Hello again everyone! I come to you with a new chapter, hopefully you will like it! Thank you to everyone reading this story, it really makes me happy to share something with you guys! Exchanging with other writers/readers is always something very exciting for me!

Have a good read, don't forget to leave a comment to tell me what you think! ;)

Yours truly, Circle of J.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from the Kid Icarus series. The deities mentioned are taken from Greek Mythology, remastered the way I imagine them. What I own, on the other hand, is the plot.

Kid Icarus: Heirs of the Light

Chapter 4: Signals

Pit didn't look at Dark Pit when he stormed out of his room with his arms crossed. He didn't listen when he yelled at him that they had lost the signal, when he claimed that it was Pit's fault for interfering with the jewel in the first place. The stone, it had… emitted a signal, it had started glowing and a weird, unsettling noise came out of it. Dark Pit had jumped on the stone, watched and tried to decipher words or anything like that from the shrieking voice, but Pit admitted that he had lost his patience. He walked up to the jewel, decided to take it back so that it stopped killing his ears. As soon as he touched it, it had stopped; only the light glimmer of blue showed that it even worked still. Dark Pit had glared at Pit, repeated several times that he was a dumbass, and pushed him out of his room before closing the door at his face.

Now Pit knew what he was going to say, very original: 'You shouldn't have done that', he'd say; 'You should've let it do its thing!'. 'Maybe it'd had given information on our next step!', or something along those lines. The light angel was fed up with his twin's constant bad mood and remarks. All he was there for was his necklace. He hadn't asked anything from Dark Pit, quite the opposite! More often than not, Pit would go singlehandedly to fight off the demons of the Underworld, he wouldn't demand for Dark Pit's help at any time. The fact alone that he still considered himself the 'leader' made Pit grit his teeth.

Dark Pit stared at Pit, who was sitting on the couch with his precious jewel in his palm. He was looking at it, he kept a close eye on the artifact; maybe he even cared more about it than about his own self. The dark angel snorted. "You're done staring at your stone? We've got business to attend to."

"It's sending vibrations up in my arm," Pit answered without looking away from the necklace. "I don't know what it's saying."

His twin scoffed but moved closer anyways, in order to check it out. Progress was progress, it needed to be taken into account—despite how small it was compared to what was previously unveiling. Dark Pit slowly tapped the stone and felt it shaking, almost even quaking in Pit's palm—and he made sure that it wasn't just the stupid angel trembling to trick him. "Well, that's something. Is it supposed to send a message?" Pit shrugged and stood up, because of how uneasy he felt sitting next to Dark Pit. After the argument they had and the load of anger that his twin had released on him, the light angel was not thrilled by the idea of staying close to him. He walked to the window, gazed at the bunch of humans that were chatting in the street, while he left the necklace on the couch, next to Dark Pit's hand. The dark angel's eyes drifted towards the jewel, then back at Pit until he let out a loud, annoyed sigh. "Acting childishly isn't going to help."

"I can't believe you'd blame Lady Palutena," Pit whispered under his breath. The angel could barely contain his rage when he said those words, hearing those of Dark Pit about ten minutes earlier. He could've recited the whole conversation, because of how evil and twisted it had turned as soon as Pit mentioned his Goddess. Pit clenched his fists, did not turn towards his dark counterpart, and continued, "I can't believe you'd say something like this. I thought you knew better! I get that she hasn't been the best with you, I get that she doesn't like you and you reciprocate those regards! But put your own judgment aside when you deal with such things!"

Dark Pit growled. "Why can't you just accept that it's a possibility?! What is so crazy about Palutena being manipulative?!"

"She's nothing like that!"

"Oh no! She's nothing like that, Pit!" Dark Pit almost screamed at him, jumping to his feet. He dashed towards Pit and pulled him by the shoulders, almost slamming his body against the fragile window. He couldn't help with the violence he was showing off; he was lost too deep in his own fury. "She locked you up in your quarters because you wanted to come and save me, but she's nothing like that?! Does it really seem so uncanny Pit? Does it seem so much of stretch?!"

"Pittoo, you're hurting me!"

