As always, Palutena woke with the rising sun, stirred to activity with the coming of the light. She left her chambers freshly washed and clothed, already making a mental list of what she should do that day. There were patrols to set, games to organize, meetings to arrange...
She had barely crossed the main temple grounds before she realized a faint change in the surroundings. The air was sweeter, barely thicker. She had a very particular visitor, today.
Aphrodite was seated in midair, her back to the goddess of wisdom, tapping at the side of her cheek as if waiting. No one was attending to her, likely because she hadn't yet announced her presence...which she would not do unless she had more to gain by not announcing it.
Palutena forced herself not to grumble or sigh and pondered her next course of action.
Aphrodite hummed to herself and put her hands behind her head, reclining languidly. She spun in the air with a little motion of her foot, as if she was on a chair. After a moment, she stopped abruptly, her gaze locking with Palutena's.
Palutena's grip on her staff tightened. Aphrodite grinned and opened her mouth to speak, but Palutena was already fleeing the opposite way before she could say a word.
"Palutena dearest! Oh, we must talk!" Aphrodite whooped, giving chase. Palutena didn't answer, but teleported away to the garden instead. It was not an escape, she knew - the goddess of love was too persistent for that - but at least it would bring her away from any important buildings.
She took a few deep breaths, not because she was winded, but rather to steel herself.
A great beam of pink light burst from the temple, and a shower of hearts erupted from it soon afterward, propelling the Aphrodite to the skies. "Oh, Petulant Palutena! What's the matter? If I didn't know better, I would think you are trying to avoid me!" she boomed, and she streaked towards the gardens fist-first, grinning maniacally.
"You're up to no good, if you're trying to sneak into my realm!" Palutena shouted, casting a quick Lightweight on her feet to gain some more distance. Aphrodite was quickly gaining, so Palutena kicked herself into the air with a well-placed Rocket Jump.
"Don't be so hasty," a voice purred right by her ear. Palutena could see a pink ribbon floating in her peripheral vision.
Is she...how did she get there so fast?
"Sit down!" Aphrodite laughed, papping Palutena on the head with her ribbons. Despite the gentleness of the impact, Palutena plummeted, streaking back down to the ground. Mind racing, she tried to regain control - disabling Powers, trying to pull out new ones, even her wings - but she landed safely in a little cloud too pink to be one of her own. Aphrodite was reclining in the air, hands behind her head.
"...How did you do that?" was all Palutena could manage.
"Tricks," Aphrodite said, and her voice echoed in a curious way. "The same tricks that allow me to be a great ventriloquist, by the way."
Palutena pulled herself to an upright seated position, sighing. "Now, what does the goddess of love absolutely must speak to me about to give me the fright of my life?"
"Why, about our favorite black seagull! Tell me, how have things gone with Dark Pit?"
This surprised Palutena - it didn't seem like Aphrodite was pushing some kind of silly love scheme, at least not at the moment. "We've reached an understanding, one he seems to like, even. He actually seeks our company sometimes."
Aphrodite beamed, ribbons fluttering. "That's wonderful! You've done well."
"Though, sometimes I wonder if he comes out of his shell because you're nagging him," Palutena smiled back cautiously.
"Nag...? I haven't even had a decent conversation with him in ages! There's just so much going on," Aphrodite flopped dramatically against the air, covering her face with the back of her hand.
Palutena resisted the urge to sigh and used the pause in the conversation to stir up a tea service.
"Tell me some more good news, Bright-Eyed One."
"Pit and Dark Pit are getting along very well nowadays."
Aphrodite rolled onto her belly, putting her chin on her hands. "Hmmm...? As well as you get along with Pit?"
...Hm. Palutena wasn't sure how much the other goddess knew regarding her private affairs. Although Aphrodite seemed to know about all the intimate goings-on of the rest of the pantheon, the fact she hadn't brought it up yet seemed a bit curious...it seemed safe to assume she didn't know yet. She was always fishing for information, after all.
"Pit loves him, and the feeling's mutual. Dark Pit is almost defensive about it, even - he gets a little prickly when I ask about it!"
"Well, our seabird is full of spines," Aphrodite smiled. "...So, what do you think about them?"
