Episode 4: Leave With No Goodbye.

As Palutena laid out the two sleeping bags on the floor of her bedroom, she couldn't help but remember that this was the first time she's had other people in her house in a long while. It was both uncomfortable but comforting at the same time. Uncomfortable because under the circumstance as well, it came out of nowhere, and comfortable because these were her friends.

"Thanks again, Pat," Zelda said as she entered the room.

"Ah- of course! What, would I just let you sleep in the same house someone could've killed you in?"

"pff, 'course not," Zelda reassured, silently knowing that from Palutena's experience she definitely wouldn't have taken the chance.

Just then, Peach walked in the room holding two chip bags. "Hungry? Raided the kitchen and got the good stuff."

"The good stuff? What, you found the leftover drugs in the cabinet?" Zelda joked.

"FYI, ladies, I would not keep it in the cabinet where people could get it so easily."

They all laughed.

"Haaahhh... you've changed, Pat." Zelda sighed.

Palutena only nodded, a small grin on her face.

"Let's get comfy now, girls. I wanna wake up tomorrow thinking that it's gonna be a happy Sunday." Peach demanded.

"You're just not a morning person," Zelda added before sitting down on her sleeping bag.

"Goodnight, ladies," Palutena said, a bit agitated.

Neither of the other girls said anything but instead laid down, not wanting to annoy Palutena for any longer. Palutena turned to face the wall, blocking out the little whispers from the other two.

'Pleeaassee let this night pass quickly...' Palutena thought to herself.

As soon as she finished her thought, though, she felt her eyes grow heavy.

Huh. That was quick.

She soon fell asleep.

••••••

Pit trudged out of bed, patting his wings to untangle the feathers.

He felt bags under his eyes as he looked at the time. It read 4:03 AM.

He blinked.

He really didn't have anyone to talk to right now. He didn't wanna bother his friends, now that something bad is going down at the moment. And he knew that Roy would definitely not be up right now.

A lightbulb turned on inside his head. He remembered that Richter would have to be heading down to the coastal city in the south. He told Pit he'd leave at around 6.

Pit: Hey!!! U still going down to Windinburg soon?? If u don't mind maybe I could crash your solo today :)))

Richter: Yea, actually. Still taking off at six. I'll pick u up if u want??

Pit: Sure!!! what's the weather down there?

Richter: Very chilly. Remember ur jacket this time

Pit: Ofc, see u soon.

Pit placed his phone to the side as he got up, walking towards his closet. He got a white T-shirt and jeans, along with a blue jacket he bought a few weeks ago when he went to Windinburg with Richter the first time.

He combed through his wild brown hair for a few minutes before going downstairs to prepare a quick meal before they took off.

••••••

"Pit..."

...

"Pit...?"

...

"Pit wake up, please."

...

"..H-huh?"

Pit slowly opened his eyes. It was still dark out, but it has gotten a tad brighter. Richter was sitting on the seat next to him, obviously ready to go.

"Ready?" Richter asked.

Pit only nodded. He grabbed his phone and let Richter lead their way as they left the house, locking the door behind them.

"How'd u get in?" Pit asked. He barely realized that Richter, in a way, broke in.

"The spare key... you should get creative with hiding it next time... really you should."

"Crap, was it sticking out from under the doormat?"

"Yep. But still a very obvious place."

"I'll hide it better next time."

"Hah, good. Because I already broke into your house, and I don't want anyone else to do the same."

••••••

"So lemme get this straight, you.... there... someone broke into your house,"

"Yes, that's exactly what we said."

"But you didn't see who it was?"

"No."

"No sign of who it was? Any potential psychotics you know?"

"No, sir."

Palutena and Zelda awkwardly sat in front of the officer. The room was a little dark and the officer they met with wasn't exactly the friendly type.

"Listen kiddo, I gotta be real with you, there's not much we could do. We have no trace of the guy, and let's face it fingerprint aren't likely, our killers are smart and where gloves."

Palutena couldn't help but snicker at that last part. The officer couldn't help but do the same.

"Go on.." Zelda commanded.

"We have no way of knowing who this is. And we cant exactly babysit you guys, either. I'm sorry, if there was more I could do, I would get right on it."

Palutena nodded. Zelda shook her head as she got up from her seat.

"Come on Pat, lets go."

Palutena awkwardly got up and followed Zelda. They stopped in the doorway as Zelda looked back at the man.

"Thank you sooo much for your help!" Zelda said sarcastically.

"Of course, sweetie. Hey, you should close your window from time to time! Just a suggestion."

Zelda scoffed as she left the room. Palutena waved back at the man as they left the building.

"Some help he was..." Zelda muttered.

"I mean, there wasn't exactly something that they could do. Come on, Zel, be real."

The girl didn't reply, but instead kept walking. They entered a small plaza. It wasn't too busy at the moment.

"Guys!!"

The duo turned their heads to one of the shops.

"Hey, Peach."

"Whadya find?"

"Nothin much... a few books, that's all."

Palutena and Peach talked with Zelda close behind them. After a few minutes, Palutena has decided to just leave the two by themselves and just pick them up later. Pat needed some rest at the moment.

After 20 minutes of driving, she finally reached her street. She parked in the empty driveway, grabbing her bag and heading out of the car. She was so close to falling asleep in the middle of walking, if she was being honest. She could've. The street isn't that busy with people.

But the tiredness slipped away in a single second.

She looked down by her feet, where the doormat was in front of her.

A paper was pinned to the mat from the left corner. From above, Palutena could barely see that there were bright red highlights sprinkled throughout some of the text within the paper.

It was a newspaper.

From three years ago.

The newspaper.

Palutena ripped it from the pin and held it up in front of her. Sure enough, it was the very newspaper where Lucina's death was on the front cover.

The red highlighter gave attention to certain lines from the text. Her friend's names, family, location of the warehouse...

"Oh god..." Palutena whispered, the child-like dear taking over her tone.

She looked around the neighborhood to see if whoever had put this here was still around, but surely enough, absolutely no one was outside.

It was just her.

Could something be in the house?

Oh god is this the same person that broke into Zelda's house?

What do I do?

Who do I call...?

Out of luck, Palutena reluctantly called Ike, who was the first contact that popped up on her phone.

••••••

"Well... at least no one or nothing was in the house..." Ike mumbled, attempting to sound reassuring.

"Thank you for coming..."

"Of course..." Ike paused there, walking over to the couch Palutena sat on, taking a seat not too far from her.

"Ike..."

"Yes?"

"On an unrelated note... do you ever miss her?"

"Of course I miss Lucina... she—"

"I meant Samus."

The room went silent. Absolutely silent.

"Do you ever miss Samus...?"

Ike sighed, leaning back into the couch.

"Yeah... yeah, sometimes I do. It was hard to accept the fact that my girlfriend was willingly leaving me and everyone else behind."

"She didn't even attend the funeral." Palutena whispered. Ike felt a painful tingle in his spine.

"I know, Pat. I'm sorry she didn't come."

"Don't apologize for her. She left as quick as possible. If she was sorry, then she would be back here. Not being so selfish."

Palutena stopped herself. She realized that she was taking like that in front of Samus' lover, let alone he was still soft for her.

"It's okay, Pat." Ike said, knowing what Palutena was thinking.

"She didn't even attend the funeral." Palutena repeated.

"Pat—"

"She left so soon..."

"..."

"Pat..." Ike put a hand on her shoulder. The look they have each other was a sad, bitter-tragedy one, although Palutena's held a bit of anger.

"Let's change the topic... so uhhh... what should we do about this newspaper thing..."

"I don't even wanna talk about that right now."

"Alright then.... uhhh, how's Pit?"