"To add to this, if she didn't need to use you for her own purposes and her own fucking satisfaction, she'd have given you the ability to fly a while ago!" Dark Pit exclaimed, tightening his grip on Pit's shaky shoulders.

"You know she can't! She tried!"

The light angel attempted to push him back with all the might he could harvest, however that only aggravated the situation. Sensing that his twin wanted to flee the conversation, wanted to avoid the subject by any means he could find, Dark Pit held onto him even tighter. His nails pierced through the soft, creamy skin he had compressed under his fingers. "When will you finally open your eyes?!"

Pit winced at the pain but focused on Dark Pit's sudden outburst of rage. The nails dipped in his flesh would be the least of his worries if the dark angel… went rogue—which was highly possible considering he had a hard time controlling his actions. Pit's eyes filled with tears when he felt that his shoulder bones wouldn't resist much longer. It was imperative that he found a way to soothe Dark Pit. "Please, Pittoo, you're hurting me! Let go!"

"Stop whining and listen to me! I will not let Palutena abuse you!"

"Pittoo, my shoulders!" Pit insisted, since he was paralyzed by the fear of his bones shattering into pieces.

At that moment, Dark Pit seemed to reconnect with reality and noticed the streaks of blood down Pit's shoulders, slowly tainting his white tunic. He quickly let go and stepped back, only to realize that he had been holding the necklace this whole time. Pit also frowned at the sight, but was too scared to take a step forward and check if it had provoked anything. The dark angel swiftly turned his back and went to his room. The only light source was the slight gleam of the stone, that soft purple glow that drew the edges of Dark Pit's fingers. He was about to slam the door shut, however it was blocked off by a foot preventing it from closing. "Pit, get the fuck out of my room." He was seriously about to lose it.

Pit shook his head. "Pittoo, you owe me explanations."

"Later," was all that Dark Pit replied, but that did not satisfy the young angel behind the door.

Pit kept his foot in the way of the door and eventually insisted, letting his tears run freely down his cheeks but keeping them from being heard. His shoulders were seriously starting to burn, but he didn't complain; it really wasn't the time to bring any attention to them. A question lingered in his foggy mind, and he was desperate to know the answer. "Pittoo…"

"Pit, you know I hate it when you just say my name and nothing else. So, tell me."

"Do you really think that Lady Palutena is using me?"

Dark Pit sighed. Yes, he did. In all honesty, he truly, sincerely did, he had absolutely no doubt on the matter. Rough and frank no matter the context—like he always was, the dark angel did not hesitate when he answered: "Yes, I do. I don't actually think that, I know that. However, I apologize for the way I delivered the information… Maybe you were not ready for it."

Pit could only agree on that: he wasn't prepared to hear such mean, unjustified accusations towards his Goddess Palutena. Nonetheless, he'd accept them, because Dark Pit was his own being; he had the right to believe in whatever he wanted, as long as he didn't try to persuade Pit into thinking the same thing. The light angel rested his forehead against the door, pondered whether he should leave Dark Pit alone or not, and let out a little, half-strangled sob. He had tried his best to silence it… Seemed like he wasn't too good at that, he was just too honest for his own sake. "Are you crying, Pit?" Dark Pit asked, on the other side of the door, and his twin refrained from answering. It'd be stupid to say yes, it'd be lying to say no. The dark angel felt increasingly bad, knowing very well that he had triggered those tears to fall on Pit's cheeks. And he loathed to see Pit crying so much. "Don't, please. I'm not worth it, now don't you agree?"

"I don't agree," Pit said, trying to keep his composure despite his broken, shivery voice. "I think you're worth every single drop of my tears."

Dark Pit opened the door, surprising Pit who immediately stepped back. He expected a comeback, he braced himself for the threatening words that his twin would throw at his face, and looked down at the ground in defeat. He slightly jumped when Dark Pit moved closer and decided to take his chance, looking straight into his eyes. The dark angel froze at the sight: those blue eyes that he usually loved drowning into, those sapphires that he could watch every minute of his life… so much sadness was contained in them… Dark Pit hated himself when he hurt Pit, it was the worst sin he could ever commit; such an innocent, cheerful angel… Who would ever want to hurt him?

