A/N: Hello, all readers! I'm IllusionalFennec, and welcome to Chapter 2: Remains of the Prophesier of my fanfic, Kid Icarus: Revolution. Let's get this thing started!
Review replies:
Sentinel07: Thank you. I hope you like this chapter.
Martyn: Thanks. As for your ideas: (I'll list them by idea)
1: I have no one else lined up for the part, so sure, why not?
2: I'll probably get around to doing this idea, but it isn't going to be a huge plot point.
3: I actually have something really good planned for this already, I can easily incorporate your idea into it.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot of this story and this story alone. Nintendo/Kid Icarus owns everything else.
Chapter 2: Remains of the Prophesier
Pit, equipped with the Palutena Bow, ran out of the door that led out of Skyworld. His wings glowed with the familiar blue as the Power of Flight was activated. "So, what's my mission today, Lady Palutena?" he asked.
"It's a complicated mission," Palutena admitted. "Long story short, it's going to involve a lot of battles. And you're going to be killing a lot of things."
"That's what every mission is about," Pit grumbled. "Who am I fighting?"
"Do you remember the Aurum?" Palutena inquired.
"Of course I do," Pit replied. "Weren't they the invaders from space or something? Didn't they take control of Pyrrhon?"
"Yes, that's right," Palutena confirmed. "Anyway, your mission today will be related to them."
"Don't tell me they returned…" Pit muttered as he flew through the clear sky. Oddly, there were no enemies.
Palutena shook her head. "Luckily for you, they didn't," she responded. "But the thing is that Pyrrhon is still around. He survived somehow. I can't exactly determine his location, but he's around Delphi."
"Where and what is Delphi?" Pit asked, obviously confused.
"Delphi is the city where Pyrrhon's temple is," Palutena explained. "As for where it is, well, I'm controlling your flight path to take you there. It'd make sense that he'd be at the place around his temple, right?"
"Huh," Pit said. "I never thought he'd have a temple. And I always thought that the towns had more plain names. You know, like That First Town. Didn't I go to That Burning Town too?"
"Delphi is sort of a special case," Palutena replied. "Anyway, we have to stop Pyrrhon. We can't let him go loose. If he wanted to kill us then, he probably still wants to now. You're going to have to defeat him, Pit. But this time, you're defeating him for good. He shouldn't come back unless someone resurrects him. Understood?"
"I got it!" Pit exclaimed, suddenly excited. "This'll be easy!"
The clouds were now starting to clear. After completely clearing, in front of Pit, or rather, below, was a temple in ruins on a small hilltop. The temple looked very old, and bits and pieces of it were crumbling—but the temple still was in alright shape, or so it seemed. Tall stone pillars surrounded the temple, and on the temple's right side, there were visible signs of a shrine once being there. Pit even saw a few scattered pieces of old firewood that would probably crumble upon contact.
"This is Delphi?" Pit exclaimed.
"Yes," Palutena replied solemnly. "Delphi was once a grand city. But, over time, it started to fade away. Not many people remember it now, and that's part of the reason it's in this state."
"Is Pyrrhon really going to be in such a poor place like this?" Pit asked. Now that he was at Delphi, he wasn't so sure if he wanted to go on this mission.
"Well, it is his temple," Palutena pointed out. "It makes sense that he'd come back here. I'm positive that he's around here somewhere. You're going to have to find him."
Just then, a voice boomed, "Why, hello!"
Pit instantly recognized it as the sun god's voice. "Pyrrhon!" he yelled. "I'm going to destroy you!"
"I know I should be playing the classic old villain role right now, and that I should be yelling, 'Who dares trespass on my temple?'" Pyrrhon commented. "But the reason I'm here is to keep this place from falling into ruins. Do you know why this temple is still standing? I've been keeping it up for years. I really don't have the time to fight you, angel." As the sun god said this, he appeared floating onto the field. Pit tried in vain to shoot at him, but somehow Pyrrhon managed to avoid.
"You need to be stopped!" Pit continued. "Lady Palutena said that if you're let loose, horrible things would happen! And I'm going to be the one to stop you!"
"Good for you!" Pyrrhon laughed. "Thing is, buddy, I can't control the Aurum anymore. They're way on the other side of the galaxy! So I don't exactly have much backup except myself. Why would I try to fight you then?"