"I don't mind them being together. I have no appetite for drama," Palutena said. Aphrodite nodded.
Despite the goddess of love making such an abrupt entrance...Palutena admitted that she appreciated having someone to have a conversation about such things, because she did realize she had some questions and hesitations about them. She was meant to be a goddess of wisdom, and had to be the more mature person in her relationship...but she hardly had any practical experience, just a strong sense of what ought to be right.
"I wonder if I should be more vigilant," she said, watching the steam over her cup.
"You believe they might hurt each other?"
"Not on purpose, I think...but it's very possible, knowing them. They're not at all used to intimacy, especially with each other. I think it's easy for Pit to be gentle with me, because I'm his goddess, but they are so fragile..."
"They are warriors, even if there isn't a war going on. Delicate things do not come easily to them," Aphrodite offered.
Palutena had a sip of her tea. "I hope it works out, for their sakes."
"You are in a position to teach them the intimate arts," Aphrodite played with a cup of her own, stacking sugar cubes into a pyramid nearby.
Palutena was careful not to read into that statement until she was sure what the other goddess meant. "One angel, yes."
"Oh? Just one?"
Oh.
"You don't consider Dark Pit to be a potential playmate?" Aphrodite maked a circular motion with her finger that probably was meant to be some kind of lewd innuendo. "I believe you even said once that it would be much more pleasant to have two angels instead of one!"
"Those weren't my exact words," Palutena said, firming her hold on her teacup.
"Don't tell me you're so dull as to never have considered the possibilities!" Aphrodite laughed, rolling in the air. "Why simply have company when you can have so much more fun in a crowd?"
"This isn't something we can just do impulsively -"
"Where is your sense of fun, dearest! You need not tire of being with only one to start playing with two!"
"Aphrodite, please. I don't want to talk about this," Palutena said, with less volume than she would have liked.
"Is this some more hogwash about you being noble and not taking advantage of others despite it being your divine right? You've already found that renouncing your identity as parthenos has done little to your prestige and power. Fooling around with -"
"Would you stop jumping to conclusions?" Palutena said, putting her teacup back on her saucer. This time, she had enough presence in her voice to keep the other goddess still.
Aphrodite regarded her with a look of tired boredom, resting her chin on a hand. Then, she took a deep breath and let it out between pursed lips, blowing a low-pitched raspberry.
Palutena was a bit surprised at this reaction, but tempered her answer to a sigh. "Despite being one of the eldest amongst the pantheon, you really are quite childish sometimes!"
Aphrodite heaved her breath even more, making her raspberry louder and faster.
"I don't know what I'm going to do about Dark Pit yet," Palutena said. "I'm aware he's interested in me, but I can't act on that knowledge without considering what it would mean."
Aphrodite respected her enough to keep quiet as she spoke, and for a while afterward. Finally, she said, "What do you want, then?"
"I want Dark Pit to be happy," Palutena said with little hesitation.
Aphrodite looked at her, then looked up to the sky, holding her palms up in exasperation.
"And I think it is best for him to explore his relationship with Pit before potentially involving him in something more complex."
Aphrodite considered this a while, then cast a sideways glance towards the other goddess. "That is a very wise thing you propose."
"I would hope so."
"But I can't help but notice you are not refusing the possibility of the three of you -"
"I will stop you right there," Palutena said, putting her teacup and saucer down on the table. "And if you continue to discuss such improper topics, I will have no qualms being improper myself and sending you out."
Aphrodite's hair swirled above her head, which could have either been a sign of fear or of dismissal. "No need for such impassioned declarations, dearest. I only wanted to give you some food for thought. Where is Pit, if I may ask?"
"Practicing his reading in the library. He has plenty to work on, so you needn't give him any 'supplementary material', or whatever naughtiness you're cooking up."
"You will appreciate my antics one day, Bright-Eyed One," Aphrodite smiled, twirling her hand in the air. "To allay your suspicions, may I interest you in a personal tea blend as a gift? Strawberry, rose, and red peppercorn. It is so lovely, and such a shame to indulge in it alone!"