The dark angel leaned in closer and gave in to his pitiful, despicable feelings, finally taking his light counterpart in his arms. Yes, he was very reluctant at first: he almost yelped in horror when he felt contact with the other's body. He kind of expected no less; after all, he'd never been used to being touched by someone. Hugs were foreign to his education. But, that being said, he also felt good about himself for working on repairing the toy he had broken. Pit was a sweet, loving little angel: one single demonstration of affection from Dark Pit—above anyone—would lift up his mood for the entire evening. However this time, he didn't calm down in the slightest. It was as if Dark Pit holding him close made him… scared. "Pit, calm down. I won't hurt you… You know, you can be really adorable sometimes."

"Is that why you hate me so much?" Pit asked before he wrapped his arms around Dark Pit's back. He buried his drowned face into his dark counterpart's shoulder and sniffed loudly. "Tell me why you hate me…"

Dark Pit raised an eyebrow. "Weird request from someone I'm holding in my arms, don't you think?"

"Pittoo…"

"Come on now. Magnus will be there soon," Dark Pit said, changing the subject into something he knew would get Pit excited. "I'll tell you what I think of you on the battlefield, next time we face each other. For now let's focus on greeting Magnus."

Just as he expected, the light angel nodded and wiped his tears off with his arm, in order to look decent for his friend's arrival. Well, friend… Dark Pit strongly doubted that. The way that these two looked at each other, with such passion and trust… could only belong to lovers, in his view. Not like he knew anything about relationships, but he still felt incredibly jealous for it. He somehow wished he could share the same amount of interest towards Pit, he hoped that one day, that sparkle in his light twin's eyes would be directed at him. Now why am I hoping that? he thought to himself. He didn't know what was up with him.

While Pit remained the angel he always was and annoyed him with his extreme happiness every hour of the day, Dark Pit was… shifting, becoming someone else. Well, he was still arrogant and gloomy but… he also showed up to be more romantic and hopeful at times—mostly around Pit. When he thought that his soul used to be filled with darkness, with mistrust and defiance… He even snapped a lot less lately. He felt in charge, master of his emotions, and he also felt less appealed by violence—which was highly unusual for him. Yet somehow, Dark Pit enjoyed the change; he used to be petrified at the idea of changing… However, he had to say that he felt lighter, awake. He felt alive.

Pit raised his head and looked right into Dark Pit's ruby eyes with deep, burning, longing passion—which always went unnoticed, he had no idea how or why. While he would be criticized over and over for 'looking too insistently' at Magnus, Dark Pit never saw the gleam in Pit's eyes whenever he looked at him. Perhaps he was just absent-minded every time he did. That was possible, with Dark Pit's numerous problems, he could very well be thinking about something while Pit's eyes devoured him whole. The light angel found it handy: no need to expand now on his growing love for Dark Pit, but still the opportunity to detail him with his eyes. Perfect match, he had to admit.

Dark Pit shook his head when he left the trail of his thoughts behind him, and turned to look at Pit. The light angel had already walked off and was fidgeting with his precious necklace, feeling as it was probably quaking again. This time, he looked up and out the window, as if he tried to see something special in the landscape. But he pouted: nothing, Dark Pit presumed. Another false alert. "We'll get something in due time."

"I feel strange about this," Pit confessed, then his eyes locked on the stone. "It's acting weird when it's on me. But I have to keep it…"

Dark Pit quickly nodded. "Yes, it's imperative that you keep it. We've already talked about this. We don't know what would happen if this stone wasn't keeping you on your feet. Palutena's absence is starting to wreck you up."

"Yeah… You're telling me…" Pit agreed, taking the decision to put the necklace around his neck again. He felt immediately stronger, healthier, and ready to kick some demon's buns. Pit turned towards the door when a loud knock struck it, and rushed to open it to Magnus. "Magnus, it's so good to see you!"

"My pleasure, angel face," Magnus replied, a hand falling on his shoulder, before he walked in and put a sack on the table. "Got a little something for you two."