Palutena broke in. "Pyrrhon, are you suggesting that you're not as strong as you were while we were fighting the Aurum?"
"Your 'Lady Palutena' hit it right on the mark," Pyrrhon said. "But I'm still strong enough to keep this temple up. Listen, angel. I honestly don't have time for you. If the goddess of light can sense anything correctly, she should know that there's some trouble going on here. And it's much more of a threat than me. Maybe even more powerful than the Aurum, I'd say! I'm going to have to leave you here to battle it. Until then, little angel!"
"Wait! You can't just leave like that!" Pit exclaimed. "I have to destroy—"
Just then, Pyrrhon departed.
"Pit, I'm going to have to land you here," Palutena interrupted. "The power of flight is running out, and Pyrrhon is right. There's a huge threat here, and it's most certainly not him."
"But, Lady Palutena—" Pit was cut off for the second time in a minute due to Palutena setting him down onto the ground, right in the entrance of Pyrrhon's temple.
"Lady Palutena," Pit insisted, "we have to go after Pyrrhon! You said so yourself! He escaped, and he might be off destroying everyone right now!"
"After seeing him," Palutena replied, "I realized that he's in no such state to fight you, or anyone else, really. I hate to admit it, but he's right—he'd have no backup in order to fight you and he's already weakened himself. We'll have to deal with him another time. Right now, though…we have to battle this enemy that I'm feeling."
"Right on time, I see," a voice bellowed. This voice was older than any other Pit had ever heard, except the Chariot Master and Dyntos. It almost sounded like an older, wiser voice of Pyrrhon.
"Who are you?" Pit demanded.
"Him?" Palutena cried in alarm.
"Who is he, Lady Palutena?" Pit asked. Although he was completely clueless, he was also rather alarmed himself. If Palutena was surprised by this person, then this person had to be powerful.
"His name is Amios," Palutena replied. "He was…he was the former god of light, as well as the former god of the sun."
"He was what?" Pit shouted, completely blown out of his mind. "How did you become a goddess of light, then?"
"Don't talk about me as if I'm not here," the voice, who was apparently Amios, interrupted. "Yes, I was the former god of light and the sun, but don't take me for an old fool. I am still powerful! I still power the sun with my own godly power, and I'm very well capable of blowing you to smithereens! In fact, I am tempted to do so now."
"Amios, why are you here?" Palutena demanded.
"Isn't it obvious?" Amios retorted. "I simply wanted to find a place to settle. So this is the place I chose! After all, it was my past temple. I have a right to be here."
"Lady Palutena," Pit said, "how exactly did he stop being a god of light?"
"I'll answer that very question for you," Amios cut in. "I simply retired from my job! Is that not acceptable?"
"Don't listen to him, Pit," Palutena told the angel. "He's been known to be a trickster. Don't fall for his tricks. The reason he stopped being a god of light was because he betrayed the gods. One day, he refused to bring the sun up into the sky, and he refused to spread light to the people. The world almost crumbled because of him. Amios is back now. He has to have a reason. Right, Amios?"
"Tsk, tsk," Amios sighed. "Palutena, you're exaggerating. I never wanted to harm the gods! I simply grew tired of using my own energy to bring the sun up into the sky and give light to the humans. That's why I passed the jobs on to two people instead of only one. I didn't want my heir to suffer the same pain. Pyrrhon got the job of the sun god. And you, Palutena, got the job of the goddess of light…though I don't exactly know if you're doing your best at it right now."
Pit was running through the temple. So far, the only enemies he had encountered were two Mimicuties when he tried to open a few treasure chests. Strangely, he didn't complain about them. It was getting boring now; Pit wanted something more interesting. "Don't say that about Lady Palutena!" he shouted at Amios. "Lady Palutena's done a great job at spreading light to the people!"
"Then why hasn't she been handing out the light herself?" Amios retorted. "Palutena, you're only relying on your little angel to clear out the darkness. You never do any of the work yourself. And being the goddess of light doesn't mean you take out all of the darkness. You're supposed to give."
Palutena fell silent before answering, "Amios, I know. But the war with the Underworld and the Forces of Nature has busied me. I'll get right back to work on it. The question is, though, why haven't you helped us in the war?"
"I was busy," Amios answered, which didn't help clear things up in the slightest. But Palutena seemed to know what he was talking about.
