, everything started to gradually go downhill as it eventually became, a mere trainwreck.

He had to admit it was quite odd to watch the angel twins bicker with one another, even resulting into physical violence howbeit, it suddenly hit him. Masked Marth finally realized the true reason why Pit was upset lately as it was due to the fact that his brother was dating Lana. The more he dwelled on it, the more the teen noticed his mistake as it was actually Pit who loved the sky-blue haired girl for the longest time.

Both Pit and Dark Pit sat inside Ganondorf's office as the two didn't dare make eye contact with one another. Instead, they looked away as the Gerudo stared at his computer screen before giving off a disgruntled sigh. He clicked out of his email before facing the angel twins as he narrowed his gaze.

"So, not only you two brats managed to cause a scene but on top of it, engaged in physical violence. You do know that I could suspend you both there and then however I'm going to be lenient for once," he chided.

Both angels were amazed at first however swiftly remembered that this man was currently dating their guardian let alone, had to get adjusted to becoming more acquainted with the two.

"Instead, we're going to be discussing this whole ordeal like adults," Ganondorf continued. "So Pittoo, why did you exactly engage in sexual intercourse with your girlfriend let alone behind your mother's back?"

Dark Pit simply rolled his eyes before responding.

"I honestly just wanted to see why everyone else hyped it up so much. And before you even jump to any conclusions, I did use a condom. Pit's just being a drama queen," he remarked.

"And Pit, what exactly was your reason for acting out, let alone starting this whole thing in the first place?"

Pit on the other hand, didn't respond for a few minutes. Instead, the angel appeared to be engulfed by his own thoughts before replying five minutes afterwards.

"Are you going to tell Palutena about this?" Pit asked, feeling ashamed of his actions. He heavily regretted embarrassing his brother, even if he did have someone that he thought he didn't deserve. Pit even began speculating the reason why Dark Pit was probably dating Lana to begin with was perhaps to fill the empty void she was experiencing ever since her sister's arrest.

Ganondorf paused for a moment before answering.

"… No, however just promise me you two don't do that again otherwise I will have to punish you."

With those words, the assistant principal dismissed the two angels as they parted ways to their next class.

At the police station, Impa seemed to be observing the mirror as it was held within a thick glass container. She wanted to know what exactly it did let alone its actual purpose. The Sheikah knew that Cia's court case was coming up as rumor has it that the woman was making progress within the hospital.

Frederick crept up near the doorway as he curiously opened it and stepped inside. The bronze woman turned around as her lips curled.

"Ah, just the man I wanted to see," Impa exclaimed.

"What is it that you request me to do?"

"Well, I want you to go inquire that woman about this mirror. There's something quite peculiar about it however I am not able to grasp it. Unfortunately, visiting hours are over for the time being but when you're able to get the chance, interrogate her and make she complies."

"Understood."

November 11, 20XX: Henry's birthday

The next morning arrived as Marth woke up to Henry humming a merrily tune to himself. It sounded vaguely familiar to the teen himself before realizing that it was none other than Henry's birthday today. The white haired teen appeared to be in extremely high spirits and Marth honestly didn't know if he found it to be excellent or quite eerie at the same time.

It didn't help that his mother prepared Henry a special birthday breakfast before heading off to work. Marth couldn't help but admit, he did get quite jealous of it.

As the two boys began eating their meals, Henry decided to initiate conversation with him.

"Damn Marth, whatever you did, you truly did a number to Lana, nya ha ha!" he stated.

Marth's jaw dropped for a slight moment before narrowing his gaze.

"And exactly how did I 'do a number' to her?" Marth questioned back.

"Well, she's almost a completely different person now. Dating Pit's brother, wearing all black, dyed her hair, need I go on?"

That shut Marth up as he simply shrugged. He didn't want to get into an argument in the morning so, he just kept his mouth shut until they were ready to take off.

Throughout the day, Lana's transformation appeared to be the topic of choice amongst the students of Burazazu. They found it quite strange that she decided to change either to mask her pain or to "force" herself to move on from the loss of her sister.

"Guys, can I confess something?" Lissa exclaimed. Her voice appeared to be full of uncertainty as the blonde seemed to be engulfed by her own contemplations for a slight moment.

"What is it?" Ricken predictably asked.

"Is it me or is Lana's transformation a bit… scary, I mean she used to be to upbeat about anything but now she's turned dull because of those Goth kids!" she complained.

"Come to think of it, I agree," Morgan stated as she took a bite of her slice of cake. Lissa was kind enough to bake Henry a birthday cake to cherish it with his friends at school.

"I wonder if her boyfriend influenced her to become that way," Marc added.

