09 April 2008 @ 08:11 pm
It was all so sudden. The night had barely passed when Marth was rudely awakened by his servant.
"P-Prince Marth! Please wake up!"
"Hmm?" Marth replied groggily as he opened his eyes and rubbed them sleepily. His servant grabbed hold of his shoulders and shook him roughly.
"We have to go, my Prince! The King--"
BANG.
The door to Marth's room burst open and two men stormed in, dressed in the strange-looking armour of a foreign land.
"Who are you? What are you do--" Marth was fully awake now. He got out of bed and stood beside his servant, preparing to be forceful if he needed to. One of the men lunged out at him and he dodged aside nimbly. Yet there was a piercing scream as his servant fell; a knife wielded by one of the men had torn a hole in her dress and driven deep into her body. Marth watched in horror as the blood splattered all over his gown. His knees had suddenly turned wobbly and he tried hard to remain standing.
"W-W-What have you done?" Marth stood still with horror written all over his face.
Another of the men lunged once more at him and he dodged again, the adrenaline coursing through his body. Making use of this opportunity to escape, he dashed out of the door and into the walkway and ran straight down. He felt sobs rising into his chest which he could not stifle. He panted hard but dared not stop.
Marth looked out of the window and saw chaos. The village had been set on fire and he could see the villagers running away in all directions. My town... My town... Marth continued running, running, just running, trying desperately to get away from all this. He clutched his head in his hands and shook himself. This must be a dream; it must be! Marth hurried down the stairs.
Just ahead, he saw two female servants caught by the foreign invaders. They screamed as they were thrown heavily onto the floor. The brutes gave a liitle snigger as they raised their swords and thrust them downwards. All at once, the screaming stopped abruptly and Marth saw the blood, the crimson liquid spraying into the air, and he tried his best to stifle a scream. He turned the corner, hopefully out of the soldiers' sight. He panted hard and bit on his hand to try not to cry out in fear.
Marth continued running down the corridor until he turned another corner and smack right into his sister.
"Sister Gael! They're everywhere! W-what do we do now?" Marth was breathing hard, trying to hold back the tears welling up in his eyes. He was not prepared for such a hostile takeover and he had never experienced such violence before.
Gael turned around, her dark brown hair swishing behind her.
"Here, you dropped this..."
Marth stared incredulously at his sister, who appeared incredibly calm. Her face held no trace of fear or anxiety. In her hand was his tiara, the one given to him by his father earlier on. He took it slowly, keeping his eyes on his sister all this while. Her eyes... they were red. Weren't they brown?
"Gael, what--"
The pair of gleaming red eyes glowed and Marth felt a terrific blow to his head. Then his world went black.
xxx
Marth awoke some time later with a terrible headache and a sour taste in his mouth. He spat out the blood, and clutched his head in pain. What happened? No, wait. Where am I? The events of the previous night had taken its toll on him and he found it hard to breathe. His chest hurt and he felt as if someone was hammering a nail into his head.
Marth struggled to sit up and lifted his head. He was sitting on a bed of straw. Thin metal bars were fit into place around him. The walls were bare and made of stone; the floor was cold and hard. I'm in the dungeon! Immediately the panic which had filled him the night before filled him once more and he started breathing faster and faster, the world around him twirling into different colours, and he felt so dizzy, he felt like vomiting but there was nothing for him to vomit.
"Marth..."
Marth felt his heart flip and he whirled around, all pain temporarily forgotten. Behind him stood another cell just like his, and in it lay...
"FATHER!"
Marth staggered over as near as he could to the King. The King was in a terrible state; Marth could see the cuts and bruises that had formed on his body and the back of his clothes had been slashed with a knife.
"Marth, listen to me." The King struggled to sit up. "The invaders have taken over the c-castle and the town." He coughed a terrible cough and Marth saw a splatter of red liquid appear on the straw. His heart ached as he watched his father groan and squirm in agony.
"Father, who are they?"
"I'm not s-sure myself. But I'm certain they're not of this continent." The King paused to clutch his chest in pain. "I've arranged for General Jurgen to take you away with him while he can. He should be here soon, if they haven't caught him yet."
Marth opened his mouth to interrupt, but decided to close it. He could see the suffering on his father's face. Yet, his father only wanted to save him.
"You have to be strong for me, for Altea..."
Just then, the door to the dungeon clanged open and Marth looked up in terror. Our captors... Have they come to take us? All of a sudden, Marth's heartbeat accelerated and he tensed himself. He was definitely not going down without a fight. Watching closely at the intruder's shadow descending down the stairs, he clenched his fists tightly at the side.
Marth relaxed and his face lit up. It was the General.
"Come, my prince. Let us leave." He unsheathed his sword and sliced the lock on the door in half. Grabbing the door and pulling it open, the General caught hold of Marth. Marth very willingly removed himself from the cell.
"Father..." Marth called. "What about you?" Tears were welling up in his eyes.
The King struggled to his feet. "If this country goes down, so will its king. You still have a chance. Goodbye, my son. Whatever you do, don't come back here again."
"Farewell, my King." Jurgen gave one final bow and carried Marth away with him. Marth turned back to see a single tear fall from his father's left eye.
No, Father. I will return! I will! Marth stubbornly thought to himself as they left behind the darkness of the dungeon.
Current Location: At home
Current Mood: Content
Current Music: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater main theme
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