The skies were ominous, that much was certain. Whereas they were normally peaceful and blue, now they were storm ridden and perilous. Palutena sighed and turned to look over Skyworld from the balcony. Her Centurions were bustling about their normal duties, trying to uphold their duties as best as they could.
"Lady Palutena?" a familiar voice asked.
The goddess turned to the voices owner and was greeted by the form of an angel.
"Galen." She greeted.
The young angel tilted her head downward out of respect, caramel locks obscuring her cerulean eyes. The short tufts held neatly by a laurel wreath. The white tunic hung a bit loosely off the girl's small frame. Her sandals came up inches below her knees, effectively hiding the girl's legs from view. Galen flushed slightly but returned the greeting nonetheless. Carefully she lifted her head to meet Palutena's green gaze.
"Is something troubling you? You seem weary, my Lady." The young angel answered.
"Surely, you have noticed as well, Gale." Palutena responded, using the girl's nickname that she was so fond of. "The skies have grown dark. No longer does peace overlook Skyworld. I fear she has returned."
Gale struggled to swallow past the lump forming in her throat. A small bead of cold sweat ran down her temple to her chin before falling unnoticed to the marble floor beneath the girl's feet. "You mean..?"
Palutena nodded gravely before walking inside her chambers. "Yes. After twenty five years, Medusa has returned. And at the moment, you, Galen, are the only one who can stop her."
Color immediately drained from the angel's face. "M-me..?" she stuttered out, heart racing. "Lady Palutena, surely there is someone else with skill superior to mine. I-I cannot even fly on my own." She argued weakly, following Palutena inside.
The goddess shook her head sadly. "You are the only one who can take this task. But do not worry; you will not fight this battle alone." She walked over to an ornate chest that lay in the corner of the room. Carefully lifting the lid worn with age, she retrieved its contents before facing Gale. "I will be watching you and guiding you. Do not worry about flight, I will be granting you the power of flight." She held the wrapped bundle to Gale carefully placed it into the angel's arms.
Galen carefully unwrapped the object, freeing it of the cloth that protected it. Once the linen had been removed, Gale's eyes widened once she realized what exactly she was holding. She lifted her gaze to meet Palutena's.
The green haired woman smiled. "After Medusa's defeat, I had sealed the Three Sacred Treasures away. But I also had this bow crafted should Medusa return. Though not as powerful, it should do for now until we know the full extent of what we're dealing with. It is yours now, Gale."
Gale looked at the bow with awe. It was golden in color with dark royal blue on the sides of the blades. There was no string obviously and a defining line on the hilt where the bow could be split into two small swords.
Steeling herself and calming her nerves, she looked up with determination blazing in her eyes. "I shall not fail you."
Palutena smiled upon hearing those words. "Good. Now prepare yourself for aerial combat. I will provide you with flight."
Gale took in a deep breath before jumping off the floating island. She immediately felt Palutena's power flow through her wings, granting a power that took hold of her and washed over her with warmth. Despite the situation, a small smile crept its way onto the angel's face. She was doing it! Actually flying!
"Gale, keep a look out for Underworld forces. I'll control your flight path, so all you need to do is focus on fighting off any monsters that come your way."
Gale did her best not to jump as the goddess spoke telepathically to her. Nodding an affirmative, she drew the bow and prepared to launch an arrow at a monster that was now soaring toward her face. Letting the arrow fly, the projectile of energy hit its target dead center.
Palutena vigilantly kept watch over her young angel, watching and observing as she slew more monsters. She could not help but be nervous and anxious. Palutena would not let another angel fall because of her carelessness.
Gale easily slipped into the rhythm of battle and managed to take out all the monsters in sight with only a few superficial injuries. She couldn't help the feeling of freedom welling up inside her. In the air, it was only her, with nothing holding her back. No one to point out her failures or screw ups, no exceedingly burdensome expectations; in the air was where she could truly be herself. Sure, Palutena was technically with her as well, keeping her in the sky, but she was different. Palutena was always comforting her when others criticized. She wasn't expecting anything out of Gale's range; she just encouraged Gale to be herself. But that was so hard when everyone else looked at her and expected her to act like-
"Gale, look ahead!"
The brunette snapped her head up at the warning. She immediately saw a twister of darkened clouds swirl in the blood red sky. The clouds dispersed and an immense astral projection rose up. The figure turned and revealed itself to be…
"Medusa!" Gale yelled readying her bow.
The goddess of darkness chuckled. She turned her attention to the tiny angel girl.
"My, my, is this all Palutena can send to stand against me? And here I was expecting some all-powerful hero. Foolish me." she mocked. She made a swipe at the girl, trying to knock her out of the air.
Gale barely had time to dodge and grunted as Medusa clipped her side slightly. She let the arrow fly, only for it to go through Medusa's ghostly image.
"So sorry, I couldn't be here in person. More important affairs had come up. I hope you can forgive me."
"Medusa! How have you returned?! You were soundly defeated twenty five years ago."
Medusa gave a sinister smile. "The matter of 'how' is not the issue here, dear sister. All that matters is the 'why'. Now that I have returned, I will stop at NOTHING until I defeat you like you did me all those years ago. I hope you enjoyed the peace while it lasted, because it's about to come to an end. To celebrate, how about we hold a festive blood bath in the human world?"
