Chapter Ten
Narcissa woke up to a cheery, sunny day. The fire had already been put out, meaning that someone had got up before her. The only remnants of it were the smoldering ashes. She stood up and stretched her limbs and looked around at the cave. Most of the others were still sleeping. The sunlight, warm and welcoming, made a small patch of light on the cave floor. She walked out into the brightness, shielding her eyes until they adjusted.
Alvin, Marth, and Devoc were sitting by the lake, chatting quietly. Alvin seemed to sense Narcissa's presence and turned. The sun turned his hair a lovely spring green color, and his eyes seemed even more radiant in the morning light. A brief smile flashed across his face, then disappeared. Marth waved Narcissa over. She slumped down on the grass with them, sighing.
"Morning," she said tiredly, rubbing her eyes. She took a small pebble in her hand and skipped it across the lake. There was a small splash as it made its last jump and sunk under the water. Gentle ripples moved out in a ring on the lake's surface. "You know…I had a thought last night…"
"What is it?" Alvin prompted.
"I…don't think this search has been going in the right direction. We have been looking for people who know about the Subspace Incident, like Marth…" She gestured towards the blue haired prince. "But…what if it's not related to Subspace at all?" Devoc had a questioning expression on his face.
"Subspace…?" he asked. "While traveling around this world, I've heard bits about it, but never a whole story…" He directed his question to Marth.
"A few years ago," Marth explained," there was this evil being called Tabuu who attacked with the Subspace army. Subspace is an alternate universe, I suppose. He would have various ROB soldiers detonate these bombs called Subspace bombs, which would suck whatever was in its range into Subspace. Ike and I were part of a large group that ventured into the heart of Subspace and defeated Tabuu. After that, all the parts of the world returned to normal, except for The Isle of the Ancients…"
"Isle of the Ancients?" Narcissa asked. "I don't believe I've heard of that one before."
"The leader of the ROBs, also known as the Ancient Minister, had been forced by Tabuu to detonate the Subspace bombs. They lived on a floating island called the Isle of the Ancients. I've been told that before we all met up and invaded Subspace, a large amount of Subspace bombs in on room exploded and sucked up the whole isle. When we finally got back, that island did not return. There was just a bright X in the sky where it once was." He looked up into the sky as if expecting an X to be there.
"That would be a rather strange sight," Alvin murmured. He was quiet for a few seconds, then looked back at Narcissa. "Would you suggest we take a different course?"
"Maybe," she responded. "We should probably look for other possibilities while we search around." She blinked at Marth. "Do you know anyone else who could be of help?" Marth thought for a while, and then his blue eyes lit up.
"There's Pit," he answered. "I believe Pit was one of the first to witness the events of Subspace, and he is a good fighter. Yes…we should try to find him." Narcissa nodded.
"It's a plan, then. We'll try to find Pit."
Narcissa heard some rustling behind her. She whipped around to find that the others had awakened. She motioned them over and told them about her new plan.
"So you think we've been searching for the wrong thing…" Reno said slowly. "Well, I suppose we can be flexible. Maybe we should also be thinking about how we can stop everything from falling out of the sky."
"True…" Seth added in. "Anyone have any ideas?" The group was silent. Suddenly they heard the sound of hooves against the ground approaching. Seth's hand moved towards Thorn's handle, ready to attack in case it was something dangerous. A black colored head appeared within the trees. It was a horse, and on its back was a girl with long brown hair. The girl dismounted her horse upon seeing the others and led the horse to the water. While the horse bent down to drink, the girl walked over to Narcissa.
"Am I intruding on something?" she asked. "I'm sorry if I am. I had to let my horse get a drink."
"Oh no, everything's fine," Narcissa answered. "Say…have you seen objects suddenly fall out of the sky? The newcomer seemed confused.
"No…though I did hear some rumors."
"We're all trying to find out what's going on," Pop said. "I actually was dropped in the middle of a field myself, and I think Narcissa said she was almost crushed by a rock." The girl's eyes widened.
"Goodness! That sounds serious." Her eyes landed on the amount of bags full of provisions and necessities that the party was carrying around. "Hm…I guess I could join you. It looks like you have a lot of luggage, and my horse could help carry all that. My name is Ashleigh. I've been traveling around with an elf named Thunder…hey, where is he?" She turned around, and everyone else gazed in the direction she was looking at. A yellow haired boy with black and white robes and a sword emerged from the trees. Thunder stared at the group for a bit before heading over.
"So will you join us?" Reno asked. Ashleigh nodded.
"Join them?" Thunder asked in an un-amused tone. "I've missed something, haven't I…?"
The angel was leaning against a tall, marble column, enjoying the breeze and watching the clouds drift by. Pit wondered how his companions were doing. It had been a while since they invaded Subspace, and he had not seen them since. He had been busy guarding Skyworld and had no time to go down to the ground. Right now, Pit was taking a break from his captaining duties.
He noticed a faint light from the corner of his eye. The angel looked over his shoulder and saw his goddess, Palutena. Immediately, Pit backed away from the column and bowed to her.
"My Goddess," he said, "what brings you here?" Palutena gazed over the horizon.
"I can sense a disturbance in the world," she replied. "It feels…almost unnatural, as if something broke the fabric of the universe." The deity commanded Pit to rise. "Pit, go down to the earth and find the ones who are traveling to find a solution to this problem. I believe you will find a few of your old friends too." Pit's eyes brightened at the thought of being able to see his acquaintances.
"I will, my Goddess," Pit said, bowing again before leaving. He ran across the elaborate tiles in front of the temple towards a smaller building in the distance. Palutena watched him go, then turned and prayed that her captain would be safe.
Pit pushed open the door. A small shaft of light shined on an elaborate gold and bronze box, the only thing to be found in the room. The angel smiled, and from underneath his robes he took a small key. He turned the key in the lock once, twice, and the box popped open. Pit lifted the lid to reveal the Bow of Palutena. He smiled. It had been a while since he had to fight, and he could already feel the adrenaline pumping through him. Yes, he preferred peace…but there was just something about battle that he enjoyed.
He grabbed his weapon and set out to find a good take-off point. It was a pity that he could not actually fly- otherwise he could lift off from anywhere. Pit found a place where the wind was blowing in a direction in which he would not need to use too much energy. Holding his swords firmly in his hands, he turned around and opened his snowy white wings. The captain let himself slowly fall backwards. He hung there, suspended like a drop of water about to fall from a leaf, and then he fell. His wings caught the wind and pushed him towards his destination.
Even if he couldn't fly, this was enjoyable enough.
"Is he always like that?" a frustrated Geysette asked Ashleigh. The wolf had been trying to get Thunder to open up, but the elf seemed to like to stay alone. Sure, she was glad that there was finally another girl in the group, but this guy really made her angry.
"I guess," Ashleigh responded. "He was like that when I met him. I think something bad happened to him in the past, and he never talks about it." The party, now joined by Thunder and Ashleigh, had already gone quite a few miles away from the lake. They were back in that desolate field, which Narcissa was getting rather tired of seeing, but they were traveling in a different direction.
Then, Chuan bounded forward and pointed at the horizon. "Look! Look!" he said excitedly, waving around his arms and bouncing up and down. Reno stepped forward and shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand, gazing where the little boy was pointing.
"Hey…there's something out there," he announced. "They look like stone pillars of some sort."
"There are some ruins around here," Ike said, stepping up next to Reno.
"Maybe we ought to take a look around there," Seth suggested.
"Alright," Narcissa decided. "Then I guess we're off to the ruins."