Ayyyyyyyyyeee so I'm a lil mad because this is m third time writing this long chapter becasue FF keeps destroying it sooooo :) I'm going to go absolutely insane if i becomes a fourth you have no idea... Anyway, made sure to make this chapter extra long and juicy for the long wait! I don't doubt there's grammar issues in this one, too lazy to skim over because you know, third time :))))))))))) enjoy!
A few months later, Pit and Viridi started to get extremely close. When Viridi wasn't busy or taking Pit on a mission, and Pit wasn't training, the two would take long strolls through the forest, just talking about life and their problems. They'd even role play together, play tag, hide and seek, and old games that only would amuse the young. The more they hung out, the more Viridi began to open up about her past. She told Pit about her mother, her sister, and all the abuse she went through. Pit couldn't believe everything she had gone through. He made it clear to her that they were both depressed, Pit longing to see Palutena again, and Viridi longing to forget her awful past.
As the months changed, so did the seasons. Spring turned into summer, summer turned into fall, and the winter months were dawning closer and closer, and the first leaf finally fell. This didn't go unnoticed by Arlon, who always looked for those signs.
Viridi, being the goddess of nature, is connected to all plant life. Nature is connected to Viridi's emotions, going both ways. As the plants die in the winter, Viridi becomes deathly ill during the winter. As the winter and snowfall gets worse, so does Viridi's condition. And just when she was finally starting to find happiness again, Arlon thought to himself. It has to be taken away from her so soon. How I wish I could take her place...
"Hey Arlon!" A familiar voice came from behind, "Have you seen Viridi?"
"Oh, hello, young master Pit!" Arlon smiled, as he usually did, "Mistress is..."
He paused, leaving Pit a little stunned. Arlon never stuttered when he talked. He always gave a definite and quick answer to things. Something must've been wrong. "Mistress is incredibly busy," he began again, "and does not wish to see you at this moment my apologies."
"She's been awfully busy," Pit said, his hand on his chin, "I haven't seen her for a week now, and I'm living in her temple! Are you sure she's alright?"
Arlon burned inside to tell Pit about his Mistress's condition, but he was bound by word not to. Viridi had made him promise not to tell Pit that she was sick, for whatever reason he did not know.
"She's fine, young master," Arlon reassured, "She's just has lots to do."
"You know," Pit began, "I'm stating to get the feeling Viridi doesn't want to help me anymore. I haven't seen her for a week and whenever I try to go to her room, the hallway door to her room is locked shut."
"No, no, young master, Pit!" Arlon replied, "Viridi just has a lot to do, that's all."
"She promised me, Arlon," Pit said, agitatedly, "What could be so possible important that she has to just disappear without any word? I knew I shouldn't have trusted her..."
"Promises are very important to Viridi," Arlon replied, trying to ease his tension, "She'd never just abandon you like that."
"Oh yeah? Then tell Viridi to meet me at the giant moss rock this evening, and if she doesn't show up, then... Then... I'll leave and nver talk to her again.. I'll just have to find someone else to help me. I need to save Lady Palutena, and I can't let Viridi stop me just because she's 'busy.'"
"Oh come now, young master Pit," Arlon replied, "With all do respect, there's no reason to be so hasty."
"I'm not being hasty, all she has to do is come to the rock, say hi, tell me what's been keeping her so busy, and leave. Then I'll know that she still is helping me. I have to save Lady Palutena, Arlon. I have to."
"Alright, I will pass your message on to mistress Viridi."
Pit thanked Arlon and proceeded to walk away. Arlon sighed heavily, and walked to the kitchen. He opened the drawer and took out a teaspoon. He then went to the cabinet and poured the medicine into the spoon. As he walked up the stairs and through the halls, he grabbed a tissue box, just in case she needed more. The closer he got to her room, the louder the coughs and sneezes became. They urged Arlon to hustle. He gave two little knocks on her wooden door. "Come in," a nasally voice replied.
When Arlon walked in, he was distraught by how worse she had gotten in just the span of a week. She was shivering and shaking, but also was sweating at the same time. Her hair had gone from a beautiful snow blonde to a completely grey, dull yellow. There were giant bags under her eyes, and her lips had tinted blue. Her skin was completely pale, and she was breathing heavily, letting out a tiny whine at every breath she took.
"Mistress, I have your medicine," Arlon ran to the side of the little ill child, and fed her the medicine prescribed to her by the doctor, Demeter. Viridi gulped it down completely, then had a coughing fit, something she had way too often.
