Angel Rule Number 4: Tolerance
Disclaimer: I do not own Kid Icarus Uprising. I own the interpretation of the Gods not in the game and the angels of Skyworld ranging from the Angel Assembly, archangels, royal bodyguards and the Celestial Pirates. I also own the witch hunters and the spider demon Arachne.
Summary: Pit doesn't take an assassination attempt on his Goddess too well. All the angels want to go straight to executing the demon that dared to harm Palutena, but Dark Pit feels that an explanation is needed before the kangaroo court gets involved. It surprises Dark Pit on how much bad blood there is between angels and demons just by talking to the spider demon that had been wronged by Palutena in the past.
Pairing: Implied Isaak (OC)/Pittoo
Rated: T (for Teen)
Genre: Friendship, Drama and Hurt/Comfort
Warning: Swearing, violence, suggestive themes, nudity and unintentional OOC
In this story, I explain why Dark Pit got the fifth royal bodyguard position and how he got the only demon in Skyworld to be under him. Enjoy!
When people accused Dark Pit of being childish, he never reacted well. Unlike Pit who was established to be an adult despite being incredibly immature, Dark Pit was a child mentally, physically and even emotionally seeing as how he wasn't handling reality well.
Dark Pit had put himself above Pit on the maturity scale and took pride in being the reasonable one of the two. However, in this situation, he had reacted poorly to Pit's decision and had fled to be alone. The place he chose was the bar in Evangelion section of Skyworld called Safe Haven. He was not allowed to drink due to Pit making it clear that he was too young to drink therefore he was stuck with being handed a glass of juice instead of the Drink of the Gods (even though he had drank it once and found the taste awful).
Why was he even in the bar to begin with besides not liking what Pit has decided despite his displeasure? Well it concerned with a demon that was about to get executed and despite Dark Pit's newly assigned role as the captain of the Demon Division, he had no saying in sparing her. Why? Well…that was mainly the demon's fault to begin with seeing as how she had the audacity to attempt to take the life of the Goddess of Light.
"…Can I have another drink?" Dark Pit asked the bartender as he shook his drink in front of him.
The bartender was Siris who surprisingly wasn't drunk. That meant that the beautiful blond angel wouldn't insult him for not being old enough to get a real drink. And when Dark Pit considered Siris beautiful, he wasn't kidding. His skin was pale as snow with his blond hair and blue eyes complementing his pale figure perfectly. To hide the fact he was incredibly thin (or the fact he was hiding something on his body), he insisted on wearing winter clothes in sunny weather that was as white as most angel wings. His outfit was customized though so this heavy tunic had a hood with white fur and allowed him to carry sake around on his belt.
"How long are you going to sit around and sulk?" Siris responded with a question instead as he poured him another glass of fresh grape juice. "While you're here, that friend of yours has probably met a bloody end."
"T-That's no longer my concern…" Dark Pit growled as he gulped the drink in one sitting making Siris wonder why he was trying to hard to treat the drink as if it were alcohol. "Pit already said I got no say in this…so…"
"Since when have you ever listened to that idiot captain?"
Dark Pit wanted to say most of the time, but for once Pit had brought up so many points that he was at a loss for words. He hated being wrong and that was why he was at the bar in the first place. If he were to trace his memories back of what lead to this point, he would only become frustrated with himself and realize how naïve he was being.
It wasn't long ago that Pit had finally gathered a group of angels that he had trusted to set up the royal bodyguards. Right after Hades' defeat, Pit knew that he couldn't do everything alone. Palutena had to yank his arm for him to actually go around the heavens and find a group of angels who would be loyal enough to serve under Palutena despite the Chaos Kin incident. Fortunately for him, there have been a group of angels that have been loyal to her in the past and were happy to work under Pit.
Besides Dark Pit who honestly had nowhere to go after he lost his Power of Flight, there was: Sun-Wong the earth angel, Mcenche the ice angel, Himeno the wind angel, Isaak the lightning angel, Aqua the water angel and Pepper the fire angel. Yes, there was Kaguju the angel of emotions, but Pit wanted nothing to do with him. Pit wanted twelve rankings but at the moment, he had no idea who the last three members would be. Pepper had made some suggestions on two angels in particular, but right now, Pit was going to take what he got.
Pittoo was surprised at how much he liked this group that Pit formed. These angels didn't mind that he was a clone of Pit. Most of the angels had already dismissed him as some inferior being therefore wasn't worth his or her time. The royal bodyguards were kind to him though…especially Isaak. Dark Pit had this odd feeling that the blond angel was hitting on him…not like he minded the sort of affection especially when the first thing Isaak did when introducing himself to Pittoo was offering him a bouquet of black roses along with giving him a wonderful name on the spot since he didn't like referring to him as a clone. This name that Pittoo would later adopt for himself would be Lived Twilight, or Li for short. Aqua had snarked that the lightning angel was getting ahead of himself, but the dark angel wasn't really interested in a romantic partner…yet.
While the angels were cool to hang out with, the minute Pit chose the arrangement for them was when Dark Pit got a little salty with his older twin for the main reason that he wasn't number two.
Pit was always going to be number one because he was the closest to Palutena. That was something Dark Pit had to accept even if he would prefer number one because he was better than Pit. However, he was put in the fifth rank out of the twelve seats possible. Each division had their own thing to do and Dark Pit sure as fuck didn't know what the hell the "Demon Division" did. It almost felt like an insult seeing as how everyone else seemed to get something associated with his or her talent.
"Aqua, I know I said this is the Magic Division, but I'm counting on you to take care of those hot springs!" Pit told the blue haired angel.
Aqua continued to give him the emotionless stare before shaking her head in annoyance. "I can use magic too."
Dark Pit waited for most of the angels to leave before he was left alone with the brunette. Pit took notice to his dislike toward his assigned division and groaned when the raven haired angel began shouting at him.
"What the hell, Pit! Why am I so far down the list? Are you doing this to piss me off? I thought we were equals!"
"First of all, both of us cannot be number one." Pit had to remind him. "Second of all, I did think about it. The higher you are up means you're going to have to deal with the Angel Assembly. Sun-Wong is my vice captain who can do everything for me. Mcenche has to deal with the Angel Assembly more as the third seat and I doubt you can heal as well as Himeno. Also, Isaak is the one who repairs all the weapons so he's directly below you. Aqua's magic is top notch so I put her at seven…and Pepper is eight because she's a great cook…and I want her staying far away from the politics as possible. She'll burn bridges."
"What about the other four unassigned ones?
"Human Division, Cleaning Division, Flight Division and Messenger Division. Lady Palutena wants me to give last one to that damn Kaguju. I don't know why she wants me to even recruit him. He's as sleazy as Hades is…"
Dark Pit wasn't really happy that those were the options that were left.
"What am I supposed to do in the Demon Division? It as vague sounding as the Human Division…"
"Well…you know now that Hades is gone…the Underworld is without a ruler." Pit began explaining. "Most demons act on their own will now without that asshole meaning that us angels have a chance to actually communicate and understand demons. That's your duty though and not everyone else's."
"…That sounds hypocritical Pitstain if I'm the only one who has to interact with them…"
"Angel rule number four! Angels don't associate with demons unless in a time of extreme crisis so if an angel teams up with a demon to commit a crime, they will be banished to hell. Unlike many examples, you can try explaining yourself to the Goddess or the Seraph but the Angel Assembly will not hear anything from you."
"…What?"
"That's one of the top ten rules in heaven, Pittoo. The Demon Division I came up with can help make this rule null in the near future, but…" Pit frowned being reminded of something that he would rather not remember. "I'd rather not be the one to do it honestly…"
"So you're dumping the responsibility on me."
"It's either handle the demons, or handle the Angel Assembly. I'm doing you a favor to not mess with those jerks."
"You make it seem like the angel sissies are worse than the demons that we have been fighting for awhile."
