I know this story is late. Truth is, I just plum forgot to put this chapter up a couple of days ago. Half of the reason is school, the other half is FE:H. 'Nough said.
Anyway, with Phosphora now a part of the gang, we get to see our heroes go after the first soul fragment scattered after the battle with the Grim Reaper. Bet a lot og you guys were not expecting that to happen. Whelp, with that all said and done, let's jump on in.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kid Icarus. All rights to Sora Ltd. and Nintendo.
Chapter 4:
Under Siege Once More
Out in the grassy fields of one of Skyworld's islands, strolling leisurely with scepter in hand, Viridi was taking in the bright morning sun as it rose on a new day. However, Viridi wasn't in the most pleasurable of moods. Rather, today had found her brooding, as it had the last couple of times. She was constantly bugged (no pun intended) by the prospect of her teaming up with Palutena, not just to take down Hades and his soul-devouring mission, but also to save Pit. Why should she care that he is a statue now? He's Palutena's envoy, not hers. She had Dark Pit and Phosphora for her, who were more than enough to take on Hades and his forces. So why was she bothering to help save some angel she didn't really care about? Then again, did she care about Pit? Viridi didn't think so.
She at least felt glad to be outside for a bit. Being in Palutena's temple wasn't exactly her idea of home away from home. She was the goddess of nature, she preferred living things over stone. But, with how powerful Hades had become, having two goddesses fighting alongside one another was a better alternative to fighting against everyone. Everything was just becoming a jumbled mess.
Just as Viridi sat down to contemplate all these troublesome matters, Phosphora appeared right behind her and kneeled.
"Dark Pit and I are ready for our mission, Mistress Viridi." she reported.
Taking a deep breath of the morning air, Viridi responded, "Good. And what about Palutena?"
"She's... hard to read. Even for a goddess. One moment, she's that strong and stoic goddess of light. The next, she gets so emotional that I just can't bear to be around her."
"I guess I can't blame her. Without someone to lead her forces, she can't really do much to protect the humans."
"Speaking of mistress, why did you pull me from the front lines to help Dark Pit?" Phosphora wondered, "Not to seem ungrateful, but I don't exactly like the guy. He's more volatile than thunderstorms."
Standing up, Viridi told her, "Because of what we have to face. That's all you need to know right now."
"Alright." And with that sigh of defeat, the two returned to the temple to commence the mission.
"You'd better keep up Phosphora." Dark Pit told his new 'partner' as he leaped out of the gate.
"I could say the same to you, Pittoo." Phosphora retorted back. With that, the two soared over a sea of clouds and monsters. Dark Pit wasted no time shooting down Monoeyes and Miks with his Silver Bow, while Phosphora dealt lightning out to Syrens and Parashulms.
For your first mission together, you'll need to locate Pit's soul fragment somewhere nearby. Palutena elaborated, There should be one in a human city up ahead.
"Ugh! Humans? Really?!" Phosphora replied in a disgusted tone.
"What's the matter? Don't like humans?" Dark Pit taunted.
"Well, you know, they harm nature and kill each other over greed. Mistress Viridi hates them, so I hate them too."
Tell me Phosphora, have you ever actually seen a human before? Palutena asked.
"Well, from up above. In the clouds."
Then I'm going to take that as a no. Palutena concluded, Which means you'll be helping Pittoo on the ground when we arrive at our target.
"You can't boss me around!" Phosphora retaliated.
It actually might be better. Viridi came in, My troops are being swarmed from the air above the town. That has to be where Pit's soul fragment is. But, we'll need to come in from the ground if we want to stand a chance.
Sighing with reluctance, Phosphora replied, "As you say, Mistress Viridi."
Clearing out the last set of troops, both Phosphora and Dark Pit descended to the ground below. Upon reaching the ground, they spotted a cloud of Underworld troops mixed with centurions and Forces of Nature creatures hovering over a distant metropolis.
"Uh oh. Hades must really want that soul." Phosphora observed.
"Let's go! I don't want to miss a moment of this action." Dark Pit barked.
Watch out, behind you! Palutena warned. Chasing after them was a whale-looking enemy called a Belunka. When it opened its mouth, it spewed out several monsters to attack the duo.
"Now this is more like it!" Dark Pit said enthusiastically.
You two better hurry. Viridi advised, Something else is at the town. It's really chomping down on our troops.
