Dark

Dark Pit walked quickly, guided by where there was solid enough ground and not really paying attention. Anywhere but there had been his destination, and he was definitely somewhere else; he'd never been to this random part of Skyworld before, and found himself looking up at a big building that was really more of a tunnel. He wondered what it was for, guessing maybe it was so you could stay out of the rain or something and then walk on your way through the other side when it was clear again.

"What a stupid building." He said aloud, assuming his guess was correct. Having nothing else to do, he entered it to see what the inside was like; he wouldn't even have to stop walking forward to exit it again, which was convenient. That couldn't be the whole point of the building, though, that'd be even stupider than his first guess. "Stupid building, stupid Pit, stupid Viridi… Stupid gravity…"

He kicked a rock. It's skipping away, his footsteps, his loud and agitated breathing, he was the only thing he could hear in this building; there wasn't anyone nearby but him. He was definitely alone again, though unsurprisingly it didn't make him feel much better. He sighed to himself, and let his thoughts drift yet again to the inferiority he was feeling. It wasn't that he rationally thought anyone else could have handled being flightless and falling off a ledge better, but the general principles of being flightless and not having done perfectly made him so frustrated. Pit probably couldn't have done worse, but he at least always seemed to have something to smile about while his dark doppelganger seemed to only have negative experiences. It wasn't that Dark Pit wanted to try being a perky extrovert or fetch snacks for a goddess, but he couldn't help but feel like Pit would be coping a lot better with thinking about failure. Dark Pit knew he was wallowing in negativity and being ridiculous, which made him feel more ridiculous and made him wallow more. He was just a negative person, and he wasn't really having fun with that fact.

"Dark Pit."

Dark Pit started, looking around for the source of the unfamiliar voice that had spooked him out of his introspection. "Who's there?!" He quickly took out his bow and aimed an arrow forward, down the hallway to the other exit; there was no place to hide, but no one was visible, even though he knew the voice wasn't coming from behind him. He glanced back to be sure, and gritted his teeth at being unable to find anyone. "I'm not in a good mood, so don't try me."

"I'm not an enemy, I assure you." The voice was that of an adult male, the type that sounded almost too good-natured and probably wanted to sell something.

"That sounds like what an enemy would say." Dark Pit noticed a scent, and then noticed the pink petals sparsely scattered on the ground in front of them; he didn't think they'd been there a moment ago. "Flowers? Are you with the Forces of Nature?"

"No, Viridi and I aren't affiliated." Dark Pit could tell this speaker was shaking his head as he said that, apparently disappointed in the fact and maybe a little amused. Dark Pit figured the voice belonged to either someone who considered themselves a superior god of natural things, or someone who wished Viridi would notice him.

"Whatever; whoever you are, show yourself!" He eased up on the bowstring and then tightened it again, suddenly aware that threats were hard to make with this particular weapon.

"I'm afraid I can't." There was a pause, Dark Pit's expression got angrier as he waited for the explanation. "I don't technically exist in Skyworld, I'm afraid."

"Oh." Dark Pit scoffed. "One of these." If whoever he was talking to was some ancient being slash alien, and he didn't have reason to doubt that it was with the information he had, at least he could stop holding his arms up so tensely like that. He lowered the bow, but kept it out just in case he did get something to shoot at.

"I am one of the gods who dwell in the Dreamworld. My name is Menink."

"Never heard of you." Dark Pit raised an eyebrow. He wondered what sort of minor god in charge of an aspect of sleep had domain over flower petals; it sounded like a worse job than errand spirit.

Menink laughed at that for just a moment, something Dark Pit didn't comprehend. He wondered whether Menink might be laughing at his not knowing who the god was from a name, or his thoughts insulting the dream god, the latter of which was entirely possible but also worrying; Dark Pit didn't want anyone prying in there. "I'm afraid I am reading your thoughts. That's is how I'm communicating with you right now."

"So why don't you stop doing that and go bother some human with nightmares? Please, I insist." The vitriol behind the word please nearly dripped off his words.

"Because, dear Dark Pit, I have something I think you could use." Menink's words were soft, in a rather unsettling way like he thought Dark Pit was a kindergartener.

"Ha!" Dark Pit spoke the word in disbelief, with no actual laughter. "And what's that?"

"Flight."

Dark Pit's eyes dilated and he stood slightly at attention, all before he finished processing the words and tried to conceal his first reaction. "I already have access to the power of flight. Not interested."

Menink laughed again. "What I'm referring to is actual flight. No time limit, or limitations of any kind. It is your desire to fly freely, and I wish to give that to you."

"Well… I…" Dark Pit couldn't help but really, really want what Menink was offering. He gripped his bow tighter as he made sure to not be naive about this, swallowing before he spoke again. "Hmph. What's the catch?"

"There's not really a catch; giving people their dreams is my domain, after all. But I do require something from you for it to work." He waited while Dark Pit made another offended sound. "Simply your trust, nothing more; I don't need you to give me your soul, I promise. My magic just requires consent for it to work properly. Doesn't that make sense, you having to want something for me to give you what you want?"

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense." Dark Pit tried to be dismissive, aware that his fake hesitance didn't mean anything when Menink was reading his mind. "But how do I know this isn't some trick?"