Palutena seemed to ignore Amios now. "Pit, I know Amios," she said. "He's ambitious and power-hungry, even at his age. He's even a bigger threat than Pyrrhon at this point, considering that Pyrrhon is greatly weakened. You need to destroy Amios first before you get to Pyrrhon!"
"I'll do that, Lady Palutena!" Pit said. Then he thought of something else. "Why are there no enemies here?"
"Since you're so eager for things to fight, I'll send my troops out," Amios replied. "Oh, and Palutena, if you're so intent on destroying your reserve of light, be my guest. However, I won't let you go without a fight. Grimoire, one of my finest warriors, shall be your boss for this chapter!"
"Who's Grimoire?" Pit asked.
"I've heard legends about Grimoire," Palutena remarked. "His name is the Light Wolf Grimoire Legend. He's very powerful, and is entitled to Amios, even though Amios is no longer a god."
Pit muttered something incoherent, but just as he was going to speak up again, he was attacked by something. This something was one of Amios's troops. It had a helmet covering its entire head with a golden plume and black slits for the eyes—however, Pit saw no eyes. It also had a whole set of armor covering the rest of its body. In one hand, the troop carried a steel sword; in the other, a shield. More beings like the one that had attacked Pit started to pour into the hallway. Some of them, however, had a yellow aura surrounding their sword. None of them moved forward, but instead they were hanging back and watching as Pit attempted to recover from the sudden attack.
"That's a Sun Knight," Palutena explained. "The ones with the yellow aura around their sword are Sun Centurions. They're more powerful than regular Underworld enemies or Forces of Nature, so be careful, Pit."
"I'm…okay…" Pit rasped, but it was clear that he wasn't okay. Just as he defeated the first Sun Knight—and with great difficulty—more of the Sun Knights, even one of the Sun Centurions, all surged forward to attack Pit. The poor angel could barely keep from getting finished.
"That was my first batch," Amios proclaimed. "If you can't keep up with them, surely you stand no chance against Grimoire."
"Alone, he stands no chance," a new voice said. "But he can stand a chance if I help him."
"Viridi?" Pit gasped. "Why are you here?"
"Why wouldn't I be here?" the voice, revealed to be Viridi, retorted. "I decided that if you were going to go to try and stop Pyrrhon, you'd need my help. But you ran into Amios instead. I guess I'll have to be the one to get you out of this jam. Forces of Nature, after those troops of Amios!"
Almost at once, many Forces of Nature started pouring in—Nutskis, Urgles, and more. They were all attacking the Sun Knights, while Pit tried to get the others off of him.
"Ah, so the goddess of nature has joined the fray?" Amios asked. "Excellent! More people I can crush."
"You're destroying nature," Viridi pointed out. "You're disrupting the balance of nature by even revealing yourself. That's why you have to be stopped!"
"My, my," Amios chided. "You're still such an eco freak. Honestly, have you seen what's going on outside of this piece of writing? Cars everywhere are polluting the air with chemicals. There's a bunch of global warming going around. And you're still involved in destroying the humans here?"
"Shut your trap!" Viridi hissed angrily, like an irritated cobra. "You're not even supposed to talk about that!"
Palutena interrupted by instructing Pit. "Pit, just ignore them. Viridi helped you by sending her forces. Ignore the Sun Knights and keep plowing through. I think that you're getting closer to Grimoire."
"Of course, Lady Palutena!" Pit said. As he was saying this, he ran past all the Sun Knights. It seemed that none of them, even the Sun Centurions, had any ranged attacks—as the Forces of Nature held them at bay, the Sun Knights and Centurions couldn't get close enough to attack Pit. It was a good thing, also; Pit had nearly entered Crisis Mode when fighting the Sun Knights by himself.
"He escaped the Sun Knights?" Amios hissed. "Now I have to create more of those things. They take so much energy. Bah!"
"I was right," Palutena remarked. "The Sun Knights and the Sun Centurions are very powerful, so it must take Amios a lot of godly power to create them. Pit, use this time you have to your advantage."
"My children will handle the Sun Knights that Amios already sent forth," Viridi said. "I'm only doing this because Amios is my enemy too, Pit. Don't get the wrong idea."
Pit didn't reply, as he was working on running toward Grimoire. The Palutena Bow, luckily, didn't slow him down much. The real problem was that the apparent captain of Palutena's guard kept getting lost in the winding halls of the temple.
