?: Hi there! I am the woman Shadmé came "face-to-face with" in the last chapter! I am very important, and you should worship me! In fact, I hijacked Shadmé's computer, and she doesn't know I'm doing this right now. Don't tell her. Well, I'm bored, so I'm gonna pretend they're here.
? (Pit impersonation): hai guize im pit and I saved teh wurld.
? (Shadmé impersonation): Pit, don't play with my computer! *yells*
Uh...what?
?: Oh...hi, Shadmé...I totally wasn't hijacking your computer...
... I'll deal with you at the end of this chapter.
~Shadmé~
"Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded. The woman had long golden hair that went down to her ankles. Her face was still young; in human years, she'd probably look about seventeen. She wore a blue-green dress with lace that looked like sea foam. Her leather sandals were designed to look webbed, like an ocean creature. There was a bubble pattern on the dress, and she wore a seashell brooch, pinning back a white towel that wrapped around her left shoulder to her back. The lady's green eyes glared at us suspiciously.
"Oh great. Did we wreck her big castle?" Pit jeered.
"This is Arequa, goddess of the sand beaches and daughter of Poseidon," Palutena explained. "Why are you against us?"
"It's rude to answer a question with a question, Palutena," Arequa snarled. "Let's get this fight on!" Pit and I looked at each other, separated our bows, and then awesome boss music started playing in the background. Don't ask.
Arequa formed a bubble around herself. Pit ran to the right and I ran to the left, both of us simultaneously shooting from our bows. "Tch tch," the goddess clucked disapprovingly. "Ranged shots won't work on my blue bubble." Pit growled and charged at the bubble. It turned pink as soon as he struck it, but I had an idea. I tried a sideways ranged shot on the bubble, and a little damage was done. "Good thinking, Shadmé," Palutena murmured. "You and Pit need to time your attacks and distract her so you can get some shots in. Melee works on the blue, and ranged shots work on the pink." The bubble turned blue, so Pit performed an Angel Ring with his bow. Arequa wasn't a sitting duck, though. She opened her hand, and some sharp seashells flew out and struck Pit, knocking him back. I advanced, and meleed the blue bubble. "So tell me," Palutena asked as I dodged some shells, "why would a powerful goddess like you be working with the Underworld?"
"Confidential." The goddess floated away from me in her pink bubble to a different part of the wall.
"And where did the castle come from?"
"Confidential." Pit and I rained fire on her pink bubble. She spun around quickly, the bubble turning blue and making the shots fly in different directions. The other angel began running around comically, while I ducked. Eventually, she stopped spinning and we approached again.
"Ohhh, she must have a lot of confidence," Pit realized. Despite being on the nick of battle, I facepalmed. "Pit, that's not what confidential means! It means top-secret."
At the moment of my hesitation, Arequa brought out a seaweed whip and snapped it towards me. It stung! But her bubble also turned pink, meaning Pit could fire safely from his distance. He took this opportunity, wielding a charged shot. It made her pink bubble pop, and it immediately flashed back to blue, her last line of defense.
I was nearby, and therefore able to lash out with my bow. She floated back a fair distance, meaning we had no choice but to rush towards her. Arequa smirked as she realized she had the advantage. We tried to run up but she launched a barrage of shells.
But Pit was trying a new combo attack. He leaped into the air, above the projectiles, and slashed downward. Besides doing a lot of damage and popping the blue bubble, a part of the wall crumbled, and we fell towards the sea. "I always liked fighting on the water more than land," muttered the sand goddess. The three of us landed in the sea, and by instinct I made my way to the surface, sputtering.
"I...can't...swim!" Pit choked. Great, I thought. Is there any way we can win this? I grabbed his shoulder and channeled my energy to keeping us afloat. "If there's anything I hate more that eggplants and Underworld minions...it's water," he whispered. "Sorry, but I can't exactly beam down a heavenly raft," Palutena explained guiltily. "Try to head toward the wreckage. There's stuff there that floats."
I guided Pit to the wreckage, like she said, and heaved us up. "Thanks," Pit sighed. "Where's Arequa?" I wondered. As soon as I said that, something burst out of the water. It was, of course, Arequa, riding a sea creature. It had a long, scale-covered serpentine body, and the scales shimmered many shades of blue and green. The neck connected to a head that was turtlelike, and there was a tiny horn in the center.
