⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTE! PLEASE READ BEFORE CONTINUING. ⚠️
The actual story has not started yet. This is a unique chapter, it's a time skip from the first one. I couldn't fit this all into one prologue because it wouldn't make sense. It's important to know that Ike is 17 (Path of Radiance Ike) and Marth is 16 in this chapter. That's about a decade difference between the prologue and this one. The real story will begin after this chapter, I swear.
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Mist excitedly rummaged through the different crates of produce at the market stall. Ike couldn't keep count of how many times she's picked up a fruit, only to toss it back and look for a better one. Even the merchant running the stall looked a bit confused as to why she was doing what she was doing.
"Mist.. Can you hurry up? With whatever you're doing." Ike said, exasperated.
He was only met with a glare from his younger sibling. "Excuse you!" Mist reprimanded. "I'm trying to find the FRESHEST fruit possible! Is that not what you want? Would you rather get a moldy, sad, piece of fruit?"
Ike sweat dropped. She would do this often; Mist would be so insistent on the littlest things. Of course, it's nice for her to care so much.. but it could be quite overwhelming at points.
"Mist.. I'm pretty sure any fruit you pick would be fine. I don't think people will purposely sell us items that will go bad easily." Ike replied tiredly, trying to convince her to calm down.
Mist eyed him for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Fine," she huffed. Mist grumbled to herself as she picked up a few apples without inspecting it as she usually would.
Ike and Mist were at the castle town market, once again. Ever since their father started a mercenary group and began to gather members, they were earning more money and were able to stock up on food and supplies more often.
However, there was a problem; mercenary groups were deemed illegal in Altea. It wasn't always like this; the law was recently passed. The once peaceful kingdom was beginning to tighten its laws and security. And nobody really knew why. The royals were afraid of a potential rebellion or uprising, he supposed.
But still, Ike believed the mercenary ban was ridiculous. Ike's father only started the company because he wanted to help protect villages that were susceptible to bandit attacks. Often, Altean military could not interfere or stop these bandit attacks because by the time they arrived, the damage would already be done.
Whenever Ike and Mist went out to buy more supplies, they had to be wary of any Altean soldiers patrolling the market. Fortunately for them, Greil's mercenary company had not been discovered and has been going on in secret. They intended to keep it that way.
As Mist was paying for the goods, Ike noticed that the environment around him had increased in volume. He could hear some townspeople behind him whispering and talking excitedly. Curious as to what was going on, Ike turned around to see what the sudden ruckus was about.
A boy, around Ike's age he noticed, was strolling around the market. He was being accompanied by a few soldiers, who were walking behind him, following in his footsteps.
Ike cursed internally. He was hoping there wasn't gonna be any military patrolling around the area.
What was worse was that the boy in front was clearly a noble of some sort. Ike could just tell from the clothing and the boy's crown. Or was it a tiara?