"Pit, you're going the wrong way," Palutena reminded him.
"Where else do I go?" Pit asked frantically.
Palutena sighed. "I guess I'll have to guide you there."
Turns out, she did guide Pit there—every single step of the way. Pit practically heard nothing else except "turn left", "go straight", and "turn right", plus a few scornful comments from Viridi, for the next few minutes.
"Terribly sorry to interrupt," Amios broke in, "but I should warn you that my next batch of Sun Knights are on the way! And there are quite a lot more Sun Centurions than before. Be prepared, 'hero'!"
"No no no no no no!" Pit cried. Obviously, he didn't want to have to battle Amios's troops again.
At once, Sun Knights, the same as the ones Pit had fought a while ago, grouped in the hallway that Pit was currently running across. The Sun Centurions were at the back, but now the Sun Centurions didn't have swords with light auras. Instead, they now carried a bow and a quiver that had arrows with light auras, the same as the swords.
"Um, Viridi, you wouldn't mind helping me again, right…?" Pit asked nervously.
"I barely have any troops left on hand!" the goddess of nature growled. "Do you think I'd really sacrifice all of my children so you can escape? I'm only saving you when you need to be saved!"
"Yeah, and I need to be saved right now!" Pit pointed out.
"I think you'll be able to handle yourself quite nicely," Viridi said, almost in a mocking tone. Then her tone returned to her normal tone. "Pit, if you don't think that you can beat these things, then why are you even here? Aren't you the glorious 'captain of Palutena's guard'? Then prove it!"
"Um…okay…" Pit murmured. He then was forced to attack a Sun Knight, as it had just attempted to attack him. Soon, more Sun Knights were following their kin, and it was a challenge just to defeat one.
"Is it just me…or are these things stronger than…before?" Pit asked.
"It seems that Amios used more energy on them than the first batch," Palutena replied. "You have to be careful here, Pit."
Eventually, little by little, with many Health Recoveries and a whole bunch of other powers that Palutena dreaded to refill afterwards, Pit finally made his way through the gauntlet of enemies he had to face. Palutena resumed her guiding, and Pit once more had to listen to simple directions. The angel wasn't very sure if listening to Palutena ramble about where to go was better or worse than battling the Sun Knights and Centurions.
Finally, after one more batch of Sun Knights and Centurions (both Palutena and Viridi helped Pit with defeating that batch), Pit faced a large door that probably led to Grimoire. As confirmation, Palutena dropped a Drink of the Gods in front of the doorway.
"So we're finally here?" Pit asked, tired but eager to fight Grimoire.
"Yes," Palutena answered. "This is the lair of the Light Wolf, Grimoire Legend. As far as I know, he has defeated many foes for Amios. Hopefully you won't be one."
"I don't plan to be!" Pit yelled as he drank the Drink of the Gods. Instantly, all of his health was replenished. "I'm going to beat that wolf so we can beat Amios!"
Then Pit entered the room behind the doorway.
The room Pit had entered was very large, and apparently still intact, even though the temple that it was located in was close to falling apart. The floors were made of marble and still shined, as were the ceiling and walls. Two grand white stone pillars held up the room on each sidewall. In the very middle of the room, there was a large, elevated circular platform, with a yellow sun symbol on it. Somehow, light was beaming onto the platform, although the ceiling wasn't exposed. However, on the platform was a very large wolf with white fur. This wolf also had yellow markings all over it, mostly in shapes of suns or swirls. One marking on the center of its forehead was pitch black in the shape of a crescent. The tail of the wolf, however, transitioned to a very dark purple. Flames of light billowed out from the wolf's mouth, and Pit assumed that this was the "Light Wolf", Grimoire Legend.
Grimoire stepped forward and snarled, then leapt to attack Pit. The battle began—Pit running and dodging, as well as shooting at any opportunity he could.
"Grimoire is mostly close combat," Palutena warned. "He has sharp fangs and claws, so it's easy for him to damage you when he gets up close. But if you're away from him, and you shoot with the Palutena Bow, Grimoire can only attack by sending columns of light toward you. I can help you dodge those, but the rest is up to you."
"Hey, Amios?" Pit asked.
"Yes?" Amios replied.