"What's that?" I asked.
"A seagon," she returned. "They're really rare creatures, but very loyal." At the word loyal the creature opened its mouth and shot a blast of water at us, and we were knocked back...and off the wreckage.
"Lady Palutena! Even a heavenly surfboard would be fine!" Pit called. I tried to backpedal away from Arequa, but I wasn't getting far. My wings are getting soggy, I realized in horror. Soon, they'd drag me down to the bottom of the sea!
Shaking my head in despair, I considered an option. I could support Pit as he fought, and if he managed to defeat the sand goddess, then maybe she'd retreat and allow us to escape. Of course, there was the large possibility that I'd drown, but...
"Okay Pit, listen to me. I'm gonna try to keep you afloat, and you've gotta fight for me. Got it?"
"But Shad-"
"No time." I took a deep breath and supported him under the water by pushing his side. The water seeped into my eyes, so I quickly shut them. I heard a muffled sound, and then the sound of bow fire. I also heard retaliation, but there wasn't much I could do to help Pit dodge!
I popped up for a quick breath of air, and Pit flailed, startled. "Sorry! Going under again." I disappeared under the waves, and paddled quickly in one direction, continuing to push Pit forward. I was trying to go in a circle around Arequa. After all, that would render us less vulnerable than standing, er swimming still, right?
I was running out of oxygen. I popped up one last time, and noticed a bright light flash from where the Pit's bow contacted the goddess. "Obliterated!" Pit cried.
How does he know the meaning of 'obliterated' but not 'confidential'? I remember thinking before I dipped down and the world swam before my eyes...haha, swam. That's a pun.
~Pit~
"Shadmé!" Pit yelled. "Lady Palutena, we have to help her!"
"Sure, Pit, but I think the ocean has plans of its own."
"...What do you mean?"
As if the ocean was angry, a giant tsunami of a wave was heading towards Shadmé, Pit and Arequa. "Whoooooaaaa!"
Pit grabbed onto the female angel, and they were swept by the wave to the shore. They crashed down into the sand, and Pit remained still for a second longer, enjoying the feel of sun on his back, despite all that had just occured. "Pit, you okay?"
"I think so, Lady Palutena. What about Shadmé?"
Not waiting for an answer, Pit rolled over and looked at her. Shadmé's eyes were closed, and her breathing was shallow. "Pit, she's in crisis mode. Will you use a power?"
"Sure! Luckily, I brought health regeneration." He held up the card, which flashed. A chime resounded in his ear, and he sighed, his strength returning. He heard Shadmé breathing more regularly, and she opened an eye. "This feels like déjà vu," she mumbled, a smile creeping over her face. Pit chuckled. "Good times." He gazed across the sand, and noticed Arequa, kneeled over onto the ground. Her golden hair was soaked and scraggly while her dress clung to her sides. The goddess looked much, much younger and worn down than she had at the sand castle. "Poseidon...how could I lose?"
Pit and Shadmé looked at each other. Slowly, he got up and offered his hand to her, but she shook her head. "Poseidon, my father, was captured by the Underworld army. The leader there said that they'd free him if I'd build a base for their troops and destroy anyone who came near. But I've failed."
"How could this happen?" asked Lady Palutena in horror.
"They're growing in numbers, but they want more souls," Arequa explained, looking up. "Destroying Poseidon would provide them with a strong soul to mold into whatever they want. They're also creating troops good in water, so they wore him down and..."
"Guess we have to help you then." Both Pit and Arequa looked at Shadmé, shocked. "You'd do that?" Arequa asked. "Even after just now?" Shadmé dipped her head. "I don't think you're all bad. And it'd be good to have you and Poseidon on our side against the Underworld, if they really are this strong."
Arequa shook her head. "I-I don't know if I can. The second the leader of the Underworld sees this mess, my father..."
Pit's heart clenched in sympathy. They'd have to rescue Poseidon as soon as possible. But where was he kept? Who knew what terrible things they'd find there!
"Hmm," murmured Lady Palutena. "So either way, whether you ally with us or not, Poseidon's in danger."
A flicker of irritation crossed over Arequa's face. "I suppose you're right. But you must rescue my father."
