"Mngh..." Lucina groaned, her body feeling like a lead weight. Her mind was foggy, and it took several moments for her to recall anything, like something had completely blown away her memory for a time. She felt something cold, metal, nudge the skin of her arm, and she groggily opened her eyes and blinked in the bright light. "What..." She found herself lying on her side, partially curled up, and warm stone was beneath her. She smelled grass and felt a soft breeze tickle her face.
"You finally awake?" a guarded voice inquired, and she looked up to find someone standing over her. He was garbed in a white tunic clasped over his shoulder and black shorts with an undershirt of the same color. He wore brown strapped boots that ended in sandals and had a cuff of armor on each wrist- one a pale gold and the other a warm brown with bright green lines forming a blue diamond on one side.
She didn't reply, but continued blinking until her vision overcame the bright light of the sun and she could finally see his face clearly. And immediately, she knew she had seen that face before. But this one was framed by messy black bangs, the rest of his hair slightly tamed by a golden laurel crown, and he watched her with burning red eyes. The metal object that had nudged her had been the flat side of a blade similar to the bow Pit had wielded in the fight against Grima. This one, however, was red compared to Pit's blue. From his back came full, beautiful white wings that rustled gently in the wind.
"Who are you?" he asked somewhat flatly, distrust evident in his eyes. She sat up and rubbed her head as she continued to watch him. Once the cloud over her memory finally cleared, and smiled as a realization came to her mind.
"You're Kuro, aren't you?" she wondered, and he stared at her as he pulled his bow into a slightly more defensive position. "You're Pit's brother! I can see the resemblance."
"Maybe," he replied, basically confirming her suspicions. "Who wants to know?"
"My name is Lucina," she said as she got to her feet, and she nearly stumbled over as she tried to regain her balance. Kuro's hand shot out to help her before he withdrew it hesitantly.
"Lucina, huh?" he repeated. "What are you doing here? How did you even get here?"
"I'm not entirely sure," she admitted. "All I know is that the Fates or Keepers or whomever they were sent me here."
"The Keepers?" he scoffed, shaking his head slightly and crossing his arms. "Uh huh."
"I'm serious!" she insisted, flinching under his sarcastic stare. "I had said my good-byes to my friends and the Keepers... I'm not entirely sure what they did, but I blacked out and now I'm here. I was told I'm to serve as the guardian of the humans." At that point, she noticed Falchion still sheathed in its scabbard tied to her belt, and she unsheathed it with a gleam of light. Kuro jumped back and readied his bow, setting himself in a defensive position.
"The humans' guardian?" he repeated flatly and sighed. "Okay, you've worn out my patience. Get out of my sight and away from my home!"
"Kuro!" a voice called. "Enough! She's not our enemy!" Lucina turned and looked up just as another person landed on the islet where she stood.
Her heart skipped a beat and fluttered in her chest as she felt her face flush. He was garbed in two white robes, one over the other, and wore a dark navy undershirt and shorts underneath. He had off-golden shoulder guards and armor over his forearms, and heavily strapped sandals with a white cloth over his right leg. Nestled in his warm brown hair was a laurel crown with a slight curl on the ends and chains of longer leaves hanging from it on either side. His blue eyes watched her in disbelief as he held a staff she had seen only one other time two years previous. His sparkling, full white wings rustled and twitched as they came to rest on his back.
Needless to say, he looked more radiant than she could ever have imagined. And yet, she could easily recognize the face that had been with her since she came back from the future.
"Pit..." she breathed, a smile growing on her face. And before she could think about it, she jumped forward and threw her arms around him, her face nestled in his shoulder as she could barely believe it was him.
"Uh..." he grunted, and her eyes flew open as she stepped back sheepishly.
"Right... I'm sorry. I forgot..." He watched her with a wide gaze, and several times he opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but closed it a moment later.
"Good gravy," he finally breathed. "You... You're real. All of that was real. I really did come back from the future with you and... all that stuff with Grima and Rufure and Nemo..." His gaze lost focus, like he was staring at whatever it was going through his head.
"Wait, what? What do you mean you came back from the future?!" Kuro demanded. "And you know this girl?"
"Sort of," Pit replied as he turned to his twin, and Lucina shifted her weight from one foot to the other awkwardly. "Um... You know that day you came to me and asked me why I had been bothering you the night before, and I said I had no idea what you were talking about?" Kuro nodded. "Turns out you weren't dreaming. That was my future self, I think. Apparently he- I- whatever- had something of a nightmare where a giant evil dragon invaded Skyworld and..." he swallowed. "Killed you. Bad. There wasn't even a snowball's chance on Phoenix Mountain that I could have saved you." Kuro's expression turned a shade pale for a moment.
"...Oh."
"Anyway, yeah. Kuro, from what I understand, this is Lucina," he gestured to her, and she nodded. "Comes from the future about seventeen years from now and she's the daughter of the prince of Ylisse. That blade she has is the same one Marth used way back when."