"By the name of Dorcas' Axe, the White Sorceress is under a purging hex," Owain declared. This of course, received stares from everyone else in return.

"As if, she's probably going through a rough time, right Lissa darling?" Maribelle exclaimed.

As the group of friends discussed Lana, another group appeared to be discussing her sudden transformation as well.

"Okay, it's time to confess something," Kjelle simply said. "I will admit, I did witness the whole Homecoming incident with Cia and Emmeryn. As much as Miss Embery had a stick up her ass, she's innocent."

"I agree," Kirby added.

"You saw the incident too?! I'm glad I wasn't the only one," Mario chimed in.

"Her court case is coming up soon. For the sake of her sister's odd change, we can try to at least confess what we saw to the judge," answered Fox.

Falco took out his cellphone real quick and informed them that the case was on the fourteenth. The small group decided to keep it in mind as they wanted to get the old Lana back before she entered Goth hell.

November 14, 20XX: The Reveal

Everyone surrounded the two azure haired individuals as they chanted with one another in unison. They were encouraging the two to engage in hand-to-hand combat as Marth truly desired to remove the look off of the masked boy's face. The more he continued to exist, the more it caused the popular teen's blood to boil seeing how he managed to replace him in his former group of colleagues.

Masked Marth appeared to be swift but balanced in his fighting technique while Marth's was based off the tip of the "fist."

The two were completely at before Caeda tripped the masked man on 'accident.'

"Oops, my foot slipped," she teased cutely as false sweetness filled her voice.

This allowed for Marth to have the advanced as he forcefully grabbed the mask from the boy's face. Before he could destroy it, Link held the azure haired snob and pulled him back, allowing for his "boyfriend" to get up.

As the teen rose up, his braids were loosened as they dropped, revealing his true identity as none other than Lucina Iris herself. Everyone gasped as Marth wondered who the hell she was exactly, let alone he was almost getting his ass kicked by a woman.

"How… that's impossible," Little Mac blurted.

"I thought she disappeared off the face of the earth," Donkey Kong added.

Various murmurs begin to fill the halls as the majority of students had mixed reactions seeing Lucina instead of whom they believed to be another Marth. Some felt betrayed while others thought she had reasons for hiding her presence.

Eventually they scattered away as Marth glared at her before disappearing, leaving Link and Lucina alone.

Nurse Joy glanced at the computer screen on the third floor, typing in some vital information as she updated the patients' files. She hummed a merrily tune, paying no heed to those waiting for their current therapist appointments or filling out the forms for their first session.

Frederick stepped out of the elevator as he approached the receptionist desk, leaning over a bit. He knew Cia's court case was coming up and keeping the evidence in thought, the man knew everything pointed against her. The coral haired caretaker took no note of his presence and continued filling in the data. The brunet noticed Nurse Joy was heavily engrossed in her work, clearing his throat to grab her attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

She swiftly turned around, chortling slightly in complete embarrassment as she felt awful for not noting of his occupancy earlier. Nurse Joy beamed, hoping to lighten up the mood and her simple mistakes with her lack of attention.

"How may I help you sir?" she inquired, wondering if he needed an appointment or if he was expecting his session to arrive soon.

"I would like to pay a visit to someone, that is, if it's allowed," the brunet responded back, being completely straightforward with his approach. Frederick decided to go to the hospital on a whim with the need to interrogate a certain subject which has been bothering him for quite some time now.

"Well I suppose you may however, it depends on the patient. If they been seen performing some act which can cause or pose a danger to themselves, a serious infringement on the rights of others, or even some serious damage to the facility they are denied their rights with a good cause."

"I see."

Frederick swallowed for a moment as he began to recollect his train of thoughts. The brunet hoped that the patient he was trying to visit didn't do any form of these acts, otherwise he would be completely screwed out of luck. After a minute or two passed, he was ready to exchange his request with Nurse Joy.

"If it's possible, I would like to visit Cia Embrey."

Nurse Joy perked up for a moment and paused, almost as if she recognized her name by impulse. The coral haired woman turned away from Frederick, browsing through the computer for a quick second. She clicked on the patient tab at the bottom of the screen as the nurse began searching up Cia's name.

"Cia…. Cia… Cia… Oh, there she is!" the nurse exclaimed to herself.

Nurse Joy turned back to face Frederick as her lips slightly curled as if she had some excellent news to share.

"Well sir, you're just in luck. It turns out that Cia has no marks against her so she's allowed to have visitors. She's currently residing in room three-eighty-six if I'm not mistaken, she said, informing him.

"Thank you."