Palutena understood this as the goddess of love halting her nonsense for the day, so she held out the teapot for it. "I'll learn to appreciate your silliness when you learn not to fiddle overmuch."
"A tall order! But I can manage."
Dark Pit was glad he didn't have any empathic connection with Viridi, because it was clear that she was fuming - so much so that he had to think to keep his flight straight.
"When will humans learn not to mess with things that aren't their business?"
"They'll always mess with something. They just can't sit still."
"But why do they choose to mess with landscapes that are doing perfectly well without them? They even harm even themselves in the process! You would think they'd learn!"
"Hey," Dark Pit said, gliding closer to the ground so he could scan the area she'd sent him to scout. "Can we agree that humans are stupid and leave it at that? I don't care enough about them to hear you complain about them."
"Alright," Viridi sighed. "Careful, there was Underworld activity here recently."
He drew his weapon, glancing around, but the landscape was fairly quiet. There were signs of disturbance: fallen trees, both from man-made tools and otherworldly blasts, scuffed soil, and scattered furrows. He saw no animals, but he could hear birds singing.
That means there's at least something here, and those somethings feel safe enough to announce they're around. Good chance there aren't monsters in the area.
A little white heap lay ahead. It was hardly bigger than a lamb, with horns like budding branches. Its side was gashed open, showing ribs and some entrails. Dark Pit dropped into a combat stance, approaching it slowly.
"Don't be afraid. It's dead," Viridi's tone was even.
"But what killed it?" he rumbled. He didn't know what to make of her calm.
"Doesn't matter. If the bicorn is dead, it would have eliminated all traces of Underworld creatures around it. They're most powerful - and destructive - when they die."
"Can't seem to make something that doesn't blow things up, huh," he muttered under his breath, but even he wasn't paying much attention to his joke. He knelt beside the bicorn's back, so he didn't have to stare at its open stomach.
He wondered if he would have been vaporized if he had been nearby when it perished - he was made in the Underworld, after all. The thought made him want to shudder, but he contained it to a little ruffling of his feathers.
"Why are you sitting around staring at it? Get digging."
He stared into the open air a moment before his confusion made him speak up. "What for?"
"You have to bury it, dummy! It can keep protecting an area if it goes back in the soil. Give it some respect and give it an opportunity to keep doing its work!"
Dark Pit was about to tell her to send some of her goons to do it, but a quiet part of him wanted to give the fallen creature this last comfort. He felt too proud of his staff to use it as a shovel, so he tore at the soil with his hands.
"I guess you're used to this, huh?" he said, lifting the corpse into the hole he'd dug. It felt light, like a dried plant. "Dead stuff."
"All gods are aware that they outlive practically everything," Viridi said. "Whether or not they care is a different question. Having things die is part of my domain."
He hesitated to cover the body. She seemed to sense her answer did not satisfy him, so she continued. "It doesn't make dying any less sad or unfortunate, especially for something that would have had a full life ahead of them. But even animals know when they're prey. They learn how to live and to let their kind live, even if an individual perishes. Bicorns, for example, quickly became targets of the Underworld because of their warding capabilities...but when those creeps pop one, they wipe the darkness away. If they're buried, they can keep warding as a sapling until another fawn takes its place."
"And does the dead bicorn ever get to rest?"
"Yes, when the new fawn eats the sapling."
Dark Pit didn't know what to think about that. His head rattled with odd, morbid ideas.
"So...when there were angels around, did you ever have them as agents?" he decided to ask.
"Not so much agents as much as worshippers. I think angelkind loved humanity too much to join up my ranks as anything more than that - if they ever had to fight a human, they would've probably have a stroke, those poor softhearted things."
He briefly wondered if his mirror-born nature meant that he should hate humans, but all he could feel towards them was a decided ambivalence.
"What else is there to do for this one?" he asked after he covered the bicorn's body.
"A little water wouldn't hurt. But it should do fine on its own."
"Good, 'cause I'd like to do something else now."
"Funerary rites aren't the most fun, I know," Viridi said. "I'll warp you to another place for you to check out."
Dark Pit cast one last glance at the little mound he'd made, then sighed with relief when a whirl of leaves came to take him away.