"Is there a commander already there?" Phosphora asked.
It looks that way. Palutena told them, We'd better get over there.
Finishing off the Belunka and its troops, Dark Pit muttered, "They'd better not get that soul fragment."
As they approached the city, Phosphora moaned, "I really didn't want to get involved with humans. I'd rather be training my Pikachu instead."
You have a Pikachu? No way! Viridi gasped, Want to trade for my Venasaur?
Viridi, how does talking about Pokemon help us with stopping the Underworld army? Palutena intervened.
"How about an Umbreon for that Pikachu?" Dark Pit offered.
Pittoo, fight first, games later.
"Fine! But you owe me a battle afterwards." With that discussion over, Phosphora and Dark Pit descended into the town.
Phosphora landed in another area of the city, the cloud of minions hovering over her head like a dark cloud. The vast expanse of human buildings before her seemed void of human life, most likely due to people taking refuge. At least she didn't have to worry about them for the time being. And she much rather preferred it that way.
Meet up with Dark Pit at the cathedral. Viridi instructed, That's where we'll find Pit's soul fragment. But as Phosphora walked on, she noticed that none of the Underworld troops were coming down to engage her in battle. Her path so far was monster free.
"Should I be concerned about the monster absence?" she asked Viridi.
It's a little weird. Viridi pointed out, But it seems all the Underworld forces are focusing on Dark Pit. I wonder why.
"Well, that just makes it easier for me. He can handle them." But even as Phosphora was progressing through the city, it continued to remain empty. It was like a ghost town, which creeped her out even more.
Then, as she was passing an alleyway, Phosphora noticed someone hunched down against some crates, crying. When Phosphora stopped to see who it was, she discovered a young, human girl. This girl had short blond hair, and was wearing a simple white dress. She didn't know why, but Phosphora stopped to see what was wrong.
"So this is a human." she muttered to herself, "A young one maybe." As Phosphora continued to observe the girl, she noticed some kind of similarity between the girl and herself. But, why was that? And why was she crying?
All of sudden, from out of nowhere, a Skuttler appeared on the other side, wielding a bone for a club and shield. Surprised, Phosphora shot out lightning at it, vaporizing it instantly. Replacing it was an Armin, a hound-looking monster with a huge shield for a head and a smaller one on its tail.
Preparing an attack, Phosphora ordered to the girl, "Get out of here! Run!" But the little girl didn't register the command. Instead, she just continued to cry, oblivious to the danger she was in. As the Armin charged, Phosphora charged forward and grabbed the little girl. Pulling the human close, she then flipped over and zapped the Armin in the middle, taking it out in one blast.
Landing safely, Phosphora smirked at her easy win. As she looked tot he little girl, she saw that the young one wasn't crying anymore. Rather, she looked at Phosphora in wonder.
"Momma?" the girl squeaked.
Feeling a little insecure about the scenario, Phosphora set the girl down and told her, "Sorry, but no. You'd better find a safe place to hide until this is over." With that done, Phosphora began to head out. But before she disappeared, she requested, "Grow up to be big and strong. And, to love nature and all its worth. Promise?" And without waiting for a reply, she zipped for the cathedral.
Upon arrival, Phosphora spotted Pittoo being swarmed by Underworld forces. He was doing his best to take them down, but some were harder to fight when in a swarm. As Dark Pit was dealing with some Skuttlers, an Underworld Crawler slammed down nearby. The tank-looking monster set its sights on the dark angel, but Phosphora saw a chance to take it out. Pointing her finger at the weak spot on the back, she zapped the monster with coursing electricity, making it explode in a fiery explosion. The force of the explosion knocked out a row of Skuttlers going to fight Dark Pit, and he spotted the person who saved him.
Dusting himself off, he huffed, "I could've handled it without your help."
"Key word: 'could've'." Phosphora teased, "You could have at least said a 'thank you'." Just then, a strange fireball pummeled its way up to the cathedral, pursued by the Forces of Nature and the centurions.
Noticing the fight that passed right by them, Dark Pit wondered, "I'll bet that's the commander."
Yes. And he's reaching Pit's soul fragment. Palutena came in, You two better hurry!
"Leave it to me, ma'am." Phosphora replied confidently.
"Uh oh." Pittoo muttered, though he wasn't entirely sure why,
What did you just call me? Palutena asked in a threatening tone.