"Arlon.. I-I-I'm so *cough* cold..." Viridi whispered, shivering and coughing, "I'm freezing *cough* to death.."
"Mistress Viridi, it's 80F degrees in your room," Arlon replied, grabbing a tissue to wipe the sweat off of her face then his, "You're sweating."
"Turn it to 100."
"100?! Mistress! Absolutely not! Your feel cold because of your illness, but your body i-"
"ARLON! I'M *cough* I'M *cough* I'M *cough* *gag* *hack* *wheeze* UGH I'M FREEZING *cough* COLD!" Viridi yelled the loudest she could, which wasn't loud at all, it was barely over a whisper, "HURRY AND TURN IT UP!"
Arlon simply crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, deciding on whether he should turn it up or not. Though, he quickly made up his mind when a simple beg persuaded him.
"Please..." Viridi coughed, her voice turning desperate, "Please, I'm cold."
Arlon couldn't ignore a beg like that, especially form his mistress.
"Anything, my dear."
"You know my dear mistress, young master Pit was looking for you today," Arlon told Viridi as he moved her hair out of her face.
"Oh.." Viridi replied, barely audible, "You didn't *cough* tell him, did you?"
"No, I didn't. But... He told me to tell you that he wishes to meet you at the giant moss rock this evening...He says if you don't come... He'll leave and never come back or talk to you again."
"What?! Why? I can't see him when I'm sick like this?!"
"I know you cannot, mistress. But he doesn't know you're sick. This can all be resolved if you let me tell him about your cond-"
"NO! No! I'll just go to the stupid *cough* rock and see him. If he finds out I'm sick, he'll leave because he will think I won't be able to help him find Palutena and abandon me..."
Arlon was taken back by that statement, "Absolutely not, mistress! You aren't going anywhere this winter! You know that if you are exposed to the outside your condition will worsen. Plus, I have a feeling it may snow.. Pit would help you get well then abandon you."
"But Arlon, we don't know if it will snow!" Viridi exclaimed, sitting up.
"I said no, mistress," Arlon said sternly, laying her back down, "You must rest and get well, and we will discuss this after you've gotten a good rest. But until then, you are to stay in bed, do you understand?"
Viridi said nothing and simply nodded her head. She couldn't fight with Arlon. Arlon was a parent to Viridi, since she never had a true figure like that in her life before. Of course, she had her mother, but their time spent together was very brief, so Arlon was the only parent Viridi ever really knew. He knew Viridi since she was three thousand years old, and had been taking care of her ever since, while still being her commander and butler. Though Viridi is an extremely powerful goddess, she's still a child, and never had anyone to point out to her what was right from wrong besides Arlon. Though, he was a father to her, he still knew that she was his boss, and had to make sure to follow her commands whenever he could. It was extremely difficult to order his mistress around sometimes, but it always helped that Viridi always obeyed, until now.
Once Viridi knew for sure Arlon had left, she hopped out of her bed and put on 3 pairs of fuzzy socks. She then walked to her closet, collapsing along the way. She put on 4 giant winter coats, 5 mittens, 2 scarfs and ear muffs. Even with all the excessive clothing, she still felt like as if she was going to freeze to death. She opened the doors to her balcony, exposing herself to the freezing temperatures. She started to shiver even more, but she decided to keep going. She grabbed onto a palm tree and slid down it like a firemen going to put out a fire. Once she hit the bottom, she collapsed onto the cold ground, breathing heavily. She could feel herself getting worse and worse, and she started to feel pain every time she coughed or took a breath. For Pit.. She thought to herself, do it for Pit... She hoisted herself up, forcing her weak body to carry on.
Every step she took felt like fire was going through her body. Everything started to ache. She couldn't feel her legs, and she couldn't feel her fingers. Every time she inhaled, it felt like she was swallowing tiny daggers, and they were piercing through her trachea. She started to shiver so much it became painful. My vision... Oh gods... Everything's blurry... Everything hurts... My vision... Oh gods, I think I'm going blind... Why did I do this? Why didn't I just listen to Arlon and stay in bed? I want to go home...
Meanwhile, Pit stood at the rock, waiting for Viridi. Is she even going to come...? He thought. But as he looked on, a figure appeared in the distance, as it came closer and closer, it became more recognizable then ever.