Dark Pit raised an eyebrow, wondering what their gift would be this time, but didn't let that disperse his attention. Instead, he looked right back at the book he attempted to read—he didn't want to listen to his jealousy today. Magnus glanced at him, like he usually did, however he did not bother him, only interested in Pit. As it turned out, the light angel felt in the mood to talk, for once. Of course, that was ironic. "You didn't sleep last night, angel face? Your eyes look dark," Magnus pointed out, sitting down next to Pit on the couch that was even too small to fit him alone. He had no idea how the angel could squeeze his body so much that they could sit in it together. "Is your jewel causing you trouble?"

Pit slightly nodded and looked at the stone with a weird admiration. Every time Magnus saw the angel wearing this thing around his neck, he would act out of character. Strangely hypnotized… He didn't like it at all, but who was he to tell him what he should or shouldn't do? He was an angel, he should know that himself. After all, he had a Goddess, right? He didn't need advice from a mere human being like Magnus. Pit caressed the stone with his thumb, completely out of it, and Magnus decided to do something about it. He trailed his hand behind Pit's back and detached the necklace, which fell out of the angel's reach. He blinked and shook his head vigorously, and Magnus had already caught the jewel and was examining it. "Now, are you hearing me?"

"Sorry Magnus, you said something?" Pit inquired, scratching the back of his head. His cheeks slightly flushed red, since he was embarrassed. Magnus knew him too well to suspect anything else, although he would've hoped for more.

The human looked back at his friend, worry in his dark eyes. However, he did not want to have that conversation with Pit at the moment: he wanted to focus on other things, probably more important than the angel's occasional fatigue. "I hadn't said anything. You just looked a little tired—But aside from that, I found out Thanatos' new lair."

"I killed him off three weeks ago," Dark Pit intervened, for the first time ever, as he walked towards the two friends. "He can't already be back."

Magnus shrugged. "Maybe you thought you killed him but you didn't."

"I'm not stupid, I killed that freak. I know I did, his corpse was lying on the ground at my feet," Dark Pit responded with lots of confidence. He remembered the scene very clearly. Viridi could even certify that he had pulverized that bastard.

Pit furrowed his brows and began thinking, standing up and going to the window to look outside. His two friends kept talking about the subject, wondering if it was even possible that Dark Pit had been misled by Medusa or someone as powerful—if not more—as she was. Pit heard bits of their conversation, his ears drowned in his own thoughts. He wasn't sure what he was thinking about… but he knew that something had just made him sick. To the point where he had to step aside. The angel of light looked out the window and his eyes drifted towards the skies above. Was Palutena alright? Was he ever going to see her again? Those questions still in mind, Pit startled when he heard his name. He turned around to look at Dark Pit, who had his arms crossed and leaned against the wall. He looked deadly serious, as he often was when something really bothered him. His deadpanned eyes fell on his twin. "What're you looking at, Pit?"

Pit struggled to find his words, and the first thing that caught his eye was the glow of his necklace. It kept shining, even in Magnus' hands. What could this all mean? Palutena had said that only two people were supposed to light it up with their touch… If that was him and Dark Pit, how could the stone react to Magnus? Wait—It didn't. Pit seemed to realize something. It was still blue. How was it possible if… the necklace didn't hold a bit of his essence? Maybe it was just a matter of odor. Since it had been in contact with Pit's skin for a while, perhaps it carried his odor and that was the reason it shined. He hoped that really was the only viable explanation to this phenomenon. "Pittoo, the stone…" he pointed out, and his twin's glance met the glowing jewel with surprise.

That was when Pit's world completely blacked out. He started to feel dizzy, his vision shifted to darkness, and Dark Pit looked up at him, confused. Pit had… moaned, and he had never heard him do that before. The dark angel walked towards his twin and put a hand on his forehead, only to realize that Pit was about to fall back. His instinct told him to take him in his arms immediately and, as soon as Dark Pit wrapped his arms around the light angel's body, he felt him pass out. Pit's head leaned back, his eyes closed instantly and he barely breathed at all. Dark Pit glanced over to Magnus in panic and the human walked to them. "What's happening to angel face?" he asked, puzzled, then he tried to touch Pit's hand. He realized that it was strangely cold. "Is he okay? Do you know what's happening?"