"Deal." Shadmé and the goddess of the sand made eye contact. She smiled again, and turned to Pit. He looked at her, shrugged, and pointed to the pennant, whose emblem was now clear. "Sounds good to me," he said, "but you really have to take down this tacky Underworld logo."
At the temple, Pit was holding the Wire Staff, Shadmé watching with eyes bright. "Hmm, good range..." he said aloud. A Monoeye dummy popped up, and Pit rolled backwards. He held in the trigger on the staff, and small, bright beams shot out from it. He moved around quickly thanks to the movement boost, and the dummy couldn't keep its eye on him. After a little while, the dummy exploded. "So, ah, Pit," Shadmé started, trying to make conversation, "you know as much about me as I do so far. Tell me about you."
"Hmm." Pit stopped as another dummy appeared. "It's a long story. Sure you want to hear all of it?" Without waiting for an answer he continued. "35 years ago, Lady Palutena was captured by Medusa, the Queen of the Underworld. Before that, she had been banished for being cruel to the humans. But then, she had gathered an Underworld army to destroy everything Palutena knew and cared about. She turned all the Centurions to stone, and also managed to entrap me in the Underworld! As a last resort, Palutena sent me a bow so I could escape. I did, and battled through the Underworld, Overworld and Skyworld to save my goddess." Pit destroyed the Monoeye he was battling as he said that. "Along the way, I had to defeat three fortress bosses to obtain the Three Sacred Treasures, which were the only things I could fight Medusa with. I finished Twinbellows, the two-headed fire guard dog, Hewdraw, the sneaky serpent, and Pandora, the ghastly goddess of calamity. Soon, I faced and destroyed Medusa and saved Angel Land!"
Shadmé mumbled something about Pit's ego, but he continued anyway. "A few years later, Lady Palutena had a dream foretelling the arrival of the demon Orocos. I needed to reobtain the Three Sacred Treasures. However, Palutena had assigned fierce guards to protect them, but I kicked their butts! When I got the Three Sacred Treasures, I fought the demon and won." By now Pit was doing more talking than fighting. "Now here's where it gets long. 25 years after my first adventure, Medusa was making a comeback. Lady Palutena prepared me and granted the use of different weapons and powers so I could fight the Underworld army. We fought some of her minions, but we needed to destroy the Mirror of Truth so it could stop replicating monsters. We gained the location, and I rematched Pandora in her Labyrinth of Deceit." Pit took a deep breath. "Pittoo was created from the Mirror, but he wasn't a perfect copy. He refused to serve the Underworld Army. So we fought a boss named Thanatos and gained the key to the Underworld. Once we regained the Three Sacred Treasures from the Space Pirates who'd stolen them, we were ready to fight the final battle. When that was over, it was revealed that Medusa wasn't the final boss. It was...Hades.
"So much happened after that! We met Viridi, goddess of nature, who wanted to wipe out the humans, so we stopped her. Then there were aliens, and I was turned into a ring for three years! In the meantime, Lady Palutena's soul was captured by a beast called the Chaos Kin. If not for my human friend Magnus, things could've ended up bad. I saved Pittoo from the Chaos Kin's last blow, and my wings burned. He took me to the Rewind Spring to help, and when I was better I tried to battle Hades with the Three Sacred Treasures, which didn't go too well. I completed three trials to gain use of a new weapon, the Great Sacred Treasure. The final battle was epic, and though the weapon got destroyed, we banished Hades! But we think the Underworld Army is back, and we'll need all the help we can get. You with me?" He turned to face the other angel, whose forehead was furrowed as she took in all this information. It didn't take her long to reply.
"Totally!" Shadmé nodded her head. "You've certainly had a lot of experience with adventure. I trust you."
"Good." Pit put away the weapon. "So let's see. Our goals are to save Poseidon, find clues about the Underworld army and see if Pittoo will help us fight. Although the sea god needs our help, we might need backup. I say we look for my doppelgänger first. Hopefully Arequa's cool with that."
*chases Arequa around the AN Room* Don't play with my computer!
Arequa: Okay, sheesh! Wasn't beating me in your stupid chapter enough?!
It's not stupid! My readers enjoy it!
Pit: While those two...uh, attempt to kill each other, please review! ...Holy Palutena, is that Shadmé with a Samurai Blade? Oh, Arequa! No Seagons in the AN Room! *sigh* I'll be back...