"Doesn't matter. We've got a soul to collect." And with that, Phosphora and Dark Pit hurried up the steps into the cathedral.
Inside the building, the two saw a two-headed fire hound taking out centurions and roasting the Forces of Nature.
It's Twinbellows. The Underworld's faithful watchdog. Palutena told them.
I could've told you that. Viridi griped.
"Ditto." Dark Pit mumbled.
As Twinbellows roared in challenge, Phosphora inquired, "So we have to beat this fleabag to get Pit's soul fragment?"
I'm afraid so. Viridi replied, None of our forces got there in time.
"Not a problem." Dark Pit called out as he and Phosphora got ready for the fight.
Roaring out intimidatingly, Twinbellows lunged at the duo to cut them in half. They both dodged, and returned fire. Dark Pit used his Silver Bow and tried to nail the beast's heads, while Phosphora launched electric shots at it. But then Twinbellows spewed out fire from both heads, forcing the two to dodge out of the way. After that, the battle pretty much went haywire. All of Twinbellows charging and fire breathing started to make the structure drop debris onto the fighters. But Dark Pit and Phosphora paid it little attention as they merely used it to their advantage to take down the fire dog. But it seemed like, no matter how much damage they dealt, Twinbellows seemed unfazed by it.
Eventually, Phosphora managed to charge her lightning, and sent it through the heads and coursing through its body. The resulting electric shock finally finished off the hound, and Twinbellows disappeared with a howl.
Blowing smoke off her finger like she shot a gun, Phosphora giggled, "That taught him to heel." Where Twinbellows disappeared shined a shard that hummed a light-blue hue. Dark Pit collected it rather leisurely, but was then surprised when he heard Medusa's echoing chuckle. When he and Phosphora raced outside, they spotted a holographic image of the goddess towering over the metropolis.
"Well, seems we have some interesting company." she boomed.
"You'd better prepare yourself Medusa." Dark Pit shouted back, "Once we revive Pit, we're coming after you. It's only a matter of time."
"Only if you can revive him." Medusa retorted, "Gathering his soul is one thing. But without a will of his own, he'll merely be an empty shell. And what good is an empty shell to you?" And with that, Medusa vanished.
What was Medusa getting at there? Palutena pondered.
We can worry about that later. Virid suggested, Let's get you two back. Then Dark Pit and Phosphora were extracted back to Skyworld.
After putting the new shard back together with Pit's soul, Palutena, Viridi, Dark Pit, and Phosophora hung around the main chamber of the temple, all pondering over what Medusa had told them. Without a will of his own, Pit would just be an empty shell, even if they revived him. What could she mean?
"This is really starting to hurt my head!" Viridi complained after a long silence.
"You think this hurts?" Dark Pit challenged, "I've got a headache the size of a continent right now."
"It could just be a ploy of hers to help Hades get the other soul fragments." Phosphora suggested, "I mean, it makes sense to me when you put it that way."
"No that's not it." Palutena spoke out. As everyone turned their attention to her, she explained, "Medusa isn't as clever as Hades, and she can't set up such intricate traps like he can. The only trap she did set resulted in Pittoo, but that backfired. She's trying to tell us something."
"You're not seriously buying into her riddle, are you?" Viridi questioned, "Hades could have sent her to lead us in a wild goose chase."
"Maybe. But if so, we should divide our efforts then. Dark Pit and I will look into what Medusa's message meant."
"While Phospora and I keep looking for soul fragments. Sounds like a plan, unless Hades planned it this way."
"I'd rather do something to get rid of this headache." Dark Pit grumbled.
"Aw! Big bad Pittoo has a sore head." Phosphora chuckled, "Don't think too much Pittoo, or you'll crack your head like an egg." With that last remark, Phosphora shot off to continue her search. And with it, the group now worked on accomplishing both tasks set before them.
Watching it all happen from the Underworld, Medusa chuckled villainously as she saw them debate their next step. Everything was going according to her design. Soon, very soon, her revenge would be complete. And she would abolish this curse that had afflicted her for so long.
Glimpsing the image of Palutena, she whispered, "It won't be long now, goddess of light. Keep playing your game. For you are now but a pawn in the grander scheme of things."
Yeah, gonna leave that little brain teaser for you guys to think for now. Review and see you all next time.