"Oh Pittoo…if only you knew how messed up the Angel Assembly is…"
The dark angel gave up trying to talk to Pit at this point. There was a political reason why he was placed so low. In the future, he would probably appreciate being of a lower rank than demanding for the second seat. However, Pit had told him that there are still vice captains within the division that need to be picked. Pit already had his idea on who he wanted by his side and intended to leave as soon as possible to recruit her. Dark Pit would have to wait to be surprised on who it is. For the moment, he would have to think who would be the one he trusted when he could not do his job.
Never would have Dark Pit imagined that his position would immediately be put to the test with the next string of events. Pit just opened the door and immediately noticed something was off. Looking up at the ceiling, he noticed that there were yellow webs attached in the corner of the ceilings.
"What is it, Pitstain?"
"…Why are there spider webs in the temple?"
"You don't have a Cleaning Division yet."
"Lady Palutena has no bugs in her temple much less spiders." Pit frowned when he said this before looking down the hallway of the first division where at the end of the hall would be Palutena's chamber. "…I got a bad feeling about this."
Dark Pit ended up looking farther than Pit when it came to the spider webs on the ceiling. He noticed that they created this odd hexagon pattern that was in the direction of Palutena's room. Pit probably had the same idea as him seeing as how they were both running toward the door.
"LADY PALUTENA!" Pit cried out as he and his twin opened the door together. Maybe Pit should have thought about knocking on the door first seeing as how the green haired Goddess had just finished her bath and was getting changed. Pit had seen her naked multiple times, but she hated people coming in without her say.
"PIT! DARK PIT!" She screamed immediately turning around ready to throw the brush in her hand at them. "DID I GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO COME IN?!"
Dark Pit immediately hid behind his older twin using him as a shield should she use her brush as a projectile. Pit's cheeks turned bright red looking at her before he shook his head.
"L-L-Lady Palutena…I'm sorry but there's…I-I-I…"
"AT LEAST CLOSE THE DOOR IF YOU'RE COMING IN!"
It's not like Pit had any time to do so because he ended up looking at everything but Palutena to avoid seeing her beautiful body. When he looked up though, he immediately noticed someone was clinging to the ceiling waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting Goddess with a dagger that she had hidden in her sleeves. Dark Pit was the one who reacted faster than his older counterpart.
"PALUTENA, GET DOWN!" He shouted as he pushed past Pit to shove Palutena out of the way when the person from the ceiling came down attempting to slit her throat with one fell swoop.
Palutena was taken aback by the sudden turn of events (along with Dark Pit being the one to get her out of the way instead of Pit). The dark angel was lucky he didn't lose his head from saving her. Because Palutena recovered rather quickly, she was able to create a barrier around her and Dark Pit thus protecting them both from the spider demon that came down on them leaving Pit outside of the small barrier with her.
"Who are you?" Pit demanded to know ready to take her on regardless if she answered or not.
Pit had seen his fair share of spider demons, but this one appeared different from the rest. For one thing, this spider demon had a human body with the only demonic thing about her is the six smaller gold eyes that she hid behind the bangs of her short blonde hair. Her jumper outfit was obviously weaved by the spider girl herself seeing how the design was as bright and yellow as she was (with other colors such as an ugly bronze color and black like all spiders had). In Pit's eyes, the spider girl stood out making assassinating difficult…yet she was able to infiltrate the temple without anyone noticing her presence.
On further inspection of her jumper, he noted how the buttons on the design were arranged into a happy face. It was easy to conclude what spider species she was from just that design…but then again…the only spider race that had blonde hair were the Theridion Grallator. How Pit was able to tell…well…he wasn't that stupid when it came to subspecies with the demon race.
"Oh, I'm just a spider named Arachne." The spider girl responded as her body slowly started to morph to look less human and more demonic. "I'm just going to kill the Goddess of Light and be on my way. It's my job after all as an assassin."
"Not on my watch!" Pit declared as he charged her mid-transformation. Arachne was quick even during the middle of shifting. The spider web she had came from the tip of her fingernails allowing her to pull herself out of trouble before Pit could even impale the assassin. While hovering, she was able to sprout six more additional spider legs before coming down on the angel captain.
Dark Pit was the one slowly leading Palutena away from the middle of her room and toward the exit. This would give Pit more room to fight, and it was apparent that he didn't care if he would mess with the Goddess' room.
"Are you an amateur, because you won't last long against me!" Pit declared when he moved out of the way. "What kind of spider goes in alone and fights one on one with me?"
"You're just arrogant." Arachne taunted. "I'm not like other spider demons."
If Pit had a fire weapon, he could have finished the battle right then and there. Instead, he would have to stop her movement. This was why he targeted the legs with his bow. When she was bigger, she made herself a bigger target and she was attempting to shoot Palutena with her web that apparently has electricity flowing through it. The door ended up being hit by the web but it wasn't anything that Palutena could easily remove.
"No, you're very much like the rest of them leaving yourself wide open!" Pit declared as he kept shooting at the back legs. Arachne was faster when she had more legs, but the back ones would always be vulnerable to attacks like Pit's arrows. "You're not getting away from me."
Palutena already knew that this Arachne demon had the unfortunate encounter with Pit therefore she would not have to worry about Pit easily defeating her in that moment. The light angel has had experience fighting more menacing spiders in the past, so it wasn't a surprise to her that Pit approached Arachne after she shot more webs in an attempt to slow him down. The minute the white angel was underneath Arachne's bottom torso where her legs were was the minute that Pit grabbed onto one of the legs and forcibly yanked it off from its socket. These spider legs were fragile and combined with hitting this particular leg multiple times it was bound to come off quickly. Arachne wasn't expecting Pit to violently rip off her leg and shrieked seeing her blood splatter over herself and the light angel that was attacking her. If she were a horse, she could have kicked him away, but Pit wasn't letting go of the other one either.
"D-Damn you!" She cursed as she now attempted to change back in her original form.
"Like I said, amateur!" Pit declared as he continued to cling onto that particular leg. "I was thinking about killing you for even attempting of hurting Lady Palutena, but I got a better idea!"
Arachne panicked feeling an arrow being pointed toward her crotch area. Her expression paled as she screamed before freezing in place. Dark Pit's eyes widened at horror at what Pit threatened the spider demon with if she didn't stop moving on the spot. There was a small chuckle escaping his lips as he ended up not shooting but hit the spider demon at a pressure point that would temporarily paralyzing her.
"Cruel…like the demons said…"
"You don't even know what it means to be cruel." Pit told her harshly. "I'm dragging your sorry butt to the Angel Assembly." Pit looked over to Lady Palutena and chuckled nervously. "Sorry Lady Palutena, I'll be right back. I'm going to be taking out the trash. Pittoo, stay with Lady Palutena until I get back."
"Do so…" Palutena murmured as she used her magic to get rid of the spider web.
Dark Pit slowly nodded his head to Pit's order in contrast to Palutena's quick comment. Was attempted assassination a common occurrence? Dark Pit wanted to know, but he was speechless when Pit left the room. Pit had no problem dragging Arachne painfully by one of her legs that he was currently breaking seeing as how she was an enemy to him. The dark angel felt only pity seeing her screech in a half transformed state. If she turned back into her humanoid form, she would definitely be killed seeing as how these angels could take her down with their demon slaying weapons. If she were to revert to her monstrous form, she would lose more legs. One leg was already enough to lose and Pit was threatening to rip off the one he was pulling on if she didn't cooperate.
Palutena had ordered Dark Pit to go after Pit fearing that he would make a foolish decision without her say (and despite telling Pit he was allowed to throw her out like garbage). The green haired Goddess had the other royal bodyguards with her therefore did not need him to watch for any other potential assassinations. The dark angel followed the trail of the bloody web that the spider girl had attempted to use to mark her location. Pit could have easily cut the web to prevent her from coming back to the temple should she escape, but his eyes were on her…therefore she wasn't going to escape.
Pittoo hated walking through Evangelion to get to the Angel Assembly, which was more suffocating than having to go through the City of Souls in the Underworld. Evangelion always felt like a cold place due to how it was one of the rich shopping districts in heaven and how all the angels in this area tended to be very stuck up. He stuck out like a sore thumb with his black wings and it made him wish he could hide them like the other angels. He noticed that some angels were very good at wrapping their wings around their bodies so they wouldn't hit other people, but if he were to attempt that, his wings would ache.