Medusa gave a chuckle which soon escalated into a sinister cackle as the astral image vanished.
Gale was now fighting off the shivers that went up and down her spine. She hadn't expected Medusa's presence to be that overwhelming. It felt as though the very darkness she gave off was enough to crush the angel into nothing.
"Gale, prepare yourself to battle on land. I'm sending you to the surface world. We can't let Medusa do as she pleases to the humans."
The flight down was rather uneventful. A few monsters remained to slow Gale's progress, but did nothing to stop the girl from arriving at the town under attack. As her feet hit the ground, Gale looked around, taking in her surroundings. It was her first time in the human world and she wanted to take note of anything she should know of in the future. The more childish part of her wanted to look around because it was something completely new to her, but she had to remind herself that she had a purpose for being here.
"Gale, head toward the arena. I'm sensing a dark presence there. It appears that any humans in the area have fled so just focus on Medusa's forces for now."
"You got it, Lady Palutena."
Picking up the pace, Gale burst into a full sprint and managed to reach the arena with little trouble.
"That was quick. Are you sure you're up for taking on whatever's in there? That was quite a sprint."
Gale responded with a small smile. "Don't worry about me. I've been developing my running speed and stamina." It wasn't a lie. Since she was incapable of independent flight, Gale was used to travel by foot.
"If you say so. Medusa's commander is just behind those doors. Be careful."
Gale rushed in to find herself face to face with a large flaming, two headed, canine monster.
"A dog? You would think Medusa would send something more threatening." she mused.
The large canine made a leap for her, trying to slash at her with its claws. Gale yelped as she managed to jump out of the way in time.
Gale took off like a jackrabbit, evading flames spewed from Twinbellows' mouth. Every so often she fired arrows when she was a fair distance from the Underworld's guard dog.
"Gale, focus! He may be large, but you're faster and can outsmart him. Use that to your advantage."
Twinbellows let out a ferocious roar and charged right at Gale. With a yelp, Gale managed to jump to the side to avoid getting crushed against the wall. Taking her chance, she split the bow into two and began slashing away at the beasts exposed side.
Suddenly, the large canine bellowed out a roar (or was it a howl?) before disappearing in particles of light. Gale lifted her gaze to the sky to see Medusa's astral projection glaring down at her.
"So, you've managed to defeat one of my commanders. I can guarantee this is only the start of the war to come. So prepare yourself, tiny one, because when we meet in battle, I will be the victor." Medusa taunted.
Despite the fear running down her spine, Gale looked defiantly up at the image. "I await the day that battle will come. But you are wrong. When that day comes, you will be vanquished like you were all those years ago."
Medusa smirked and vanished as the skies cleared.
Suddenly, Gale's body was surrounded by a white light and was slowly lifted toward the sky. "Time to come back. We can plan our next counterattack and heal your wounds at Skyworld." Gale nodded and was enveloped in light that shot toward the skies above.
Palutena sighed heavily. Medusa was not one to foolishly charge into battle. She preferred to toy with her enemies and make them suffer. The green haired goddess suppressed a shudder. She didn't want that to happen to anyone, especially Galen. The girl had enough to deal with. All of the Centurions looked at her and expected a great leader. Once the former captain vanished, the position was passed to her. That was a lot to live up to; it was a burden she shouldn't have to bear.
"Lady Palutena..?"
Palutena turned around and found said angel standing in the door way. Gale had multiple cuts and bruises scattered throughout her small frame, but none of them looked too serious. A soak in the hot spring could easily deal with that. Her white tunic was dirty and had small rips and her caramel locks were disheveled. Overall, the girl looked exhausted beyond belief, ready to fall over at even the slightest touch.
"Oh, Gale…" Palutena said quietly as she walked over to the angel. Tired blue eyes met worried and apologetic green ones for a moment. Carefully, the green haired goddess scooped up the worn out angel in her arms. Gale squirmed slightly in protest but exhaustion had taken its toll. Turning to the other door, Palutena took the exhausted angel girl to the bath where she could soak and recover.
She gently laid the semiconscious girl in the warm water after removing the ripped tunic, leaving Gale in her under clothes. She gently ran a slender hand through Gale's caramel hair. Gale opened her eyes and turned her head to Palutena. The goddess smiled gently.
"Take it easy for now. You'll need time to rest." Then her expression turned serious. "I hate to throw you into this, but you're the only one capable of stopping Medusa. You'll need to be at full strength before heading out again."
Gale nodded solemnly and let the warm water mend her tired body. Her thoughts drifted to what the next day might bring.
&&.
A/N: And that wraps up the first chapter. This fic is supposed to be a different story that loosely follows Uprising's story. The game's plot and this story will seem similar in the beginning and some settings might be the same, but there will be a point in which it's definitely different than the game's plot. Characters both new and old will appear. As for who Gale is, she is an OC but she is not a female Pit, if that makes sense. Her background story will be told slowly in bits and pieces as the story progresses. I want the readers to kinda put the pieces together as to who Gale really is before I reveal her identity in the Kid Icarus universe.