With those words, he started making his way towards the mental health ward just for Nurse Joy to unexpectedly stop him from going on any further.

"Ahem, I wouldn't advise on going alone especially since you don't know if any of these patients managed to escape their rooms. Even though they are harmless, one wrong tick can set them off and the last thing I want to see is anyone get hurt to include the patient," the nurse sternly advised.

Frederick nodded as he completely understood her precaution. It seemed that he wasn't thinking quite clearly so he forgot about how visiting patients in the psych ward differed from the others. He trailed after Nurse Joy as she led the way to Cia's room. After a few minutes, they arrived at room 386 as Nurse Joy gently knocked on the door before cracking it open.

"Good afternoon Miss Embrey, it appears you have a special visitor," she simply told her. Afterwards, Nurse Joy crept the door wide open, ushering for Frederick to enter inside. From there, she politely told the two to play nice before taking off.

As the door shut behind them, Cia slightly tilted her head in confusion as the nurse mentioned a visitor. She didn't request anyone to see her nor was she honestly expecting it. Frederick examined the small room where the woman currently resided in for the time being. The wallpaper was of a light mint green color as a twin sized hospital bed covered with a thin, blue-green fleece blanket resided near the window. A mahogany dresser stood on the right side of the bed as a box of crayons was perched on top. He made note of a bunch of newsprint paper scattered across the room, filled with rough drawings of different subjects done in crayon. At first, Frederick speculated about the soft medium before coming to the conclusion that pencils weren't given to patients due to the fact that one can easily harm themselves with it. The whole ordeal was quite strange to him yet he knew those who suffered from any form of mental illness can conjure anything harmless into a weapon.

Cia stared down at her latest sketch placing it besides her before turning around to get a glimpse at her unanticipated visitor. As her amethyst orbs met with Frederick's dark brown pair, she flinched, turning her head away as if she was ashamed.

"… I thought you hated me."

"Is that a proper way of greeting a friend?"

The Hylian sighed, avoiding eye contact at all costs. Just having Frederick inside was certainly too good to be true. She wanted to believe he was there for the sake of visiting however her gut feeling told her otherwise.

"You're not exactly here to visit me just to see me right? Tell me the real reason you're here," she exclaimed, wanting to get straight to the point. At this point, Cia would do anything to avoid getting hurt even further.

"I need to know everything about that mirror. Trust me, you'll thank me later for interrogating about its actual purpose," Frederick asked.

"What mirror?"

"The one that was hidden from the public eye in your former office in that peculiar room. I know it's not any ordinary mirror either so don't even try playing stupid with me," he started in a rather irritated tone.

Cia just sighed before replying. She was reminded that she was getting released in two days, let alone her court case was coming up on the fourteenth of December At this point, she knew she didn't have much time left as she will soon be donning an orange jumpsuit for her crimes of both Lucina and Emmeryn.

"That mirror… it caused nothing but pure agony, amplifying my greed, envy, even my own hatred. That thing was created by the very man who owns the Suedem Corporation as it only serves one purpose. When one takes a simple glimpse through the looking glass, it observes both our hearts and our subconscious, telling simpletons such as you and me what we truly desire. If one were foolish enough to get caught in its grasp, they began believing false prophecies, being promised all these wonderful treats which will never arrive."

"Cia…"

It all made sense now. Frederick knew what the mirror was capable of as he encountered its wrath before yet knew Cia probably received the worst of it. It appeared that she got so caught up in these false promises that it managed to warp her into an entirely different person. Now that he got that out of the way, there were two more questions which plagued his mind.

"I have one more thing to inquire of before I depart. Do you mind answering them? You don't have to if you don't want to Cia as these are optional," Frederick simply exclaimed.

"… Go on."

It seemed that she finally decided to give him her undivided attention. Frederick noticed that she was wearing her circular glasses as she stared at him, perhaps due to the fact that the hospital feared she would poke her eyes out as a method of self-harm.

"Where you the one who saved Emmeryn that night?"

Cia paused for a moment as she hesitated to answer him with a straight face. She quickly looked away as the woman frowned, trying her best not to break down however, her attempts failed.

"I…. I tried my best… but I've failed… I've fucking failed and got blamed for it," she wailed. "Sure, I was jealous of her, but I would certainly never hurt her…"

Right away, Frederick noticed she was telling the truth. He was thankful that she did in fact, save his fiancé as he realized he owed her an apology however knew time was coming to an end. As a Machamp went to escort Frederick back to the main gate, he bid the sorceress farewell. Before he left, Frederick felt someone tugging on his shirt as he turned around, noticing Cia clutching onto him.