"Ah," Kuro nodded. "That was an interesting fight to watch. How many dragons did he kill?"
"A lot, and even more under his command," Pit replied. "Viridi wasn't happy with him."
"Wait, wait, wait," Lucina interrupted. "You knew the Hero-King?"
"We knew of him," Pit explained. "I never met him personally, but I kept an eye on his journey to make sure he was going in the right direction."
"I see, I think," she mumbled. "To think you've been around that long..."
"Even longer," Pit laughed. "But I'll tell you more about it later."
"Yeah," Kuro sighed. "So what exactly is she doing here? She said the Keepers sent her and that she was gonna be the humans' guardian or something."
"She is," Pit dipped his head, and Kuro stared at him. "Look, Kuro... I'll explain everything as best I can later. But right now, I'd like to talk with Lucina and show her around her new home. She's going to be here a while." Kuro watched him a moment longer before he finally shrugged.
"Fine. If you say so. But you'd better fill me in later!"
"I will," Pit laughed. "But first, I have to make sure I'm filled in too." He turned to Lucina and smiled sheepishly. "Well, much as this is probably silly to you, I feel like I should formally introduce myself. I am Pit, the god of Light and ruler of Skyworld." She smiled as he took her hand in his and kissed it briefly. "And if my memory is right, you're Princess Lucina of Ylisse, daughter of the Exalted prince Chrom and his wife Rufure, and you have a brother by the name of Morgan, right?" She nodded. "I..." He turned around, and Kuro sighed heavily before flying off without a word. Lucina watched him go with awe on her face.
"He really can fly..." she turned to him, her eyes shimmering. "Please, tell me. What's it like?"
"Well," he chuckled. "I can tell you, or I can show you." He grinned and rested one hand on his hip, the other wrapped loosely around his staff. "Tell me, Lucina, have you actually taken a look at yourself since you got here?"
"No..." she admitted without really thinking about it, and his smile grew.
"Then maybe you should." And so, she did, and was nearly shocked by what she found. She now wore a sleeveless white tunic with a brown, gold-trimmed belt wrapped twice around her waist that her scabbard hung from. She wore black leggings that came to her ankles and dark brown sandals strapped around her ankles, and on each wrist she had a fingerless, pale blue glove.
"My point is this," he smiled as he walked behind her, and she nearly jumped at his touch. But it confused her- what exactly had his fingers brushed against? She turned her neck and looked over shoulder, and let out an exasperated breath at the sight of the wings on her back, their white feathers sparkling in the sunlight.
"I... I have wings!" she stammered before she could think about it.
"You do," he agreed humorously. "You'll have to wait for them to grow and mature a bit before you can fly on your own." He snorted a bit and shook his head, though his grin remained. "We've all got to pay our dues before we can fly."
"What do you mean?" she wondered, turning to face him.
"It took me about thirty years of growth before I could finally fly on my own," he explained. "And that's after I came to Skyworld. So I guess it was thirty-five, counting the time I was human." His smile faded for a moment before he shook his head lightly and it returned. "Anyway, I think the best way for you to see Skyworld is from the air."
"But you just said I can't fly," she pointed out, and he replied by pointing his staff at her. A bright, sparkling blue-white light emitted from her wings and he lept into the air, spreading his own as she rose as well with shock on her face.
"P-Pit!" she gasped as she gained a bit of altitude and leveled out. "I... I'm flying! I can't believe I'm actually flying!" Her smile was bright as the wind whipped her blue hair out behind her, and he directed her flight path as he led the way toward the Skyworld Temple.
"That would be my doing," he replied. "The Power of Flight. You can only use it for five minutes at a time. After that..."
"Your wings burn," she finished quietly, and he turned his head to glance at her.
"I guess I told you about that," he said, and she nodded. "And you saw the scars on my back." Again, she nodded. "But don't worry, Lucina. I won't let that happen to you."
"Thank you, Pit," she smiled, and he returned it before looking forward again. She glanced around the islets below, her eyes wide with wonder. "I can barely believe this is all real," she admitted. "I mean... I know you said it was beautiful, but this is... this is breathtaking!" He grinned, glancing over the green grasses below, the streams and springs of clear water, the small shrines and shelters scattered amongst the islets. "You didn't do this land justice when you told me about it."
"Some things just can't be explained," he replied. "Anyway, if you'll kindly direct your attention ahead, that's the Skyworld Temple. I live there." Her eyes trained forward to the temple, and she smiled a bit as her gaze fell on the statue standing tall and proud above it, staff gripped, bow held high, wings spread why, and eyes trained for the skies overhead.
"What a magnificent statue," she remarked, and he felt his face flush as the wind brushed against it.
"The Centurions built it while I was unconscious for several weeks," he said. "I had just defeated the god of Space in battle and almost lost my life in the process. And I probably would have if Kuro and Viridi had gotten to me even a moment later."
"Who is Viridi?" Lucina wondered, and he turned his head again to face her.