"No," Dark Pit admitted, even though he hated not to know everything. For someone who was used to be always right, whatever the context, it was really frustrating to be left in the dark. "I'm as puzzled as you are, believe me."

Magnus held Pit's hand while Dark Pit led his twin to the couch, where he lied him down. He carefully placed a pillow under his head, so that the unconscious angel wouldn't break his neck in half during his slumber. Pit's skin went so cold… Dark Pit felt his heart ache at the thought that he could be dying at the moment. He knew how powerless he was… If Pit suddenly died, what would he do? Nothing, there was nothing he could do. Then he started to think about his homeland, about his situation there and how everything had vanished in the blink of an eye—and in the shattering of a cursed mirror. He felt tears in his eyes and quickly looked off, so that Magnus was unable to tell that he had a weakness. Showing that something affected him so much was a mistake he'd never let himself do; too many had abused their power after they had witnessed it. He'd rather look like a rough, rude angel to everyone than a weak, broken young man with a heart torn to shreds multiple times already. Dark Pit wiped his face with the back of his hand and sighed softly.

Pit finally woke up, sitting right up in the couch and breathing heavily… as though he had been underwater for two minutes. Magnus pulled him back by the shoulders and asked him to take deep, controlled breaths, which Pit agreed to in silence and committed to doing. Dark Pit, once he had gotten rid of the sadness in his eyes, turned to them and attempted to smirk, only to fail miserably and pout. "Oh, you're alive, Pit-stain. Thought you'd died! For a moment, I dared to feel relieved."

"P-Pi-tt-oo—"

"No need for that," Dark Pit interrupted Pit, putting a hand over his lips before quickly lifting it up so that the angel could concentrate on his breathing. Even though he felt deeply concerned, he tried his hardest not to show any of it. It seemed to work out pretty nicely, since the two others looked oblivious to it.

Magnus turned his full attention to Pit and soothed him the very best way he could, holding Pit's hand and just sitting there next to him, so that he had someone supporting him. The light angel soon was able to talk, and he didn't waste any time: "It was Medusa!" he exclaimed in sheer horror. His eyes were filled with pain, hatred and, most of all, intense fear. He immediately went on with his explanation: "She said she's coming for you, Pittoo!"

Dark Pit snorted, however he kept listening. His heart started to sting when he noticed just how terrified Pit was at the idea of Medusa attacking his twin. Almost cute, almost. He'd have to try harder than that. "That's ridiculous."

"No, listen, it's true!"

"I'm telling you, it's ridiculous. Medusa, coming all the way here for me? Why'd she do that? I knew she craved for a servant but by the Gods!" Dark Pit sighed.

Disappointed by his twin's reaction, Pit shook his head and tears formed in his blue eyes. However he continued, out of breath because of how panicked he really felt. His heart was racing in his chest and he could sense his blood pumping through his entire body, mainly focusing on his temples which were about to blow up. The light angel jumped up and held onto Dark Pit's wrists, looking right at him. "Listen! Stop arguing with me, I know it's all true and it's happening! You need to go back to Viridi's castle, now!"

"It's not a castle, Pit, it's a S—"

"Whatever it is, you need to go there now!" Pit insisted.

Dark Pit had never seen him so tensed in his whole life. He scoffed when he thought that he'd be having a heart attack if he kept on screaming like that. "Pit, come on~! Everyone knows I could beat Medusa with my fingers sticked in my nose!"

"Medusa, isn't that the Goddess of Darkness?" Magnus asked, scratching his head because he felt like he had heard that name before—probably in Gaol's mouth.

Pit nodded at Magnus and eyed back at Dark Pit. His cheeks were now covered with tears and his hands were literally breaking apart the dark angel's bones. It was crazy how strong he could be when he really wanted to. Dark Pit would always be amazed, despite the fact that it was his own wrists being destroyed. "Please, Pittoo, I'm saying this for you."