"Viridi!" Pit exclaimed. Viridi stood there, not moving. So Pit decided to go to her. As he got closer, he noticed all the layers of clothes she had on, and then he noticed how awful and sickly she looked.
"Viridi! What happened to you? You look awful!"
"Pit... I don't feel well. *cough* I want to go home, take me home..." Viridi said, not hearing a word he said, "I think I've gone *cough* deaf and blind."
"Viridi?! What are you talking about?! DEAF AND BLIND? Are you okay?! What happened? Why are you coughing?"
Then, a little white dot fell from the sky. Viridi squinted her eyes to try to see what fell, but could only see a blurry mess. "Pit.. What just fell?"
"Snow, Viridi. It's snowing."
Viridi's face lit up in horror as she looked frantically for shelter. She couldn't find any.
"Pit! I need to *cough* get out of here!" Viridi yelled, wide-eyed. "You need to get *cough* me out of here and fast! I-I"
It was too late. The snow started to fall, and as it fell onto Viridi, rather than just turning into water, it purged into her skin.
"You're bleeding," Pit exclaimed, not believing his own statement, "Viridi, you're bleeding!"
"Pit! Pit it hurts! Ow! OW! OW IT REALLY HURTS!" Viridi started to scream, and tears fell from her eyes, "It's the *cough* snow! I'll explain *cough* later, OW! Please, Pit, Augh! Help me!"
After hearing Viridi's yell for help, he quickly got over his shock and scooped Viridi into his arms. He ran as fast as he could. As he ran, he started to think about the situation, and quickly started to blame himself for what was happening to Viridi. By the time they reached Viridi's forest, Viridi was drenched in blood. Pit's hand were drenched as well from all of Viridi's blood. Every time a snowflake landed on her, it sunk deep into her skin, causing her to blister and bleed. It felt like fire and 1,000 bee stings. Not to mention her sickness as well. She felt like she was freezing to death, and started to shake violently. She was barely conscious.
"Pit.." Viridi whispered
"Yes, Viridi? We're almost at your temple," Pit reassured.
"Pit.. Am I... A-A-Am I going to die?" She shivered.
"NO! NO! Don't even say that! You're going to be just fine!" Pit said, but in reality, he was afraid she wouldn't make it. "Besides, you're immortal."
"No... Immortality *cough* doesn't work t-t-that way, Pit. Gods can't die of old *cough* age or *cough* or human s-s-s-sicknesses or anything l-l-like that, but they can still *cough* b-b-b-be taken down. But it takes a l-l-lot to take down a g-g-g-god. My mother's dead... And I will b-be too..."
"Stop saying that, Viridi! I mean it! You'll be fine! Besides Lady Palutena, you're one of the strongest goddess I know!"
"Pit," Viridi pestered once again, "Why are you h-h-helping me?"
"Why did you help me? Your reason may be different then mine, but over the past few months I've been here, I've really grown fond of you, Viridi. To be honest, I don't have any friends, and you're the first person my age who's actually reached out to me, despite our dispute at the beginning, you still helped me... Maybe because you like me, maybe because you just want to keep me alive to save your own skin, I don't know, but whatever the reason is- you are still here for me. And now it's time for me to be here for you. And... Well... I really li- never mind.
"You really what?" Viridi asked, hoping to get Pit to finish his sentence.
"Nothing, Viridi. You're going to be fine. Here," Pit took off his toga, and wrapped it around her bloody body, "I know you're freezing, try and keep yourself warm."
"Thank you..."
Viridi finally passed out after fighting to stay awake all that time. Luckily for her, Pit arrived at the temple just as she had fainted. He ran inside and found Arlon. When he saw his mistress's bloody body, he couldn't hold it in. For the first time ever, Arlon cried. Not the first time Pit had seen him, not the first time anyone saw him, but for the first time, he shed tears. He gave Demeter a call and ran Viridi back up into her room, shut the door tight, locking it so that no one would be able to come in, unless it was Dr. Demeter coming to help. Pit couldn't even go inside to see if Viridi was going to be okay, he couldn't even bring himself to wash her blood off of his hands.
It would be the longest night he'd ever have to go through.
Soooo what'll happen next? Will Arlon blame Pit for what happened? Will Pit leave Viridi and save Palutena himself? Will FanFiction stop being a headass and deleting my chapters because this is the third time I've had to write this long chapter and I think I'm going to blow (^: tune in next time while i get some sleep.