"She's the very temperamental goddess of Nature that may or may not despise humanity," he replied with a smirk on his face. "The Taguel and the Manaketes you- we- fought with? She created them in an effort to bring human-like races closer to the earth. But..." his smile faded. "I guess some of them backfired. Especially the dragons."
"I see," Lucina mumbled. "I would like to meet her someday."
"I'm sure you will, when she barges into my temple demanding to know why you're here." He meant it as a joke, but it seemed she didn't take it as such. "Uh, anyway." His eyes looked back to the statue for a moment, and he sighed. "'With bow in hand, he casts back shadow. With staff held high, he brings the land Light.' That's what the Centurions and several others have taken to saying about me. But..." He shook his head. "I'm not all-powerful, Lucina. I have my own faults and weaknesses. I would probably have died several times over without people to support me, like Kuro. And..." Again, he turned to her. "I hope I can come to rely on you in the same way." She smiled and her face flushed as she nodded.
They turned and headed across the mainland of Skyworld, and he pointed out any locations of key interest- Kuro's home, the training arena, the Hot Springs, and the central plaza where they held meetings as necessary. It had been a lot for her to take in, but she listened to everything he had to say with great interest and observed it all with an excited gaze. As they approached the limit of the Power of Flight, he sighed.
"There's someone I want you to meet," he said rather glumly, and she watched him curiously as he led her to the gardens some distance away from the temple.
"Who is that?" she wondered as the statue placed there came into clear view. He said nothing until they had landed and the light around her wings faded.
"This is Lady Palutena," he finally replied. "The goddess of Light before me. She was my master and predecessor." He fell silent for a moment. "She passed during a conflict for the world over a millennium ago- the same one that led me to make my bargain with Nemo." He looked up to the face of the departed goddess, the faint and familiar pang of grief making itself known in his heart. "And that's why you're here, isn't it? If you can't bring the humans to peace, then I've failed to teach them and they'll be wiped out. Nemo will start again, and I won't be able to stop him." She nodded slowly, but remained silent. "Look, Lucina, this is something you should learn now before something bad happens..." his throat tightened. "If I understand these memories as well as I think I do, then I'd be crushed if something happened to you. I... I don't want to lose you too."
"Pit..." She stepped closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"In our world, I don't think a being exists that can't die," he began. "Being immortal basically means that you won't die by natural causes and you really won't age past a certain point unless you really want to for whatever reason. But we can still be killed." He paused. "And there are two ways I can think of that it can happen. The first way is, to me, the scariest. If something steals your soul and destroys it, then there'll be nothing left of you to survive. I... I've lost my soul several times, but Kuro has always protected it somehow. I'd be long gone if it wasn't for him." He tore his gaze from the statue and returned it to Lucina. "The second way is basically that enough damage is done to your body and it can't be repaired. That's the thing, Lucina. I'm the god of Light and ruler of Skyworld, so it's my duty to protect my angels and the Centurions. Even if something would possibly be enough to kill you, I have the ability to pull you back and fix you up." He looked down and sighed. "The only problem is that the world has gotten more dangerous. It's getting harder to not pass that threshold of what's too much for me to repair."
"I understand," she said softly. "I'll be careful, Pit. I swear it." He looked to her again and smiled a bit.
"And I'll do what I can to protect you," he replied. "Look... Lucina, you probably don't want to hear this, but I don't feel the same way my future self did- does- will, whatever. But I do know that he promised you that I could fall for you all over again." She smiled and gently touched his cheek. He had to admit, something about it brought him a sense of comfort. "I can't promise anything, but I will do my best, okay?"
"Very well," she nodded. "I'll try not to push you. And in the meantime, I'll have to get used to living up here, won't I?" He smiled. "And I hope you'll allow me to join your army in training."
"You're already better than most of the army," he laughed. "Though Ephraim may be able to give you a run for your money. And you may want to practice with a weapon that can attack from a range. I know Falchion there is a strong blade, but it just won't be enough compared to some of the stuff you may find yourself up against."
"I'm sure I'll learn," she agreed. "Though I hope you'll be there to help me along."
"Of course," he nodded. "I want to get to know you better anyway. And..." he sighed softly. "Eternity is a long time to be tied to conflict, Lucina. I want to make the time away from the fighting the best it can be for you."
"Thank you, Pit," she took her hand in both of his. "I have faith that you will. Though..." she paused, hesitating. "There is one more thing I would request of you."
"Anything," he replied with a smile. "I'll do the best I can." Her face flushed, to his confusion, but she said nothing else.
Instead, she took a step closer to him and softly touched her lips to his. His face blushed as well as he blinked, completely clueless of what to do or how to respond. She pulled back after a moment and looked into his eyes.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I just... couldn't wait any longer."
"Lucina..." Without really thinking about it, he pulled her closer again, his hands placed gently on her arms, and kissed her himself. Her arms came to rest over his shoulders and he shut his eyes as he broke it and held her softly against him in a warm embrace. It was a strange feeling to him, but it seemed to make her happy. He wanted her to be happy. And with that came a warmth in his heart he could find no explanation for.