"Why does Grimoire have a black tail?" Pit questioned. "Shouldn't he have a white tail, since he's allied to you?"
"That's a simple question, young fool!" Amios exclaimed. "He belonged to Ariselta, my sister. She was the former goddess of the moon, but when she retired, she gave Grimoire Legend, one of her finest warriors, to me. The transaction wasn't well-received, though, because Grimoire Legend still kept his black tail and his crescent symbol. I know Ariselta would have wanted them not to be there, though. Instead of being known as the Night Wolf, Grimoire Legend, he is now the Light Wolf, Grimoire Legend!"
"That's horrible!" Pit shouted. "Taking one of someone else's commanders is disgusting! I'm going to have to stop you now."
"You're right, Pit," Viridi agreed. "A transaction between warriors of one god to another god is forbidden. It tips over nature. Amios is a cruel destroyer. You're going to have to stop him, Pit. I wish I could help you with it, though. But my new Reset Bomb Depot should be complete soon—I'll help you then."
"What?" Pit yelled. "You're building a new Reset Bomb Depot? Since when?"
"Since you destroyed my old depot!" Viridi growled. "I've been working on building a new one ever since! Even when I was helping you defeat the Chaos Kin, my warriors still worked on it. It's going to be complete soon. In fact, it's building as we speak!"
"Pit, I hate this as much as I do," Palutena broke in before Pit could say anything, "but we can't focus on Viridi right now. We have Amios to deal with, and if he has come back, then the sister he mentioned, Ariselta, may have returned too. That will make our job harder."
Pit shot again at Grimoire, and didn't reply. He still felt like Viridi should be put before Amios—and perhaps Ariselta. Viridi seemed like the more immediate threat, being an actual god and all.
Then Grimoire managed to get up close, and raked his claws against Pit. Pit winced, and for once, wished he had equipped his claws too—Wolf Claws would be very fitting for this.
The next few minutes carried on like this. Pit shot at Grimoire while he could, but Grimoire would always manage to close in and perform a strong melee attack against the angel. However, for his columns of light, Palutena almost always dissipated them before they reached Pit, which made Pit grateful.
"Pit, you're almost done for!" Palutena cried in alarm. "Are you sure you can finish off Grimoire in time before he gets you?"
"You know," Amios remarked, "Grimoire does like to feed on the opponents he defeated. If you lose, angel, then this will mean another meal for Grim here!"
"No no no!" Pit yelled, shooting rapidly at Grimoire. The wolf seemed to be moving around even faster. "I've almost got him!" But the thing was, Pit was very close on entering Crisis Mode. A few hits and he would be finished.
"I'll help you," Viridi groaned. "But only just this once. Boom Stomper! Now!" A Boom Stomper emerged from out of nowhere and started falling on top of Grimoire, but the 'Light Wolf' just batted the Force of Nature away like it was nothing.
Luckily, though, the Boom Stomper had bought Pit just enough time to pull off a Health Recovery and run toward Grimoire. His bow broke apart into two blades, and he sliced at Grimoire who was currently preoccupied with the Boom Stomper.
"Grim, ignore that stupid troop!" Amios demanded, but it was too late. Pit had dealt the finishing blow, and Grimoire Legend recoiled back in defeat.
"His bark was worse than his bite!" Pit proclaimed as Grimoire started to disintegrate into golden pieces of dust.
"No!" Amios shrieked. "This is the first ever time that Grimoire has been defeated! I will have to go all out against you. Awaken, General of the Light!"
A rumbling shook the floor as Pit shouted loudly, "Who's the General of the Light?"
"This is bad, Pit," Palutena said in alarm. "I need to get you out of here."
A beam of light shone around Pit and he was lifted up back in the sky, and back to Skyworld.
A/N: Internet cookie to the first person who figures out who Amios and his sister, Ariselta are based off of. Review if you have any suggestions/comments/concerns! And if you like it, follow and favorite. I accept constructive criticism, but not flames.
Also, new goal in life: spell 'disintegrate' right without having to look it up on the web.
If you would like to suggest a plot idea, don't review and tell me through that, but please PM me—unless you're a guest, that is. If you are a guest, you can review if you'd like, but try to keep the idea as vague as possible so there aren't many spoilers if I DO use the idea.
Chapter 3: General of the Light is (hopefully) coming up by next Wednesday or so—this chapter took longer for me than I thought.