Artemis and Dark Pit woke up that morning. Pit seemed paralysed in a nightmare. Both shrugged, and Artemis left without a word. Dark Pit watched her go, wondering what had made her so grouchy after the Aurum invasion. He failed to link the absence of her happy-go-lucky attitude to his unintentional slur on the Aurum home world. He followed behind, careful to give her space.
"Good morning, Artemis. Good morning, Dark Pit," Palutena called. Her cheery greeting did not match her feelings, or those of the angels. "Um… where's Pit?" she decided to ask. "Trapped in a nightmare," Artemis snarked. Palutena noticed the bad mood. "You can feel it?" she asked. Artemis, who had no idea what was going on, said, "Yes…" Dark Pit didn't know what was going on either, so she knew Palutena would explain it to him, at least.
Her prediction turned out to be correct. "OK, there has been a slight anomaly in recent events. Lady Viridi has been acting very strangely as of the time you left our world. I think you should go and see what's wrong," Palutena claimed. Dark Pit gasped. "The Chaos Kin!" he exclaimed. Artemis turned to him, forgetting to be annoyed with him. "The Chaos… wait, did you say 'Kin'?" Artemis asked. "Why does Artemis know all of Pit's jokes, but nothing about the important stuff?" Dark Pit asked nobody in particular. Seeing as Palutena was the only option, and she opted to say nothing, he got no answer. Dark Pit continued, "The Chaos Kin has only one goal: to spread chaos as far as possible. Last time, he possessed Palutena, but it must have known there were three angels here. He has taken residence in Viridi's soul. If we don't hurry, Viridi's life… no, her soul, will be taken by the Chaos Kin." They had no choice. They moved out.
"So, Dark Pit… how do you know so much about the Chaos Kin?" Artemis asked. Dark Pit responded with, "That's what I was researching while you were fighting obese and dumb Thanatos. He was in the Reaper's Fortress. I was stupid. I didn't make sure to kill him. But I guess there's no use crying over molten feathers." Artemis couldn't help but soften up a little. But only for a moment.
They made it to the Forces of Nature's stronghold. "Hello, Dark Pit. How lovely to see you. And of course, you too, Artemis. I should be thankful for all that you have done. But it will be infinitely more fun to kill you. Megonta! Clobbler! Have these fools sent to Hades!" Viridi taunted. Artemis jittered. "Megonta and Clobbler! Perhaps the two most threatening grunts of the Forces of Nature!" she cursed. The Megonta rolled around, and the Clobbler burrowed out from the ground. "Megonta I understand. But why does this thing rank as more threatening than Nutski?" Dark Pit asked. Artemis was affronted. She was second-in-command of the Forces of Nature, and the idea of insulting them was as anathema to her as it was to Viridi… but then she remembered being second-in-command to the Forces of Nature wasn't something to boast about when you're about to confront the leader. She used her claws to beat down Clobbler, and it mutated into its deadly form. "Gotcha," Dark Pit said.
Artemis took down the Megonta. Using the closer range weapon, she could get to the squishy underside easier, and the decent range offered by the claws allowed access to its belly when in its weakened state. Dark Pit handled the Clobbler easily. "Argh! Curses! Those grunts were weak. But you'll see. Before you get up to me, you'll beg for it to be this simple again!" Viridi called. Artemis and Dark Pit both caught on to the biggest red flag- Viridi considered the Forces of Nature her children. No matter how many dropped to Pit's feet, she would never call them 'weak'. Or 'grunts'. They both nodded- this confirmed that the Chaos Kin was in fact hosting Viridi.
Before they made it to Viridi, they encountered Phosphora. Neither had used their Drink of the Gods, saving that for the encounter with Viridi. Neither could use it now, as Palutena held onto them. "Well, well. I think, now that Viridi's thoughts are in the open about Pit, that I show you just how powerful the lightning flash truly is!" Phosphora boasted. Dark Pit looked at her uncertainly. There may or may not be any Chaos Kin spirit within her, but it was highly doubtful they'd get the chance to ascertain it.
Phosphora soon showed Artemis and Dark Pit, neither of whom had seen Phosphora in battle personally, why they called her the 'Lightning Flash'. Each of her lightning attacks was delivered at high speeds. Artemis, luckily, had brought claws to this match, and was thus able to dodge her attacks, along with providing some swift and powerful attacks in the meantime. Dark Pit, who was 'encumbered' by the Silver Bow, fared worse off than Artemis. He couldn't fire many shots, and had to resort to just dodging to survive the onslaught. Artemis could 'beat' Phosphora, but not before she did one final act. She shocked Dark Pit. "Dark Pit!" Artemis exclaimed, reverted to worrying about him at long last. "Art… emis… please… defeat… Viridi… I… can't… go on… I'm… fin… ish… ed…" Dark Pit groaned, before being blipped out of existence. "NO! I am so sorry, Artemis!" Phosphora moaned, having returned to her normal state. Artemis wiped her tears on the back of her arm, staring at Dark Pit's last resting place. "Artemis, come on!" Phosphora moaned, this time in a sense of urgency. Faintly, the memory of Viridi is captured by the Chaos Kin, destroying mankind swam to the forefront of her mind, and she re-entered the action.
Viridi stood before them, calm and collected. "So, you're here to fight me, Artemis?" she challenged. "No…" Artemis began. "NO! I'm here to save you!" she finished, and she and Viridi engaged. Phosphora sat this one out because her attacks were ill suited to fight her. Viridi attacked by sending vines in sweeping motions with that scythe of hers. "Aim for the Chaos Kin," Palutena warned, but Artemis never needed that warning less. She couldn't bring harm to Viridi. She took aim at the Chaos Kin within her, occasionally taking down the occasional Nutski, Urgle or Flage that showed themselves. She eventually beat the Chaos Kin, and Viridi returned to normal. The Chaos Kin turned to Viridi, attempting to withdraw her soul, but Viridi gave one sweep of her scythe. "We're saving the next chapter for something else, Chaos Kin!" she roared.
Unintentional double update! But this chapter does have an important detail... Dark Pit's death. Saving this chapter for tomorrow, which is about 18 hours away, would be a horrible part of my conscience.
Aside from Dark Pit, Pit is trapped in a nightmare (he had a link to Viridi), and I have no intention of having him rejoin the plot, so... note he did actually wake up when the Chaos Kin died. Phosphora has likely undergone some slight shock from that event, so she won't help out much in the final chapters. Palutena, and technically Viridi, will be Artemis' only help in the final stretch of the race... or so one might expect.
Even though the offering of clues will provide a spoiler, I will state this: Note how I followed the 'Never Say Die' pathway.
I am phineas81707, servant of the goddess of dawn!