"Look, Pit, I'm sorry," Dark Pit said, lost in thoughts, then he looked up at his puzzled counterpart. "For what I said about Palutena. Maybe she doesn't have anything to do with this."

"No matter—"

"Pit," Dark Pit cut him off, his hand over the light angel's mouth. "Let me finish when I speak."

Magnus raised an eyebrow when he saw that attitude. He had been made aware that Dark Pit was the one having the strongest character of the two, yet he didn't expect such… impatience—and dominance! Pit claimed that he was the original… Well if he was, wouldn't he be more defensive? Why would he let his doppelganger take the lead? But hey… Magnus knew how Pit was: a sweet little bunny. He'd never impose anything to anyone, he knew better. So at this point, it was easily conceivable that he'd let Dark Pit have the upper hand, just so that he felt happy about himself.

"And don't fucking change the subject," Dark Pit added, and the light angel kept his mouth shut—it was probably for everyone's good. "Now. I thought about what I said, about Palutena. I wasn't very fair with you, nor was I towards her—after all, she hasn't ever harmed you. I had no right to tell you what I did tell you and I apologize for it."

Pit acknowledged what he said, took his apology into account, however he just couldn't focus on it at the moment. He still saw Medusa in his sleep, telling him to hurry, telling him that she was coming for Dark Pit's blood. While Dark Pit still went on with his apology, explaining his thoughts and clearing up the situation between them on the matter, Pit's eyes wandered around the room in order to find his precious necklace. That was when he noticed it, in Magnus' hands, and bit his lower lip. How'd he get it back? He needed it right away, to see if it sent any signal. Somehow he felt like it would…

Dark Pit gritted his teeth when he realized that his lighter counterpart absolutely didn't listen to him, and decided that it was better not to snap. Pit had just woken up from a nightmare, perhaps he just needed time before they talked about serious matters. They'd have time for that. "Anyhow, Pit. I'm not leaving you to die here, sorry."

"Pittoo—"

"If you call me that again, I'll make you eat that wall!" Dark Pit threatened.

Pit furrowed his brows, taking a determined expression. He could seem convincing to an idiot… but not to Dark Pit. "Let me finish when I speak!"

"Oh-ho, don't use that tone with me, Pit-stain!" Dark Pit warned before he took a step forward, closer to Pit. The light angel slightly gasped and stepped back, hands raised. "You have no right to tell me what to do."

"I'm just concerned—"

"Then don't be?" Dark Pit suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere, so you'd better get used to it."

"Hey, you two! Look at that," Magnus suddenly interrupted the fight, with an alarmed glance directed at Pit.

The stone had started shining a lot more than before, and a loud, shrieking noise came from it, killing off everyone's ears in an instant. Magnus dropped the necklace to the ground in hope that it would break it and, thus, shut it up, while Pit covered his ears with his hands. Only Dark Pit stared at the thing with a blank expression, trying to understand its message.

"It will lead you," it whispered, in a very feminine, child-like voice. It was so hard to decipher that Dark Pit actually thought he misheard it. "Only you can hear me, the two of you. The angels," it added. "But Pit is not ready."

Dark Pit walked closer to the necklace and picked it up from the cold tiles, his eyes scanning it thoroughly. "You can speak?"

Pit looked up and saw Dark Pit talking to the necklace, wondering if he was crazy. Maybe he had completely lost it this time. "Pittoo?"

"I will lead you back," the stone told Dark Pit, and he frowned. "Like you have wanted so dearly."

"Lead me back where?"

"This stone is the key to a bridge, from one end to another," it murmured, like a purr in Dark Pit's ear.

He blinked. "Okay, hang on. What does this all mean and who are you?"

"You will know that in due time."

"Pittoo, what's going on?! It's killing me!" Pit exclaimed, the horrifying sound was still piercing right through his ears despite him covering them up with his hands.

Dark Pit glared at the necklace. "What's this all about? What is this 'bridge' you mentioned?"

A slight, barely noticeable giggle came from the stone before it concluded with: "I think you know very well what I'm talking about, Dark Pit."

To be continued…

Updated: 02/11/2019