"Don't leave me Freddy…. Please don't…"

He started at her before simply nodding as Cia's next action took him by surprised. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, leaving the man dumbfounded in return.

November 25, 20XX: A Big Surprise

Phila and Douglas were sitting inside a five-star restaurant as the two were celebrating their two year anniversary as husband and wife. The waiter poured red wine in their glasses and gave them their complimentary dinner rolls to hold them off as they waited for their meals.

The light blue-grey haired woman appeared to be delighted as she chuckled to herself as something came up to her.

"Isn't it wonderful dear? This romantic evening just for the two of us with no one to barge in and sabotage me for my "devious" ways," Phila remarked. She placed her right hand on her cheek, batting her eyes towards Douglas as she grinned.

Douglas on the other hand, kept quiet as if he was almost hiding something however, what?

"This month just keeps getting more fantastic! First, I get promoted at my job, second, Cia finally gets arrested for being a incompetent piece of shit and furthermore, is currently serving ten to fifteen years in prison! Isn't that such darling news dear?" she rambled in complete delight.

The brunet seemed to look at his wife before taking a deep breath and sighing. Douglas stared at Phila for a moment before breaking the delayed silence between the two.

"Phila," he simply remarked, "I want a divorce."

"What?!"

The woman was in complete shock from his sudden words. She tried to think he was playing a joke on her like he always did however, his tone told otherwise.

"I don't think we're… perfect for each other."

"What are you saying?! You're toying with me right?!"

"You're too… bitter. You're rather arrogant, need I say more?"

Before Phila had the chance to make a snide remark in retaliation, Douglas excused himself and stormed out on her, leaving one small gift behind as it was the divorce papers themselves. The woman was crushed as she couldn't believe it.

"Just how long has he been planning this?"

Phila knew was quite far-fetched to believe he came up with such an absurd, selfish idea all of the sudden. Her intuition told her otherwise as she realized that Douglas probably planned this for a while now.

The question remains, what exactly was the last straw?

December 8, 20XX: School's Out

The bell rang as it echoed through the halls, indicating the end of the first semester. Both students and staff alike were overwhelmed with various levels of joy being excited for the upcoming break. For Lucina, it meant time to recover from the sudden outburst of the other students especially ever since the day her secret was revealed. The indigo haired teenager completely understood the bitterness of both her peers and friends alike. They felt nothing but complete betrayal, even mislead from the fact that Masked Marth turned out to be none other than Lucina herself the entire time. At first, they seemed to be rather weary of her, wondering she was hiding more lies beneath her mask yet as time passed, the students seemed as if they could care less.

To admit, Lucina felt relieved that she was able to be herself once more instead of hiding under a fake alias. The only ones who knew about the actual identity of Marth Aritia himself was Link, the student council and Frederick himself.

As Lucina became engulfed in her own musings, she failed to notice her boyfriend standing beside her, grinning as he wondered how long she was going to be out of it until she took note of his presence. Link was heavily tempted to poke her shoulder to grab her attention yet Lucina managed to snap out of it just in the nick of time before he even had the chance to do so. She turned her gaze towards the Hylian as her lips curled into a small smile.

"Hey," she greeted. It was followed by an embrace as the two began making their way towards the exit to start off their break.

"So, Lucina," Link asked, pausing for a slight moment. "I was wondering, are you free on December 11th by any chance per say?"

"Yes I am. Is there any reason you asked?"

She knew it was such a stupid thing to inquire of yet Lucina didn't hesitate to ask it anyways. After all, she wanted to know what exactly the Hylian was planning.

"Well," Link replied, "you see, I was thinking that you and I should go on a date sometime. You know hanging out, maybe watch a movie or two, anything."

"Oh, I'd love to!"

"Sweet! I'm free on the eleventh of December if that sounds fine with you. Who knows, we might run into some friends as well," he exclaimed.

Lucina nodded as she blushed. She decided it was best to get prepared for the upcoming day in the meantime as they parted ways. For one, she was finally glad to have obtained her driver's license and two, she would finally be able to relax and unwind during winter break.

Lucina took a stroll around Smashington Park as she went to pick up a couple of items to prep up for her date with Link on the eleventh. As she made her purchases from the convenience store near the Brawlbucks, the azure haired girl decided to take a different route home. Feeling adventurous, she turned right as she journeyed through the more, rural area of town.

It was quite a depressing sight to even glimpse at as streets were uneven, some buildings were vacant and overall, trash was scattered throughout the streets. Furthermore, there were homeless individuals everywhere, some of them having tents to provide them temporary shelter while others had nothing.

