Warning: A little bit of violence


Discovery

''A thief?''

Pit blinked in confusion while he stared at the goddess in front of him, who had just inquired him about the news down at the human realm. Palutena gave him a small nod.

''Apparently they have been robbing vulnerable and defenseless humans of all sorts of belongings. Money, jewelry or inheritances, anything that's valuable. None of the victims have been able to get a good look at them and they had no details whatsoever. They don't speak during the robbing, so no one heard their voice. The humans told me that the predator stays out of their line of sight at all times'', she explained him.

Gosh… Lately it seemed like the humans just had no moment of peace at all. When they weren't being attacked by the Underworld, they were suffering from the long, cold winters. When they weren't suffering from the winters, there was someone robbing them. One thing came after another and Pit hardly had any spare time anymore either.

Years had passed by when Pit had been ripped away from his other half and up until this very day, Dark Pit had always managed to make his way into his dreams and his thoughts. There wasn't a single day that the poor angel didn't think about him. However, he managed to somehow be more stable throughout the years and focus on becoming the captain of Palutena's guard. It didn't take him long to succeed, so now he had the responsibility to keep the goddess safe and protect the human realm. He promised himself that he would do whatever it takes to make Dark Pit proud of him, even though he wasn't there to watch him anymore.

When they were kids, Pit used to ramble on to him that one day he was going to become someone important in the heavens. A hero, as he called it back then. It always made Dark Pit laugh because of how enthusiastic he sounded.

''I know you can do it, Pit. And once you succeed, I'll be cheering for you and brag to everyone that my best friend is a hero.''

Dark Pit believed in him, so he was determined not to let him down. And with that thought in mind, Pit had trained and fought his way up to the top.

''That's where your mission will bring you today'', Palutena then continued, but used a certain word in her sentence that confused Pit.

'''You'?'', he asked her quietly, ''There's no 'us' in this mission?''

Usually Palutena used plural in her sentences, because they faced all of their missions together. She always guided him through the air and on land and would give him instructions about what he was supposed to do.

Palutena let out a quiet sigh. ''Unfortunately, one of the centurions has informed me that a great part of our army suffers from an illness. I'm not sure what it is yet, but I would like to stay here and find out. However, this mission cannot wait either. And I trust you will be able to handle this on your own. You have been doing a great job so far.''

''Yes, but that was with your help. I've never done anything alone before, I—'' Before he was able to finish his sentence, Palutena cut him off with a soft smile across her features.

''Pit, do you truly believe I would send you on a mission I'm not sure you would be able to handle alone?''

The brunet fell silent for a little while. Palutena always had a lot of faith in him, it were usually his own insecurities that prevented him from doing things. In all honesty, he was actually quite scared. If he would blow anything, then he was the only one to blame for. Plus, if he were to be in any serious danger, who was going to extract him?

As if she was able to read his mind, Palutena added something to her statement. ''You don't need to worry: of course I will activate the Power of Flight and bring you to your destination. And you only need to call for me when you're in danger and I'll be pulling you out of there in the blink of an eye.''

Those words gave Pit just a bit more courage. She was right… Besides, he couldn't keep relying on her all the time. He wasn't a kid anymore, so he should be able to handle things on his own now. And taking care of a thief might just be the perfect first step for him.

''…Alright'', Pit finally agreed with a small sigh leaving his lips. Then he went over to the other side of the room and picked up the staff that was resting against a wall. ''I'm ready'', he told the woman, trying his best to show her his confidence.


Palutena had clearly told Pit that he wasn't allowed to fire at the predator unless they started attacking. After all, their job was still to protect all humans. Killing a human would not be good for their reputation, nor did they want to do it anyway. All Pit had to do was find out who the culprit was and make sure they had nowhere to go as Palutena would extract the both of them. Then they would lock the predator behind bars in Skyworld.