When the black angel finally made it to the door of the Angel Assembly, he was quick to open it. He could hear Pit shouting at the angels inside and it immediately want him to turn away. The brunette was rarely angry, so for Pit to lose his temper against other angels made him a little fearful of how they would treat him.
"Can we actually just sit down and agree on something for once?!" Pit yelled at the Angel Assembly who attempted to talk over him again. "I don't want a demon that tried to kill Lady Palutena anywhere near her!"
"She'll get the dungeon dirty though with her filthy spider webs."
Dark Pit frowned recognizing that voice from anywhere. The Angel Assemblymember Friday was notorious for being the rich and beautiful (not to mention haughty) angel who always got what she wanted due to her money and influence. Admittingly, she intimidated Dark Pit because she towered over him and had no problem rubbing it in his face about his status compared to the other angels…not to mention she was always clingy to Isaak and that just rubbed him the wrong way. Pit was completely unfazed by her at least and retorted back at her.
"Who asked you?"
"Captain, do you want a majority vote on where the disgusting demon will end up?"
"Honestly, I don't think it will be a problem if she were to be in the dungeon…" A rather shy angel spoke but immediately got talked over.
"Shut up Zuu! You're not a real member!"
"S-Sorry…"
Pit rolled his eyes at the young angel's treatment. Why did someone like Zuu even bother with them when he would do way better under Pit's command?
"Valerie," Pit spoke up looking directly toward the young judge who has been noticeably quiet the entire time, "what are you going to do?"
"…Personally I don't want a spider anywhere near here, but we have a dungeon for a reason."
"VALERIE!" Most of the Angel Assembly shouted in unison with one exception.
"Does that mean I can ask her to spin web for me so I can make more clothes with it?"
"Vitus, stop thinking about money." Valerie told another young angel harshly. "Really, this dungeon conversation is pointless if we just killed her on the spot. Why haven't you done that already, Pit?"
Pit blinked as if Valerie just asked him a stupid question.
"…You know the last time I didn't tell anyone I slaughtered a bunch of demons…one of you assholes threw a fit about it…"
Valerie sighed because already had an idea on who complained about Pit doing the deed as he glared at Gaston who was whistling like the angel captain wasn't referring to him.
"I apologize for that incident Captain Pit." Valerie told him in a rather unapologetic voice. "To make up for it, just kill her now and we won't talk about it again. I'm certain all the other angels besides Vitus will agree that it will be less of a hassle if you do it now."
Of course the angels minus Vitus were in unison. That young angel was complaining about how it would be a waste to not use a spider demon for her brilliant yellow webs. Dark Pit's eyes widened in horror seeing how the angels were so quick with wanting to kill Arachne for the simple fact she was being a nuisance to them. Where was the trial? Where was the redemption phase that angels loved to gloat about? Where was the justice?
"Must I do everything myself?" Pit could be heard snarking as he finally released the leg that he was holding Arachne by. At this point, she couldn't feel it anymore because of how much he pulled on it that she might as well beg for him to cut it off like her other leg. "If only you didn't try and attack Lady Palutena…you would have a chance to survive."
The younger twin had never seen his original give anyone the cold stare except maybe the Chaos Kin when they faced that chaotic parasite. It was toward a demon nonetheless and he had no problem taking his bow apart preparing to impale her in the forehead. Arachne was still struggling to transform back into her human form, but Pit wasn't going to let her.
"Stop right there, Pitstain!"
Pit froze immediately hearing his younger twin's voice. He groaned seeing Dark Pit rushing into the assembly ready to pick a fight with the other angels if they were to try and kick him out.
"I thought I told you to stay with Lady Palutena."
"Well, your Goddess told me to follow you, so you don't do anything stupid! And you're going to do something stupid right now!"
Normally Dark Pit would have been kicked out for even daring to step foot in the Angel Assembly, but actually getting Palutena's permission actually allowed him to speak up.
"…And what did she want you to do?" Pit questioned wondering what Palutena wanted out of this.
In all honesty, Dark Pit didn't know what to say. Palutena just told Dark Pit to not let Pit do anything that he would regret. If that meant just stopping him from obeying the Angel Assembly, then he already accomplished his mission. However, all eyes were glaring at him as if trying to melt the black angel with his or her gaze. Dark Pit couldn't even look Pit in the eye when the attention was on him. He ended up looking down at Arachne who used this opportunity to turn back into her human form. She wouldn't be able to escape, but at the very least her other legs wouldn't be at the mercy of being yanked off like the first one.
"…Do my job." Dark Pit spoke causing all the angels to stare at him in confusion. "Pit, you gave me the job as the leader of the Demon Division…so that's what I intend to do."
Immediately voices erupted through the assembly. The more brash angels were the ones talking over the ones who wanted some order. Even Valerie couldn't get them to calm down at the moment meaning Gaston was going to say something stupid.
"JOB? WHAT JOB DO YOU HAVE INSTEAD OF BEING ON THE LIST OF PEOPLE FOR ME TO MARRY?"
Pit was the one who shot the nastiest glare to Gaston that silenced him and the other angels. This was just one topic you could not rub in Pit's face.
"I just told you what that division does. That doesn't mean that it applies now." Pit reminded his younger twin looking down at the spider girl. "There isn't much you can do with someone who tried to kill Lady Palutena."
"But angels are supposed to make demons repent for their crimes…right?"
The Angel Assembly fell into silence at these words mainly because it was true. They all wanted to get things over with, but they were skipping the usual protocol if they failed to not redeem her.
Arachne chuckled darkly at Dark Pit's suggestion. The black angel was confused at why she would laugh at a suggestion that would get her out of trouble.
"Ha! You expect me…a demon to repent for something your stupid Goddess did to my race in the past? Do me a favor and go fuck yourself."
If Arachne didn't transform back to her human form, she would have lost another leg. Pit ended up kicking Arachne in the back for that insult to his Goddess and twin.
"Watch your mouth, you evil demon!"
"Pit!"
Pit wasn't pleased at how Dark Pit was still insisting. "There's no hope for this one!"
"…Pit…give me one week. I'll do what you angels are failing to do!"
"Ehh…"
"Let me do my job Pit since you're not going to let me be your vice captain!"
Again there were some chuckles coming from the Angel Assembly. Pit hasn't even announced all the roles in the royal bodyguards but hearing how Dark Pit wasn't even number two to Pit was just amusing for them (especially Gaston) to hear.
Pit hated being pressured into giving into Dark Pit's whims. He growled as he folded his arms and pulled his foot away from the spider girl's back. "…Fine. One week. That's all you get. If you cannot persuade her to repent for her crimes, then she will be killed." Dark Pit's eyes lit up for a second but Pit immediately slammed some more rules on him. "She is not leaving the dungeon. You visit her. I will not let her escape and try to kill Lady Palutena again. I think the Angel Assembly can agree with this though."
The brunette was mainly speaking to Valerie who was the end all, say all judge anyway. He slowly nodded his head since he didn't want to look at the spider demon that was in front of him.
"One week is fine. Hopefully this spider demon will act like a happy face spider instead of a black widow." Valerie mocked. He groaned hearing the other angels boo him, but he did have the final say in this type of situation anyway.
Dark Pit sighed in relief thinking that he would actually be able to accomplish something Pit could not possibly do. The selfish part of him foolishly thought that if he could tame the demon that he would no longer be shit on for being a clone. Unfortunately, this wasn't going to happen seeing as how Arachne was going to fight with him all the way through…
Immediately, Dark Pit regretted taking up the mantel of being the angel that would redeem a demon in the angel society's eye. There were so many flaws in this plan. One was that Dark Pit didn't understand how angel society worked. Pit knew it was a lost cause from the beginning, but wanted him to experience that himself since he was pressured into saying yes in the first place. The other royal bodyguards thought the same way. Even sweet talking Isaak told the dark angel he was wasting his time.
