Chapter 1: A Wind of Change
Temphoros slashed through the last of a group of Miks. Zephynn lied back on the ground in exhaustion. This was the first monster outbreak near the temple in the last year. He didn't understand. All of the monsters should have vanished after… he shook the thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to remember that terrifying journey.
His memories always seemed to go back to it though. The people he'd met, the trials he'd faced… It had changed him. He wasn't a coward any longer. He had toughened up. But that was nearly two years ago now. Darkness had passed. Yet still monsters continued to terrorize the land, though less concentrated than before. He'd heard rumors from the winds that being a mercenary was now one of the most high-paying jobs in the land; usually the monsters that did appear were rather powerful. He could only imagine how much the Dark Alliance was making nowadays. He felt lucky that this had only been a few rogue and weak monsters.
He sheathed Temphoros and began the short trek back to the temple. After his mother had removed his immortality, she had made him promise to not stray too far from the temple. He had complied. He still didn't mind having to stay in one place. There was plenty of excitement around with all of the monster attacks anyways. And Vinnia would visit every once and a while as well. Her village wasn't far off.
He walked down the path leading into the temple grounds. A welcoming west wind blew past him and he smiled. The temple was a safe haven. As he walked up to the temple entrance, he saw that his mother, Phyra, goddess of the west wind, was waiting for him. Her hair was light brown, and her eyes were a stunning sky blue, the same as his own. She wore her typical outfit, a white dress with blue wind patterns on the sleeves that gave her the appearance of floating.
"That's strange," he thought, "I thought she was off doing business with the others." By the others he meant the other three wind gods, Boreas, Europa, and Norulus. He cursed the last name on the inside. The south wind god had betrayed the others during the battle against darkness. The other gods had placed him under house arrest after that time of darkness.
"Come in my son," she said to him as he came within speaking distance.
"Back so soon?" Zephynn asked as he approached.
"We're still in progress," said Phyra. Zephynn gazed at her suspiciously. Why would they possibly want to meet in the West Wind Temple? And why did they want to involve him?
"All will be explained," she said, putting an arm around him gently as they walked inside. As Zephynn walked inside, he saw three more faces. Boreas, Europa and Norulus were all present. Norulus glared at him from the shadows. Zephynn glared right back but his mother squeezed his shoulder and he calmed down. Boreas wore a long blue robe that flowed just as Phyra's dress did. His white beard did the same. An icy blue crown covered his head. Europa wore an outfit similar to Phyra's, but it had red wind patterns instead of blue. Her hair was blonde rather than brown. Her eyes were blue and staring sharply at Zephynn.
Norulus's robe was cobalt blue and was very similar in appearance to Boreas's. He just looked a lot older than when Zephynn had last seen him, which was saying a lot. Maybe he was reflecting his condition in his appearance.
"Well met young Zephynn," said Boreas.
"He's not all that young," said Europa.
"Be quiet Europa!" Boreas said, "502 is not that old."
"For a god maybe…" Europa mumbled. Zephynn rolled his eyes. Europa would try to insult him at every corner as a way of getting at Phyra.
"At any rate, I bet you're wondering why we let you in," said Boreas, getting back to the subject. Zephynn nodded slowly, noticing that his mother was shaking a little. He put a hand on the hand that was on his shoulder. She calmed down a little. He realized that this must be something big.
"Well, we've decided on something about you," said Boreas, "We feel that you need to become stronger."
"So?" Zephynn said raising an eyebrow.
"So," Phyra continued for Boreas, taking a deep breath, "We've decided that we're going to send you on a quest."
"A quest?" Zephynn said, a degree of shock in his voice that those words were coming out of his overprotective mother's mouth.
"Yes, a quest," said Europa, "What, are you deaf or something?" Zephynn shot her a nasty look. He then spoke to Boreas.
"What quest is this?" asked Zephynn curiously. Boreas nodded to Phyra, who reluctantly walked forward to her kin. She looked to the ceiling.
"This quest is a test," said Phyra, "Boreas has told me several times that he believes you need to become a true warrior. A true warrior has several resources to pull from." Zephynn looked down at his sword and clutched the neck of his cloak, which he had worn ever since he had received it in the North Wind Temple two years before as a gift. It was the only one that had survived the time of darkness. The others had been lost in battle. Raven had given hers back.
He shook memories out of his head and further looked down on his finger. On it was a ring, an endless reservoir of western wind. His mother had allowed him to keep it for his bravery during the time of darkness. Again, he shook memories away.
"What about resources?" asked Zephynn, "I have three right here."
"You know as well as I do the disadvantages you would be at with only one wind at your side as you travel," said Phyra, "This quest is a quest to gain use the other three winds in order to use them to your advantage." Zephynn was taken aback. He remembered battling Dark Pit of the Dark Alliance two years back and being subdued by his own element. He had realized that if had been able to control all four winds, he might have had an easier time. He had talked to Boreas about it once or twice, but he had denied it ever happening later; how could a child of the west wind ever use any of the other three? But now here the offer was, in the form of a quest.
"How will this work?" asked Zephynn, "You're all here right now. Why don't you just give me the ability to use the rest of the winds?"
"One does not simply give up some of their power to an insignificant being such as yourself," Europa stated, "Unless they're forced to…" She shot a nasty glare at Norulus, who seemed to be ignoring the conversation, "…or they see someone who has proved themselves worthy of the power."
"What she means is, you must prove yourself before you receive any sort of power," said Boreas, "You've proved that you could be a warrior already. That's why your mother allowed you to keep the west wind ring. Now you must prove yourself to all of us." There were a few moments of silence.
"So?" said Boreas, "Will you accept this quest?" Zephynn looked at him suspiciously.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" Zephynn inquired.
"Just answer the question boy!" Boreas boomed. Zephynn, startled, quickly gave his answer.
"I will accept," he said clearly. The tension in the room died down.
"Very well," said Boreas, "You will leave the first thing tomorrow morning. I will explain the object of the quest to you in more detail then." He walked over to Norulus and grabbed the south wind god's hand. Wind blew through the room wildly and both of them vanished. Europa shook her head as she looked at Zephynn disapprovingly. She too vanished into wind. Phyra alone remained. Zephynn saw a tear splash to the floor.
"Mother…" said Zephynn.
"I'm so afraid to let you go…" Phyra said sadly. Zephynn walked over to his mother and hugged her.
"It's alright," said Zephynn, "I've grown from who I was. I've become a fighter." His mother looked him in the eye.
"Look, you agreed to issue me this quest," said Zephynn, "I know that means you have faith that I will survive. So don't worry. Hold onto hope. Besides, the monster attacks out there aren't as organized as they were back in the time of darkness anyways."
"It's not them I'm worried about," said Phyra, drying her tears. Zephynn looked at her with a look of confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Zephynn asked.
"That I cannot say," Phyra answered, "I have more business to attend to. Go to bed on time. Boreas doesn't take too kindly to stragglers." With that, she vanished into the winds, leaving Zephynn to wonder what could possibly be going on and why this sudden change in the wind had occurred.
A/N: This is a note to those of you who didn't read the summary (though I assume most of you did). This is an OC-centric fic. Kid Icarus, and more prominently Mystery of the Somewhat Staff, will be more referenced than actually represented. Main characters from the actually series are not likely to appear (I don't really have any plans to introduce them into the story either). I highly suggest reading Mystery of the Somewhat Staff and Dark Triad before continuing any further with this story. You don't have to, but references that I make to them will be plenty throughout.
I own nothing from Kid Icarus. All belongs to Nintendo.