"You may change your mind whenever you want, should you not want the kind of flight I offer or any baggage you think will come with it it will automatically stop working; such is the flaw to my powers."

Dark Pit couldn't find any holes in his words, though a natural level of suspicion still seemed necessary. "How's this work, exactly?"

"Relax, and let me show you." Menink's voice gained a purring quality to it; it was evident he was pleased at Dark Pit being willing to try.


Dark Pit put away his bow, not really sure about how to relax while clutching a weapon. He took a deep breath and let his eyes close, and next thing he knew he wasn't in that seemingly useless building anymore. Instead, he was standing on a tiny platform. All around him was endless sky. It was twilight out, rich oranges and pinks and purples painted across the horizon. The part of him that wasn't freaked out by what had just happened was a little impressed. That floral smell was also still there, suddenly very potent; a sweet, fruity sort of smell, it wasn't bad on its own but it smelled to Dark Pit a lot like he was far too close to someone wearing far too much perfume; he wondered if the entire platform was soaked in it. Still, even with the scent, it was a fascinating place.

"This," Menink spoke in a way that made it clear it was meant to go with grand hand gestures. "is my domain. In a different sense from fulfilling the dreams of others, of course. Welcome to the Dreamworld, Dark Pit."

"This place looks kind of familiar, actually." Dark Pit thought about it; he wasn't very good at remembering his dreams, but this was pretty close to how he remembered the best ones. "By the way, you're the only person not to use stupid nicknames on me. Good job."

"Thank you." Menink let out another chuckle. "Now, allow me to give an angel his wings." Menink meant metaphorically, of course. Dark Pit felt the very tips of his wings tingle, a similar feeling to soaking them in hot water but without the actual wetness. He bent one to get a better look at it, and pinkish wisps of aura were forming similar to Viridi's green or Palutena's blue. Though it was firmly in the pink category, the aura was probably supposed to be more of a red color compared to the Wings of Pegasus. As Menink's aura crawled down his wings, Dark Pit wondered if the new power he was receiving was more like that sacred treasure or like Pandora's powers he'd stolen, neither were available anymore but he'd gotten glimpses of what Menink was currently promising from what those could do. Remembering those made it seem more like this could actually happen.

The aura reached the base of Dark Pit's wings, and they began flapping. This wasn't how any goddess's aura had worked before, but none had actually advertised as working permanently so he was willing to just assume this was how the permanent way worked. It wasn't long before his feet left the ground and Dark Pit was airborne, a small smile appearing on his face as he realized it was really happening. "I'm flying!" He stated the obvious in surprise. He was completely focused on that fact; sure, there was no way to be absolutely sure this was everything Menink said it would be, but it was working so far. He rose gradually, and after a little while Dark Pit's astonishment wore off enough that he noticed two things; he had no control over his wings and thus didn't know how to control his flying, and he could feel the aura growing across his back. "Hey, wait, what's this about? This doesn't seem right." He forcibly flapped his wings, which dispelled some of the aura and made him land hard back on the platform with a wince of pain.

"You shouldn't do that!" Menink's voice sounded as if he was cringing. "If you fight against my magic, it can't let you fly."

Dark Pit hesitantly relaxed his wings again, and felt the aura re-gather. In a minute or two, he was back flying above the ground. "How am I supposed to get anywhere if I can't move my wings?" He objected.

"Please, allow me to demonstrate." Dark Pit, steered by his own wings instead of the other way around, suddenly took off away from the platform and into the sky. He glided down, curved up into a big loop, tilted so he was flying sideways or upside down for long stretches, doing all sorts of fun moves in general. The process definitely felt like more than the five minutes the power of flight normally gave, and Dark Pit wasn't not enjoying it. "Think of it as if I was pulling a chariot for you; all the getting somewhere without you having to do it. What do you think?"

"I sort of understand, but why can't I be the one flying?" Dark Pit was distracted by the actual act of being in flight, and still a bit unsure of this magic. The aura continued to grow, and it covering his torso as well as his wings added more of both; it was hard for him to be skeptical of things when random parts of him were being heated like they were, and there wasn't an explanation for why it was doing that.

"I'm afraid I'm not powerful enough to give you something detached from myself." Menink moved quickly from the answer to a question of his own. "But doesn't it feel nice, being able to lean back and enjoy the ride instead of having to pay attention for fear of crashing?"

Dark Pit considered, and found himself nodding to the words. He felt a lot better then he had before, so this method of flying was clearly helping; especially since the other option was no flying at all, and look where that got him. The aura finished covering him, which meant Menink was steering his entire body; it felt natural, just like how he normally flew but he could just lay back and enjoy the ride. Dark Pit now understood why he needed to relax everything, with just his wings being Menink's he didn't lean correctly into his movements and that caused some pain when he tried to strain his back against where his wings wanted it to go, or where his limbs naturally fell. He was still a bit hesitant, however, as that was simply his nature. "How do I know you won't fly me somewhere I don't want you to?"

"I can only do what you want me to, remember?"

"… Oh. Right…" He couldn't argue with that, Menink's words all made sense and the results were pleasant. Dark Pit suddenly smiled wide and let out a happy sigh, glad that he was free to fly with nothing to worry about.