'That sounds easy enough', Pit thought to himself while he was guided down to the human realm. 'Just gotta keep my eyes open and make sure to prevent them from escaping.' There was something that he didn't understand though… The humans' financial problems were over, right? And there had never been a robbery down there before, not once. Why would this person steal from innocent people? He really believed for a moment that peace had finally taken over…

Not long after, Pit made a safe landing in the center of the town Palutena believed the culprit was hiding in currently. From there, Pit had to make his way forward on his own. Palutena bid her farewell to Pit one last time before she disappeared, making the insecure angel let out a trembling sigh. 'No… No backing out now, I can do it. I can totally do it. I've been doing it so far as well', he tried to encourage himself, 'Lady Palutena may have given me instructions before, but I was the one to do all of it. Besides, it seems to be a pretty simple mission to me.'

As Pit slowly made his way through the town, he was quite surprised to see all of the streets empty. There wasn't a single person out there. The brunet frowned a bit in confusion while he clenched his hand around his staff, slowly continuing to walk forward. He scanned every corner and every object, but it was awfully quiet down here. Even the stores were closed. …What was going on? And why did he have such a bad feeling about this? Maybe everyone had heard about this thief and feared to have their possessions stolen as well. That could be the only logical explanation.

'The people are right for staying inside, but that doesn't make it any easier on me to find the culprit', Pit thought to himself. How could Palutena be so sure they were here, in an empty town? Wasn't it far more obvious to believe they had already moved on to the next town, where there were still easy targets for them?

While Pit paused in the middle of a square, he tapped his finger against his chin while trying to think of a way to catch this thief. However, the sudden feeling of being watched didn't make it easy on him. At first, Pit decided he was just being paranoid, but the feeling grew stronger with every passing second. Someone was definitely watching him and the sound of faint footsteps behind him, made the angel freeze right into place. They were approaching him now, and they were getting closer!

When Pit finally gathered the courage to turn around to face this 'being', he was too late as he felt a wave of pain shooting through his hand. A sharp wince left the boy's lips right after he had been kicked and accidentally dropped the weapon from his sore hand. Pit gritted his teeth together and hastily turned around to react, but the figure in front of him had already gotten ahold of him and kneed him in his abdomen, causing the other to crouch in pain and cough heavily after groaning.

Not yet giving in though, Pit pulled himself together and managed to somehow return the beating with his fist instead. A low, painful groan could be heard from the other. It was definitely a male… However, a black hoodie covered up his entire body including his face. No doubt this person wasn't able to see clearly either.

When the figure cringed together, Pit saw the opportunity to dash over to his fallen weapon, but had once again been bested by the mysterious figure who had kicked him in the back of his knees, causing Pit to fall to the floor. Then he was grabbed by his hair and forcefully being slammed down to the floor, making him cry out when his body hit the ground.

Pit struggled to break free from his grip, but to no avail. Shortly after, the culprit forced Pit to turn around on his back and went to sit on his lap to prevent him from escaping while pinning his wrists above his head with one hand in a swift movement. The male was surprisingly strong, Pit had not counted on that… And without his weapon, he was powerless right now.

Pit glared up at the other, whose face he still wasn't able to see, while the figure let his free hand slide across the body of the angel beneath him, as if he was searching for something valuable. All of a sudden, when he came in contact with Pit's neck and felt something hanging around it, the blue eyes widened in fear and he felt his body shudder at the thought of his most precious belonging being taken. The necklace Dark Pit gave him… No… No, he couldn't have it! He could not take it from him! It was all he had left of him!

''You can't have it!'', Pit shouted at him as he began to struggle against his grip with all he had. Dark Pit had saved up his last bit of money to buy that for him, it was the only thing precious to him, the only thing he didn't want to lose.

''It's mine, you hear me?! You can't take it from me!''

The figure didn't seem to give a damn about Pit's uncontrollable screaming and endless, but pointless struggling. Even though he couldn't clearly see what he was holding, it was obviously special to the boy, so it must be worth a lot of money then. No one cared about worthless inheritances, all humans were the same. If their possessions weren't worth a thing, then it was worth nothing to them either.

The predator was ready to rip the necklace from the angel's neck, until a certain phrase erupted from his throat.

''He was my soulmate!''

The instant Pit cried the words in a desperate tone of voice, the figure in front of him didn't move a single muscle. The grip around his necklace slowly loosened a bit, as did the grip on Pit's hair which he was still holding. It was as if Pit had been able to change his mind completely about his actions.

''…What did you just say?''