What made things worse was that no matter how much money went into the metropolitan, its denizens were more inclined on cleaning up the suburban rather than focusing on what matters. It was quite hard to recognize any of these people due to the fact that they were either heavily garbed or their once distinctive features dwindled away months ago. As Lucina passed by, one of them happened to intensely stare at her as their gaze didn't let go until she disappeared from their sight.

Finally, the first semester is over and done with in this story thank goodness. I can now finally progress in the story and get to Marth's fall in the meantime. I do once again apologize for not updating this sooner when I actually had the chance, I was so stumped on how to even tackle Chapter 18 that my mind went blank for a while, plus I got caught up writing some other stories to include its prequel. If you haven't checked out the The Day Hope Withered Away I advise doing so if you'd like. For those interested, it touches up on the events of Lucina's junior year and the incident which occurred.

Lucina's friends are definitely going to be in chapter 19 because I really want to have them again as well as Cia's court case is going to be revealed in a flashback on Ch 20.

I do plan on combining both parts of Chapter 18 into one before I upload the next one because knowing myself, it would bug me if the second half was under Ch 19, etc. Now to answer questions my lovely readers proposed for me.

LunaticFromTheSun: Well, I noticed that in all your stories Lucina's last name is Iris. Why? Is it a reference to a rainbow or how irises were the French monarchy flower?

About that, Iris is what Ylisse is called in the Japanese version of Fire Emblem Awakening. Seeing how Lucina Ylisse didn't really have a nice ring to it like Iris, I decided to use the Japanese name of the continent instead for her surname.

Marcie(Guest): What made you want to go in this direction as opposed to the first one? How do you write your characters when you make your stories? Any possible influences for this story(including first one as well)? Which SSB characters do you like writing about the most? The least? Which non-SSB characters do you have fun writing and why?

Well, to be honest, I felt that the way the first one was going it was getting to the point where it was rather difficult to even think of anything for future chapters. On top of it, I fell into a really bad depressive episode to the point where I lost motivation in anything to include abandoning the first one. So, a year later with the release of Smash 4, I felt like tackling what was left unfinished so I picked this story up once more and decided to go for a different direction instead. As for how I write my characters, besides keeping in mind some important canon traits(and for Marth, his popular self is a play on his infamous Smash fanon), I not only try to expand on them but also, I try my best to base it on people who are around you and me, pretty much people you encounter everyday. As for influences, I would just say for the first one, it was definitely the Electra Heart album but for the second, I just felt like tackling a cheesy high school AU once more. For SSB characters, the ones I tend to enjoy writing the most vary, ranging from Lucina, Link to even Pit. As for least, I used to be more skeptical about tackling Shulk since I knew nothing about Xenoblade and the wikia page was extremely vague on his personality(aka it's shit). Thankfully I managed to meet some awesome friends who have played the game before so I was able to get a better understand of Shulk's character itself. As for non-SSB characters, I would definitely have to go with Lana and Cia. I felt that since it's an AU, the two witches are able to be their own person rather than just Lana being Cia's good half. An even better bonus is that the witch twins vary in size and appearance from the angel twins so they have more flexibility than just being twins as well.

SaraBear(Guest): How long is this story going to be?

I plan to roughly aim for 35 yet if there are still things that I feel are left unanswered, I might extend it a bit. Hope this helps.

EmeraldoftheStars: Allright, this has been on my mind...So in your other stories you ship PitxLana and DarkPitxLucina, but here (possibly) DarkPitxLana and LucinaxLink. So...whose side are you on? It's confusing.

Well you see, the original story was written way before I even knew about Dark Pit and during the time when I didn't even know if Lucina was going to be included in SSB4 or not. Everyone reviewing it at the time really loved the idea of Link and Lucina getting together, so I just went with it. I tend to be extremely flexible with pairings and even if I have preferred preferences(Pit x Lana, Dark Pit x Lucina, etc), I tend to spice it up with different varieties. Also it doesn't help when you write a pairing just to realize you're shipping it a few chapters later.

Optional Story Question (only one since I already asked one related to 19 earlier)
1. When Lucina is passing through the more rural part of the neighborhood, she happens to stroll by a group of homeless people. One of them happens to stare at her intensely, who do you think it is. (Feel free to emphasize why as well if you want)

Bonus Question
2. I'm curious, has reading this story made you want to play any of the game(s) the cast is from? If so, which one(s) and why? (For me, it will have to be Kid Icarus: Uprising before I was able to get it several months ago.)

Also its nice to know that HW is getting a 3ds port so it makes the game much more accessible to everyone. Cool beans.

I do thank you all for being so patient with me, I really do.
Feel free to suggest things for ch. 19 while at it.

Til next time!
-Ash