Chapter 3:

Pit Pov:

Upon a 24 hour rest for both myself and Coca, we then immediately got prepped for the next fight, the both of us rushing out of the conjured door and entering quite the nasty storm.

"Ugh! This weather's nasty!" I said when I flapped my wings in the storm thanks to Palutena's help.

"Yes, but your next mission can't wait. You must defeat Dark Lord Gaol," Palutena said, Coca gasping and her face turning from smile to worry in a snap.

"No... Cousin Gaol, a Dark Lord?! We need to get there quicker! Pit, mount my back, Palutena, you lead us in the right direction! I'm going to rescue my cousin no matter what it takes!" Coca exclaimed, her body turning to dragon form and me not even daring to question her. I got on her back and felt my flight power turn off.

"Okay, you'll need to be quick. The defeat of Gaol will force the Underworld armies to retreat," Palutena said to us, Coca roaring in response as she dove extremely fast through the storm clouds and flew even faster through the canyons. She also eliminated almost all the Underworld monsters we came across with her fire breath and claws while I handled the ones she missed.

"Almost there! I can smell her! She's been possessed by darkness! I knew she wouldn't become a Dark Lord willingly! Let's go!" Coca said with grit in her voice, me confused about her word usage when describing Gaol.

"She? Shouldn't it be Dark Lady then?" I asked.

"Shush it, Pit! We're approaching the castle! The humans won't last long against the Underworld army, so let's go!" Coca exclaimed, landing us at the entrance to the castle and flying through it somewhat until we were at an area that diverged into two places.

"Okay, we made it," I smiled as I dismounted Coca and she returned to normal form, our duo then rushing into the fray and attacking the different monsters on our way down a staircase. And when we got to the very bottom, something happened that none of us expected.

Coca POV:

"Whoa, Magnus?!" I gawked when she saw what I did. It was a burly human man taking out Underworld monsters with no sweat, using a club that looked insanely heavy! Magnus, husband of Gaol and top monster hunting mercenary!

"Heh, didn't expect to see you here, Coca Butter. And I hope that angel being here doesn't mean I've kicked the bucket," Magnus smiled, him not even caring about my new appearance. "By the way, love the new look. Heard from the Drakers that ya turned into a goddess. I bet that comes with perks, don't it?" Magnus smirked at me, Pit looking confused at the conversation as was Palutena.

"You two are familiar with each other?" Palutena asked.

"Yep, he's cousin Gaol's husband... so... how's the baby doing?" I asked Magnus. But in response, he simply looked to the ground and closed his eyes. "Oh.. Oh no... I-I'm so sorry, Magnus..." I gasped when I saw him do that. He almost never was like this unless it was extremely saddening to him.

"Gaol... not five seconds after touching that armor, she slew our baby boy with a single slice of her sword. And it's being caused by that snake-haired bitch herself. The only way to save Gaol is by destroying the armor. But that's not the only reason. There's a bounty on Gaol's head, and I intend to defeat her in battle, but then hide her while I collect the reward. It's 20 thousand gold, dead only," Magnus said, me looking at him with a smile as I put my hand on his shoulder.

"That's the Magnus I know. Always putting his comrades first, no matter what happens. What say you team up with us to take out Gaol together? We can even hide her in Skyworld if you want... do you care, sis?" I asked, wondering what Palutena's answer would be.

"I may consider it, so long as you can find a place for her and this Magnus character to live in the mortal realm after a few days," Palutena said, me smiling at that.

"Palutena agrees. She'll give me 3 days to find a new place for you and Gaol to live in after you get that reward money. She will need to have some kind of disguise, though," I smiled at Magnus as we went through the door and we dropped into a cave area with a large fire dragon inside. A Fire Wyrm.

"The deal is set. But give your goddess a message from me. Tell her that she needs to get her act together and soon. Those monsters are making our world a shit hole and Gaol and I are the only humans that have the power to defeat them," Magnus said, me wondering how Palutena would react.

"Okay, fine then. Tell him he's got two days now," Palutena said, me smirking and snickering at that.

"Apparently... she didn't like that comment, as she removed a day. Now you only have 2 days to relocate," I smiled.

"Oookay..." Pit said uneasily, which made Magnus snicker a bit as we took out some more monsters and we went up an elevator, my nose sniffing something very familiar to my right and through a door. And what was on the other side?

"No way! A hot spring!" Pit and I exclaimed at the same time, both of us rushing in there and immediately letting the waters heal our bodies.

"Apparently some people like their spa time... but why go in fully dressed?" Magnus asked.