The second problem was how one week wasn't going to be enough to tame the wild spider. A month would probably have achieved the results Dark Pit had in mind, but it's not like he could beg Pit anymore without hurting his own pride in front of those asshole angels.
The final problem was that Arachne did not want Pittoo's help in any shape or form. He may have saved her from dying on the spot, but she wasn't going to budge on her stance. She was going to stand her grand and continue to insult Palutena until it was time to execute her.
The Underworld Army had always appeared to be one-dimensional freaks and could only speak gibberish (if at all). It never occurred to him that besides a selected few demons such as Amazon Pandora that there were other demon species that were very human like in appearance and had a train of thought like everyone else given that there were no spiders in Hades' Underworld. It made him realize that he knew very little of the Underworld army that he has spent his short life slaying. He wanted to know more about Arachne as a result, but it was difficult to get anything out of her.
When Arachne was placed in the dungeon, the angels made sure that she had no way of moving around. This wasn't the same dungeon in Palutena's Temple. This one was in a very dark area far away from the light of the Goddess. Her leg was chained to the wall and she would have had her arms chained to the wall as well if Dark Pit didn't beg for her to not be treated as such (it would be pretty hard to want to redeem yourself if you treated this poorly before your execution date). Since none of the angels would visit Arachne and intended to starve her, Dark Pit had to be the one to bring her food from outside the prison. Yes, Arachne rejected everything the dark angel gave her, but it was the thought that counts.
The blonde always had her guard up around Dark Pit when he came around. With the anti-magic collar strapped around her neck, there wasn't much she could do but just wait until it was time to be killed. Dark Pit stayed with her for at least five hours max before he was forced to leave. He was wasting his time the first three days given she had her back turned to him and refused to open her mouth to speak. The next three days were equally stressful seeing how Arachne went from ignoring him to berating his existence hoping he'll leave sooner. At first it didn't affect the dark angel at all due to the fact that she wasn't aware that Dark Pit was unaware of how angel society worked so calling him "Cerberus to the angels" was not much of an insult. When Dark Pit would leave and she would be stuck with some of the random Centurion guards, she overheard them mock about his clone status. Bringing that up indeed caused Dark Pit's mood to drop and she was pleasantly pleased that on the fifth day that he almost rage quit on her after trying so hard to get her to open up.
It's why she was sorely disappointed how the persistent angel spent the sixth day actually talking about himself. Arachne had been listening for the past five days and Dark Pit had been asking about the Underworld and why she was different from the rest. Most of what Arachne heard talk about was nonsense to her, but listening to why Dark Pit was a clone was fascinating. After all, replicas were looked down on as much as robots created by aliens to be an expendable race. Clones also had no will of their own due to being influenced by negative thoughts such as the desire for destruction and death or the desire to kill the original in order to prove themselves superior. Li at least was proving to be an odd case for her. She noted how despite being a clone, Dark Pit indeed looked up to his original and Pit himself treated the replica as a family member instead of a replica meant to be tossed away. She wondered if this was why his attitude toward this situation was different. Despite being a dark clone, he was rather optimistic…or the correct term would be naïve to how Pit was treating her assassination attempt on the Goddess of Light. She would think that Dark Pit would have his guard up around her like she was to him like how Pit took precautions to make sure she wouldn't break out and escape. Instead, he was leaving himself wide open to be hurt in the long run.
"…Man…you should be part of the Underworld Army." Arachne had spoke after ignoring a certain portion of Dark Pit's story concerning him falling asleep for three years due to a chaotic deity she did not care about. "You wouldn't have to worry about being in the captain's shadow or mistreated by the angels if you were the commander of the Underworld Army."
Dark Pit's eyes widened at the suggestion. Now that Hades was out of the way temporary, there was no one in charge of the Underworld meaning that the demons were free to do whatever they wanted without a God to supervise their actions. It was never in the heaven's plan to try and control the demons, so Dark Pit never had to worry about Palutena one day demanding that someone attempt to tame the demons that refused to obey the angels.
"Why would I want to command a region of demons?" Dark Pit asked rather annoyed at the suggestion.
"You're strong. The demons would respect your strength and obey you without hesitation. Don't tell me it never crossed your mind to have the demons attack your original once."
"This angel is bound to no one but himself!" Dark Pit exclaimed causing Arachne to roll her eyes. "That goes for rogue demons too. They are not bound to me like I am not bound to Palutena."
"But you'll obey your original."
"No. I can take suggestions from Pitstain but he doesn't control me."
"Sounds like this is an order from the captain rather than your choice."
"…Do not talk about Pit like you know him."
Arachne noted that Li's tone changed at the implication that the older twin did not care for his younger one.
"Oh? Did I hit a nerve again?"
"Pit's view of everything is still black and white…but his heart has always been in the right place…" Dark Pit murmured. "He'll never abandon me even if it doesn't benefit him…"
Arachne would have said that she would find that hard to believe…but she had seen Pit's attitude toward the dark twin. She sighed realizing that if it was any other demon, they would have taken advantage of the fact that Dark Pit admitted that he was Pit's weakness. Demons had always feared Pit mainly because he was a one man army and wiped out swarms of demons during the days where he was only a child. Now he's an adult and appeared nearly invincible to the demons especially after he killed Hades who was the true God of the Underworld. Hades' defeat made most demons hide underground in fear that Pit would send an army of angels to wipe them out. If she were to trick Dark Pit and get out of Skyworld in one piece…she knew that she could just tell the Overlord of the other Netherworlds about Pit's mega weakness and bring Pit to his knees as revenge for the injustice Palutena has done.
Yet Arachne noticed the expression Pittoo gave when he said Pit would never abandon him. She read it as being grateful to the original as well as a feeling of regret.
"Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him…I…messed up and should have died back then. Pit had nothing to gain from saving me. He was willing to never fly again to make sure I was safe from harm…"
Arachne did recall that Pit was obsessed with flying even when he was one of those handicapped angels who could never fly again. She smirked as she leaned against the cell bars to whisper in his ear seeing as how he had his back to her for once.
"You know replica, you should be careful on who you give this information to. You're going to be the captain's downfall if you throw out vital information like this so easily."
She chuckled seeing Dark Pit gasp as he jumped away from her. His cheeks were red at her words before he looked away ashamed.
"…I just realized I had something to do…"
This was the only time Dark Pit gave up on Arachne rather early instead of spending the entire five hours with her. These words stunned him more than anything else she had told him because unlike the insults directed at him, being told that he might get Pit killed (thus himself by proxy) really shook him. The spider demon was rather saddened he didn't return even during the last day. Arachne felt discouraged as the last day went on without the dark angel to coax her out of being evil. She knew better than anyone though that even in desperate times like these…her demon pride would make sure that she would never give in to the angels.
When night fell outside Skyworld, Arachne realized that there were probably only a few hours left before she would be tried for attempted murder. She stood up thinking Dark Pit was coming to visit her in her final hours, but it ended up being a Centurion guard telling her that her time was coming before leaving her alone again. Despair was starting to overtake her mind when she sat back down and brought her human legs toward her chest. If she waited a few more minutes, Dark Pit would have came down to see her one last time to try and convince her, but because she failed to notice more footsteps coming down…her vulnerable side ended up showing and she regretted letting Dark Pit seeing that side of her.
"Dammit…why can't I just trick these stupid angels into submitting to them?" Arachne asked herself softly as she tried to stop herself from trembling. "It would be so easy if I just said that I would obey them without question…I could easily complete my mission and slay the Goddess this way with how that angel brat is acting…the captain would lose either way…and yet…I can't even bring myself to be a good demon." Arachne let out a huge sigh knowing full well that this demon pride thing was getting in the way of her mission. "…I'm not going to see my family again…they'll be picked off one by one after they hear that I was killed…dammit…dammit…DAMMIT!"
At this point Arachne had let some sobs escape her lips as she cried into her knees. She hated feeling powerless in this situation especially when there was someone on the line on her end. The only reason she didn't cry the whole night was because she finally acknowledged Dark Pit's presence.
"Arachne? Is everything okay?"
She gasped as she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up.
