Chapter 37

My heart pounded in my chest. "What do you mean?"

Lady Viridi shook her head. "You did enough for today. We'll discuss it in the morning. We're going to have a small party to celebrate your return."

I poked at my noodles with my fork at dinner. Cragalanche sat next to me, boring through my soul with his eyes. I explained, "I'm not in the mood to eat."

Blade commented, "That's a first. Look, I know you're upset that Phosphora is really hurt, but I have a feeling you're going to have need all the strength you can get. If you can't eat for yourself, eat for her."

Lady Palutena nodded. "He's right, Pit. Please, eat some more. You're going to need all the energy you can for tomorrow's mission."

After a silent meal, we played Idol Toss until it was time for bed. I collapsed onto my pillow. "Blade, do you think it's going to be okay?"

He threw his pillow at me. "You griping isn't going to make things any better! But I know you're going to keep harassing me until I give in, so I'll just say it. Yeah, it will be, but only if you keep your head in the game. It's possible to save Phosphora, but only if you succeed tomorrow."

All night, I kept tossing and turning. It seemed like a few minutes before Lady Palutena gently shook me awake. "Morning, Pit! Today we're going to the Rewind Spring."

I rubbed my head. "Isn't that where Blade took me when I burned my wings up?"

She nodded. "Exactly! And there we can reverse all of the wounds Phosphora endured. Be very careful. Just dip her in. If she's in there for more than that, you might end up reverting her back to a baby."

That would ruin our relationship.

I plopped down in my chair for breakfast. I wolfed down my eggs and sausage. "That was delicious. Can I have seconds?"

Lady Viridi observed, "Seems like you've got your appetite back."

Blade snickered. "Was their any doubt it would return?"

After I finished my delicious meal, Arlon and I took off. A bunch of zurees circled around us. I shot them while Arlon was on the lookout for any reinforcements. Once they were taken care of, vaklooms appeared. We ignored them and kept pressing forward until we got to a beautiful place with crystal blue buildings.

I frowned. "Does Hades know what's happening?"

The god of jerkiness himself responded, "Oh, I've been here the whole time; I just don't feel like bantering."

Lady Palutena observed, "That's unusual for you."

I unleashed a manly scream when a horde of ornes were getting closer. Hades guffawed. "My day just got ten times better."

I dodged them safely and a souflee skittered about. I notched an arrow in my bow and killed it. A gaggle of shulm floated near us. Arlon destroyed them all in impressive one-shots. A horrid noise emerged from behind me. "What is that?!"

Lady Viridi answered, "The Soul-Eating Monster! Be careful! Stuff comes out of the sacs!"

I started firing at the sacs. "Will that eat my soul?!"

Lady Palutena elaborated, "It eats the souls of the dead. Basically, souls of dead humans gathered here to get to their final resting place, but Hades refashions them into monsters!"

I gasped. "That is so wrong!"

With Arlon's help, we managed to defeat the creature and send it crashing down. Lady Palutena looked on the bright side. "Well, at least we managed to stop major casualties, so there's no glowing soul stream where surplus souls go!"

A pretty towering fountain appeared in the distance. I pointed at it. "That's the Rewind Spring?"

I glided over with Arlon. Lady Palutena clasped her hands together. "Lovely! I'll just place Phosphora next to you and you can dip her in." Phosphora appeared, and I gently placed her in the spring and picked her up out of it.

Her eyes slowly opened. "What?"

I hugged her. "THANKGOODNESSYOU'REHEREIMISSEDYOUSOMUCH!"

She wrenched herself free. "Pit?! Is that really you?!"

I hugged her again. "YES! I DID IT! I SAVED YOU!"

Arlon interjected, "I provided crucial assistance."

I felt guilty I forgot my partner. "Oh yeah! Arlon was super helpful!"

The water turned orange and started bubbling and churning. "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

I flinched. "Pyrrhon's evil laugh? Where is he?"

Phosphora drily replied, "I'm guessing the bubbly and churning water since water doesn't usually become orange."

The water rose and formed into a shape-Pyrrhon. He cackled, "Did you dumb little angel things even notice Pyrrhon was out of the picture after you defeated the Aurum?"

Lady Viridi said, "We all noticed; we just didn't care enough about you to ask."

Pyrrhon grinned. "It's time to destroy all of you once and for all!"

That's going to be hard.

I crossed my arms. "Yeah, yeah. Let's get this over with."

Pyrrhon shot rays of fire at our faces. I ran out of the way while Phosphora and Arlon dodged in the air. Arlon through his own beams of energy at him. Phosphora called, "Pit! Lure him in the water! I can electrocute him and cause a lot more damage!"

That sounded like a good strategy. I started firing volleys of arrows at the sun god, hoping to drive him back into the spring. Arlon continued his attacks as well, and we kept up the onslaught until Pyrrhon skidded into the water. Electricity zapped through Phosphora's body, and she sent sparks flying right at Pyrrhon. He started twitching for a while before reverting back to himself.

Lady Palutena praised, "That was really powerful!"

Phosphora flipped her hair over her shoulder. "This is the ideal environment for me to really show off my skills for you!"

Pyrrhon growled, "I'm a boss now! It's going to take a lot more than that to conquer me!"

Lady Viridi quipped, "To really defeat you, we need to get a book. Then you really won't know what's going on."

Hades agreed, "You're not wrong, Rosebud. You're not wrong."

The battle waged on with the same tactics until Pyrrhon fell on one knee. "Pyrrhon thinks . . . Pyrrhon had enough." He melted into a puddle.

I hugged Phosphora. "It's over! Now we just have to face Hades!"

Hades stated, "Ah, good. It's finally time to snuff the hope out of you."

Tomorrow you'll find out the truth: I am immortal just like you.