"Well, because these magical hot springs are able to heal any wound, but only if it's for dragons or those of a celestial kind. I guess it's healing me up since I'm a goddess and because I'm part dragon, but they've always been the best way to get my wounds healed from a hunt," I smiled widely as I felt my fatigue fade away and then Pit and I exited with our clothes somewhat soggy, but otherwise undamaged.

"Dark Lord Gaol should be ahead of you at the top of that winding staircase. Once you are able to break open the armor, get her the rest of the way out of it and then take her body to Skyworld with Pit. I'll heal it up in the meantime. But how are you going to find a body to take back to collect the reward is the question, Magnus?" Palutena asked, Magnus smirking. I guess he heard it too.

"I'll just find one of those poor saps on the battlefield outside the castle and put his body in the armor," Magnus smiled.

"Um... okay? We're nearing the top," I said as we then got ambushed by an enemy that was covered in spikes and looked like a giant rock with eyes.

"Whoa, spiky boy here. Time to slay," I smiled as I breathed a breath of fire at it and gasped as I narrowly dodged out of the way of the spikes it launched from its shell, retaliating with my claws until it was down and it stayed down.

"Now that was close," Pit said as only the door remained, our group rushing through it and us seeing that the other side was a large throne room and that a very mean looking suit of armor was being occupied by Gaol, a dark aura emanating from it.

"Gaol, time to get out of that armor!" I exclaimed at her, the influence making Gaol laugh at me.

"Well, if it isn't Palutena's messenger boy, my stupid cousin, and Magnus, it's always a pleasure," Gaol said sadistically, her voice heavily distorted to the point it sounded just like a deep-voiced man.

"Sorry I'm late. I had other business to attend to. But now, I'm going to free you from your plight! Come here and fight me like you mean it!" Magnus exclaimed, Gaol immediately rushing forward with an aura of dark energy, which I gasped as I remembered. My goddess powers! I tried to focus my powers to try and hurt the dark magic that was coating Gaol's armor, me gasping when something happened I didn't expect. When I thrust my hand out and I touched Gaol's armor, it immediately stopped in place and the armor lost its dark aura in an instant, it actually forming into a separate entity that looked exactly like it.

"Whoa... now time to cleanse this darkness with the power of light!" Pit exclaimed as he began to pepper the dark entity with multiple arrows, all of them piercing the darkness and actually causing it to fall in only a few well-placed head shots. I then looked at Gaol and saw Magnus was taking off the armor, me assisting until I saw Gaol's face again. She was unconscious, but alive. And she was just as beautiful as I remembered. Long, blonde hair, a petite nose, a very nice body that was luckily still in undies, and her skin was smooth, yet rough where it counted. Hard to believe she was about on par with Magnus when it came to brute force.

"Okay, I'm going to take Gaol to Skyworld to help her recover. This armor should be safe to hide people inside of now that it's no longer influenced by Medusa... but just in case, I'm gonna have to ask ya for yer help here, sis," I smiled, wondering if Palutena had any tricks for that.

"Sure, I can put a seal on it to protect it from Medusa's darkness," Palutena smiled, me seeing a small bit of light hit the armor and it gaining a small mark on the inside of the helmet.

"Okay... until we meet again, Magnus. Stay safe, please? Don't do anything you know you can't handle," I smiled at him.

"No shit," Magnus smirked, me taking myself, Pit, and Gaol to Skyworld all at once, me specifically targeting one area in particular.

"Ah... hot springs. My best friend," Pit smiled as his face started to turn red from the warmness of it.

"Didn't know you liked hot springs that much, Pit... okay, now to heal up Gaol..." I smiled as I started to work my magic into her body, doing just as Palutena taught me when she healed up my wounds from my first fight against Twinbellows and the first attack on that one town. And when I finally finished, Gaol groaned a bit before opening her eyes, her smile emerging when she saw my face as well as a few tears rolling down her face.

"Cousin Coca... I thank you... from the bottom... of my heart..." Gaol smiled calmly as she tried to move, but found she was still in pain slightly.

"You're going to need to rest for a bit, miss. And you should consider yourself lucky. You're the first human to ever see Skyworld," Pit smiled at her.

"Skyworld?... So Medusa wasn't lying... you are her reincarnation..." Gaol smiled.

"Yes, I am. But I am not like her at all. I'm fighting for good, not for evil, and most of my magic is similar to Palutena's. The only dark form of magic I was able to do was separate the darkness from that suit of armor you got controlled by. Pit finished it off shortly after," I smiled.

"I owe my thanks... to you as well... Pit," Gaol smiled... but then she fell asleep, her starting to snooze after the incidents had happened.

"Okay, time to get you to a nice comfy bed. And then I'm gonna have to find out where you and Magnus are gonna live," I smiled as I hefted her body onto my back and I had her ride me piggyback style to the bedding areas. She needed a good long rest after this endeavor.