"…I'm fine." She managed to croak out without sounding as miserable as her mini rant to herself that she was certain no one would hear.
"Arachne…there is still time." Dark Pit muttered. "Let me help you…"
"Where were you the whole day?" Arachne snapped as a response. "You didn't show up the usual five hours! Did you give up on me like everyone else?! I bet you did, didn't you and you're coming here at the last minute to get me desperate enough to beg for mercy! Well it won't work you stupid replica, so stop asking!"
In reality, Dark Pit had nagged Pit the whole day to try and extend the deadline for how long he needed to talk to her. He only got so much out of her the previous day that he needed more time to console her. Pit was adamant about the deadline remaining the same and had told his younger twin that she would be executed when Clockwork Galaxy's clock struck 3 in the afternoon (assuming that the clock worked). This was final and Dark Pit no longer had a say in it even if he were to convince Arachne tonight to change her ways.
"Please Arachne! Think about what will happen if you refuse! You'll die before you have a chance to prove yourself! Show those idiot angels that you can change!"
"For their sake? Hell no! They can piss off and so can you!" The blonde spider demon snapped. "I would rather die than be treated as a slave to these birdbrains!"
"Throw your demon pride away then and think about who you will hurt if you don't submit!"
"I don't need your pity!"
And Arachne shunned the dark angel for the rest of the night after being reminded of her family she will leave behind when she dies tomorrow. Dark Pit had shouted at her more but she had drowned out his voice again. He had cursed her out about how stubborn she was being in this terrible situation and how he couldn't work with her if she didn't even try. Arachne only glanced at Dark Pit as he stormed off out of the dungeon. She shook her head knowing full well that the last person that could have helped her had left her for good and she wasn't feeling good about herself as a result.
Dark Pit had demanded another glass of grape juice after recalling the incident. Why couldn't he come up with a good comeback statement to Pit like he usually did? Maybe he was just discouraged that despite extending a hand to Arachne in trying to redeem her, she wasn't going to budge. She would rather be killed instead of apologizing and it just didn't register to Dark Pit that her pride would actually be the reason for her demise. Yes, he was prideful but even he admitted that when he found out how his life was tied to Pit's survival, he would drop everything to be by Pit's side to ensure that he himself would be able to live. Arachne didn't think like him though hence why she was going to be killed.
"I'm surprised that it took you that long to realize that demons are a stubborn bunch." Siris told him as a matter of fact statement. "When you're like me who has known a rowdy bunch of demons for more than 2000 years, you start to realize that the younger they are, the more likely they aren't going to listen to reason."
"But…she's going to die…and I don't know what to do…" Dark Pit muttered sadly. "Pit usually doesn't use those types of words to get his point across…he's like a completely different person when it's not just him and Palutena…"
"He has a reputation to keep." Siris reminded him. "Only when he's with her does he let his guard down. He values the Goddess over his fellow angel kin after all."
Dark Pit knew that more than anyone. Palutena was so important to him that logic was thrown out the window when it concerned her…but at the same time…he managed to be rather conniving when it came to handling those who opposed the green haired Goddess. These moments always caught him off guard because in the end…he would never know why Pit was so loyal to Palutena that he would stain his angel wings with the blood of his enemies for her.
"…What's the point of having an angel law about tolerance when this is the definition of intolerance?"
"It's hypocrisy. You already see that with the Gods and the demons. Angels are no different." Sirs told him. "Honestly though, to win a demon's trust…you just need to show them that actions speak louder than words. Everything you have told Arachne might as well be a lie if you don't do something about the execution."
"But I can't-"
Siris smiled rather coldly to Dark Pit that sent shivers down his spine.
"Do you think Pit will kill you for everyone? Are you scared he'll cut you down like everyone else? Or do you not believe your bond with him is strong enough?"
Dark Pit was at a loss of words…again…
"I…"
"You won't know unless you try. I can tell you from experience that you feel better trying and failing to accomplish something than to regret it by not trying at all."
Sometimes, Siris had words of wisdom to offer, but that was only when he wasn't drunk. If Dark Pit came any later, he would have been drunk off his ass and made the entire situation worse. The dark angel was just lucky that he had caught him sober…otherwise he wouldn't have gotten the idea to actually interfere with the execution.
"…You don't have that much time left." Siris told him. "Thirteen minutes to get from here to the capital. Seeing as how everyone is crowding around to watch a demon die in front of them…it will be difficult for you."
"I'll manage."
"Even when you can't fly? My, don't you wish you had some other Goddess to give you the Power of Flight so you can get there in five minutes?"
The dark angel sighed in defeat as he immediately got off the chair. He might as well start running now if he wanted to save Arachne.
"Thanks for the advice, but I'll be fine. I have been on the run before that stupid Chaos Kin incident that I'll manage."
Before Siris could say anything else, Dark Pit bolted out the door. The blond was far from amused due to one thing the black angel didn't do.
"YOU DIDN'T PAY THE BILL, YOU RUNT!"
It was funny how despite the fact Skyworld was mostly sunny heaven that the weather angels were capable of changing the weather depending on the situation. Sometimes it was changed to assist or hinder the humans below. Other times, they wanted to get with the seasons below when the Goddess of Nature sometimes failed to give the humans the blessings they needed to grow crops. In this situation, it was to get everyone in a somber mood. Execution was treated seriously and if it was a demon that was going to be put to death, then many angels were glad to watch.
Pit was the one that was going to end Arachne's life. As the captain of the royal bodyguards, he was forced to set an example to those who would dare harm the Goddess of Light. He had given Dark Pit enough time to get her to apologize and atone for her crimes, but Arachne was a stubborn demon. She would rather die than beg for her own life. Anyone who had tried to murder Palutena deserved to be put to death.
The brunette had to stop and think that he probably should have chosen an execution method that was the least painful, but he knew if he chose this method he would score big points with the Angel Assembly along with show everyone that despite his good natured attitude, he was capable of dishing up horrible punishments. The method he chose was sawing. Since Arachne was a spider, he thought it would be ironic to tie her by the legs and hang her upside in her final moments. The blonde continued to give the light angel a nonchalant expression as she looked toward the sky as if expecting things to go down horribly for her. It didn't help that her hands were tied behind her back and that anti-magic collar that was forced on her would stop her from even thinking of escaping death. Arachne at this point had accepted her fate, so she didn't care that she was going to be killed in a gruesome manner.
Palutena was forced to attend even though the execution was in front of her temple and she could clearly just use her magic to watch the execution from her room. The green haired Goddess wanted to be there for Pit seeing as how she felt like she was forcing him to do something he might not want to do. At the same time, she didn't like Arachne at all for how defiant she was acting despite Dark Pit showering her with the chance of redemption.
"There is still time." Palutena spoke to Arachne who continued to give the green haired Goddess the most venomous glare imaginable especially since her other six eyes were showing underneath her bangs. "If you apologize now, I will forgive you for your crimes."
"Fat chance! Why would I believe a hypocrite like you!" Arachne hissed as she attempted to move despite her bindings. "You're the reason I'm here in the first place, you old hag!"
Palutena's eyebrow twitched at her age being brought up. It was surprising how she was still able to remain calm despite being insulted again.
"Excuse me?"
Pit backed up hearing Palutena's voice crack though…
"Oh, how are we quick to forget how much of a sore loser you are! You're the reason spider demons like me exist! Be ashamed of your divine privilege, you spoiled bitch!"
The other angels felt darkness coming from Palutena in that moment. Her expression slowly darkened despite her best to maintain her smile. It was a cold smile at this point as if she was ready to do the killing instead of her captain.
"…Privilege you say? I could have sworn your race foolishly thought you didn't have to thank us Gods for what we have done for you."
Arachne just laughed at Palutena's word choice. Palutena gripped her scepter hard as her soft expression was quickly becoming sour.
"What have you done for us spider demons besides curse us for eternity for being disgusting pests? My original ancestor who wore my name had every right to call you out on the bullshit you Gods have done to humanity! You thought that just because you got rid of the black blob of darkness meant that you were free from all criticism?!"
"Someone doesn't know their history of the Great Evil…" Palutena began in a mocking tone.
"Oh I know! I know you didn't beat that bastard! You sealed him away for 2000 years! It's almost that time again and he's going to return! You only prolonged another grand scale war and you're saying that we should thank and worship you for that! My ancestor was right! You and your kind are selfish, short-term thinkers!"
Pit didn't realize that he was behind Palutena and firmly grasping the arm that her scepter was in. He didn't know why, but he felt that if he didn't grab her, she would have lashed out in a horrible way in that moment. It showed on her face. It was the same hateful expression that Medusa wore whenever she glanced at Palutena.
"Lady Palutena, there's no point in listening to her." Pit told his Goddess rather calmly. "Please step aside and let me finish this."
Again, Arachne laughed at how Pit was trying to shield Palutena from her insults and criticism.
"You do that Captain." Arachne told him in a mocking tone. "By silencing me, you silence the Arachne generation of the injustice your Goddess has done."
"There is no injustice." Palutena said harshly. "Your ancestor was just impertinent."
"No she wasn't! She made a point in that contest and you confirmed it by ripping the tapestry apart and then killing her! What was the point?"
Just bringing up that incident didn't phase well with the Goddess of Light. Pit for a moment felt Palutena try to nudge him away so she could whack Arachne with her scepter like what she had done to the Arachne of the past 2000 years ago. She had finished sealing the Great Evil away and getting over the death of her mentor Hestia. Other things have caused her to stress out over the war and as a result, Palutena was easy to anger during this time. The Arachne that Palutena remembered looked very much like the spider demon in front of her now minus the obvious spider features along with the fact that the human version was older and had dark colored hair. She remembered how human girl had boasted that her weaving was better than hers after being one of the gifted people in the Overworld. Palutena originally wanted to warn her that she must not insult the Gods after all they have done for the humans and the universe by proxy, but Arachne would have none of that and demanded Palutena come down from the heavens to challenge her to a weaving contest. Naturally, Palutena's competitive side got the best of her and she revealed herself to the humans.
Looking back on that incident, Palutena knew that Arachne won. She could make an excuse that due to the aftermath of the war, there was no way her performance was top notch, but Palutena could never admit that there might have been a human that surpassed her in something that she took pride in. Weaving was something that Hestia had taught her and Hestia was the one that praised her for making the most beautiful tapestries the Gods have ever seen, so to see a human surpass her was a slap in the face to her dead mentor.
The design didn't help either. Palutena depicted the battle against the Great Evil. While the focus was on the Gods and what they have accomplished during the war (while casually neglecting the fact that angels and demons actually did the most work and sacrificed the most during the 2000 year war), Arachne's design was the exact opposite of what the Gods and Goddesses did and didn't do. Arachne demonstrated on the tapestry that the Gods had done very little during the war and spent more time fighting amongst each other along with fighting off that menace Typhon. That monster was the reason why Zeus was injured in the first place and why Palutena was stuck dealing with the Great Evil. If Zeus weren't injured, there would be no need to seal the Great Evil away…and yet that was all Palutena could do because she wasn't strong enough back then.
So the design combined the incompetence of the Gods when everyone suffered with the crimes that her family had committed ranging from Zeus' many affairs with women along with the punishment of humans due to accidentally insulting the Gods, it was no wonder Palutena snapped at her. There was one design on the tapestry that really set her off more than anything and that was her half-brother Dionysus being depicted as the one that had ruined everyone by not wanting the Goddess of the Moon Selena to be sacrificed like the Mother of the Universe when dealing with the Great Evil thus more people died hence the whole theme that the Gods were useless and humanity certainly didn't need them.
In her rage, Palutena had ripped up the tapestry in front of the human audience who were horrified that the Goddess of Light was enraged. Arachne could be heard screaming bloody murder at her design being ruined in front of her. The scepter that Palutena had in her hand was used to bash the human girl to death after being called out on her temper tantrum like a spoiled child. It was a bloody sight to behold and the green haired Goddess didn't stop until she heard Medusa come down from Skyworld ordering her to do so. By the time Palutena came back to her senses, she had already taken the life of the arrogant human. In her haste, she and Medusa ended up combining their powers to save Arachne's life because even if Arachne was being arrogant, she did not deserve to be killed in such a manner that her head was smashed against the scepter.
Medusa had no problem going along with Palutena's way of dealing with the dead human. They did not have the power to bring back the dead, so the solution was to turn her into an animal in order to give her a second chance at life. Palutena chose the spider because it would allow Arachne to continue making the most beautiful webs, but her appearance would forever be as hideous as her ego. The green haired Goddess thought that was the end of the incident, but how did 2000 years allow one spider to create a mass generation of spider demons due to mutation and probably some magical influence from Hades.
"Lady Palutena…" Pit spoke breaking Palutena out of her train of thought. "She can't be telling the truth, right?"
"Pit…you have my permission to kill her now." Palutena answered in a dark tone. "A demon that only wants to be the victim will die thinking she is a victim."
Arachne hissed at Palutena throwing the harsh sentence down immediately. Pit didn't bother asking any questions of Palutena's past. He got his weapon ready to start the painful execution.
"Honestly, you demons sicken me with your lies." Pit told her harshly as he positioned the blade portion in between her open crotch area. "What sickens me about you is how you treated Pittoo terribly. May your soul go back to the Underworld and never return."
If Arachne told you she wasn't scared when Pit was prepared to use his weapon like a saw, she would be lying. Her eyes widened at how quickly the angel captain would have done it too if it hadn't been for a purple arrow nearly hitting Pit's arm should had cut the spider girl. The angels gasped at someone attempting to stop the execution. Palutena's eyes widened in horror seeing that it was Dark Pit that intended to stop her order. Pit was far from amused.
"…Pittoo…what are you doing?"
"Stopping you from foolishly listening to your Goddess!" Dark Pit shouted as he split his Silver Bow in two before charging to the front of the temple where Pit is standing. "Why are you so insistent on killing her?"
"Why can't you stay out of this?" Pit questioned rather agitated with his younger twin now. "I gave you one full week to get this demon to change her mind. Nothing was accomplished and I'm doing what I should have done sooner!"
"A week is barely enough time to get this done, and you know it Pit!"
"A week is plenty of time!"
"No, it's not! For a demon, it will take longer than seven days! You have to work with them Pit! You can't force them to change in such a short amount of time and expect results! That's what caused this prejudice in the first place."
Pit did not appreciate being talked down to by his twin who had no experience of situations like these.
"Pit, you told me yourself about angel rule number four…Angels don't associate with demons unless in a time of extreme crisis so if an angel teams up with a demon to commit a crime, they will be banished to hell."
"What's your point?"
"…Pit…you made my division specifically to bridge the gap between angels and demons. How can you expect me to do my job when you don't give me anything to work with? Don't you…trust me Pit?"
The blue eyed angel blinked at Dark Pit's words. The red eyed angel at first glanced toward the ground before forcing himself to stare Pit in the eye. If he couldn't convince Pit to stop now then there was no hope for Arachne. The spider demon was surprised that Pittoo insisted on wanting to help her when she didn't want anyone to save her. She was far from pleased hearing the other angels start to boo the replica once it became apparent that Pit was willing to give into his younger twin's demand again. This time, it was more than just the Angel Assembly who could boo at Pit. Angels of other classes were watching him like a hawk expecting him to show them that he was a competent angel captain. Pit's hands were shaking. Pit knew this and attempted to stop trembling in front of the crowd. He wasn't going to crack under peer pressure…yet he saw the determined look that Dark Pit was giving him…compared to the look seven days ago where he was pleading with him…
"I do Pittoo but…"
"Why are you giving into them? Don't you listen to the Goddess anyway?"
"She told me to…"
Dark Pit groaned as he shifted his attention toward Palutena. "Are you just going to stand there and let Pit kill her?"
Compared to Pit who was starting to fumble on his words, Palutena remained stiff like a statue.
"Correct."
"Then tell him to stop since he's listening to you and not the stupid angel crowd behind me!"
"I cannot do that."
"Why not?"
Palutena shook her head in disappointment. "I thought you were the observant one of the two Dark Pit…but that is not the case here."
"What are you talking about?"
"Dark Pit, I did not know Pit had made a division made specifically for communicating with demons. It is an ideal dream to be able to get along with demons again especially after the 2000 year war, but I expect at least another 500 years before anything will actually change between angels and demons."
500 was a special number that Dark Pit was unaware of. Pit fought the urge throw a spiteful glare at his own Goddess for bringing up the magic number and let her continue her speech.
"What is your point?"
"Dark Pit, drop the idea that the Demon Division is your job. Pit will assign you to something else. This idea is locked into a dangerous ideology that will endanger your life."
The dark angel shook his head defiantly. "No! I don't need fancy words to tell me that what is happening now is wrong!"
Again, Palutena sighed but felt like she would have to push the black angel now if she wanted him to back off.
"…Then answer this Dark Pit." She began in a cold voice that almost made her sound like her father when he was ready to explode. "What do you expect to gain from saving this demon? She has attempted to take my life for the sake of petty revenge for her ancestors 2000 years ago. Demons are willing to hold a grudge for that long that it no longer applies by the time a new generation starts. This demon refused your help even when it would benefit her to at least trick you. What will you do if I stopped the execution and released her? What will happen if she goes for my life again even if you promise that you won't let that happen? You told Pit that one week is not enough for accurate results. How long do you actually think it will take for this demon to be tamed under you?"
Of course Dark Pit wasn't expecting to be bombarded by these difficult questions. If that were Pit, he would have simply said, "You lost me" after the second question. Palutena had put more thought into how to handle Arachne than any of the angels combined…even if she was close to having a small outburst due to Arachne's insults. Was he expected to answer all of these questions or was there a trick to them? Many of these questions could be answered in one sitting. The angels didn't have all day. They wanted the blood of a spider demon to be split in front of the Goddess' temple and the clone was ruining the chance to see a bloody execution.
"L-Lady Palutena…" Pit spoke up rather quickly. "I-Isn't that too much?"
The green eyed Goddess failed to respond. She stared down uncaringly at the dark angel expecting a good response. Pittoo didn't realize that he froze on the spot because of her questions. If he were to turn around, he could see the other angels were leering at him.
"Well?"
"…I don't expect to know what is going on in Arachne's head…" Dark Pit began deciding that he should answer the easier questions first before working his way to the hardest one. "I've only known her for a week…and that isn't saying much. I don't much about her. Arachne won't open up to me no matter what I do. Even if I got some response on the final day, that isn't enough time for me to figure out what I can do to help her!"
"…Go on."
"…I'm willing to take responsibility for her actions should she harm another angel in Skyworld." Dark Pit continued. "I'll accept the punishment under the fourth angel law…"
"Pittoo…don't…" Pit murmured but Dark Pit glared at his older twin hoping he would stay out of this.
"Pitstain, I know what I'm doing! Anyways…I honestly don't know how long it will take until Arachne is considered redeemed in your eyes Palutena…I just know that building the trust between others takes time. You don't just force others to tolerate them!"
There was one more question that Dark Pit needed to answer and Palutena wouldn't let him forget since it was the most important one.
"What do you gain from helping Arachne? You have made logical answers to why it is not a good idea to execute her and have accepted responsibility should you fail your duties…but what do you gain from all of this? And I don't want to hear that it is the egotistical side of Pit that make you want to risk your life and potentially others just to prove that a demon can be redeemed. There are others after all."
Dark Pit didn't know how to respond to that. He rummaged through his mind hoping to find an answer and he couldn't come up with one on the spot. He looked at Palutena who was growing impatient with every minute he wasted. He had to think of something. The pride thing would have been the easiest and most justified response since it would have been partially correct. He did not have Pit's memories, but had all of Pit's negative emotions inside of him. His ego was the most important one along with the emotional desire of freedom and independence. Right now he was acting defiant to Palutena and the angel society…something that Pit could not do. If he made a smart aleck comment, he probably would have been taken away so Pit could finish the execution, so Li held his tongue. That left other emotions that would be not him at all.
Pity.
The memory the evening of Arachne sobbing to herself before she was taken out of her cell made him feel bad for her. If he said this…he would not be helping the spider girl's situation at all. In fact, it would add to her wanting to die and he wasn't aiming for that at all…even though the first that did come to mind wanted to reach his hand out to her and tell her everything would be okay if she just trusted him.
"Palutena, why would you ask a question when the only emotions I can feel are negative?" Dark Pit asked instead hoping to catch her off guard with a question instead of an answer.
"I am very aware that you were created from negative emotions." Palutena told him as a matter of fact statement. "I also know that unlike other replicas I have seen created that you are capable of learning and adapting to learn positive emotions." A small smile nearly escaped her lips but she kept the ice mask in front of her subjects. "I want to know the exact words you feel when I ask you how you benefit in this situation."
"I…" The words were caught in his throat and Dark Pit suddenly found it hard to breath. "I am…troubled…"
"Hmm?"
"…Everyone preaches about love and tolerance here in Skyworld…yet no one is doing that now. It shouldn't be my job to do something that has been part of angel society…but these laws I keep hearing contradict what angels are supposed to do. Are we supposed to tolerate demons or not? I…" Dark Pit probably was rambling at this point, but he continued. "I don't even know what is in it for me Palutena…I just feel like the process is not fair. Assassination is unforgivable, but if angels are supposed to show the light to the demons…why are we cutting it off before it even began?"
"…So that's your answer. You think there is no justice and you want to feel righteous in doing the right thing?" Palutena rephrased. "You do realize that the life she was trying to take is mine. That is enough for death immediately."
"I want to do the right thing! You and Pitstain always go on about how I only think for myself! Well I am thinking about someone else, and that someone is going to get cut in half if I don't do something! Happy with that response?!"
Li shouldn't have had lost his temper at the end, but he was getting incredibly flustered responding to Palutena's hard hitting questions. He didn't realize that a real smile escaped her lips after he finished her trivia. Pit noticed that Palutena's aura wasn't so icy and let out a sigh of relief.
"…Pit…stop the execution."
"Yes Lady Palutena!"
The angels were far from pleased especially Gaston who was looking forward to the death of a demon. He was the most vocal about his discontent even if the Goddess of Light is the one that made the final decision.
"Are you just going to let your almost killer live?!" Gaston asked with obvious disgust in his tone.
"Oh, don't get me wrong." Palutena began as she watched Pit cut the rope that was hanging Arachne upside down. "If she even thinks of trying to kill me again, I'll squash her like the little insect she is."
The dark angel didn't realize that he gasped at her words. "You mean…"
Palutena let out a sigh of defeat as she slowly went over to the red eyed angel and suddenly ruffled his hair.
"W-Wah…"
"You put yourself in this dangerous situation Pittoo. I hope you know what you're doing."
"Don't call me that…" Dark Pit mumbled trying his best to hide his blush. "Do you…trust me?"
"I do. And Pit does too."
Of course Pit trusted his younger twin. That's why when he finished cutting the ropes and removing the anti-magic collar, he whispered something in Arachne's ear that made her shiver in fear.
"If you even think about hurting my precious twin, I'm going through with the execution only I'm going to set you on fire while doing so. You understand?"
"Y-Yes sir…" Arachne murmured completely surprised that she was being let off the hook after a week of thinking she was going to die.
"Good. Now leave with Pittoo. I'm going to be the one stuck dealing with this unhappy crowd."
Arachne nodded her head slowly as she weakly stood up. Dark Pit was rather quick to get away from the Goddess of Light and offer up his shoulder so she can lean on him. She was still very weak, so she needed to be taken somewhere to heal up and eat. Even though it was a victory in Dark Pit's book as he got to walk back into the temple undisturbed, he could still hear the angels behind him cursing up a swarm toward the angel captain who was the one stuck in the PR disaster because of him.
Things finally died down allowing Dark Pit time alone with Arachne. Most of the angels have gone to bed after they complained so much to Pit for letting his clone spare the spider demon. Dark Pit knew Pit wasn't happy with him, but he made his point and the white angel had no right to interfere…reputation be damned.
Arachne appeared to be disappointed in the dark angel too for a different reason entirely. She hadn't spoken a word after she was spared a painful death and that was after mouthing off about how terrible Palutena was as an individual. Once nighttime arrived, Arachne finally waited to speak to the black angel who allowed her into his room that was given to him by the Goddess of Light.
"…Why did you spare me?" Arachne asked immediately. "You are either naïve, stupid or both for doing that."
"You didn't want to die. I just used my position like I'm supposed to."
"That's not an answer! I attempted to slay your Goddess and rejected your offers time and time again and even now, you're letting me walk around Skyworld completely unattended! What makes you think I won't try to kill the Goddess again or feast on the other angels?"
"You won't."
Dark Pit responded so calmly that it blew anything that Arachne had just said away. Her hands began twitching as if she were ready to demonstrate why it was a terrible idea to let her go free.
"I can't be trusted with anything! I am a demon!"
"You're a demon…yeah…but you're not like the other members of the Underworld Army after getting to know you."
"Getting to know me? Hah! You know nothing about me!"
"…You're lonely…" The dark angel muttered quietly catching her off guard. "You mentioned something about how if you can't complete the mission, you'll be all alone."
Arachne wanted to strangle him so much at this point, but she let him continue.
"It is my job to make sure angels and demons get along civilly. I don't know why I was given the worse job on the chain, but I'm supposed to ignore it because most angels are bigots."
"So you only care because of your job."
"It's more than that." Dark Pit began catching her attention. "The Underworld you're from is completely different than the one that Pit and I have gone to. You're not like the other demons…and I want to know more about the other Underworld sections."
Arachne eyed him suspiciously. "You want me around because you think I'm simply going to give you a tour of hell?"
"Why not? Consider this the one thing I ask for saving you from execution along with serving under me of course."
Pittoo knew what he was doing with making these offers after trying so hard to extend his hand out to her without asking for anything in return. He must have thought about it during the few hours after the failed execution on what he wanted in return. Arachne should have expected that as the replica of the angel captain that he was capable of being selfish. She only just saw him being naïve with how he was so quick with the idea of trying to redeem her.
"Why though? Why is knowledge of hell so important to you? I mean, yeah…there are so many Netherworlds in the universe, but why do you care so much?"
The black angel already had a good explanation on why he wanted to know as much about the universe as possible.
"I lost three years of my life because of Pitstain." Pittoo lamented as he began laying out his reasoning. "I was born from him, but I don't get any of his memories of his past much less the knowledge he hides in that little brain of his. He won't tell me so many things and seeing as how the other angels treat me like shit…you're probably going to be the ticket to catching up with everything. You are a traveling demon after all, so I assume you had to go through so many obstacles to even get to Skyworld."
"…"
"So if you're my vice captain, you'll have your freedom back. Hope that works out for you."
At first the blonde didn't respond because she was still registering all of this info. She knew about how clones worked, but Dark Pit really didn't seem to be like the other ones. When it dealt with cloning, she knew that they are created to kill the original and then wreak havoc from there. The fact that Dark Pit was created without any memories of Pit's past much less any real animosity toward the original showed that maybe there was more to Dark Pit than he let on.
"Naïve…" Arachne stated. "You are incredibly naïve for a clone."
She chuckled seeing the younger male puff his cheeks in frustration. Before he considered taking back what he said seeing as how she might have been blowing his explanation off, she continued.
"If that's the game you want to play kid, I'm willing to be your vice captain." The spider girl responded. "I must warn you that if you bore me, I won't hesitate to kill you. Demons are like that and your naivety is going to get you in trouble one day."
Arachne may have said that, but if she was under his command, she would make sure that the childish nature Dark Pit had would not be the end of him. She would never admit that she accepted because she was touched by his kindness. She smiled seeing how much Dark Pit's face lit up despite trying his best to appear aloof to her decision as if he knew she didn't have much of a choice. She was given all the free reign to refuse and leave and never return should she choose to try and kill Palutena again. By accepting his terms, she was on the road of redemption without realizing it.
It showed a lot too as time went on in Skyworld after Dark Pit brought her in. She would have to deal with the racism that the other angels threw at her, but she was a tough cookie to break now that she wasn't on death row. The happy face spider was forced to tolerate their behavior if she wanted to stay by his side.
Pit wouldn't want to admit it but perhaps sparing Arachne was the best thing for Dark Pit. The spider demon was quickly proving her loyalty toward his younger twin thus allowing him to focus on other things. As long as she was by his side, he wouldn't have to worry about Dark Pit ever being lonely. Heck, a demon by an angel's side was the first step toward tolerance…the thing that Palutena inspired to happen in days to come.
Me: Done with 14968 words.
Li: Pepper, why didn't you just use Fallen Angel as the base of how I met Arachne?
Me: Completely different timeline not related to any of my current Smash stories. Notes!
1. Arachne as stated above is of the happy face spider species. This is a non-poisonous that lives in the Hawaiian region. They appear poisonous to chase their main predators (birds) away. Most of them are indeed yellow spiders with a happy face and that happy face is on Arachne's outfit as the buttons are supposed to represent that odd design. Despite happy face spiders not being poisonous, Arachne is capable of poisoning her enemy. She's also able to shoot electricity from her yellow web (as many happy face spiders actually just hunt for their prey instead of waiting for food to come to them. The webs are considered too small to catch prey). Arachne's fighting style would be similar to how Spider Man fights in Marvel versus Capcom (then again, she makes Spider Man jokes, so a lot of her fighting style could simply be from just watching him fight seeing as how Marvel versus Capcom is in this universe thanks to the Fighting Tension story). One more fun fact is female happy face spiders take care of their young and will spend most of the time protecting them and catching prey for her young. This is why Arachne is shown to cry at the idea of never seeing her family again. And before I forget pertaining to the fighting scene...Arachne is powerful, but Pit knows how to handle her race so its more of Pit being badass than Arachne being weak. She thought that going into her spider form was a better idea and its the exact opposite when handling Pit who takes advantage of larger targets.
2. There is a spider demon in the Kid Icarus universe and its called Spunky. However, Dark Pit wouldn't know given how my headcanon is how he has no memories of Pit's past. Plus Myths and Monsters is not canon to the Kid Icarus universe so any monster that was introduced in that game is not considered Pit's first encounter hence the whole Minotaur phobia that goes on with Pit.
3. This is somewhat foreshadowing of how to handle Pit in my universe. Pit has a reputation that scares demons and Pit's only confirmed weakness is Palutena. No one wants to mess with Palutena without facing Pit's wrath. There is also the fact that Palutena is a powerful Goddess, so they would end up killed by Palutena if they wanted to get to Pit. However, Dark Pit cropping up is dangerous for Pit now because information spreads. Arachne is kind enough to not harm Dark Pit by telling other demons about Pit's weakness, but its going to be apparent due to how there are some angels that will do anything to bring Pit down (Gaston for example). We can see the obvious examples of the demons targeting Dark Pit to get to Pit in Venomous Narcissus and Faustian Contract.
4. The sawing method was used in Ancient Rome along with the Middle East, some parts of Europe and Asia. In Asia, the person was hung right side up and you were sawed from the head down, but given how this method is meant to cause the most pain when starting with the groin and working to the head, the person is hung upside down.
5. The Arachne myth in this story is a combination of the myth where Arachne wins but hangs herself combined with the one from Metamorphoses. Arachne won but it would be Palutena that ended her life for insulting the Gods (and this is after the whole Great Evil thing so it was a low blow to Palutena who had tried her best for humanity and this is how she was paid). Of course Palutena felt terrible for letting her temper get the best of her and turned the dead body into a spider demon, which received a new life. From there on, the spiders would evolve into many different species, but would always hate Palutena for the injustice she had done to someone who was better than her. This is to show that Palutena is not 100% good like Pit makes her out to be. Palutena is shown to be petty in Kid Icarus Uprising after all.
That's it. Reviews are appreciated. Ja ne!